St. Francis Bulletin
From the Rector
Fr. Len Giacolone
Parish Meeting, November 2
For those of you who were present at the Parish meeting on September 7, we indicated to you at the time that there would be a meeting at the mid-point of the search for a new jurisdiction. Doug Cooper’s committee has been working steadily since then to narrow the options for selecting a new jurisdictional home. Those options will be presented at the meeting after the 11:00 am service. I believe that at this point we are looking at eight possibilities, which may be narrowed even further after November 2. You were also promised a report on the present state of the Anglican Church. You will find that report from Phoebe Hughes elsewhere in this newsletter.
Also at the meeting we will be discussing the progress being made on our new church facility. You will also be receiving a letter from the Senior Warden and chair of the facilities committee, Mark Rambin, with detailed information about that. Further, we will be speaking about the Pledge Drive for the coming year. I do realize that these meetings are not convenient for everyone, especially if you attend the early service. There simply isn’t an easier way to have a parish meeting. So, I encourage you to try to be there on November 2. We need your input so that we can make decisions that are the best decisions for everyone in the parish.
PSAs
This is the first of two public service announcements in this column. Daylight Saving Time ends officially at 2:00 am Sunday morning, November 2. On the evening of November 1, please turn your clocks back one hour so that you will be on time for church and the parish meeting.
Some New Books
It has been a while since I have recommended books to you but I have a pair of them that you might find interesting. The first is John Hagee’s
The Four Bloods Moons. John Hagee, as you may know, is the pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. He has written numerous books about biblical prophecy and about Israel. The premise of this book this that God sends us signs in the heavens that portend events and that the blood moons (two of which have already taken place with two more to come next year) are signs of something that God intends to do. He is not prophetic enough in this book to be specific about what these celestial signs are indicating. But the research in the book is quite interesting and informative. I will in give my usual disclaimer here. Just because I think you might be interested in the book doesn’t mean that I agree with all of its content. For instance, I don’t think there will be a rapture, and Hagee does. It is interesting how people can use exactly the same Scripture texts to “prove” two exact opposites.
The second book is Rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s
The Mystery of the Shemitah. You will remember Cahn’s
The Harbinger which I told you about a couple of years ago. In this book, Cahn takes one of the chapters from
The Harbinger and expands it to book length. Without going into a lot of detail here, he once again applies the history of ancient Israel to what is happening in our time. There is an extraordinary amount of detail in this book and it is somewhat repetitive in spots. But it is definitely worth reading and digesting. We live in very interesting times.
There will be a Holy Communion Service on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 27 at 10 am. There will be no Evening Prayer that day.
Final PSA
If you haven’t already voted, please do so on November 4. These days it seems like each election is more important than the last one. I believe early voting runs through October 31
A Bit of History
Phoebe Hughes
As you know, we are in the midst of finding a new home after leaving the Episcopal Missionary Church (EMC). Perhaps It might be helpful to take a look at who we are, where we came from and the possibilities for the future.
We identify ourselves as "Anglicans", so what does the word Anglican mean? Well, it is from the Latin, ecclesia anglicana, which translates to " English church". So what makes the church English? If you asked the people in a village in southwestern England called Gastonbury, they would tell you that it began with Joseph of Arimathaea in the first century AD when he came to England. He is said to have visited this village and struck his staff into the ground where it took root, grew into a thorn tree the descendant of which still grows in the church yard. But whether it was Joseph or others who brought Christianity to the land of the Celts, it came and grew, to the north and to Wales, to Ireland and to Scotland so that when, in 597, Pope Gregory sent Augustine to convert the pagans, he found an established church, the Celtic Christian Church. It was not too many years later when in 664, for the sake of unity, the Celtic Church came under the authority of the Pope.
And so it existed for nearly a thousand years. But things were changing in that part of the world. Because of the conflicts with the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant Reformation began to take hold in the western world. England had its own problems with the Vatican which ended when, in 1534, The Act of Supremacy abolished the Pope's authority in England and the church in England became the Church of England . With the Church of England came the Sacraments, the Historic Episcopate, the Creeds and The Book of Common prayer as the center of its worship.
Other things were beginning to change in the world. There were new lands to go to and opportunities to follow. People went to the "new world" and settled, England began building an Empire, and where ever the English went the Church went with them. New churches were divided in Provinces under the titular leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury. So from North America, India, Africa, Australia, all around the world by the beginning of the 20th century the Anglican Church had around eighty million members, making it the third largest Christian communion in the world, only after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
The Anglican Province in the USA had taken the name The Protestant Episcopal Church because it had bishops. Though it was one of the smaller Christian denominations in the US, it contributed a great deal to the country, with members including twelve presidents. However, beginning around the middle of the 20th century, it seemed to many that in a perceived need to keep up with the liberal leanings of the modern world, the existing Episcopal churches "had increasingly accommodated and incorporated un-biblical, un-Anglican practices and teaching." Many left their various churches to join what are known as "Continuing Churches", wanting to continue the pure religion "As once delivered to the saints".
The first group leaving the Episcopal Church, the Reformed Episcopal Church, actually left in the late 19th century. They felt the church in America was getting too "catholic". The groups now appearing were Forward in Faith in North America (defending the catholic tradition), Anglican Mission in America (mission), The American Anglican Council (defending orthodoxy), The Anglican Communion Network (organization), The Convocation of Anglicans in North America (missionary district). In 2004 this group, along with the Anglican Coalition in Canada, the Anglican Network in Canada and three African Convocations joined together to form The Common Cause Partnership. The Common Cause mission was to assure orthodoxy, renew mission, create unity and build relationships.
Meanwhile the Anglican Churches in Africa had grown to have the largest number of members in the Anglican world. Some of the churches who left the Episcopal Church were reaching out to Africa and South America for Episcopal oversight. Because of jurisdictional limits, this caused trouble. And Africa was feeling the effects of the modern world , so in 2008 over one thousand participants from around the world gathered in Jerusalem for the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) and established a Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. They affirmed The Jerusalem Declaration. They also issued this statement: "We believe the time is now ripe for the formation of a province in North America for the federation now known as Common Cause Partnership to be recognized by the Primates Council" of the Anglican Communion. So the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) was formed. Today this province has twenty-nine dioceses with around one thousand congregations and close to one hundred and twenty thousand members. These divergent diocese are held together by adherence to the Constitution and Canons of the ANCA and the Jerusalem Declaration.
Other Anglican churches had also been formed. In 1992 the retired bishop of Dallas and Fort Worth, the Rt. Rev. Donald Davies, left the Episcopal Church to form the Episcopal Missionary Church. The Anglican Province of America, whose present structure was erected in 1998, now has three dioceses, sixty congregations and six thousand members, the Anglican Province of Christ the King has four dioceses, the Anglican Catholic Church with eighty-eight parishes in the United States, etc.
All of these provinces and diocese are being studied closely to see if they fall within the requirements of St. Francis, which are true to the Orthodox Faith. Their Constitutions, Canons, and Mission Statements will be read. The proximity of their headquarters and number of churches in Texas will be considered.
So here is our challenge, to find a home from this large number of possibilities. Your input, questions and comments are welcome, and particularly your prayers- that we will find a place where we at St. Francis will be able to do what God has called us to be and to do, to the best of our abilities , while remaining true to this One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Sunday School News
Missy Bernard
The younger class has been exploring the story of Noah and learning about the church year in their study of Ecclesiastes 3:1. We began the second unit of the fall curriculum on October 26th, called The Beginning of God's People, which opens with Abraham and Sarah. The kids get along so well, and especially seem to love games that help illustrate the stories they are learning.
Doug Cooper continues to work with the older class.
Operation Christmas Child Boxes
Missy Bernard
Thank you for your shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child! Please keep them coming!
Since 2002, the St. Francis youth have packed shoe boxes for the Operation Christmas Child program sponsored by Samaritan's Purse. Packed with toys and other welcome items and a Gospel message, the boxes go out to needy children all around the world, Since 1993, Samaritan's Purse has sent 69 million boxes to children in more than 130 countries! If you haven't seen their website before, please take a look at http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/.
By the time you are reading this newsletter, you should have received a letter from the youth in the Sunday School classes at St. Francis about donating items or funds to go into the shoe boxes. Your help is needed to provide the contents for the boxes or to make a donation toward the organizer's recommended donation of $7 per box to fund shipping.
St. Francis parishioners have been so generous in the past, and packing the boxes is a great highlight each year for the children. Please consider helping out. It is easy to do! At the back of the worship space (and at the online link above) you will find a list of suggested items needed for the 60 boxes we hope to pack. Items for the boxes are needed by November 16th, as the youth will be packing boxes on November 23rd. If you have any questions, or if you'd like make a donation by cash or check, please feel free to contact me. Thank you!
5th Sunday Activities
Amy Crandell
November is the last month in 2014 with five Sundays. As is customary, there will be a potluck luncheon after the 11:00 service on November 30. Plan to bring a dish to share and enjoy the company of your St. Francis friends.
On the same day, from 3:30 -4:30 pm, a small group will gather at the Retirement and Nursing Center at 6909 Burnet Lane for an hour of hymn singing, prayers and Bible readings. Please come and check out this outreach activity of St. Francis.
This will all be repeated in March 2015.
Anglicans for Life
Phoebe Hughes
At the Anglicans for Life October meeting, it was decided that we would adopt a client from Austin Pregnancy Resource Center for Christmas. This means giving a gift card to a needy mother in order to help her and her family have a good Christmas. We plan on raising $400.00 for this purpose and will be glad for any help to reach our goal. Our group is most thankful for any contribution received.
Our next meeting will be on Sunday, November 16, after the 11:00 service, and everyone is invited to join us. This will be our last meeting until January, hope to see you then. AND, don't forget that we are still collecting diapers, sizes 3,4 and 5. You have been very generous. They are much needed and appreciated.
Prayer Walk
Amy Crandell
The monthly prayer walk is on November 1st. Join us in the fellowship area at 9 am for a time of prayer before heading out to the neighborhood northeast of the church. We choose a few streets to walk along and periodically stop to pray as the Holy Spirit moves us. We are finished by 11:00 am
Newsletter Submissions
Newsletter articles are gladly accepted for inclusion in the next month's newsletter. E-mail to amytcrandell@gmail.com by the 20th of the month.
