The Church of the Ascension has a new highlight – a beautiful new sign erected in front of the red brick structure at 253 Echo Dr. that is now unmistakable.
The church has served Old Ottawa East for more than a century. But it has blended into the streetscape, crouching between a row of condominiums and the neighbouring Immaculata High School.
The new sign, designed by church secretary Annie MacTavish and constructed by Doug Bernhardt, guarantees no one will mistake it for anything but a house of worship.
The church’s new visibility reminds me of my own experience discovering it years ago.
When I returned to Old Ottawa East in 2000 after being abroad, I would occasionally contemplate looking for an Anglican Church close to home. During that time, I walked, ran, bicycled and skated past the old building on Echo Drive, without even the slightest idea it was a church. Then one day, I paused to look and discovered it was an Anglican Church, 200 metres from my door.
When I ventured in one Sunday, it was a revelation of sorts. Not only was the church building spectacular, with breath-taking stained glass windows, but the parishioners were thoughtful, interesting and genuine, with lots of children and young families.
They were led by a Minister, the Reverend (now Canon) Dr. Gary Hauch, who had heard the call to ministry as a drug-dealing soldier in Vietnam. His moving sermons made reference to the Greek and Hebrew texts of scripture while drawing on the arts and modern culture. The Sunday School rang with the laughter of children, and the special events, such as the blessing of the bicycles (and their riders), picnics, and weekly coffee hour gave the church a genuine sense of community.
Many of the parishioners were talented musicians, and the church rang with great, stirring traditional and contemporary music. As it does to this day: each service I attend allows me to learn more about my faith as a Christian, to reflect, meditate, contemplate and share that experience as part of a caring and thoughtful congregation.
When my elderly father moved to Ottawa from Montreal to be closer to us and to live at the Perley-Rideau Veterans Home, he asked me to take him to my church, as he wanted to have a church funeral when he died.
For three years he became a regular fixture at Ascension. I recall him laughing when asked if the noise from all the children running around bothered him, he replied that they gave the church “wonderful vitality.” We celebrated his 90th birthday at Ascension, and a year or so later, we celebrated his life.
While I recognize that church is not for everyone, and in this era of extreme secularism it may even generate some antipathy, I know being a member of Ascension has meant a great deal to me. As we approach the Christmas season, I hope the vivid new sign out front will encourage more people in Old Ottawa East to do as I did over a decade ago – to stop by, venture in, and share in the spiritual life of the extraordinary faith community that is Ascension.
