About Ascension · Georgia, Vermont
Ascension Church is a Roman Catholic mission church in the small town of Georgia, Vermont, in the rural northwest corner of the state. It belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington and, after a long period as a separate mission, was merged with nearby St. Luke Parish in Fairfax. As part of that 2020s realignment, Bishop John McDermott announced in his 2026 pastoral letter that Ascension will be further paired with St. Ann Parish in Milton. The parish's Sunday Mass is celebrated in its small, west-facing church whose rear altar window frames the Adirondack Mountains, and whose community life centers on prayer, faith formation, and a notable joint prison-card ministry with St. Luke.
- Established
- 1968
- Patron
- The Ascension of the Lord
- Rector
- Fr. Curtis Miller (Pastor of St. Luke & Ascension, as posted on the diocesan parish page)
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington
Why belong here
Ascension offers the small, intimate character of a rural Vermont mission church: a tight-knit community where most members know one another, a Sunday Mass celebrated in a quiet chapel whose altar window frames the Adirondacks, and a parish family that has built real outreach — most visibly the joint prison-card ministry with St. Luke, which delivers prayer cards to roughly 200 inmates at Northwest State Correctional Facility twice a month, and faith-formation projects like the St. Nicholas card initiative for Kurn Hattin children. Worshippers who value a contemplative setting, faithful preaching, and concrete works of mercy tend to feel at home here.
Mass times at Ascension
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday at 8:00 a.m. (Ascension church, before the 8:30 a.m. Mass)
Adoration times
- Adoration is offered at the partner church, St. Luke in Fairfax, on Tuesdays from 4:00 p.m. through the 5:00 p.m. Mass.
History of Ascension Parish
Ascension Parish was founded as a Catholic mission in 1968 to serve the small rural community of Georgia, Vermont, in the northwest corner of the state. For its first two decades the congregation had no church of its own and worshipped in the local elementary school. In 1988 a permanent church was finally built at 3157 Ethan Allen Highway and dedicated on the Feast of the Ascension that year. The building was deliberately oriented west so its altar window could frame the Adirondacks, with a statue of the ascending Christ placed toward the rear of the worship space. The parish was later administratively merged with St. Luke Parish in Fairfax and, in a 2026 diocesan realignment, will be further paired with St. Ann Parish in Milton.
- Founded as a mission: 1968
- Masses originally celebrated in the Georgia elementary school
- Current church built and dedicated in 1988 on the Feast of the Ascension
- Merged for pastoral care with St. Luke, Fairfax
- 2026 realignment: to be paired with St. Ann Parish, Milton
Prison-Card Ministry
Ascension's most distinctive outreach is its joint prison-card ministry with St. Luke Parish in Fairfax. Founded by Ascension parishioner Jean Danis Gilman during her diocesan Lay Formation studies in 2020, the ministry has delivered roughly 100 hand-prepared cards twice each month — about 200 a month total — to every inmate at the Northwest State Correctional Facility since October 2020. Volunteers add Scripture and encouragement to pre-printed cards, sign them 'Your friends from Ascension Church or St. Luke Church,' and most importantly pray over every card before it is sent. Inmates at the facility are also added to the parishes' weekly prayer lists.
- Started: October 2020 by Jean Danis Gilman
- Recipients: ~200 inmates at Northwest State Correctional Facility
- Cadence: ~100 cards delivered twice monthly
- Partner parishes: Ascension (Georgia) and St. Luke (Fairfax)
- Every card is prayed over individually before sending
Faith Formation & Religious Education
Religious education at Ascension, directed by Heather Nielsen, has emphasized service-learning projects that connect local students with children in need. The parish participates in the diocesan St. Nicholas Project, with students in grades 3-4 making handmade cards and students in grades 5-8 writing in purchased cards for children at Kurn Hattin. The program is also used as an opportunity to teach children about the corporal works of mercy.
- Director of Religious Education: Heather Nielsen
- St. Nicholas Project — Kurn Hattin cards (grades 3-8)
- Used to teach acts of mercy to students
Marriage Preparation & Sacramental Life
Ascension participates in the Diocese of Burlington's pilot of the 'Witness to Love' marriage catechumenate, a mentor-couple program that walks engaged couples through Catholic teaching and faith practice in the months before the wedding. Fr. Henry Furman, a former pastor of St. Luke and Ascension, was among the diocesan priests named in the program's pilot launch. Baptisms, marriages, anointing of the sick and other sacraments are arranged through the parish rectory.
- Witness to Love marriage catechumenate (pilot parish)
- Mentor-couple model used for engaged couples
- Sacramental arrangements through the rectory: 802-893-2487
Clergy & Pastoral Leadership
Ascension has always been served by clergy shared with neighboring parishes, beginning with visiting priests from St. Luke in Fairfax when the mission was first founded. In recent decades the parish has been pastored jointly with St. Luke: Fr. Henry Furman served as pastor until he was reassigned in 2021, when Fr. Karl Hahr was appointed pastor of 'St. Luke Parish, Fairfax, and Ascension Mission, Georgia' effective July 1, 2021. The current diocesan parish record lists Fr. Curtis Miller as Pastor of St. Luke and Ascension Parishes. Following the bishop's 2026 pastoral letter, Ascension will be reassigned away from St. Luke and paired with St. Ann Parish in Milton.
- Pre-1988: visiting priests from St. Luke, Fairfax
- Fr. Henry Furman — pastor of St. Luke & Ascension (through 2021)
- Fr. Karl Hahr — pastor from July 1, 2021
- Fr. Curtis Miller — current diocesan-listed Pastor
Diocesan Realignment (2026)
In his 2026 pastoral letter, Bishop John McDermott announced that Ascension Church in Georgia will be re-paired with St. Ann Parish in Milton, effective with priest assignments in June 2026, while St. Luke in Fairfax will be linked with St. Mary in Cambridge. The change is part of a broader effort in northwest Vermont to better utilize available priests and avoid burdening any one priest with excessive responsibilities, while preserving the worshipping life at Ascension's church building.
- Bishop John McDermott's 2026 pastoral letter
- Ascension paired with St. Ann, Milton (effective June 2026)
- St. Luke paired with St. Mary, Cambridge
- St. Luke-Ascension pastoral link ends after 2026
Visiting Ascension Church
Ascension's small west-facing church at 3157 Ethan Allen Highway is open around its scheduled Mass times, and visitors are warmly welcomed. The defining visual experience is the western picture window behind the altar, which frames the Adirondack Mountains across Lake Champlain — a setting that has become a touchstone of the parish's identity. The parish is rural, with on-site parking and limited public transit access.
- Address: 3157 Ethan Allen Highway, Georgia, VT 05478
- On-site parking available
- No regular public transit; arrive by car
- Confession: Sunday 8:00 a.m. before Mass
- Adirondack-view altar window is the visual centerpiece
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Unknown (mission served by visiting priests from St. Luke, Fairfax)1968–c. early 1980s
Between the 1968 founding and construction of its own church in 1988, Ascension had no resident priest; Mass was celebrated in the local elementary school.
- Unknown (resident pastor following 1988 dedication)1988–c. 2018
Parish operated with its own worship site after the 1988 dedication; pastor names in this period are not documented in publicly available sources.
- Fr. Henry Furmanc. 2018–2021
Identified in Vermont Catholic magazine (Spring 2019) and other diocesan coverage (2019–2020) as pastor of St. Luke Church in Fairfax and Ascension Church in Georgia; active in marriage-preparation (Witness to Love), preaching, discipleship and door-to-door evangelization.
- Fr. Karl Hahr2021–c. 2024
Announced in 2021 diocesan realignment letter as pastor of St. Luke Parish, Fairfax, and Ascension Mission, Georgia effective July 1, 2021. Presided at the April 2023 funeral Mass of longtime Ascension parishioner William 'Bill' Arnold Greenwood.
- Fr. Curtis Millerc. 2024–present
Currently listed by the Diocese of Burlington as Pastor of St. Luke and Ascension parishes, with parish operations coordinated through the St. Luke website (stlukevt.org).