The April Prayer Calendar and E-News Newsletter are available below.  Click the links to download.

April Prayer Calendar

April E-News Newsletter

For those praying the Daily Office, the complete list of readings for the month of April are included below.  “Wisdom” refers to The Book of Wisdom which is sometimes referred to as The Wisdom of Solomon.  The book is part of the Apocrypha, a group of books which the Eastern Orthodox and Roman-Catholics include in their Bibles, but are not generally considered canonical books of The Bible by Protestant Christians.  In regards to the Apocrypha, the Charismatic Episcopal Church has released this statement:

“We, the US House of Bishops, unanimously confirm the original teaching of the ICCEC, that the 66 universally accepted books of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, containing all things necessary unto salvation. As regards those several works commonly referred to as the Apocrypha or Deutero-Canonical books, we further reaffirm the position which we have embraced as a communion ever since our founding, that while beneficial for edification and teaching, they are not to be considered part of the canon of the Holy Scripture. They may, therefore, be read in public worship, but not used to establish dogma or doctrine.”

If your Bible does not contain The Book of Wisdom, it may be found on-line HERE.

Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!  We’re starting to compile a collection of photos from our Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday.  If you have photo from Easter or any other service or event, please e-mail them to Fr. Scott Looker.

As was announced two weeks ago, this Sunday, Palm Sunday, we will begin using a new (to us) response to “The Lord be with you.”  Now, since Church of the Messiah has been using “And also with you” for as long as there has been a Church of the Messiah, and many of us have used it for years, if not decades, before that, a little bit of explanation is reasonable.  The explanation of the change is two-fold.

First, at a recent conference Fr. David attended, Archbishop Craig Bates, the Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church said, “Change it.”  Since all of your priests and deacons have taken vows of obedience to their bishops, that just about settles it on our end.

Secondly, for those who have not taken vows of obedience, the fact is that the new response of “and with your spirit” is an infinitely better translation than what we are using now.  In the 4th century, when St. Jerome first translated the Bible into Latin, the phrase “Dominus Vobiscum” appeared in Ruth 2:4 and II Chronicles 15:2.  The phrase was picked up and included in the Latin liturgies along with its response, “Et cum spiritu tuo,” which, of course, spread throughout all of Europe.

In the very first Book of Common Prayer ever was written in 1549, English scholars and priests very accurately translated the response as “And with thy spirit.”  The translation is simple, clean, and straightforward.  That usage continue in the Anglican and Episcopal Churches for 430 years!  It is still in use today in the Rite 1 or traditional language of the current (1979) Book of Common Prayer.

In 1963, when the Roman-Catholics convened the Second Vatican Council, known as Vatican II, one of their decisions was to update their liturgies by translating them into the language of the people.  That is when the Latin Mass fell out of common usage.  In order to do so, they established a body called The International Commission on English in the Liturgy or ICEL.  When ICEL translated the liturgy into English, they decided “Et (and) cum (with) spiritu (spirit) tuo (your)” should be rendered “And also with you.”  They believed, I assume, that their translation captured the spirit of the phrase better than a direct translation.

Sixteen years later, when the Episcopal Church in America revised the Book of Common Prayer, the editors of the new prayer book decided they would follow the Roman-Catholic usage.  Episcopalians in America have been using “And also with you” ever since 1979.

Starting with the First Sunday of Advent in 2011, the Roman-Catholics revised their liturgy again in order to render the translation more faithful to the original.  The correction has spread and is finding wider usage.

In essence, we have been doing a poor translation for as long as we have been doing it and this Sunday, along with a large portion of the broader Church Catholic, we will start translating the line more faithfully.

Or, we are doing it because the Patriarch told us to do so.  Take whichever explanation works for you.

Dear Friends of Bishop John Holloway.

As you may know, it will be six years this coming June since Bishop Holloway suffered a debilitating stroke. Bishop John was the first bishop of what was then the Missionary Diocese of Georgia, then the Diocese of Georgia, and eventually, the Diocese of the Mid-South. He is now Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of the Mid-South.

He will have a birthday on March 18. He will be 59. If you would like to send a card (which would lift his spirits greatly), his address is:

Bishop John Holloway, 107 McEthel Drive, Griffin, GA 30224

Thank you in advance for your thoughtfulness.

.

Church of the messiah is proud to announce the 2013 Men’s Retreat coming this April 12th-14th.  This year, once again, the retreat will be held at the beautifully historic Epworth-By-The-Sea in St. Simon’s Island, GA.  Fr. Scott Looker will be leading the retreat and the theme for the retreat will be “Be The Man of God!”

What kind of men do we want our sons to be?
What kind of men do we want our daughters to marry?
How will our daughters know what a Man of God looks like?
In order for our sons to grow into Men of God
And our daughters to marry Men of God,
We Must Be Men of God!

The world gives our children thousands of bad examples.
If we expect the next generation to be any different,
We ALL must be different.
We Must Be Men of God!

This is a legacy building message relevant to all men of the Church.  Whether you have sons or daughters, children or grand-children, nieces or nephews, or no children at all this message pertains to all of us.  Church of the Messiah is “The Church with the Heart of the Family” and there are children in our family looking to us for examples.   Come, join us on the retreat to hear a message that will affect the Church for generations to come.  Also enjoy fellowship and free-time at the scenic Epworth-by-the-Sea.  The cost is $280 for a single occupancy room and $185 for a double occupancy room.  Contact Greg Looker or James Luck for registration details or for more information.

It is only the first full week of Lent, but it not too soon to have the Holy Week Schedule available.  Holy Week starts on March 24 this year and our special services are:

Palm Sunday:  Celebrate the Triumphal Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem and hear the re-telling of the Passion of Jesus Christ.  Sunday, March 24, 10:30am at the Sam R. Marks Chapel at Jacksonville University.

Maundy Thursday: Join with us as we celebrate the Institution of the Last Supper in our annual service which includes the washing of the feet and the stripping of the altar.  Thursday, March 28, 7:00pm at the Sam R. Marks Chapel at Jacksonville University.

Good Friday: Observe the three hours Our Lord hung upon the Cross by hearing meditations from our clergy on the Passion of Jesus  Christ.  Friday, March 29, Noon-3pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

Easter Sunday
Sunrise Service: Join us as we rise early to greet the sun on the dawn of the first day and celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord.  Sunday, March 31, 6:30am at Church of the Messiah’s property on St. John’s Bluff. 

Family Service: Celebrate the glory of Resurrection of Jesus Christ with the full pageantry of Easter Day.  Sunday, March 31, 10:30am at the Sam R. Marks Chapel at Jacksonville University.

Wednesday, February 13, is Ash Wednesday.  Church of the Messiah will be celebrating Ash Wednesday at 7pm in the Sam R. Marks Chapel at Jacksonville University.  The service will include the Litany of Penitence, Imposition of Ashes, and Holy Eucharist.

Ash Wednesday is the traditional start of the season of Lent, the forty days of prayer and fasting which both commemorates Our Lord’s forty days in the wilderness and helps Christians prepare for the celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord on Easter.  Ash Wednesday is an especially beneficial way to begin Lent for a number of reasons.  First, the Litany of Penitence reminds us how “we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)  Second, the Imposition of Ashes reminds us of the inevitability of our own death, judgement and the need to repent.  Third, in the Holy Eucharist we have the opportunity to exchange our failings and sinfulness with the victory and sinlessness of Our Lord Jesus Christ so that we can, by His grace and mercy, overcome our sins.

This Wednesday, we invite you to join us at 7pm in the Sam R. Marks Chapel as Church of the Messiah begins their observance of a Holy Lent with the annual celebration of Ash Wednesday.

Lord, Have Mercy!
Christ, Have Mercy!
Lord, Have Mercy!

Correction to the February E-News the Ash Wednesday service correct date is February 13, 2013.  The service will be held at the Sam R. Marks Chapel on the Jacksonville University Campus at 7 pm.

After a brief winter sabbatical, Church of the Messiah’s Prayer Calendar and E-Newsletter are back with their February installments.  Click below to download!

February Prayer Calendar

February E-News

UPDATE: Here are two points of clarification to the February Daily Office readings on Page 4 of the E-News.  First, the New Testament reading for Ash Wednesday is Hebrews 12:1-14.  Second, on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lent, Psalm 95 in its entirety is used to introduce the daily reading of the Psalms as opposed to “The Venite” (which is Psalm 95:1-7) found on page 82.  I apologize for the confusion. sjl+