The Church of the Ascension in Stillwater, Minn., is a growing church in a changing community. "Ten years ago," said the Rev. Walt Gordon, diocesan communications officer, "it was not even on the list of growing parishes." Now one or two new families come to Ascension weekly, and it is "alive and vital."

Ascension is "the oldest Episcopal church in Minnesota. We'll be 150 years old next year," said the rector, the Rev. Jerry Doherty. "The church predates the diocese by a decade."

Thirty-five-year member Betty Erickson said, "It's an old, interesting church. The congregation first met in a settler's house. A parishioner gave land" for the first building. "An early frame building was struck by lightning and burned to the ground."

An old church has lots of stories, Ms. Erickson said. The square Norman tower - "a great view of the St. Croix valley if you're good at climbing ladders" - has a bell "given in memory of a stone-deaf man. He wanted [the bell] very much. He lost his hearing after surgery to donate his kidney to his brother."

Stillwater is a historic logging town on the St. Croix River. "It was the first white settlement in Minnesota, the territorial capital," Fr. Doherty said. The original small town "is becoming touristy, picturesque," and at the same time a suburb of the Twin Cities.

Such growth and change can be both exciting and unsettling. "Ten years ago, this was a family church, with patriarchs and matriarchs," Fr. Doherty said. "Then it became pastoral, where the priest is in charge. Now it's grown to the program stage, with committees, an assistant rector. With more growth, we may become a mother church, and start a new congregation to the north.

"Evangelism is in place; we are prepared to grow. The former rector and the interim set the stage. [Growth requires] strategy and planning. New issues develop so quickly."

Ascension particularly seeks out formerly active Episcopalians, and the unchurched. "If the church proclaims Christ is present in the world, people will come," Fr. Doherty said. "The world really needs Christ. People are attracted to the gospel message," and programs which show that "Christ is present in all you say and do."

Laura Ehling is a cradle Episcopalian whose husband is a cradle Lutheran. They attended a Lutheran church for some time, and then began to "church shop."

"I really missed kneeling," Mrs. Ehling said with a chuckle. "And I like Rite I." At Ascension, they found warmth and "a spirit of friendliness." Now Laura, an English teacher, and Paul, a theater teacher, direct the children's Christmas pageant. "We use the traditional Mary and Joseph story, in modern language," and with a slightly different slant, Mrs. Ehling said. "The first year we focused on Mary, very pregnant, crabby and uncomfortable. Last year it was the shepherds, how scared they were, and the personal gifts they would have brought, like a wool blanket. We wrote it like a birthday party. The angels ran up the aisles. The kids thought it was great. They said, 'We never get to run in church!'"

Rick Brown, like the Ehlings, has been at Ascension for about two years. He and his family attended a Presbyterian, then a Lutheran church. On their first visit to the Church of the Ascension, "we were immediately pleased. Things were going on in hearts and souls. After our first visit, we stopped looking."

Mr. Brown described the church as "forward-thinking, vibrant, yet respectful of tradition. It's meaningful even to newcomers like me."

Programs for children, teenagers and young adults are foremost at Ascension. The Rev. LeeAnne Watkins, assistant rector and youth coordinator, said, "The church took a chance financially to hire a full-time youth director." In addition to Sunday school and confirmation classes, she has a junior-senior-high school group, one for college-age (18-22-year-olds), and a young adult group for those 20-35.

"In the high school group, we've discussed spirituality, sexuality, all sorts of things. Seventh through 12th grades is really too broad, but they like to be together. They can hang out in a supervised way."

Erin Ghere, who will be a senior next year, said the youth group meets weekly, and will soon have its own place in the basement of the parish house. "We have 'check in,' where everybody speaks about his or her own week," she said. "We're planning a kids' party. LeeAnne tries to get us to talk about faith. Sometimes it doesn't work. She does a Lenten series of movies, like 'Philadelphia.' We try to figure out when Christ was crucified in the film, when he rose."

The young people's programs "don't need much money," Ms. Watkins said. "They just want to be together, and be heard." The Ascension youth group participates in many diocesan activities, such as trips to Wisconsin Dells and the Boundary Waters canoe area, and the diocesan Youth Music Festival. Some of the young people planned to attend the Province 6 Youth Event in South Dakota.

Linda Francis, a volunteer in the church office, said the entire congregation feels itself an important part of the diocese. "The diocese is like a family gathering, getting together for conventions and ordinations," she said. "Many in the congregation work on diocesan programs."

Ascension's music ministry sets high standards of performance and education. "We don't categorize music," said organist / choirmaster Nancy Whipkey. Both the adult choir and the 46-voice youth choir perform music from ancient to modern. "I'm interested in the quality of the sound - I'm very picky!" The result is heard on the youth choir's 1993 CD, i thank You God, recorded in the Cathedral Church of St. Mark in Minneapolis. "The purpose of music is to express feelings. It must have poetic, compositional and musical integrity," Ms. Whipkey said. "We need to grow in musical life, as in our faith."

The recording contains selections by Praetorius and Bach, Britten and Fauré, as well as Monte Mason, a prominent Minnesota composer. The Ascension youth choir participates with Mr. Mason's Gregorian Singers in the cathedral's Advent Procession. In 1994, the two groups recorded the CD Advent in St. Mark's, and in St. Paul's Roman Catholic Cathedral.

"Music has to tie together the whole worship experience," Ms. Whipkey said. "Two years ago we had 26 kids. We decided to make a CD - we didn't think we could, but we did!" Fr. Doherty said. "More kids came then, and brought their parents." All proceeds from the recording were given to non-profit agencies, chosen by the children, in the St. Croix Valley.

Ascension's support and help reach out into Stillwater and the St. Croix Valley. The church is host to two Head Start programs, and the local office of PAT - Putting it All Together. Social worker Jean Creegan is funded by the church and the diocese to work with low-income single mothers. She conducts workshops on job skills and searching, résumé writing, and education. "We look at their options, and help to broaden their horizons," she said.

Fr. Doherty said the program works on "self-esteem and job-finding. Most of the women are now working and off public assistance." Ascension, "provided start-up funds and office space," Ms. Creegan said. "We hold our workshops in the dining room of the old rectory."

The parish has made a commitment to young people, and to the community of Stillwater. Fr. Doherty asks each of his parishioners, young and old, to make a personal commitment to a rule of life: to grow, to become more prayerful, to discover one's own ministry.

"For example, it might be to pray one hour a week while walking," he said. "A college student was asking, 'What can I do as my ministry?' He volunteered to pick up food for the Food Shelf. He advertised before Christmas and Easter, and he made more than 200 stops - all on his own. People here really believe they can make a difference. We are renewed in church, for ministry in outreach.

"The Spirit is alive here. Christ is risen and alive. We're not charismatic. People are attracted here by beauty and tradition. This church does well what the Episcopal Church is good at!" q