The Washington Soloist Ensemble (WSE) members consist of professional singers, conductors, pianists as well as amateur singers who pass the audition process.
The group has performed at the Kennedy Center, George Mason , University of Maryland and other local community centers and institutions.ย Established in 1993, the WSE has been an integral part of the Korean diaspora that has represented Korean culture in the United States through music.
The group has performed in numerous key events over the years including the Centennial of Korean Immigration to the United States. By harmonizing the choral artistry of Korea and the United States, the groupโs music resonates with the heart and leaves a lasting impression. Over the years we have performed over 75 concerts in total.
This concert will feature an orchestra as well as the singers.ย It will celebrate 80 years of Korean independence from Japanese colonial rule, a process culminating on August 15, 1945, with the end of World War II.
From a historical perspective, Christianity didnโt start with Jesusโ birth, his death or even his storied ascension to heaven. It started with Pentecost โ the day the โHoly Spiritโ entered a room holding Jesusโ apostles and entered each of them, an event which โ as my minister uncle tells me โ โmakes the church the church.โ
Although Pentecost is chock full of religious significance, it is a holiday not widely celebrated. Sort of the opposite of Hanukkah, which is widely celebrated but not religiously important. My uncle says Pentecost is a bigger deal in liturgical churches, which follow a formal, standardized order of events (like Catholics). โNon-liturgicalโ refers to churches whose services are unscripted (like Baptists).
Back Story: At his Last Supper, Jesus legendarily instructed his 12 disciples to go out into the world to minister and heal the sick on their own. It was at that point that they became โapostles.โ Fifty days after Jesusโ death, as the story goes, the Holy Spirit (part of the Holy Trinitity โ God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit ) descended onto the apostles, making them speak in foreign tongues. This โPentecostalโ experience allowed the apostles direct communication with God, which signaled a major shift in the religious landscape and laid the foundation for what would become Christianity. Youโll notice that the disciples are always depicted in artwork as regular-looking men while the apostles are depicted with halos around their heads. (Several other apostles came later โ namely the famous Paul who is credited with writing much of the New Testament.)
Although all the original 12 apostles are important, some get top billing. Hereโs why:
Peter (also called Simon Peter) established the first church in Antioch and is regarded as the founding pope of the Catholic church. Instrumental in the spread of early Christianity, Peter was said to have walked on water, witnessed the โTransfiguration of Jesusโ and denied Jesus (for which he repented and was forgiven.) The Gospel of Mark is ascribed to Peter, as Mark was Peterโs disciple and interpreter.
John also is said to have witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus and went on to pen the Gospel of John, the Epistles of John and Book of Revelation. He died at age 94, having outlived the other apostles โ all of whom, according to legend/history/whatever, were martyred. John is often described as โJesusโ favoriteโ and depicted as the disciple sitting to Jesusโ right at the Last Supper.
Thomas (โDoubting Thomasโ) is best known for questioning Jesusโ resurrection when first told of it. According to the Bible, Thomas saw Jesus himself several days later and proclaimed โMy Lord and my God,โ to which Jesus famously responded: โBlessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.โ (John 20:28.)
For many, Ascension Day will go relatively unnoticed. Forty days after Easter is just another day with many of us in our ordinary routines. The event it celebrates, however, is an important episode in the life of Jesus that the church has regarded highly through the years.
Luke tells the story of Jesus’ ascension both at the end of his gospel (Luke 24:50-53) and the beginning of his writing about the early church (Acts 1:9-11).
Our creeds affirm the Ascension as a central doctrine of the Christian faith. Theย Apostles’ Creedย reads, “he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” Theย Nicene Creedย similarly states, “he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
Wesley also retained language about the Ascension as part of theย Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church, which he edited from the Church of England. Echoing the creeds,ย Article IIIย states, “he ascended into Heaven, and there sitteth until he return to judge all men at the last day.”
Charles Wesley, John’s brother and hymn writer of the early Methodist movement, published a pamphlet of sevenย Hymns for Ascension Dayย in 1746 and several more hymns on the Ascension that appear in other volumes of his work.
Today, many United Methodist congregations recognize Jesus’ ascension during regular worship services on Ascension Sunday, the Sunday immediately following Ascension Day.
“Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise”
Interestingly, we have no sermons on Ascension Day from John Wesley, and hisย Explanatory Notes on the New Testamentย offer no commentary on the account of the Ascension in Acts and little on the verses in Luke. Most of what we know about the Wesleys’ teaching on the Ascension comes from Charles’s hymns.
Ourย United Methodist Hymnalย contains a Charles Wesley hymn titled “Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise” (312). The lyrics for this hymn, an adaptation of Charles’s “Hymn for Ascension-Day” published inย Hymns and Sacred Poemsย (1739), offer insight into the importance of this day.
Charles begins acknowledging the Ascension as both the ending of Jesus’s physical presence on Earth and his return to his rightful place in heaven.
An important celebration
While much of the world may see Ascension Day as just another Thursday, United Methodists can celebrate. With John and Charles Wesley, we remember that Jesus ascended to heaven where he took his rightful throne as Lord of the whole earth. Though he is not bodily present, he continues to love us, and longs to receive us into the presence of God to dwell with him throughout eternity.
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