Updates

Early March, 2023  

We have been investigating this opportunity since July 2022 and are preparing to bring it to the congregation for a vote.

Mid-March 

We just learned that the school building can be salvaged. This is encouraging news, since the main building does not have any classroom or office space.

Mid-April 

Both parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding after our congregation voted (in overwhelming fashion) to pursue this opportunity.

May 10 

Lawyers are finalizing a contract that will articulate the terms of transfer (i.e., repairs to the steeple and stabilizing the school building). A capital campaign video is nearly complete. (Thank you, Jeff and Larissa!) We anticipate that work on the school building will begin in early June and that Phase 1 might be complete by September.

May 21 

The video is now finished, and our congregation gets to see it. Our capital campaign officially begins. Please, keep us in your prayers.

June 15, 2023 

Work on the school building has begun! This is preliminary and investigatory, in order to figure out the precise amount it will cost to stabilize the structure.

July 17 

We had the opportunity to worship in the Mount Auburn facility twice this month, and that was a blessing. We were just given the quote to stabilize the school building, and it was what we had originally expected. We anticipate that this job will be completed during the month of September. Two URC churches have already informed us of their intention to support us – and a number of individuals. Our internal campaign and pledge drive is well underway. We will meet with a representative of Reformed Mission Services on July 25. Keep us in your prayers as we seek funding for Phases 1 and 2 this calendar year.

August 31, 2023 

We anticipate work on the school building occurring in November and December and the repair of the steeple in October. This pushes our move-in date to sometime around Easter 2024. Our congregation is 80% of its way to its internal fundraising goal. This means we would be able to cover Phase 1 internally (~$500,000). External fundraising has been slow, but that is to be expected during the summertime. We have raised $61,500 of our $300,000 goal for Phase 2.

It seems that many of our sister churches did not receive our Tenth Anniversary Newsletter. It is available for viewing or download by clicking here:

November 1 

The past couple of months have been eventful. After more surveys and with more financial information at-hand, we made the difficult decision to demolish the school building that is in the rear of the property. We had intended to stabilize it, but we now believe that the cost of stabilization and renovation would be similar to the cost of demolition and a (future) new building. And we would have needed to insure the stabilized school building, which would have cost a fortune. Demolition and patching the rear will allow us to invest more money in the main building in order that congregants and visitors can experience changes immediately. We are also excited to report that fundraising has brought in around $100,000 from external sources. To those donors, thank you so much! And if anyone is looking to make an end-of-year charitable gift, we would be humbled to receive your support.

January 24, 2024 

We now officially own 2147 Auburn Avenue! Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! An explanation and more updates to come…

January 31 

Pardon the delay, but here is a quick explanation on what has been going on. The outgoing congregation decided that it would be wise to change how we were undertaking the transfer of the property; addressing the school building and repairing the steeple were no longer conditions of ownership. Once we made this pivot, we realized that there were a few issues with the deed that needed to be addressed. For example, there was a gap in the historical record, but a wonderful archivist was able to find a receipt of sale from the 1880s in order to fill in this gap, but this took a few weeks. We are still finishing up some of the paperwork, but the property is in our name.

February 6, 2024 

We are working with an architectural firm called Champlin. They are working with us to create a master plan and will guide us forward in the repair and renovation process. It looks like we will be demolishing the school building, as the main building has sufficient space for our current and future needs and goals. While careful planning is wise, it has slowed down the process of renovation. We hope to begin renovation work in the next month or two. Perhaps by the summertime we will be able to welcome RMS service teams and apply our own elbow grease.

February 13 

We have been circulating a survey with respect to our new church name. As you may recall, our new property is well-outside Cincinnati’s westside, so we will have to rename our church. We anticipate a new name being selected on February 20, at our next council meeting. But up to this point, congregational input and feedback and the deliberations of council have led us to select the following finalists: Ascension, Covenant, or Trinity.

February 25 

Our council has adopted the new name, Ascension Reformed Church. We presented the following to our congregation to explain our rationale.

The Ascension was Jesus’s royal enthronement. He went up to take His Messianic throne. To name your church Ascension is to celebrate Jesus as King.

The Ascension is the reason that the church exists in its present form and shape. Our King is no longer here, so we are pilgrims who live with a heavenward posture. Because we don’t see Jesus directly, we meet Him in the means of grace.

The Ascension of Jesus captures the final hope of Mankind, entrance into Glory. We were created to Ascend to God. And we celebrate that Jesus paved the way. The Church and all creation will Ascend into Glory on the last day. Lift up your hearts; we lift them up to the Lord. Because of the Ascension.

Naming a church after Christ’s Ascension is a very ancient practice. We wanted a name that is rooted in the Christian tradition, especially as we enter an old building.

In terms of Reformed history, the Ascension has been especially important. If you look at our Catechism, there are more questions and answers on the Ascension than on any other part of the Apostles’ Creed.

We were not only mindful of our theology and our denomination; we also spent time surveying church names in Cincinnati. We found a large number named Trinity and Covenant (our other two name finalists). The same could be said about many other names that were semifinalists, e.g., Grace. But there are only two churches in Cincinnati Metro named Ascension. This will help us stand out and be remembered.

Insofar as we can tell, there is only one other English-named church called “Ascension Reformed Church” in the entire world. Not only are we the only ones in our denomination, but we are also the only ones in all of NAPARC.

As we have been meeting with our architectural firm, one thing that has continued to emerge is our church’s appreciation for worship that is transcendent and cognizant of mystery. The name ‘Ascension’ helps us capture that liturgical priority, as we direct our hearts and minds heavenward.

Finally, Ascension is an active concept that is very positive, even for secular people. To descend and go down is negative, while ascending and going up is positive. So even if people don’t associate the word with Christ’s Ascension, it is a positive term that suggests hope for something better.

March 13, 2024 

Public records now indicate that the property is officially in our name.

April 5 

We are now implementing our new name, Ascension Reformed Church. This will soon be reflected in a new logo and website.

May 2, 2024 

External donations have now eclipsed $160,000. Thank you to our donors! We are in the process of hiring a general contractor. Once this occurs, we will be ready to get rolling with the demolition of the school building and asbestos remediation.

June 1, 2024

We had our first workday on the property. We divided into various teams and did the following: (i) organized the historical documents for various destinations; (ii) emptied out the cabinets and set up tables for a forthcoming rummage sale; (iii) cleared out the sanctuary balcony; (iv) landscaped the front and pulled vines off the sides of the building.

June 3 

We had a kickoff meeting with our architectural firm, general contractor, engineers, and others who will be helping with this renovation project.

July 9, 2024 

Please pray for us. We will soon submit an application to the city that will allow us to demolish the school building. We need to apply for this since we sit inside a historic district. We have no reason to think our request will be denied, but we request your prayers nevertheless.

July 30, 2024 

We have submitted our application to the city’s conservation board. Our hearing is scheduled for Monday, September 9. We have applied to demolish the school building in the back of the building

August 3, 2024 

We had a great meeting with our general contractor. Phase 1 (preparing for move-in) will begin in early October with the demolition of the school building and end in early March, 2025. We need to raise $100,000 (pledged) over the next two months to do this work. Donations need to be received by the end of 2024.

September 2, 2024 

As we await the public hearing with the City of Cincinnati (Sept. 9), we are cleaning out the property and raising support. A group workday is scheduled for September 14. Our general contractor will take-over in October.

September 9, 2024

Our city’s board of historic conservation voted that our proposed plans are appropriate. This allows us to get the necessary permits and begin demolition in October. Praise God!

September 14, 2024

We had another congregational workday on the building. We boxed items for donation, organized the last sale items, pulled up and disposed all the old carpet, and emptied junk out the basement.

October 25, 2024

This past month has been very eventful. The school building is nearly demolished, and asbestos is almost entirely removed from the facility. Pictures are added daily to our Facebook page.

Here is an overview of what has happened in the past two weeks (click for pdf).

November 7, 2024

The demolition of the rear school building is finished and asbestos has been removed from the fellowship hall ceiling and floor. Unfortunately, as we prepared to welcome our first RMS volunteer team, we discovered more asbestos - this time in the basement and rear stairwell. We anticipate this being abated in the next couple of weeks. Thankfully, our first RMS volunteer team will still be able to get started. They will undertake some demolition within the fellowship hall - bringing down some interior walls and old ducts. Later in the month, once the rest of the abatement is complete, a subsequent RMS team will undertake demolition in the basement, tearing out plaster, old walls, sub-flooring, and a drop-ceiling.