FAYETTEVILLE, GA - On April 15, 2012, five individuals received the Sacrament of Confirmation at Church of the Holy Cross (CEC) in Fayetteville, GA. Four others, who were previously confirmed in another Communion, were received as members. The Rev’d Canon Paul Massey, founding Vicar of the church, presented the new members to be confirmed or received. The Sacrament was administered by The Most Rev’d W. David Epps, Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of the Mid-South. According to denominational statistics, Holy Cross has doubled in attendance during the past two years. A church dinner followed the service.

NAIROBI, KENYA - In this distance, drums and the sound of people singing “What a friend we have in Jesus…” can be heard. The Patriarch of the ICCEC, Archbishop Craig Bates, accompanied by his wife Cathy, Bp. Bernard Njoroge and several others made the journey through the muddy and slippery streets to the CEC parish located in Nairobi’s Kibera slums.

Upon arriving at St. Michael’s Parish, the Patriarch declared, “I have come from the US to tell you that the Lord loves you.”

The parishioners gathered together in the church hall to meet their Patriarch. “I have been reading and seeing the pictures of the Patriarch online, but today, I have the opportunity to see him face to face. I am very happy.” said one of the faithful.

The Patriarch’s visit gave the parishioners much hope as they felt the love of God through the Patriarch, who committed to walk down the muddy corridors of the slums to reach out to them and celebrate the Holy Eucharist with them.

The Parishioners could not hide their joy as they welcomed the Patriarch to their ‘shanty’ church. They were very delighted and took photos of the patriarch using their phone cameras so that they could share with those who were not present at the church when the Patriarch visited.

“This is a day worth remembering in the history of this parish following the praiseworthy visit by the leader of the CEC in the world and celebrating mass and sharing in the Lord’s table right here in this church in the middle of the slums.” Said Bp. Bernard Njoroge.

In his Homily, the Patriarch quoted Romans 5: 5 “…and hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” He stated that as strong Christians, we need to grow with Faith, Hope and Love because it’s only through these three pillars that we are promised of all the blessings from God.

The Patriarch celebrated the Eucharist at St. Michael’s and enjoyed a day of fellowship with the congregation. He prayed his blessing over their continued work reaching out to the least, the lost and the lonely of Nairobi.

Additional pictures of the Patriarch’s visit to Kibera can be seen on the Official ICCEC Facebook page at : www.facebook.com/ICCEC

BURUNDI, AFRICA - On Friday, April 6th, Bp. Nitonde Dieudonné of Burundi ordained five men to the Priesthood. Due to the difficulty of traveling in the region, the Bishop’s journey required several days. Writing about the trip, the Bishop reported “The ceremonies were wonderful, and there were many faithful in attendance.”

Bishop Nitonde was accompanied on his trip by Fr. David Ndaruseheye, pictured above with the Bishop.

Here are the Daily Office Bookmarks for April, 2012.

April Bookmarks

Birmingham, AL — CEC For Life and several other groups within the Birmingham pro-life community organized a press conference this morning to call on the state of Alabama for the immediate closure of the New Woman All Women abortion clinic.

As many are aware, this clinic will surrender its license on May 18, 2012, as a result of a two-month long investigation opened after two of its patients were overdosed on vasopressin during abortion procedures and rushed to the hospital on January 21, 2012.

That investigation rendered a 76-page deficiency report which should have led to a hearing in April regarding the revocation of the clinic’s license. However, the owner, Diane Derzis, negotiated a consent order with the state in which the clinic would surrender its license voluntarily on May 18.  In exchange, there will be no hearing, no further investigation, and the clinic may remain in full operation until May 11, 2012. (more…)

MALVERNE, NY - As I write this it is Tuesday of Holy Week. It is one day before we at Intercessor begin the special liturgies of Holy Week culminating in the Great Feast of the Resurrection. It has been said many times that the events we recall this Holy Week are the central aspects of the Christian faith. Without the cross and the resurrection there is in fact no Christianity. But more importantly the historic and factual crucifixion and resurrection are the key events of all of human history. It is the moment in time when God has brought all of creation unto himself. It is the fullest and complete revelation of the love, mercy, and forgiveness of God.

Several years ago, after many years of longing, I traveled to Krakow, Poland to visit the tomb of St. Stanislaw of Szczepanowski the patron Saint of Krakow. St. Stanislaw was Bishop of Krakow in the early eleventh century. He was known for preaching, spiritual wisdom, and as a leader in reforming efforts in the Church. He eventually incurred the enmity of King Bolesluas the Bold and denounced the King for cruelties and injustice. Eventually St. Stanislaw excommunicated the King and stopped a Mass in the chapel when the King entered. Boleslaus himself killed St. Stanislaw while the Bishop was saying Mass in a chapel outside the city on April 11, 1079.

Not growing up Roman Catholic, I had little knowledge of this famous saint and my interest grew in him after reading a biography of John Paul II. As many know John Paul II came to the papacy from his episcopate in Krakow. The early life of John Paul II is fascinating. Like many great men of God he was one familiar with human suffering, his own and that of others. He grew up under the Nazi regime and then served in the Church of Poland at the time of communist reign. His words of faith and hope in the Risen Christ inspired many who led the non-violent overthrow of communism in Poland. The life of St. Stanislaw had a tremendous influence on John Paul II and on the lives of many in the resistance movement to both Nazism and Communism. It was these experiences and John Paul’s faith in the Risen Christ to proclaim over and over again to the people – Be not afraid.

Of course all of must recognize the great spiritual, theological and social leadership of John Paul II. He leadership is especially important to many in the Pro Life movement. Not only did he remain steadfast in his opposition to abortion but also was a voice for the sanctity of the family. His work “The Theology of the Body” will perhaps be recorded as one of the best theological works of the 20th century. John Paul II will be remembered as one of the great spiritual leaders of the century. And, we can expect that Rome will canonize this great man from Krakow.

We arrived in Krakow in the late fall and during the first evening of our visit it snowed slightly. Our hotel was right across from the old city not far from the Cathedral and the residence of the Cardinal. Looking out the window early in the morning and gazing at the new fallen snow is a memory that I cherish. Since Krakow was not bombed during World War II many of the buildings were old. There was an operational trolley car just below our window. Across the street was a Church – an old medieval building. It was early in the morning and yet the streets were filled with people heading off to work and school (a university is nearby). We had a brief Polish breakfast and headed off to Mass. It was midweek and when we entered the Church I was shocked to discover that it was filled with worshippers. This experience occurred over and over again in every Church we entered. No matter what time of day the Churches were filled. But filled not with elderly women saying prayers, but filled with young men and women caught up in prayer or in the Eucharist. Poland unlike other nations of Europe had a faith that was alive.
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NAIROBI, AFRICA - St. Michael’s parish of the Charismatic Episcopal Church in Nairobi’s Kibera slums had a rare guest on Sunday April 1st 2012. Bishop Bernard Njoroge and his wife Helen Njoroge joined the faithful in celebrating the first Palm Sunday in the slums and it was a great joy for the congregation.

St. Michael’s parish was opened last year after when Fr. Collins Kayo (current parish priest) and Fr. Daniel Kimuli (Parish Priest-Christ the King, city center) realized that most members of the CEC could not afford to attend the city center mass each Sunday for lack of bus fare hence. There are plans in the works to add additional CEC parishes around the city of Nairobi to enable more people to attend services. Since its opening last year, St. Michael’s parish has seen huge growth in attendance as well as its ability to minister effectively to those in the community surrounding the church.

In his homily, the bishop challenged the congregation to continued evangelism. The Bishop’s wife, Mrs. Helen Njoroge could not hide her joy as she addresse the congregation. She spoke very strongly about the church’s need to empower women and she comitted to working with the women of Kibera to this end. Mrs. Njoroge’s verse of the day came from Isaiah 43; 1 “… I have called you by name, you are mine.” She reminded the people of Kibera of God’s love for them and gave them more hope.

The bishop and his wife contributed a percentage of the whole year’s rent for the hall that the CEC parish is renting while the parish leadership continues looking for a larger space within the slums to construct their own church. “It will cost us around Kshs. 500,000 (US $ 6,250) to have our own piece of land within Kibera and construct our own church where we will not pay any rent” said Fr. Collins, the parish priest.
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In the late Fall of 2011, Bishop Elmer Belmonte and the Pro-Cathedral Church of St. John the Apostle, Madrid, Spain hosted a Healing Seminar and Healing Mass. The seminar was conducted by Canon Mark Pearson, President of the Institute for Christian Renewal and pastor of Trinity Church in Kingston, New Hampshire. During the Mass, there was a particular instance where a lady who could not raise her right leg and who had pain in her lower back was instantly healed.

The following week Canon Mark traveled to Estonia and conducted the same healing seminar for the Parish of St. Stephen, in Estonia’s capital of Tallinn. The next day he celebrated the Mass at St. Batnabas Parish in Parnu, in southern Estonia, and also preached in Tallinn. People lined up for healing ministry in both places, and Canon Mark was also able to connect and minister to the parishioners in Tallinn on a more personal level.

WASHINGTON D.C. - Fr. Martin Eppard and members of Good Shepherd, CEC, Ellicott City, MD. joined Rev. Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition and hundreds of other Christians for “Encircle the Court with Prayer.” On the eve of the landmark healthcare case, hundreds of Christians joined at the High Court to pray for the Supreme Court Justices, the lawyers, the President and the Congress.

Thirty-three hundred flowers were left around the perimeter of the court as a prophetic witness to remind the Justices of the 3,300 babies who are aborted each day in America. Fr. Eppard and other members of the National Clergy Council, lead the group in prayers. Facing the Supreme Court they prayed for each Justice by name. Then turning to face the Capitol across the street they prayed for the members of the Congress and Senate. Focusing further down Pennsylvania Ave. They also prayed for the President.

ORLANDO, FL - The Charismatic Episcopal Church of North American House of Bishops met from March 6-8 at the Cathedral of Saint Dismiss in Orlando, Florida. The CEC Military Chaplains joined the House of Bishops meeting on March 8th and held their clergy conference on March 9th. The meetings began each day with the celebration of the Eucharist. Fr. James House delivered the homily each day, encouraging those present in their ministry within the CEC.

The Bishops in attendance were : Archbishop Craig Bates, Archbishop Charles Jones, Bp Eugene Lily, Bp. Michael Davidson, Bp. Doug Kessler, Bp. David Epps, Bp. David Simpson & Bp. Gregory Ortiz. Fr. James House and Fr. Chris Keough also attended the meetings.

The House of Bishops discussed and passed the following statement with respect to Israel and the Jewish people :
We, the Bishops of the CEC-NA call upon the people of God to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6)
We affirm God’s special love for Israel and the Jewish people as his chosen people.
We denounce the evil of anti-semitism.
We affirm the right of Israel to exist as a sovereign people and nation.
We affirm that the Federal Government of the USA should stand firmly for Israel and against all attempts to destroy them as a sovereign nation.
We affirm that Jesus Christ is the Messiah as prophesied in the Old Testament, and proclaim with the apostle Paul that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God for salvation to the Jew first and then to the Gentile (Romans 1:16)

Archbishop Bates discussed the ministry of CEC for life and again reiterated that the CEC is a pro-life denomination, not simply a denomination with a pro-life ministry. Fr Terry Gensemer, director of CEC for Life, was unable to attend the HOB due to an injury; prayers were offered for his recovery. A report of offerings to CEC for Life was given including the total offering collected, the number of churches participating in the offering and the clergy and churches who became members for 2012. Abp Bates asked all the Bishops to help all the people of the CEC to see the connection between life, the Gospel and the Eucharist.

Archbishop Bates asked that the Bishops emphasize the the need to send articles in for CEChome.com so that the entire denomination can share in the good things happening throughout the church.

Bishop David Epps was appointed as pastoral leader of the Military Chaplains. Bishop Epps’ leadership and experience in chaplaincy will bring a new and critically important energy to the CEC Military chaplains.

PETERSBURG, VA - Father Michael Pacella III of Saint Andrew’s Church, Petersburg, Virginia has been invited to present a paper at an International Conference devoted to the life of Saint Gregory Palamas (1296-1359) in Thessaloniki, Greece. The invitation was extended by the Orthodox Institute of Christian Studies, Cambridge, England. The OICS is a full member of the Cambridge Theological Federation, U.K.

Father Pacella submitted an abstract and was given approval by his tutor at the Institute, Dr. C. Athanasopoulos to present his paper at this conference. The International Conference will be held in Thessaloniki, Greece and will focus on the Philosophical and Theological significance of St. Gregory Palamas 7-15 March 2012.

The topic of Fr. Michael’s paper will be “Aquinas and Palamas—did they draw from a common Christian heritage concerning theological anthropology i.e. (the harnessing of the passions and the cultivation of the virtues)?”

Fr. Michael’s intention for embarking on this subject matter is an attempt to bridge the gap of theological thought between the East and the West in this critical area of study. He and his wife Doreen live in Williamsburg, Virginia, and have 5 children, and 2 grandchildren.

JACKSONVILLE, FL - Saturday, February 18, was a momentous day for the people of Church of the Messiah. Bishop David Simpson, Ordinary of Florida, joined with the people of Church of the Messiah and several clergy from throughout the Diocese, in order to bless and consecrate Church of the Messiah’s new property. In May of 2007, Church of the Messiah sold their previous property and entered into a five year period “in exile.” The congregation has been meeting in the Sam R. Marks Chapel at Jacksonville University ever since. In October 2011, Fr. David Paysinger, Rector of Church of the Messiah, in consensus with his Rector’s Council and Bishop, purchased the congregation’s future home on St. John’s Bluff Road North. The property was heavily forested and had never seen any construction. It was such “virgin territory” that no postal address was ever assigned and the congregation would have to wait two weeks to learn of their new home’s mailing address. Of course, that did not prevent the congregation from visiting the property. “For the last four months we have had prayer walks, prophetic intercessors’ meetings and work days on the property all leading up to this blessing and consecration,” reported Fr. Paysinger.

The service began in the late morning with a seventy per cent chance of rain. While back-up plans were in the works, Fr. Paysinger faithfully declared, “We are in the thirty per cent!” There was no rain that morning as Church of the Messiah processed onto their property. The first stop was the unveiling of the new signage declaring the property to be the future home of Church of the Messiah. Bishop Simpson blessed the sign and prayed that it would be a testament to those who drove by and that people would be led to the Lord because of it. Next Bishop Simpson celebrated the Holy Eucharist on the property, a true sign and symbol that the Kingdom of God was being established there. The people received the Body and Blood of Our Lord and then celebrated the first pot-luck lunch on the premises, by God’s grace, the first of countless to be celebrated on those grounds.
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WAKEFIELD, MA - On Saturday, February 18, Christ the King Church in Wakefield, Massachusetts became the newest mission in the CEC.

The Most Reverend Craig Bates celebrated the Holy Eucharist and ordained Pastor Michael Carl to the priesthood and received the church as a mission of the Charismatic Episcopal Church.

The Patriarch said in his sermon that the process has been a healthy one.

“I don’t like to use the word journey, but it has been. It’s been a long time coming and today is the fulfillment of that vision,” the Patriarch said.

Christ the King Church had its first worship service on Sunday, August 2, 2009 with an outdoor service at an area park. From the beginning, the church has had a youth group, a men’s ministry, a women’s Bible study and an adult Bible study.

Christ the King Church officially began the process to join the CEC in 2010 with visits to CEC parishes in New Hampshire, Maine and New York.

Additional photos of the event are available here. Photos by Laurie Hunt.

by Bishop David Epps

I spent several days this past week with a few good men. No, it wasn’t a Marine Corps reunion, although the men I shared a week with have many of the qualities and characteristics of Marines I have known. No, this was a gathering of priests who serve as pastors and who came to Orlando for a church growth conference. But these were not just any kind of pastors and this was not just any kind of conference.

The gathering was not a large one, only about twenty priests. The churches served by the men are not large, the church with the greatest Sunday attendance being about 130. Some congregations were as small as a dozen in attendance. Nearly all of these men were church planters—pioneers who have endeavored to scratch out a new church where none existed before. They are, for the most part, well educated and nearly all of them are bi-vocational—that is, they have a full-time job that meets their needs while they attempt to pastor their church.

They came from all over the country: the West Coast, the Midwest, New England, the South, Canada…and they paid their own way, came at their own expense, and used their valuable vacation time to attend. They were optimistic about their church’s future and seemingly not prone to much discouragement. One author has written that, five years after entry into the pastoral ministry, 80% of pastors leave the pastoral role. They may stay on as associate ministers, counselors, or work for other non-profits, but, if the statistic is true, a candidate for the Navy SEALs has a better chance of becoming a full-fledged SEAL than does a pastor successfully surviving beyond his first half-decade.
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NAIROBI, KENYA - African College Education Fund (ACE Fund) beneficiary Gordon Okumu obtained an internship at Seed Magazine, a Christian magazine published throughout Africa.

His first assignment was an interview with Italian dancer, choreographer, actress Simona Atzori. Simona was born with no arms and uses her feet for tasks such as writing, drawing, grooming and eating. You can view videos of her dance on YouTube. Gordon’s interview will be published in the March edition of Seed Magazine.

Mr. Okumu is a Mass Communications (Journalism) student at Multimedia University in Nairobi, Kenya. This internship keeps him on-course to graduate with a Diploma (equivalent to an Associate’s Degree in the US) in August of this year.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Gordon serves as webmaster and publicist for the Diocese of Nairobi, Episcopal Church of Africa (ICCEC), and is founder and chief editor of the Messenger Magazine, a periodical of the diocese.

The goal of the ACE Fund is to provide educational assistance to men and women with the potential to contribute to the building up of their churches and communities. Depending on the need and on available resources, financial assistance ranges from specific grants to full scholarships covering all academic expenses and a stipend toward living expenses.

Gordon receives a full scholarship covering living and academic expenses through the ACE Fund, a ministry of the CEC International Development. For information about the ACE Fund, or to make donations, see http://www.cecdevelopment.org/ACE.html.