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Bishop Neil Welcomes our newest member Parish!
St. Raphael's by the Sea,
Fort Myers Beach, FL
| The Rev. Alice Marcrum, Rector
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Following a decision by the Vestry to leave the Episcopal Church, The Rev. Alice Marcrum contacted the Rev. Jim McCaslin about the possibility of her transferring from TEC to the Gulf Atlantic Diocese and that St. Raphael's would like to move out as well. The wheels were put into high gear to facilitate both moves and as of August 2nd, they were notified that both transfers are now complete.
They have now left their TEC church building and will begin worshiping in a nearby United Methodist Church until more perminent arrangements can be made.
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| | Anglican1000 is an initiative of the Anglican Church in North America to raise
up Anglican congregations and communities of faith across North America
to reach people with the transforming love of Jesus Christ.
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Mini New Wineskins
Saturday August 21st
9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
St. Barnabas recently had 8 of our folks return from New Wineskins
at Ridgecrest in North Carolina with a burden for mission, evangelism,
and a re-introduction of the ministry of healing in our own parish, and
in our diocese. For those who were unable to attend New Wineskins, as
well as those who share this same passion, St. Barnabas plans to offer a
series of events over the next 12 months, beginning with a session on
healing.
This initial event on healing will take place on Saturday, August 21st, from 9:00 AM until around 3:00 PM at St. Barnabas Anglican Church
(in the parish hall), 3754 University Club Blvd., in Jacksonville. Our
guest speakers will be the Rev. Dr. Pete Wait and Dr. Shirleen Wait,
and Mrs. Linda Strickland, of Christian Healing Ministries. A
continental breakfast & lunch will be provided. There will be no
cost for this event; however, an offering will be taken up for those who
would like to help with the cost. In order for us to plan for the
food, & best set up the room, please RSVP to Keith Howard, at
607-5937, John Eason at 465-2263.
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
3754 University Club Blvd
Jacksonville, FL
Speaker:
Rev. Dr. Pete Wait
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Click the Logo to redirect to the site.  |
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| Why should I sign?
Because it is Important for the Church. The central concerns of the Manhattan Declaration - Life, Marriage and
Liberty - have been treasured and defended by biblically guided churches
throughout history and across traditions. The Manhattan Declaration
courageously addresses these vital issues of our day with principles
that are consistent with the best values of the historic church. There are currently
462,365
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Early North African Christianity
| Carthage by the Sea  | | |
During Roman
times Christianity flourished in what is now Tunisia. Despite fierce
persecution, the voices of church fathers Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine
emerged from Carthage
and framed much of Western religious thought and tradition. Today, Tunisia
is a safe country with a stable government and economy, as well as modern
hotels and transportation. The thriving tourism industry welcomes nearly 8
million visitors a year. Tunisia
is on the north coast of Africa about 100 miles from Sicily.
Engaging
Cultures Travel welcomes you for an exclusive study tour exploring the legacy
of early North African Christianity. The Rev. Dr. Leslie Fairfield, professor
emeritus of church history, will join us for a series of dynamic lectures and
guided readings to bring the story to life.
About our expert
The Rev. Dr.
Leslie Fairfield was educated at Princeton and Harvard, and for thirty years
taught Church History at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA.
He has studied the early centuries of Christianity, and has a special interest
in the flourishing Christian communities in Roman North Africa.
Dates: October 15-24, 2010
Cost: $1650
land fee (4- 5-star hotels, all meals, entrance fees included, single
supplement extra)
Academic credit is available
Passengers must
arrange own airfare to Tunis/Carthage International Airport.
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Trinity School for Ministry Presents:
| Garden of Gethsemane  | |
Early Christianity
in the Holy
Land
January 8-23, 2011
Lecturer:
The Rev. Leslie P.
Fairfield, Ph.D.
Professor of Church History,
Emeritus, Trinity School for
Ministry, Ambridge, PA
Tour Host:
Dr. Theresa
Newell,
Trinity
Shoresh Study Tours, Jerusalem
What happened to Christians
in the Holy Land after the fall of Jerusalem
in 70 AD, and its destruction again in 135 AD? Did the Christian movement leave
the Holy Land behind?
Not at all.
Capernaum Synagogue  |
Join with me in exploring
the New Testament roots of Christianity in Galilee and Jerusalem,
and then tracing the life of the early Christians in the Holy
Land down the centuries until the coming of Islam in the 600s. We'll
look at all the important First Century sites, but we won't stop there!
Tour Price from
Philadelphia, PA:
$3,726.00 based on double occupancy
Land Only Price:
$2,470.00 based on double occupancy
Single
Supplement $680.00
For more
information and details about the tour contact :
Dr. Theresa
Newell Email:
tnewell@tsm.edu Phone: (800)
874-8754 Ext. 277
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E412 Ministries
| Click Logo to View Site  |
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"For
the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up
of the body of Christ." Ephesians 4:12
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The Communiqué
August 2010 Newsletterof the Gulf Atlantic Diocese |
Bishop Neil  | Alleluia. Christ is Risen!
I am excited to see where the Lord Jesus will lead
us in the days ahead as we continue our ministry together in this new Gulf
Atlantic Diocese. We will be sending out regular email newsletters to enable us
to be more faithful in the Lord's call for us to be servants in his everlasting
kingdom. Please pass this information on to all who are part of our diocese.
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Bishop Neil G. Lebhar
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Resources &
Seeds for Thought
Dear Gulf Atlantic Family,
Greetings in our Lord Jesus Christ!
By the time this is published I will be concluding my sabbatical. Reporting
on a sabbatical always feels a little like the "What I Did on Summer Vacation"
papers we all wrote at the beginning of each fall. It was easy to be envious or
triumphant depending on how I had spent my time in comparison to others in the
class. So instead of describing my travels, let me share some resources and seeds
for thought coming from my sabbatical time.
Because of my brief time in Egypt, I have become more interested in the
conflict between Islam and the West. Let me highly recommend Bernard Lewis'
brief but tremendously helpful historical analysis of that conflict entitled
The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror. Lewis traces the Click Image to Order  |
historical roots of the current conflict that go back well before the state of
Israel. We need to know some history if we are to understand and pray more
effectively for those on the Church's front lines in the spiritual conflict with
Islam, although Lewis does not address that issue directly.
Also very enlightening is the autobiography of Mosab Hassan Yousef, The
Son of Hamas. This is an insider's view of Islam from a Palestinian Click Image to Order  | whose
father led Hamas. The story details the author's remarkable Christian
conversion. It will change views of some Mideast events forever while reminding
us of the overwhelming grace of Christ Jesus. It is a good testimony to share
with non-Christians. Because of the violence described, I would give it a PG-13
rating.
I have also been reading a great deal about where the church in America may
need to head if we are going to reach the next generation. I therefore recommend
The Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay. While I do not agree
with Click Image to Order  | some of their judgments about the American Church, they are raising the
right questions which we must tackle if we are going to plant and nourish
churches in the years ahead. Movements That Change the World by Steve Addison is also challenging.
Which leads to some seed thoughts. They are too new to be more than that. I
am coming to see that if we are going to expand the kingdom, there are three
immediate calls we must begin to heed:
1. We are called to find ways to plant churches that are primarily lay led,
especially in their initial stages. They may look more like fellowship groups
with weekly worship than like full fledged parishes in their beginnings. 2. We are called to find younger leaders and equip them for ministry, both
lay and ordained. The Lord is already ahead of us, as He has been sending many
young leaders our way in the last year. Keep your eyes open. 3. We are called to rethink evangelism as a normal way to live, loving
others and sharing the good news not primarily programmatically or in worship
services but through our ordinary
day-to-day encounters. This is what makes the
Kingdom of God tangible. This is the kind of lifestyle evangelism that Anglican
4th Day teaches, but it is a calling for all of us.
Let me challenge many of you to start praying and reading along these
lines.
Thank you for your prayers for Marcia and me for the past several
months.
In the Messiah,
+Neil
The Rt. Rev. Neil G. Lebhar
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Beginning with this issue of the Newsletter, we will feature two parishes in the diocese with an article and some pictures to help us all to better know each other.
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Christ Church Vero Beach, Florida Click the link above to view the website.
 In
May of 2008, parishioners, clergy and a majority of support staff, formerly of
Trinity Episcopal Church, decided to branch off and join Promised Land Anglican
Church. The first service was held on July 6, 2008 at 925 14th Lane,
former home to the tax collector and a thrift store. Quite a different
venue than the former church. The operational name was soon changed to
Christ Church Vero Beach. From
the first service, attendance exceeded occupancy restrictions. Creativity
and flexibility enabled the church to continue to flourish. The positive
energy was contagious to all who  visited. Satellite services were held in
the office space to handle overflow, parishioners attended an earlier less
attended service, and some chose to stay home and watch the service through a
live stream on their computers. Today,
Christ Church Vero Beach continues to experience God's blessing of faithful
followers willing to jump in and help at a moment's notice. There are currently
31 volunteer groups with approximately 470 people who lovingly serve others. A
few examples are as follows: deliver meals to recuperating members, do minor
household repairs, teach Sunday School, take part in worship services, guide
and chaperon the youth group. The church
tithes 10% from its congregational offerings to Outreach, which services
faith-based agency needs locally, nationally and internationally. An Outreach
Committee spends countless hours going through proposals each year to carefully
select the organizations that are to be supported. Christ
Church has recently called the Rev. Bill Fr. Bill Gandenberger and Wife Sue  | Gandenberger as their new rector. They
eagerly await his arrival in early September.
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Christ's Anglican Fellowship
One might expect that
a church with an average member age of 68 might be sedentary and slow, but
don't let our age fool you. We are a
small, but vibrant fellowship of orthodox believers who are actively pursuing
our Lord's call to ministry. In the past
12 months we have spent approximately 10%
of our income helping people by paying utility bills, filling automobile gas
tanks, purchasing groceries, and providing Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets
to those in need. In June, we released
our Priest to go to Uganda on mission and contributed nearly 20% of the total
costs. We actively support the Anglican
Fourth Day movement, we created a "Two-Can the Toucan" program to remind people
to bring two cans of food to church on Sundays to support the local food
bank. And beginning September 2, we will
be offering the Alpha Program to the greater High Springs Community. We make up for our lack of youthfulness with our
wisdom in planning and executing outreach to our community. Our worship space is modest, and we are
blessed with a marvelous music leader who plays piano, guitar, and organ. Sometimes, through the use of modern technology,
he actually plays all three at once. Don't ask anyone how he does it; he
somehow programs all the music to accompany him as he plays the active
instrument. We celebrate Holy Communion nearly every Sunday
at our 10:00 AM service. On the third
Sunday of the month we invite the public to join us for fellowship luncheon
after church, and in months that have a fifth Sunday, we alternate worshipping
with our brothers and sisters from Christ Church, Lake City; in August, they
will join us for worship. We offer Sunday School and child care for those
families with children who wish to worship with us. If you plan to be in the area on a Sunday
visiting any of the many state or county parks or springs, please plan to
worship with us. We are located at 323
SW County Road 778 (Oak Ridge Road) off US 441, just 4 miles north of High
Springs. For information, please write to us at P.O. Box
414, High Springs, FL 32655 or call Fr. Michael La Cagnina at 386-454-7141. Christ's Anglican Fellowship  |
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SOMA Mission
Trip
to North Ankole Diocese, Uganda
On May
21st, I had the privilege of being one of four members of the Gulf
Atlantic Diocese travelled to Uganda at the invitation of Bishop John
Muhanguzi Mtr. Travis Boline  | to lead a clergy/spouse retreat
and share ministry in two of his archdeaneries. The US team also included Clark
Smith, his wife, Carol Rogers Smith and Steve Dean, and we were joined by The
Rev. James Hende and his wife, The Rev. Enid Hende. Half of this team are old
friends: I visited Uganda 12 years earlier at was hosted by James and Enid for
that visit as well. Enid and I have kept in touch over the years and seen each
other a few times in other places.
North Ankole Diocese is one of the newer
diocese in the Church of Uganda and Bishop John is a wonderful, godly pastor to
his clergy. We were blessed to spend a whole day with Bishop John in the Lake
Mburo National Animal Park and I also witnessed his leadership style when he was
among his clergy. Bishop John leads by example. Whatever it is he wants them
to do, he show his willingness and humility to do it first. For example, one of
the topics for the Clergy/Spouse conference was repentance and when we asked if
there were any testimonies to be shared, he was the first to the microphone. When the teaching was about covenant marriage, the Bishop asked his clergy to
sit with their wives and when they showed a bit of reluctance to go against this
cultural grain - he rose from his seat and joined his wife on the pew.
In addition to the time spent with
clergy, the SOMA team split and visited two of the diocese's archdeaneries. Steve Dean and I were joined by The Rev. Enid Hende to visit the Burunga and
there we had the opportunity to visit a number of homes, pray with the sick, and
share with some of the local leaders. The most exciting aspect of that portion
of the trip was the opportunity to participate in open-air preaching in one of
the local market places. As we stood amongst a wide age-range of individuals -
among them Christians, Muslims, Animists and idol worshippers - we shared who
Jesus Christ was in our lives and encouraged them to put their trust in Him as
Lord and Savior. It is a type of evangelism as old as our faith and yet it was
a totally new experience for me.
SOMA is a
wonderful ministry that only goes where it is invited and only offers what is
asked from them. Bishop's contact the SOMA office with a request for a team to
come to do a specific training or ministry and then team members are recruited
based on experience and availability. The teams travel at their own expense or,
as in my case, through the generosity of many Christians who wanted to be a part
of what the Lord was doing during our time there. Whether praying, supporting
or going yourself, it's possible to be a part of what God is doing in the global
church. I look forward to many more opportunities to do all
three!
The Rev. Travis
Boline
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Christ
Church, Savannah files appeal to state Supreme Court
Source: Savannah
Morning News
July 29,
2010
Leaders of
Christ Church in Savannah have asked the state's top court to
review a July 8 Court of Appeals decision that the church's historic downtown
property belongs to the Episcopal Church.
On
Wednesday, Christ Church officials appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court
a recent ruling of the Georgia Court of Appeals upholding Judge Michael Karpf's
decision issued in October 2009 against Christ Church and in favor of the Diocese of
Georgia and The Episcopal Church.
That
decision upheld the plaintiff's argument that Christ Church holds its property in trust for the
Diocese and the national church, based on a 1979 national church
canon.
The church
had until Wednesday to file documents with the Supreme Court asking it to review
the case.
"If we deny
it, then it's denied and over," Supreme Court deputy clerk of court Lynn
Stinchcomb said on July 15.
If the court agrees to hear the case, a
final ruling in the two-and-a-half-year-old property dispute between the
national Episcopal Church and its former congregation could be postponed months.
"The court generally rules on them pretty quickly, within just a few
months," Stinchcomb said.
Click
here to link to the American Anglican Council website to hear a
July 29, 2010 radio interview with the Rev. Marc Robertson, Rector of Christ
Church Savannah, with G. Gordon Liddy. The audio is courtesy of the G. Gordon Liddy Show.
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We hope that you have found this issue of the diocese newsletter to be helpful and enjoyable. If you have received it directly from us, you are already on our mailing list and you will continue to receive future issues unless you choose to unsubscribe by using the link at the bottom of this page.
If you have received it as a forward from a friend and would like to be added to our subscription list, please click the "Join our Mailing List" button in the top left column of this page.
Sincerely, Harris
Harris G. Willman
Administrator
Gulf Atlantic Diocese of the ACNA
Email:HWillman@gulfatlanticdiocese.org
Website:http://www.gulfatlanticdiocese.org/
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