Kon on i a Trinity 12012

Volume 5, Issue 18 Trinity 2012 A.D.

HCCAR NEEDS PRIESTS AND DEACONS WHO ARE MEN OF GOD, EMPOWERED BY GOD’S WORD AND WITH ZEAL FOR HIS KINGDOM. A GOOD FORMATION ENSURES GOOD MINISTRY. HOLY TRINITY ANGLICAN SEMINARY IS 501(c)3. YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE. A MONTHLY DONATION OF $25 WILL GO A LONG WAY TO HELP GROW OUR SEMINARY. CONTACT YOUR RECTOR FOR DETAILS ON HOW YOU CAN HELP THIS MINISTRY.

SOUL CARE!PHONE-LINE PRAYER CALL EVERYDAY! When two or three are gathered together in His name, peti-

tions are granted. Ask your Rector for the phone number and password. When-ever you can, join the prayer conference in the rhythm of daily morning and eve-ning prayer. We have dedicated clergy and postulants faithfully hosting the prayer call daily at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm

central time.

In the Koinonia masthead, the circle with the cross in the center symbol-izes the paten and the diverse elements which form a whole. The Mosaic represents the great cloud of witnesses and the church tradition. The red in the letters represents the blood of Christ with the font comprised of indi-vidual pieces of letters that are not joined until the blood unifies them. Koi-nonia is the official publication of the Anglican Province of the Holy Cath-olic Church-Anglican Rite (HCCAR) aka Anglican Rite Catholic Church. It is published quarterly at St. James Anglican Church, 8107 S. Holmes Road, Kansas City, MO 64131. Phone: 816.361.7242 Fax: 816.361.2144. Editors: The Rt. Rev. Leo Michael & Holly Michael, Koinonia header: Phil Gilbreath; email: [email protected] or visit us on the web at: www.holycatholicanglican.org cover picture: Disputation of the Sacrament by Rafaello Sanzio 1510-11

ANNOUNCING

Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary (HTAS) is owned and ad-ministrated by the Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite of the dio-cese of Holy Trinity and Great Plains. It’s location in Kansas City, mid-America makes travel easy to meet the campus schedule. It forms part of a long tradition of the Holy Catholic Church of Angli-can Rite and continues this important work of evangelization of the Kingdom of Christ in the United States of America and beyond its mission territories. With the advancement of communications, Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary will offer online and on campus training for its students. Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary firmly believes that Good Formation will ensure FRUITFUL Ministry. Keeping in mind the Great Commission of the Lord, HTAS will train its candidates in strong Scriptural foundation, Sacramental worship in the Apostolic Tradition as enunciated in the conservative Anglican Tradition. With qualified faculty and commitment to the cause of priestly for-mation, Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary is set to impart the tradi-tional Anglican orthodoxy even in the emerging social and pastoral challenges. The seminary will also offer courses for lay students as well. The Seminary primarily serves the Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite while students belonging to other denominations are welcome to participate in our program of study and reflection. The Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary will soon be accredited with a view to conferring the Bachelor’s Degree in Theology. Holy Catholic Church pays special attention to the forma-tion of her ministers. Church directives require that candidate to the priesthood undergo a minimum of three years devoted to an intense and specifically priestly formation. These directives are implement-ed at this seminary, with particular emphasis on the Anglican tradi-tions of the Holy Catholic Church.

Greetings from the Bishops of the American Anglican Church on the occasion of our Diocesan and Provincial Synods.

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Editorial This Trinity issue of Koinonia celebrates the coming together of our church family for its Diocesan and Provincial Synods. The Church of the Holy Family, under the guidance of Bishop Kinner, Fr. Jimmy Dean and the Senior Warden with their team effort offered us all special hospi-tality. We especially loved those jean boot folders. Kudos and thanks to them. Their thoughtfulness in working out the little details and their accommodation of all our needs was much appreciated and well done. This issue also carries the letter from the College of Bishops reflecting on the current situation of our country and culture. Bishop Kinner’s homily is a compelling one appealing to our conscience. Fr. Charles’s reflection on St. Paul’s God experience is a wonderful story. Also Fr. Charles is starting a series - Did you know? from the Scriptural perspective. The Covenant Marriage seminar is a beautiful expression of our traditional belief and traditional values of Marriage. Pastor Phil and Cindy Waugh shared their expertise. Enjoy the pictures of Faith and Fellowship across our dioceses and province. We are also inaugurating the Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary, that will begin this Fall. God has been blessing our church in manifold ways, may we continue to serve Him faithfully.+Leo & Holly Michael

STATEMENT FROM THE COLLEGE OF BISHOPS (COB) of THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH ANGLICAN RITE (HCCAR) aka

ANGLICAN RITE CATHOLIC CHURCH (ARCC)ON CONSCIENCE & RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Today there is a debate about conscience and as to who the authority on this matter. We may wonder how any one outside a religious confines could dictate what is conscienable and or not. The state has no right to dictate the moral obligation pertaining to conscience and the religious freedom is enshrined in the Constitu-tions Amendment 1. When winds of change began sweeping the confines of the then Episcopal Church in the seventies, over two thousand people that included Bishops, Priests, Faithful gathered together at the Congress of St. Louis and came forth with the following affirmation, which came to be called as the Affirmation of St. Louis. The authority and duty to witness to conscience belongs to the Church and her members. We still stand on these principles. The affirmation addressed the essential role of conscience and the role and duty of the church in bear-ing witness to Christian morality, to follow it in their lives, and to reject the false standards of the world. We reiterate the principles of morality that the Affirmation of St. Louis emphasized. It belongs to God alone and its church, whose role is to be the custodian of faith and morals.

Principles of MoralityThe conscience, as the inherent knowledge of right and wrong, cannot stand alone as a sovereign arbiter of morals. Every Christian is obligated to form his conscience by the Divine Moral Law and the Mind of Christ as revealed in Holy Scriptures, and by the teaching and Tradition of the Church. We hold that when the Christian conscience is thus properly informed and ruled, it must affirm the following moral principles:

Individual Responsibility All people, individually and collectively, are responsible to their Creator for their acts, motives, thoughts and words, since “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ . . .”

Sanctity of Human LifeEvery human being, from the time of his conception, is a creature and child of God, made in His image and likeness, an infinitely precious soul; and that the unjustifiable or inexcusable taking of life is always sinful.

Man’s Duty to GodAll people are bound by the dictates of the Natural Law and by the revealed Will of God, insofar as they can discern them.

Family LifeThe God-given sacramental bond in marriage between one man and one woman is God’s loving provision for procreation and family life, and sexual activity is to be practiced only within the bonds of Holy Matrimony.

Man as SinnerWe recognize that man, as inheritor of original sin, is “very far gone from original righteousness,” and as a rebel against God’s authority is liable to His righteous judgment.

Man and God’s GraceWe recognize, too, that God loves His children and particularly has shown it forth in the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that man cannot be saved by any effort of his own, but by the Grace of God, through repentance and acceptance of God’s forgiveness.

Christian’s Duty to be Moral We believe, therefore, it is the duty of the Church and her members to bear witness to Christian Moral-ity, to follow it in their lives, and to reject the false standards of the world.

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This is about you, your Church and your country. I begin with Holy Scrip-ture and conclude with a personal challenge to each person here!

“It was you, Lord, who created my inmost self, and put me together in my mother’s womb; for all these mysteries I thank you: for the won-der of myself, for the wonders of your works. You know me through

and through, from having watched my bones take shape when I was be-ing formed in secret, knitted togeth-er in my mother.” Song of the Temple Psalm 139 How important are you - - really? “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you.” Jeremiah 1:5 But I am just a human being ! “In the Image of God he created you, male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 There are two ways to live your life; as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is a miracle! We,

Christians, have chosen the latter! The sacredness of life! What is your conscience? Your God given ability - even obligation - to consider right from wrong, to make moral choices in your mind, choices that lead to a wholesome, dignified life! Where did you get your conscience? First of all from your Mom & Dad. They told you to tell the truth, to share with others, to help people in need, to do good work in school! “When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but now I am a man, all childish ways are put be-hind me. Now we are seeing a dim

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Christian ConsCienCe and the saCredness of Life Rt. Rev. Kenneth H. Kinner

reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imper-fect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known. I Cor. 13: 11-12 You, all of us, are made in the Image of God, living in a temporary body, with an eternal soul and spirit. Your Creator risked a lot when He gave you choice; but the only way to love God, or your neighbor, or yourself is to also be able to not love; the sac-rificial love that God tells us about results from growing up into a con-scious choosing of His kind of love! We are assured that when we meet Our Lord at the end of earthly life, we shall know fully what love is; His Cross, His Resurrection. In addition to Images, you and I are Christians! Our Savior was formed in the womb of young virgin, conceived by the action of the Holy Spirit. She chose to bear Him for us! And we chose in Baptism, Confirmation, Mat-rimony and in receiving Holy Com-munion to shape our minds in the Mind of Her Son! We are to go to the whole world with this Good News; the first step in so going begins with exemplifying our Savior, Jesus, in our daily lives. We know there are serious challenges to this. The ‘spirit of evil’ constantly tempts us as he did Jesus. In Holy Week, just past, we have wit-nessed, in Holy Scripture, the terrify-ing scenario of corrupt people in both religion and government banding to-gether to ‘destroy’ God’s Son. King Herod in a self imagined theocracy, feeling threatened by the real King, and Governor Pontius Pilate, actu-ally believing Jesus innocent, but co-erced by yelling crowds and mindful of the Caesar’s power, washing his hands, denying conscience for po-litical correctness. As bad, hordes of

people who could care less! Oppor-tunists! Self indulgent, mindless! Ea-ger to see a crucifixion,as long as it is not theirs. All of them ended up trying to destroy God. They didn’t succeed! Jesus is alive! Two thousand years later - we are here proclaiming His Resurrection to Life. We are first, citizens of His Kingdom! We are witnesses of His Truth! The United States of America, of which we are ‘earthly citizens’, is clearly founded upon the Judeo-Christian concept of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, upon the dignity of choice for every person. Yet, we are allowing the explosive power of government to increasingly control agriculture, banking, com-merce, education, labor, medicine, social programs - in short, to control us. All of this requires money, massive amounts of money, trillions beyond our imagination. Alarmingly, we are all addicted to receiving government money. Cut back any government pro-gram (mentioned above) and self in-dulgent anger comes to the fore. Are you ready to sacrifice, following the example of the Authors of the Dec-laration of Independence, pledging lives, fortunes and sacred honor? Self sufficiency built America as we know it. Our future will truly depend upon our practical sacrifice! The Health Care Bill, gradually be-ing implemented, by a Congress that passed it without reading its 2000 +pages, will require all of us to buy medical insurance. This is the first time in our history when our govern-ment is mandating the purchase of something. If it succeeds, politicians will surely require further purchases from us. A coming step is to require employers, including churches, to buy health insurance for employees - poli-

cies that provide for abortion. Would our Founders have considered the deliberate death of a developing hu-man baby ‘health care’? The result is to override moral consciousness, the Mind of Christ in us, that recognizes the Sacredness of Life from concep-tion. To let this policy stand, begins the systematic destruction of free-dom of thought which is the herald of American uniqueness, a gift from God that has made our nation a shining beacon to suffering humanity. . Whatever power, a person, a religion, or a government, that seeks to control us by coercion, to force us into a par-ticular thought or action, is in viola-tion of our God given conscience- and must be resisted. We are not alone! Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition together have guided the Church, the faithful in the liv-ing Body of Christ, to witness to the Truth. Many have come forth is his-tory to bury the Church. Some even within the Church have fallen into temptation; but the Church is alive and growing throughout the world.

In the Grace of the Living Lord, His Body will, with Him, be victorious! I challenge you (myself included) to be active Christians, living your Faith, zealous for good works, par-ticipating in government. Seek ye first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these good things will be add-ed unto you.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rt. Rev. Kenneth Kinner is the Bishop of the Missionary Jurisdiction of the American In-dian People and also the Vicar of the Church of the Holy Family Casper, Wyoming. *Big Horn Mountains. Photo by Holly Michael

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We live in a competitive world today. Challenges are present in all walks of life.

No individual or society is exception to it. Even all religions face challenges today. The first and important challenge of any religion is to provide God experience to its members. This is the true and highest goal of religion. When religion fails to provide God experience then they lose its mean-ing and power over its members. So people move from group to group seeking for such experiences. They go to sects, movements, conferences and different Churches as well. When God experience is not pro-vided then all the other activities, however good and holy they may be do not attract people. In this short paper we shall discover how our Almighty God manifested Himself to people and person whom he chose to re-veal. Particularly the following pages will focus on St. Paul and his own unforgettable God Experience as observed in our Sacred Scripture.

Experiences make commitments. Oxford Dictionary defines the word ‘experi-ence’ as ‘an event or occurrence which leaves an impression on someone’. As an event we could say every religious hope and ideals and social involvements should be based on ex-periences. Life is a collection of experiences. Life of an individual and the society is a con-tinuous link of experiences. Some experienc-es are basic, some are routine but there are others which are peak experiences. The Exodus experience was a peak experience for the people of Israel. Their faith and worship centered on that one fantastic and mighty experience. The transfiguration experience on Mt. Tabor for Peter, James and John was a captivating experience for them. The Emmaus experience was another peak experience for those two disciples. St. Paul, too, had one of such experi-ence and that changed his life to the extent that it was almost a transfiguration of Paul. But he faced many problems, conflicts, hardships and sufferings as he went along his mission of being the greatest apostle of the gentiles.

His problems were many kinds: a) Barnabas left him (Acts 15, 34-41); b) Conflicts within the community (2 Cor 11, 21-33 &12 & Gal); c) He lived in a situation of tension, sorrow and loneliness; d) He had conflicts with Pe-ter at Antioch in which Paul finds himself in an extremely embarrassing situation (Gal 2, 11-14). These above experiences, situations and challenges were moments of Purification for Paul. For, problems, difficulties, tensions, anxiety etc. are moments to understand one-self and the other. Every special experience calls for more commitment and sacrifice.

Experience leads to transfiguration These experiences were moments of trans-figuration. St. Luke gives us a perfect detail about Jesus’ Transfiguration before he set His face towards Jerusalem/final destination. The same word is used (for the light that chal-lenged) for Damascus vision i.e. Paul also stands in front of the transfigured Christ. The same incident is mentioned by the other two gospel writers Mark and Matthew (cf. Mk 9,2; Mt 17, 1-9). The same Greek word

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ST. PAUL’S GOD EXPERIENCERev. Charles Rathnasamy PhD, Dean, Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary, Kansas City, MO

(metemorphoo)- to change into another form, to transform) is used by Paul (2Cor 3, 18) when he describes the process of transforma-tion that he experiences reflecting the glory of Christ (And all of us, with unveiled faces seeking the glory of the Lord as though re-flected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit). Further, the same word that was translated “transformed” in Romans 12:2, and it is the word we get our English word “metamorphosis” from. It is speaking of a complete transformation, like that of a worm to a butterfly. As we turn our hearts from the condemnation of the Law to behold the righteousness within us through the grace of Christ, our outer selves will be transformed little by little to reflect that inner glory. That is to say that Paul is continually being trans-formed from glory to glory by the power of the Holy Spirit. This transformation which is the transfiguration of Paul and which in turn leads to transparency. Reading his letters we see the person Paul. His feelings, anxieties,

worries, sufferings, trials, incessant prayer, trust. We need to be transparent like Paul in our life and activity.Signs of TransformationHow did Paul arrive at this transformation? Or what were the signs of these transforma-tions? Or how could one say that Paul had transformation? His letters reveal certain at-titudes that he had a complete transformation. There could be many attitudes we will con-sider three inner attitudes and two external attitudes of St. Paul.

Inner Attitudesa) A great inner joy and peacePaul writes “I often boast about you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with consola-tion; I am overjoyed in all our affliction ( 2 Cor 7,4). He places joy along with suffering (cf. 2 Cor 4,7-10). It is not tranquillity (calm, cool) but he speaks of a joy that takes into account all his trials, misunderstandings, dis-couragement of his entire life. Paul finds life difficult: as days go on but he finds a stron-ger power dwelling within him. Rom 7, 21 he says, “I find it to be a law that when I want to

do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” This joy is not for private possession, but to be shared with in the community. 2 Cor 1, 24 he states “I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in the faith.” Later in his life he describes the community as “my joy and my crown” (Phil 4,1). It was not an ideal community Phil 2, 3 “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than you”. He could take this as joy because he had the vision of Faith, a supernatural gift, the power of the Spirit.b) Capacity for ThanksgivingThe second inner attitude we see in Paul’s life was the capacity for Thanksgiving. He says ‘give thanks to the Father’ (Col 1, 12). Thanksgiving is the necessary derivative of joy. Only a joyful person who enjoys every-thing and happy in life could give thanks to God. All his letters start with joy. Scholars

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affirm that 1 Thessalonians is the first New Testament letter to have been written and it starts with thanks. He writes “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalo-nians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We always give thanks to God for all of you and men-tion you in our prayers, constantly” (1Thess 1, 1-2). We never find in Paul a destructive criticism. There is reproof and not bitter res-ignation. He sees good things first. He starts the first letter to Corinthians with praises as being full of wisdom. Then he goes into criti-cism. It is the eye of faith that will see a drop of faith in the other.c) Praise Paul has marvellous songs of praise in his letters. He writes in Ephesians,“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiri-tual blessing in the heavenly places.” (Eph 1, 3). Paul’s prayer has been always a prayer of praise even in the moments of difficulties , “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the com-fort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Cor 1, 3). Praise is the attitude of the one who is transfigured. Instead sadness is the attitude of the man of narrow vision.Outer Attitudes a) Untiring ability to start againModern Psychologists and councillors agree it is human nature to get discouraged after a drastic event. Only a few have the capacity to untiring ability to start again. We observe this outer attitude in Paul’s mission. He never got discouraged or gave up. Failures and de-feats are not the end but sign to victory. The very first day after conversion he preaches in Damascus and he had to flee ( cf. Acts 9, 19-25). Then he preaches in Jerusalem and he is made to leave for Tarsus and waits until he is called back (cf. Acts 9, 26-31). In his mission-ary tours almost in all places he has to start again and he does it well again. He preaches in Antioch in Pisidia, is chased away goes to Iconium and there his life is threatened they tried to stone him and he flees to Lystra and there he is stoned (cf. Acts 14, 19-21). This ability to start again is not human. Charity is never weary (cf.1 Cor 13, 7). The attitude that we find in his letter to the Romans is an at-titude that no human power can acquire. It is an outcome of 20 years of experience. “And not only that, but we also boast in our suffer-ings, knowing that suffering produces endur-ance, and endurance produces character, and

character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spir-it that has been given to us” (Rom 5, 3-5).b) Liberty of Spirit Paul does not act because of con-straints or in conformity with external rules. But there is an inner strength. Paul is not in-fluenced by any judgement or current opin-ion. “we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you” (Gal 2, 5). It is this that makes him stand against Peter. (cf. Gal 2, 13) Paul is totally free because he belongs to Christ absolutely and totally like a slave. This liberty is not a pretext to live according to the nature but liberty is to serve one anoth-er in love. He writes, “ For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self –indulgence, but through love become slaves to another” (cf. Gal 5, 13).Conclusion Every experience could become important part of shaping our own character and per-sonalities. Paul’s experience of Jesus on his way to Damascus was a captivating one, a vi-sion that shattered and transformed his entire life and remained forever a very core of his existence. A persecutor of Christ became an Apostle of His kingdom. Paul realized that fundamental means of achieving transfigura-tion is to accept that it is God who does this transformation in His mercy. These attitudes: joy, thanksgiving, praise, perseverance, and liberty are the signs of such transfiguration/ transformation.

as a preface to the gospel. The language of these verses is unequal or heteroge-neous; prose and poetic sections are in-termingled. The prologue is essentially a hymn (poetic section), about the Word, with comments (prose Section) inserted into the strophes of the hymn. Robert A. Jones in his latest work on this hymn of St. John says, “it is like an overture to a grand Symphony”. It is a mystical reflection on the Divinity and Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Logos, the Word made Flesh. It is Christologi-cal in nature the protagonist of the hymn is JESUS. Probably existed before the composition of the gospel and was used by the Johannine community in the cultic celebrations, especially the Eucharist. It is by large the extensive hymn in the NT. Some examples of Christological hymns in the New Testament are Philippians 2, 5-11; Colosians 1, 15-20; 1Timothy 3, 16; and 2Timothy 2, 11-13 and He-brews 1, 2-5). It speaks of Christ- how John understands Christ. Christ is a di-vine being who is God’s word (1,1), light (1,5-9). This divine being comes into the world and becomes flesh (incarnation) in order to reveal the Father (1,14). Hav-ing revealed the Father, he returns to the Father. Those who accepted Him became children of God (1, 12-13). It contains a summary of the faith of the Johannine community. Has many of the themes found in the gospel. Hence, we may call this hymn the Johannine Creed. In short we could say that this hymn serves as a prelude to the gospel narrative. The prologue can also be seen as a thematic summary of the whole gospel, some of the recurring themes in the gos-pel already mentioned in the prologue are; Life (4, 14.36; 5, 21.24.26; 6,33; 10,10; 20,31 etc). Light and darkness ( 1, 4.9; 8,12; 12, 35.46). Believe (2,11.22; 3, 15.16; 20,31 etc.) and preexistence ( 1,1; 8,58; 17,5). At the same time, an im-portant work like Word - a Christological title in the prologue -is no more used in the rest of the gospel. Finally one could observe the three fold movements of the Word: downward from God to our world and upward from the world to the Father (Pre-existence> earthly life> exalta-tion).

DID YOU KNOW?Prologue of St. John (1, 1-18)

We, the members of Holy Catho-lic Church - Anglican Rite conclude our Eucharistic celebration by reciting to-gether the beginning verses of the Fourth Gospel. We pray them and memorize them like another creed. Did we really understand the beautiful text? This text has been glorified as a profound theolog-ical work of the New Testament and yet, taken by itself; it is difficult to understand this passage. It is only in the context of the narrative of the whole that the pro-logue makes sense just as the prologue has been written to make sense of the narrative. So the prologue can be seen

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Know Your Anglican Faith by Holly MichaelI chatted with an old friend on Facebook Messenger the other day. She’s Catholic and we are each convinced that the “catholic” faith we both share is the fullness of faith. My friend, an ordinary mom and no Theologian, over a few hours, converted her daughter’s Baptist fiancé to the catholic faith. Here’s her story, taken from our chat: Sarah told me she met the man she’s going to Marry. She said, “he’s from Geor-gia.” First thing I say, “He’s Baptist isn’t he?” She laughs and says, “How did you know that?” I say, “He’s from Georgia! Everybody is Southern Baptist there!” When I met him, I knew he was the one for her, even though he was a Bible-toting Baptist. Noticing a crucifix on the wall, he began asking questions. Thankfully, I knew the answers. He asked regular protestant questions: Why do you “worship” Mary. Why do you go to confession when you can go straight to Jesus. These are normal easy to answer questions if you know your faith. So after a few of these, I laugh and say, “Oh, you are sola scriptura aren’t you?” He says “Ma’am?” I say, “you only believe in the Bible? No tradition?” He says, “Why yes maam.” So I say, “what if I show you in the Bible that you must believe in holy tradition?” This is when he pulls out his Bible, and says, “Show me.” So I do. He was stunned! He said, “I’ve never seen that before.” I said, “Of course you haven’t. Because to read that means you’d have to believe in tradition.” And he says, “well, what does that mean?” So I explained that for the first 400 years, there was no New Testament, that the church we know today, was passed on from generation to generation. I also read him a thing about “truth”. It is a little story about going to the store and seeing cans of beans. One is marked Libby’s, one is Green Giant, one is only marked with the word “beans.” So, you know, or at least believe that they all have beans in them, because the can says so. Which can shall you pick? Do you want the can that says “beans” or will you likely pick the Green Giant can, because it is a label you trust and has been around for years? I then said, “Truth” is sort of the same way. There is truth in your Baptist tradition, there is truth in the Methodist tradition, and there is truth in the Catholic tradition, and there is truth in the 4 Square Church. But if it were a can of beans, which would you pick....the one that has been around for 110 years...400 years...or 2000 years. The one that was founded by our Savior and said that it would be here until the end of time?” I say, “I want to be in the one that Jesus started. Then I asked him if he knew who started the Baptist church...and of course, he didn’t know. But I had a book, that lists who started every church...and I told him. That was the beginning of him thinking maybe there was something to this “old” Catholic church. I forewarned him that should he find himself “surprised by truth” that it would probably mean losing friends, especially where he lives. So, my friend’s son-in-law converted. When he received the body and blood of Christ, he was surprised it was real wine. My friend told him, “Jesus didn’t turn the water into grape juice.” Her story impressed me because she knew her faith and be-lieves in the fullness of the catholic faith, as we do. She wanted her daughter to share in that same faith with her fiancé. Knowing her faith, she boldly and confidently could defend it, share it and convert this young man to the catholic faith so quickly. How well do we know our Anglican faith? If someone asks us what Anglicanism is, can we share it with them? Can we convince them to come to our church? Last week, an old Baptist friend phoned. She and her husband have been Baptists their entire lives. Studying church history, God be-gan to speak to her and take her on a journey to the “ancient faith.” Knowing I was Anglo-Catholic, she phoned and we spent hours talk-ing. She asked questions. I answered to the best of my ability. She’s on a journey toward Anglicanism. You never know when you may be able to lead someone to the beauty and ancient traditions of our catholic-faith.

Bob Klein of St. James in Kansas City found the above plaque on the wall of a one-room school house in Dubois, Wyoming. The one below was sent in a text message by Nick Byrne (Arkansas)

Good old AmericA

The Covenant Marriage Seminar was pre-sented by Pastor Phil and Cindy Waugh. We thank them for their kindness and generosity in working with us.

The pastors and leaders of the Holy Catho-lic Church Anglican Rite from across the

nation gathered in Casper, Wyoming, hosted by the Church of the Holy Family. In con-junction with their 16th Holy Catholic Angli-can Rite Provincial Synod, they participated in an all-day training seminar focused on equipping their congregations to uplift and undergird marriage as a covenant relation-ship. Phil & Cindy Waugh, Directors of the Covenant Marriage Movement trained the leaders and their spouses, in establishing covenant marriage ministries within their re-spective dioceses. For over three decades, here in our nation, marriage has been under the attack of Satan through our nation’s “No Fault Di-vorce” laws. Despite what society may deem as right or just, neither our view of marriage nor the value God places on marriage has been altered. It is time we celebrate what God is doing in the lives of couples throughout His Kingdom! It is also time we equip the lead-ers within local congregations throughout the Bride of Christ to train couples in how to prepare for and live out their marriage as a covenant relationship intended by God to be a life-long commitment. “God has a story to tell to the nations that He still reigns in the lives of His people and that marriage as He intends it, is to be set apart from the world,” said Phil Waugh. “God is at work in His Bride placing a de-

sire in the hearts of couples everywhere to move beyond their mundane co-existence as husband and wife and into the extraordinary relationship of covenant in their marriage and that is something we should be celebrating.” “The Holy Catholic Church Angli-can Rite is raising the bar on their expectations for marriage rather than lower their standards to simply appease society,” said Phil Waugh, Executive Director of the Covenant Marriage Movement. “We were excited to take part in their endeavor and were pleased to lead the training seminar in Casper, Wyoming.” All those interested in Covenant Marriage, including pastors and couples, were invited to attend the one-day seminar. For more information on how you can par-ticipate in the Covenant Marriage Leadership Training Seminar contact, Rt. Rev. Kenneth Kinner – Bishop and Vicar of Church of the Holy Family Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite, Casper at (307) 473-2200 Media: If you would like more in-formation or to schedule an interview, please contact Rev. Phil Waugh at (615) 767-1449 or email: [email protected].

Marriage, as God ordained, is a Covenant

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Gail and Helen, our faithful from the Fellowship of St. An-drews in Helena, Montana. Helen, to the right, told me about her “God box.” She says she writes out her worries and puts them in her “God box,” then she lets go. Occasionally, she says she visits the “God box” to put in and take out and finds that no “worry” ever remains in there very long. I really loved this idea. I think we all need God boxes.

SCENES FROM THE SYNOD: WORSHIP, FELLOWSHIP, FUN & FRIENDSHIP FROM ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.

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DIOCESAN SYNOD, IN TRUE COWBOY FASHION.... by the Church of the Holy Family

Here’s how we do it up, Wyoming style, in the Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite: “soul whisperers” become “horse whisperers”… at a session led by our very own cowboy, Mike Buchanan. Mike and his wife Karen took the concept of “horse whispering” in a new direction during their demonstration at the corral in front of our Church of the Holy Family in Casper. The couple developed a program through which the relationship between a person’s action and a horse’s reaction can reveal aspects of the person’s personality. The interaction and what it reveals has a strong influence in helping people develop skills in human relationships that they may lack.

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Cook out at the Church of the Holy Family in Casper & Horse Whisperer’s Program - A try out in the corral!!!

All Saints Anglican Church

Pittsburg Kansas

First of all, many thanks for the hos-pitality of our Synod hosts in Casper, what a great Synod. On April 16th Amber Kirkland passed from this life to life eternal. A m b e r was a member of our vestry and most recent-ly served as Sr.Warden. She was also the Di-rector of the Altar Guild. After my ordination we realized I did not have a green Deacons Stole, Amber took a spare Priests stole and made a Deacons Stole for me, just one of the many areas she made sure that we had what we needed in our service to our Lord. Amber was truly a faithful Chris-tian, concerned more about those around her than about herself. When asked how she was her response was always “Oh I am doing Okay, how are you.” One of Amber’s favorite saying was, “have a cookie, it makes everything Okay”. In honor of Amber Kirkland have a cookie.

St. Gabriel’s Anglican Church, Greeley, CO

Chita was born in Denver, Colorado and

graduated from Denver West High School. Following graduation, Chita came to Gree-ley to attend the Colorado State College of Education, now the University of Northern Colorado. By the time Chita graduated from CSCE, she was married and Greeley was home, and Chita and her husband had two daughters and one son. After her children started school for full days, Chita began teaching at Brentwood Elementary School on

the day it opened. Chita taught 6th Grade for 12 years. At the end of that time, Brentwood became a middle school and she taught 6th and 7th Grades for another 14 years,also at Brent-wood. Chita’s life-long hobby has been doll collecting. She has been a volunteer with RSVP for 14 years and has given over 6,600 hours of service and is a member of the Gro-cery Shopping Program team. Congratulations to Chita Lebsack the RSVP April 2012 Volunteer of the Month!We are proud of Chita who has been a faithful member of St. Gabriel’s and also serving in the capacity of Treasurer, Altar Guild! You should come to St. Gabriel’s to hear her lovely singing!

San Toma Anglican ChurchSeattle Washington

Postulant Alfred and Michelle Sturges with their family on the day of their Holy Matri-mony in Bellevue, WA. Their matrimony was blessed by Bishop Jayaraj and Bishop Mi-chael was the chief celebrant of the Mass.Below:Bishop Edmund Jayaraj participat-ing ing in the Tamil Kristhava (Christian) Church in New York City

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THRU THE LITURGICAL YEAR...

Anglican Liturgical Chants Through the Year With all the propers: Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Tracts, Offertory, Communion ; 5 DISCS to cover the Liturgical Year, Digitally Mastered with Cathedral Effect:

Disc 1 Advent - Sexagesima, Disc 2 Ash Wednesday- Trinity, Disc 3 Trinity 1-Trinity 19, Trinity 20- Annunciation, Disc 5 St. Philip - Appendix.

A Great Gift to your church It’s priced at $75 + $5 Shipping CONTACT: St. James Anglican Church, 8107 Holmes, Kansas City, MO 64131

WHAT IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD A CANTOR, OR NEED A BACK-UP ? Minor Propers !

Publication of the Anglican Province of the Holy Catholic Church Anglican RiteSt.. James Anglican Church8107 S. Holmes Road Kansas City, MO 64131

HOLY TRINITY ANGLICAN SEMINARY

GOOD FORMATION ENSURES GOOD MINISTRY! The Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite is working on its seminary program which will encompass online as well as on campus studies. Let us implore the Lord’s blessing on this initiative that we may raise up shepherds after God’s own heart (Jeremiah 3:15), who in turn will tend His flock.