July/Aug 2018 Newsletter

Transcription

1 July/Aug 2018 Newsletter Inside this issue: Inside Story 2 Inside Story 2 Inside Story 2 Inside Story 3 Inside Story 4 Inside Story 5 Inside Story 6 Inside this issue: GAFCON 2 Bishop s Calendar Renew Conf Testimony Confirmations, Cloudcroft, NM ReVive Invite 5 New s 6 Save the Date-- Synod GAFCON Jerusalem, Israel Reflections on an Ancient/ Future Faith Proclaiming Christ Faithfully to the Nations Jerusalem: The crowded streets of the Via Dolorosa, the constant prayer at the Wailing Wall, the steps to the Temple where the Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost, the lonely silence in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. A city of vibrant life, young people, and crowded markets. A city whose future is built on the stones of the past. A city whose rich past is captured on the Temple Mount. The site of Solomon s Temple, Herod s Temple, the Dome of the Rock Mosque, and the place where Christ declared, Tear down this temple and I will rebuild it in three days. So much happened on this small rock. Muslims look to the Dome of the Rock as connected to the creation of the world and home of the rock from which the Prophet Muhammad started his journey to heaven. Jews look to this site as the place where God gathered the dust that he formed into Adam, the site where Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac only to have God provide the Lamb. The site from which countless lambs were sacrificed in the Temple. And Christians see but a short walk to Calvary where the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world. So many pilgrims have come to this place, have walked on these stones, their eyes always looking backwards, trying to catch a glimpse of the holiness that once shared this place. I saw this backward glance in the tomb within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There is only room for three or four people in the center of the tomb. One ducks low to enter. There is a slab where Christ s body laid after it had been taken from the cross. I couldn t get into the room as there were three young ladies weeping as they knelt before the slab. Their warm tears falling on the cold stone. They were seeking, crying, longing for Christ to come to them in that place. Their gaze was backwards. And the words came to me, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is Risen. In John s Gospel, Jesus then quickly sends Mary to Go to my brothers and tell them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. How quickly Jesus turns all eyes forward and sends the witnesses to his resurrection into the world. Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to all creation. -Mark 16:15 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always. -Matthew 28:19. It is good to spend time in the tomb. It is good to look backward, and hold onto the truth that Jesus died for our sins, but he also rose from the dead. It is good to hold onto the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 1:3) But the Church will die if we do not also obey our Lord and turn our eyes forward and go. To only look backwards is to hide our light in the darkness of the tomb, to hide it under a bushel, to disobey the Lord s call to go to the brothers and even to the end of the world. It is this paradox of changing the future with the love of Christ, while holding onto the truths of the past that makes Anglicanism so precious. In Jerusalem, the cry of GAFCON over and over was, We will proclaim Christ faithfully to the nations. Anglicans look backward in our liturgy, the Creeds, and the Authority of God s Word. Our faithfulness is rooted in the faith that was once delivered. In our hearts we know, that we must pay close attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it, for this message is reliable, and how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? -Hebrews 2:2-3 GAFCON is faithful because it looks backwards, but it is also a future movement. It is obedient to Christ s command to Go. Anglicans do not stay in the tomb. We do not stay in Jerusalem. We are spreading to Samaria, to Australia, to Africa, to Canada, to central and South America, and even to the ends of the world. This year in Jerusalem we looked back and remembered. We remembered the pain many of us have felt because we stood for the Gospel. We remembered the times when the truth of the Holy Spirit broke through, such as in the formation of the Jerusalem Declaration. But most of all we spent time remembering that Jesus, the only Son of God died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead so that we could become the Children of God, and citizens of his kingdom, and that we could lead lives of holiness in his name. It is the proclamation of this truth that will change individuals and thereby change the world. Our future rests in the wounded hands of Christ. And so we left Jerusalem to build the future and Proclaim Christ faithfully to the nations.

2 Page 2 ADSW does GAFCON Snapshots from the Bishop The Bishop s Upcoming Adventures July 26 GAFCON presentation at Wellspring Anglican July 29-Aug 11 Vacation with family Aug 12 Celebration of Fr. Hal Scott s new ministry at ACGS Aug 13 Meeting with the Rev. Bonnie Brown Aug 15 Standing Committee Meeting Aug 17 ADSW Clergy Gathering 11am-2pm, St. Clement s Aug Reception & Ordination Committee (ROC) Interviews Aug Visit Seminario de todos las naciones Sept 4-6 College of Bishops meeting Rio Rancho, NM Denver, CO San Angelo, TX Lubbock, TX ABQ, NM El Paso, TX El Paso, TX Juarez, Mexico Long Beach, CA

3 Page 3 Renew Conference by Nancy Griffin, Church of the Epiphany Photos credit: Joan Manley & Noel Collins

4 Page 4 Confirmations at Church of the Epiphany, Cloudcroft, NM July 8 We had a wonderful confirmation service at the Church of the Epiphany in Cloudcroft. Everything was going fine until the middle of my sermon. What started as a distraction of rain on the tin roof tuned into the roar of a mighty locomotive as the heavens opened and the rain began to fall in buckets. We also were surprised by an inch of hail. Fortunately, after a few minutes the sound decreased to a mild roar and I was able to finish. Still, not a soul complained as is the custom in the west when rain falls. I had the pleasure of confirming two lovely young people. Alonzo and Taryn are the grandchildren of The Rev. Frank Wilson who is helping Father Fred and Nancy at Epiphany. Following the service we had a lovely potluck of chicken and beef brisket. If you find yourselves near Cloudcroft on a Sunday morning, I highly recommend that you worship at Epiphany at 10 in the morning. They have been blessed with a truly lovely church and it is filled with handmade art from its stained glass windows to its cross and altar. Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. -Please pray for the Rev. Barby Brenner (of Christ Church, Farmington) and her sister Ginny, whom she is going to help through back surgery recovery. Barby asks our prayers so I can be an effective witness for Christ as she is not a Christian. -Lift up Gus Haddad, diocesan staff, who is having surgery today and requests prayers for quick, full recovery -Keep in prayer candidates for ordination who will undergo Canonical Examinations in the next couple months. Pray against nerves, for retention of information, good application of it, for rest and encouragement. -We praise God for the grandbabies recently born into the families of Rev. Thomas McGee of Christ the King and of Bishop Mark -Lift up Synod that it would be a good time of fellowship and learning under Bishop Flavio for the whole diocese. -Thank the Lord for the VBS this week at our church in Fresnillo. We pray alongside Meredith and those helping that the Lord was glorified and that many kids would come to know Christ and continue in relationship with Him.

5 Page 5 Invitation from Fr. Thomas, Christ the King, ABQ, NM Sept 7-8, 2018 Dear Colleagues in Christ, 9 July 2018 I invite you to join Christ the King for a Revive Workshop hosted by Christ the King and presented by the American Anglican Council on September 7 and 8 th. Rev. Canon Mark Eldridge will be our guest presenter. The ReVive! Workshop seeks to provide practical strategies for personal and church renewal. In addition, ReVive! presents an opportunity for all ACNA churches in our region to join in fellowship, learn, and discuss strategies to help every church. The Revive workshop will have 5 sessions: Renewal of Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength. Vision and Values Insist on Congregational Health Vital Strategies Enacting the Vision We gather on Friday evening, Sept. 7 th, for dinner and worship and close on Saturday at 3 PM. Most of the cost of the workshop has been donated by Christ the King, so we are able to offer this workshop for only $50 per church. We ll be contacting you shortly to talk to you about ReVive! In the meantime, if you have any questions, please give me a call (505) or me frthomas@ctkabq.org Please start praying about ReVive! I hope you ll attend with a team from your church. Yours in Christ, Tho mas R. McGee Rector, Christ the King Anglican

6 Anglican Diocese of the Southwest P.O. Box Albuquerque, NM Phone: Have a praise, prayer request, event, photos or other communication you would like in the September Newsletter? Please send all relevant information by August 24 newsletter@anglicansw.org We ve got some new addresses, please change them in your address books! Bishop Mark Zimmerman: Gus Haddad, Mission/Finance/Operations: Noel Collins, Communications/Admin: bishop@anglicansw.org gus@anglicansw.org noel@anglicansw.org ADSW SAVE THE DATE!!! 2018 Anglican Diocese of the Southwest Synod September 20-22, 2018 El Paso, TX Speaker: Bishop Flavio of Brazil