‘Weekly Post. Anno Domini 2024 June 25
Beloved of the Lord:
It is good to be back! I was at the West Coast for ten days, visiting family and friends. 'Many thanks to Deacon Collins and our Master of Ceremonies, Jim Elsnau, for insuring that the service schedule carried-on whilst I was away. The currently scheduled services are as-follows:
- Tuesday (today): 6:30 PM, Mass, monthly parish Requiem.
- Wednesday: 12:10 PM, Mass, SS. John & Paul, Martyrs.
- Thursday: 6:30 PM, Mass, S. John Fisher, Martyr, followed by Soup & Study.
- Friday: 9:00 AM, Mass, S. Irenaeus, Bishop & Martyr, with Gregorian Canon.
Immediately following, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. - Saturday: 5:00 PM, Mass, SS. Peter & Paul, Martyrs; Fr. Crowder's Priestly anniversary.
- Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 AM, Mass, Trinity V, commemorate S. Paul, Apostle & Martyr; monthly Parish Brunch following 10:00 Mass.
The monthly Parish Brunch will follow the 10:00 Mass, this-coming Sunday. We will leave the Parish, and meet nearby, at the Crab Shack, which is at the foot of the James River Bridge. Please join us, even if you attend the 8:30 service ~ come back, and break the fast with us!
I usually employ this space to relate theological, historical, or spiritual topics. However, this week, there are pressing, local matters that affect us all, and must be made-public. Rather than a sermon, these matters were largely presented Sunday, at both services. For those who were not there, here is the gist of what was said.
Several years-ago, after lengthy, numerous, and growing dissatisfaction with the ACC, our Parish, along with others, voted to leave the ACC. Initially, as was the historical precedent with other parishes in these circumstances, we clergy assumed that we would continue as ACC clergy. Without any previous attempt at communication, Bp. Lerow threatened all of us with Deposition, if we did not abandon our Cures. We refused, sought another ecclesial home, and were welcomed by Abp. Thomas Gordon, of the Orthodox Anglican Church.
Things appeared very well, initially. Over time, questions began to arise about the Church leadership, but these were never made public, as the seeming good-will and christian fellowship was enough to cover the concerns that were had. On 23 April, this year, Abp. Gordon, without any conversation-with or preparation-of the greater Church, resigned at 12:07 in the morning. A midnight resignation being extremely unusual at best, and highly suspect, at worst, much-less one that was a complete surprise to every member of the Church, clergy and lay, a firestorm of speculation and questioning was ignited.
Several amongst the clergy thought it best to bring the questions, that had simmered for some time, into the light, at the approaching General Convention. We prepared two motions: one to remove the finances from the control of the Abp., a state of affairs that exists in no other genuine Anglican Church, by electing a lay-member of the Church as Treasurer. The second motion was to nominate Bp. Nalls as a candidate to replace Abp. Gordon, who was clearly intent upon having his nominee as the only candidate, thereby depriving the Church of any sense of an actual election, from amongst a field of qualified clergy. Once he discovered that we intended to bring these questions into the light, for all to see and hear, at the General Convention, and before we'd even had the opportunity to formally present them, Bp. Nalls, myself, Fr. Westcott, Deacon Collins, and the Parishes of S. Matthew's and Church of the Epiphany were all summarily removed from the OAC by Abp. Gordon.
Several other parishes and their clergy left the OAC, when they discovered what had been done to us. Additionally, Abp. Barton of the Convocation of Anglican Churches, when he heard the news, immediately removed his jurisdiction from the OAC. All of the aforementioned have now joined, under the aegis of the CAC, in common-cause to serve the Christ in the Anglican tradition.
The best, however, was yet to come. The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, which left the Episcopal Church years-ago, was also watching these events. Their Bishop, The Right Reverend Ryan Reed, called Bp. Nalls, and over the course of the conversation, suggested that we join-together in serving our Lord. He asked Bp. Nalls to write a Concordat of Inter-communion, which Bp. Nalls did, in one page (text below). This Concordat has now been signed by both parties, and has been made public by the DFW.
To my knowledge, this is the first such Concordat into which the DFW has entered. It is an extraordinary honour to have been asked and accepted as partners with the single largest Anglican Church in the United States. We are now on the greater front of the battle to preserve and promulgate the Anglo-Catholic faith.
Returning to local matters, as a result of the integration of parishes and clergy into the CAC, Abp. Barton asked that I accept the rank of Archdeacon, in the position of Vicar General for the CAC. With all due humility, I accepted. A new Diocese, Diocese of the Epiphany, will be delineated, and will have Bp. Nalls as its Ordinary.
Things are accelerating, and will likely continue to do so. History is beginning to move, and we are at the beginning, I believe, of a rising current in the life of Holy Mother, the Church. The choices we have made, resulting in the path we currently tread, will enable us to swim, if not guide, this wave of history. May Jesus, the Christ, be glorified in all that we are and do. I remain
in His praise,
The Ven. T. L. Crowder, Vicar General
Pastor, Saint Matthew's Parish
Articles of Ecclesiastical Fellowship and Concordat of Communion
WHEREAS the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and the Convocation of Anglican Churches, adhere to the Old and New Testaments as the revealed Word of God; the Ecumenical Creeds; the Historic episcopate, priesthood and diaconate; and the historic Anglican liturgies, and further adhere to the doctrine, discipline, and worship set forth in the Articles of Religion of 1801, the Chicago (1886), and Lambeth (1888) statements of the Lambeth Quadrilateral and in acknowledgement of the Articles of Ecclesiastical Fellowship known as the Bartonville Agreement (1999); BE IT UNDERSTOOD THAT:
Article I. As evidence of our fellowship in Christ and the shared Standards of Faith existing between the above-named Jurisdictions, a delegation of clergy and laymen may be sent as observers to each other's Synods and/or Conventions.
Article II. Clergy and/or congregations of the above-named Jurisdictions shall not transfer their connection to the other without the mutual assent of the appropriate authority of said Jurisdictions.
Article III. The ecumenical officers of each Jurisdiction pledge to meet at least once a year to discuss ways of establishing a full confederation of traditional Anglican Jurisdictions in the United States.
Article IV. Recognizing they are working together in the same great cause, and on the same basis the above-named Jurisdictions pledge to each other their mutual communion (communio in sacris) cooperation and support by agreeing to foster growing fellowship among their respective congregations through joint youth events, spiritual retreats, charitable initiatives, worship services, and other godly activities.
Article V. Inter-Communion (communio in sacris) has the following three cardinal points:
- a. Each party recognizes the catholicity and independence of the other, and maintains its own.
- b. Each body agrees to admit members of the other to participate in the sacraments.
- c. Communion does not require from either party the acceptance of all doctrinal opinion, sacramental devotion, or liturgical practice characteristic of the other, but implies that each believes the other to hold all the essentials of the Catholic faith
THIS, the 5th Day of June, 2024, being the Feast of St. Boniface, at Fort Worth, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Amherst, Virginia.
