Ascension Ministry 1960 - 2010

January 1960 —  Rev. V.A. Mohr, President of the Texas District of The American Lutheran Church, announced plans for a new church in northwest Austin. It was to be the 220th congregation of the Texas District and would be called Ascension Lutheran. Faith Lutheran congregation, Austin (then established only nine years) sponsored the new church. Rev. W.C. Ahlrich, Pastor of Faith, the members and church council worked together with Marguerite Hotz, Parish Worker for the Texas District, to establish the new congregation. Rev. David Sieberg accepted the call as full-time missionary.

February 14, 1960 — Rev. Sieberg conducted the first service at Gullett Elementary School.

May 22, 1960 — the Sunday nearest Ascension Day, Ascension Lutheran was organized. This took place at 2:00 p.m. at Faith Lutheran. At that time Rev. David Sieberg was installed as Pastor of the “New Lutheran Mission in Northwest Hills.” During that service 36 confirmed people (62 baptized, 17 families) were received as charter members of Ascension.  Shortly after Ascension was organized, work began on a parsonage and was completed that summer. Much of the work was done by the Pastor and members of the congregation.

March 9, 1961 —a three-acre site was purchased at $25,000 for a church building and groundbreaking ceremonies were held July 16, 1961. At that time the congregation had grown to 79 confirmed members (124 baptized, 36 families). The building is our present day care center. The architect was Arthur Fehr of Fehr and Granger and Chairman of the Building Committee was Leon Peterson. The purchase of the property and construction of the building were made possible by a loan from the Board of American Missions of the American Lutheran Church. Cost of the building was approximately $42,000 and the address was 6300 Balcones Trail. (There was no Hart Lane until later.).

December 10, 1961 —the building was dedicated.  Many churches and church auxiliaries in the area contributed to this new mission.  Ascension is especially indebted to Faith Lutheran for their caring support during the early years.

1965 — a replica of the Jerusalem Garden Tomb was built into the hillside below the church. This was done by Pastor Sieberg and the Brotherhood (church organization for men). At that time Ascension’s address was 6300 Balcones Drive and the driveway curved up from Balcones Drive to the front of our present parish hall.

            The size of the tomb was smaller than the Garden Tomb but the arrangement of the rooms and burial spaces were the same.

            An Easter Sunrise Service was held on the front lawn above the tomb on April 18th, at 6:15 a.m. This was the beginning of a tradition of Easter Sunrise services at Ascension.

            It was around 1964 when the city proposed an exchange of property (the area where Hart Lane is in exchange for a like amount on the south side of our property). This brought Ascension’s property line to Allen Park. After Hart Lane was cut, our address became 6420 Hart Lane.

 1971 — early in the year, Pastor Sieberg announced his resignation and Pastor Henry Engeling was installed as the new pastor on August 8, 1971.

 1972 — we began the tradition of Flowering the Cross on Easter Sunday.

 1973 — a Building Committee was chosen in 1973 to begin planning for a new worship area

 1974 — although Ascension had a choir previously, it had been discontinued as there was no choir director. In 1974, Anna Simmons was asked to be the new Music Director and she formed the present choir which she continues to direct.

 1976 — the congregation hired Jim Faulk to design a new sanctuary

1976 — Douglas Hester, son of Roy and Ethel Hester, entered Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. Doug was the first “child of Ascension” to enter the ministry.

1976-1978 — A fund campaign was held to raise money for a new sanctuary. A contract for the building was awarded in January 1978, and the groundbreaking took place February 12th, 1978.  By November 1978, the two portable Sunday School buildings (installed in the 1960’s) were moved to the area where the Parish Life Center now stands, so that the entrance to the new building could be completed.

1979 — In February, we received our new Lutheran Book of Worship, commonly known as “The Green Hymnal.” A group of members were selected in June to begin a study commission on Mission and Ministry. This group met weekly and, after two years, arrived at what is now our present constitution. Our chancel furniture was installed on August 11th and Dedication Day for the new sanctuary was held on August 26th. In December, we began a fund to purchase new pews for the sanctuary.

1980 — Doug Hester graduated from Trinity Seminary in Columbus, Ohio and accepted a call to St . John Lutheran, Waller, Texas. As a “son of Ascension congregation” he was ordained here on July 13th.

1981 — In June, the new pews were installed and in August, the choir chairs arrived.

1982 — Our parish council and administrative boards went into effect, according to the new constitution.

1983 — Pastor Engeling was hospitalized and Pastor Wayne Walther served as interim pastor through the first half of 1984. Because of his illness, Pastor Engeling resigned in September 1983 and a search began for a new pastor.

 1984 — Pastor Michael Ensrude accepted our call and was installed as pastor of Ascension in July. In November, we began the Hand-in-Hand child care program. It began as a Mother’s Day Out on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It quickly grew and in January 1987, the full five-day program was started.

 1985 — In May 1985, we celebrated our 25th Anniversary with two special services. On  Ascension Day (May 16th) we had an evening service and invited our fellow Lutherans throughout  the Austin area. Dr. Bernard Holm was our guest speaker with Pastors Ensrude and Walther assisting. Sunday, May 19th, we had Pastor Ed Heye as guest speak with Pastors Ensrude, Engeling, Sieberg and Ahlrich assisting. They were very meaningful services of praise and thanksgiving to God for His love and guidance throughout the 25 years.

 1986 — In September, we began a fund drive for a new organ. After much deliberation, we hired Bob Borchers and Chris Stone of Agape Organs to build a pipe organ suitable for our Sanctuary.  They did this with help from Wayne Schultz and members of the congregation who supplied the electrical power and built the casework. Dedication was November 20, 1988, with organist Lisa Klitzky Yanez and builder, Bob Borchers playing. On November 27, we had a special evening concert of Thanksgiving and Advent music with Garland Kneten as organist and the church choir and instrumentalist of St. John’s Lutheran, Bartlett, joining with our choir.

 1989 — In January, we established the “Seminarian-in-Residence” program. It was originally started to help a student from the Lutheran Theological Seminary of the Southwest with a place to live in exchange for an outreach ministry to residents of the surrounding apartment complexes.  Later it became an agreement between a student and the congregation for part-time employment within the church. Throughout the years, we have had a number of students who have contributed much to this ministry.

1990 — We began sharing our facility with a Korean congregation. That continued until June 1995, when they were able to purchase a building for themselves.

1991 — In January, the establishment of an endowment fund began with a gift from the estate of Hanna Boehnemann. In April, we paid off the last of the bonds we had sold to pay for the construction of the Sanctuary. Having paid off our debt, we began to think of building a parish hall.  Since the Day Care Center was housed in the original building, we were in need of space. We needed space for fellowship, Sunday School, offices and we had dreamed of a kitchen that was not a hallway.

1992 — By May of 1992, the congregation authorized the council and building committee to select an architect. Duke Garwood was chosen and plans were drawn. Unfortunately, we had no idea of the time it would take to acquire all the permits the city then required. 

1994 — By 1994, we had plans and $300,000 but were still without permits. As we waited for the city’s approval, building costs soared.

1995 — The congregation voted to take on a $200,000 debt. The contractors’ estimate was $593,000.

1996 — On April 14th, we held a groundbreaking and were able to begin to build. The portable buildings were donated to Lutheran Camping and moved off the property. A small storage building was purchased to house the Medical Lending equipment. We received a loan of $280,000 from the mission investment fund of the ELCA. We had a fund drive coordinated by “Funds Unlimited” with Rev. Cal Frisch and Harold Bogisch to help repay that debt.

1997 — January 19th, we dedicated our new Parish Life Center with Bishop James Bennett officiating.

Throughout the years we continued to furnish the building with tables, chairs, kitchen supplies, etc. Since opening, the building has been used for several non-profit groups such as Girl Scouts, Voting, League of Women Voters, Son of Norway, Lifetime Learning, etc. as well as for our own use.

A Family Ministry Fund was established to assist our families in financial crisis. Two members—Don Bergstrom and Eric Schorn attended Stephen’s Ministry training. 

1998 — In September, Don and Eric began training five members of the congregation to work in this ministry. All were commissioned in May 1999. Also in 1998, Cindy McKelvey began a hand bell choir on a set of two octave bells on loan from Lutheran Brotherhood “Texas lone Star #8006 Branch.”

1999 — In December, Pastor Ensrude accepted a call to Zion Lutheran in Fredericksburg, Texas.  Pastor Manfred Holck became our interim pastor and a call committee was elected to find a new pastor for Ascension.

2000 — In May, we observed our 40th Anniversary with a month of celebration.