‘Weekly Post. Anno Domini 2022 September 6

Beloved of the Lord:

To-day is Tuesday, 6 September, in the year of our Lord 2022. The scheduled services are as-follows:

• Tuesday (today): 5:30 PM, Mass, Feria of Trinity XII.
  6:30 PM, Holy Rosary, Sung Evensong.
• Wednesday: 12:10 PM, Mass, S. Evurtius, Bishop & Confessor.
• Thursday: SERVICES CANCELLED.
• Friday: 9:00 AM, Sung Matins.
• Saturday: SERVICES CANCELLED.
• Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 AM, Mass, Trinity XIII, Commemorate SS. Protus & Hyacinth, Martyrs.

We are now in a busy period, which will take us to the end of this calendar year. In two-day's time, Avery Collins and I will depart for Black Mountain, South Carolina, to attend the Fall Clericus of the OAC. The theme of the Clericus is Meet Your Mother, Mary. September having no-fewer than four Marian Feasts, this is a most timely topic.

As a result of the Clericus, there will be no services on either Thursday (including the monthly men's Morning Prayer and breakfast) or Saturday of this week. The time will remain the same for the Friday service, though the service itself will be changed, of-course. The Sunday schedule, as-always, will remain intact.

Archbishop Gordon will make his official visit to Saint Matthew's in less-than two-week's time. He and his wife, Jan, will be here not this Sunday, but the next, 18 September. On that day, we will celebrate the Feast of Saint Matthew, transferred from its proper date to a Sunday, as-is our custom. There will be one service, at 10:00 AM. He will bless and dedicate our new steeple, and will Confirm Giada McReynolds. After the service, there will be a pot-luck luncheon, in the Parish Hall.

We are also just-over sixty days from the General Convention. In-light of both The Archbishop's visit, and the 'Convention, we are making a number of improvements to our building and grounds. The interior renovations are largely complete. Those on the exterior should be completed before his visit. We will also be cleaning carpets, and de-cluttering, in the mean-time.

A state of homogeneity within a Parish can be both boon and bane. To the good, unity of spirituality, outlook and expression can create an island of calm in our lives, which is ~ in-part ~ what Holy Church had always ought to be. On the bad, we can feel ourselves too free to comment on the socio-political events and trends of the day, which can be off-putting to new members and visitors. Generally-speaking, these things do not concern us, here. Our salvation, and all that it entails, is what we come here to be about, and we must be wary of straying too far outside these bounds.

I've personally witnessed visitors to our Parish, upon hearing someone making strident social commentary during the coffee hour, leave our midst, never to return, even-though they'd visited several times. Some issues, which directly contravene God's law and ways, are appropriate to be discussed. However, whilst in our Church, the best and most fit conversation is our faith, and how we may employ it to love and bring EVERYONE with us, to God's grace, and His Heaven. I remain

in His praise,

The Rev'd Fr. T. L. Crowder

Pastor, Saint Matthew's Parish