‘Weekly Post. Anno Domini 2024 September 14

Beloved of the Lord:

Today is Saturday, 14 September, in the year of our Lord 2024. The scheduled services are as-follows:

• Saturday (today): 5:00 PM, Sung Mass, Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
• Sunday: 8:30 AM, Mass, Trinity XVI.
  10:00 AM, Mass, Seven Sorrows of the BVM.
• Monday: 10:00 AM, Mass, S. Cyprian, Bishop & Martyr.
• Tuesday: 5:30 PM, Mass, S. Hildegard, Virgin & Doctor.
  6:30 PM, Sung Evensong.
• Wednesday: 12:10 PM, Mass, Ember Wednesday.
• Thursday: 6:30 PM, Mass, S. Theodore of Tarsus, Bishop & Confessor, followed by Soup & Study.
• Friday: 9:00 AM, Mass, Ember Friday, with the Gregorian Canon.
  Immediately following, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Saturday: 5:00 PM, Mass, Ember Saturday.
• Sunday: 10:00 AM, Mass, Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Patronal Feast, visitation of Bp. Nalls, Confirmations.

Tomorrow, at the 10:00 Mass, Danny Head will receive the Rite of Holy Baptism. He will become the newest member in the family of Christ that is Saint Matthew's Parish. Please join us as we welcome him.

A week from tomorrow will be a banner day for our Parish. Bp. Nalls will make his first annual visitation, to help us celebrate the Feast of our Name Day, Saint Matthew. Also on that day, we will have a number of Confirmations. That will be a most joyous day for us!

On that Sunday, 22 September, there will be ONE MASS, AT 10:00. After Mass and Confirmations, we will have a pot-luck in the Parish Hall. 'A day of feasting, in several senses, to be sure.

In lesser news, on Wednesday evening, the House of Bishops for the Convocation of Anglican Churches unanimously elected me as the Suffragen Bishop to the Archbishop. Last night, the National Council confirmed the election by their unanimous vote. The canonical process is thereby completed.

I AM NOT LEAVING SAINT MATTHEW'S! Inasmuch as I am already on the Archbishop's Staff, my obligations to the greater Church will not be much more than they are now. Weekday travel will occasionally be necessary, but I see no reason that there should be any disruption to our Sunday services.

I have requested, and received approval from the Archbishop, for 21 December as the date for the Consecration. Anciently, Priests and Deacons were only Ordained at the Ember Seasons; I see nothing amiss in making a similar requirement of Bishops. Further, that will be the date of the Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle and Martyr; an additional and happy benefit of the day, it being my name-day.

The Consecration will take place at Saint Matthew's. The 21st will be a Saturday, this year. Details have yet to be fixed, but I imagine a 10:00 AM starting-point, so as to finish the overall festivities in-time for those who are also travelling on that day. As things are finalised, more precise information will be distributed.

I ask your prayers on my behalf, as I undertake another, deeper level of sacrifice for Holy Mother, the Church. There are those who focus only on the pomp and prestige of becoming a Bishop. Holy Scripture warns us against such.

For my part, though I do not think it a terrible thing, it does entail the assumption of greater burdens in the service of our Lord. Less of my time and energies will be mine, to spend as I please. The reduction of my will ~ I must diminish, so that He may increase ~ can be only a good thing. Perhaps, someday, the 'I' shall vanish, leaving only the perfect grace and love and peace of the good and faithful servant, when I reach that distant shore. I remain

in His praise,

The Venerable T. L. Crowder, Bishop-Elect

Pastor, Saint Matthew's Parish