Virginia Beach parish highlights welcoming spirit, gifts of faithful
A banner hangs in the hall of the Church of Ascension, Virginia Beach — a memento of “Sandal Day,” when the parishioners all wore sandals to Mass, commemorating the church’s 50th year of walking with Christ. “Kuyumba Halumo,” it reads in Nyamwezi, a language of central Tanzania. “We walk together.”
The words capture the spirit of the large suburban parish, where everyone walks together and where everyone lends a hand.
“The people here are very welcoming,” Father Daniel Malingumu, pastor of Ascension, said, “and they want to walk together. If they have anything to contribute, they do so. The spirit of volunteerism is very strong here.”
“We are a family,” he said. “Each one is a treasure to me, and each one brings something to make a difference.”
On Sunday, May 22, Ascension celebrated the conclusion of its golden jubilee with a Mass held on the parish lawn. A gathering of more than 800 filled a large white tent for the occasion, with Father Malingumu and Bishop Barry C. Knestout presiding.
“Father Daniel speaks of us as family; he always says that we walk together as a family,” said parishioner Tom Steffens, a sentiment that has been true for him since 1977.
His career in the Navy has brought his family to Hampton Roads five times over the decades, he said, “and each time we came home, that’s just what it was. We came home to our family at Ascension.”
Bright beginnings
In June 1972, the Diocese of Richmond created a new parish to serve the growing Kempsville area of Virginia Beach. Although the original 70 families had no permanent building, they worked together, opening their homes for religious education classes and holding fundraisers for the construction of a church, which was dedicated April 6, 1975.
“We were starting a church, and there was an excitement that came with it,” parishioner Edna Constand said. “Everyone had to pitch in, everyone had a job to do. And that’s what formed all of the wonderful friendships that have lasted for 50 years.”
Constand served as a church secretary — first as a volunteer, then as an assistant, then as parish secretary — for all five of Ascension’s pastors: Fathers Robert French, Bill Dale, Jim Parke, Charles Briendel and Malingumu.
“They all had different gifts,” she said. “They each brought something new to Ascension.”
Welcoming spirit
She’s seen changes over the years, Constand said, but the parish’s spirit of welcome remains the same.
“Everyone is encouraged to find a ministry — to get involved with something,” she said.
For Constand and her husband, that came early on in the parish’s formation, during a five-year planning meeting.
“We had come up with five goals for the next five years, but there was no youth group,” she said. “I asked, ‘Where’s the future of our Church?’”
The committee put the question to a vote, and the idea was voted in — with the caveat that she and her husband should lead it.
Tony Constand took up the mantle, and YOA, Youth of Ascension, was formed — a group which is still active today.
Lisa Liedl, Ascension’s director of administration and one of YOA’s founding members, recalled the sense of inclusion that the group afforded to her and the teens of the parish’s early days.
“It gave us an avenue,” she said. “Being with a group of people of the same faith — who were trying to be faithful but who also lived in the real world — meant a lot at that age.”
‘A loving community’
Like so many at Ascension, Joanne Schihl shared a story of being invited into ministry.
“I was in the church office one day, when our social ministry director stopped me and asked, ‘What would you like to do when you grow up?’” she said, laughing.
Schilhl became her assistant for four years before assuming the job herself, serving as social justice minister for 26 years until her retirement in 2016.
“No doubt about it. It’s been a big part of my life,” she said. “We all pitch in; everybody gets involved in doing something. We have a long list of ways to get involved, whether it’s the food pantry or the welcoming committee.”
“I feel like it’s such a loving and supportive community,” Amy Petersen, chair of the parish council, said.
She’s served in many ministries since she began attending Ascension in 1997. Lately, she has adopted the care of the parish garden, which grows fresh produce to supplement the food pantry.
“I said to myself, ‘I’m a gardener, and I can do this. This is something I can do,’” she said.
Whether the task is large or small, she said, with more than 60 ministries at the parish, there is a place for everyone to find their niche — and to grow in their faith.
Much to celebrate
Ascension has hosted 40 events and service projects over the past year in celebration of its golden anniversary.
In November, more than 50 children from the parish’s religious education classes dressed as their favorite saints for Mass. In February, an anniversary dinner-dance featured music from the past five decades.
The parish held 50 hours of eucharistic adoration during Lent, and, in May, it dedicated a Mary garden at a ceremony accompanied by a choir of 50 children.
Steffens, who served as coordinator for the year-long observance, said he managed the schedule by relying on the parish’s spirit of volunteerism.
“We had so many people come forward,” he said. “Everyone was happy to help.”
It’s been a time for collecting old photographs, for working to meet the present needs of the community, and a time to look forward, too, Petersen said.
The parish council has consulted with 20 ministries over the past months to craft a vision statement for the next half century, called Ascension 2072: “We are a thriving, Spirit-filled faith community transforming lives for Christ.”
“There is much reason to celebrate, much faith manifested for so many years here, at the Church of the Ascension,” Bishop Knestout said at the anniversary Mass — a Mass that concluded with the parish children, all dressed in blue, gathering to join the recessional, leading the congregation out of the tent and into the next 50 years.