Church of the Ascension

My dad was a Baptist minister and an artist. His drawings of churches would appear in notebooks and on church bulletin covers, and spires would peek up from behind hills in his paintings. Perhaps this is why I am drawn to church buildings and the familiarity of arches, stained glass, and steeples. Growing up in various churches, we were always the first to arrive and the last to leave. While my parents carried on chatting endlessly to parishioners after Sunday services, my siblings and I had unprecedented access to explore these ornamental buildings from another age.

The Church of the Ascension has stood like a gatehouse at the north end of Echo Drive for more than 100 years, its Arts and Crafts style an indulgence left over from a building that previously stood at Main Street and Colonel By Drive.

Old Ottawa East has a rich ecumenical past with a patchwork of distinct church buildings defining its streets. Walking by this church, experiencing the season’s first snowfall, I was warmed by thoughts and memories of my parents and the many churches they served.