St. Francis Bulletin

Sunday, May 20, is Pentecost Sunday and Bishop Iker will be here for his annual visitation and to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation for some of our members. While I don't know the exact number yet, there will be three or four who will be confirmed. It is a wonderful blessing that we can celebrate confirmation on the feast of the giving of the Spirit to the church. As of this writing no one has informed me that he or she wishes either to be received into the Anglican Communion from another jurisdiction or to renew their commitment to the Anglican branch of the Christian faith. There is still time, but it is growing short since I need to inform the diocese of the number of certificates I need for the above rituals. Please contact me immediately if any of the above applies to you.

Recently, Nancy and I were in Fort Worth to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Bishop Iker's consecration as a bishop. (I believe the actual date is April 24). On Sunday, April 22, Good Shepherd Sunday, several hundred people gathered at St. Andrew's in Fort Worth for Solemn Evensong. Archbishop Foley Beach preached at the service. That was followed by a dinner at the Ridglea Country Club in the see city. One of the reasons our congregation chose to be part of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth was because of Bishop Iker's fidelity to the faith once delivered to the saints. He is recognized throughout the church for his faithfulness and courage in the face of an ever growing secularism in the church.

Along those lines, you may know that the Diocese of Fort Worth has been in a legal battle with The Episcopal Church over its property since it separated from TEC in 2008. The diocese recently received word from the Second Court of Appeals that the property should stay with TEC. This decision came as a complete surprise to everyone who has been following this case. Three years ago, the Texas Supreme Court instructed the Court of Appeals to decide the case according to neutral principles of law, rather than preferential principles which are often used to decide cases involving internal church matters. According to the attorneys for the diocese, the appellate court completely disregarded the instructions from the Supreme Court and decided the case according to preferential principles. In a statement released by Bishop Iker shortly after the decision, he said that he expected that the final decision would ultimately be made by the Texas Supreme Court. However, this will take more time (probably another two years) and more money (who can possibly know how much) before it is finally over. The matter has now been in the courts for ten years at a cost of several million dollars. Fortunately most of that cost has been paid by insurance. We need to continue to pray that the courts will decide in our favor, and quickly, although nothing seems to move very quickly in the courts. This has happened in a number of dioceses across the country where the diocese has decided to leave TEC. In many of those cases which have been won by TEC the property sits empty. They aren't using it because they have no one to use it. Will the madness never end?

Closer to home, the church is now equipped with security cameras both inside and out. The system is able to be monitored remotely and will give us the ability to have eyes on the property even when no one is there. It was payed for by a generous parishioner and many thanks go to Jim Britt and David Norris for arranging for and spending long hours seeing to the installation of the cameras. I, too, spent not a little bit of time on this project.

Thursday, May 10, is Ascension Day, a day of obligation. We will have Holy Communion at 12:00 noon on that day. Please try to attend.

May 2018, Volume 25, Issue 5

From the Rector

Fr. Len Giacolone

Camp Crucis

Diocese of Ft. Worth Women's Congress

St. Francis Groups & Activities