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St. the Apostle Newsletter “Faith, Seeking Understanding” July 10, 2020 (Feria)

We are now through the first quarter of the Diocese supplementing my salary for the year, and so I’d like to review what has been accomplished to this point. Our most visible accomplishment is the liturgy has been streamlined. Whether we have a handful in attendance or a larger group, the liturgy is consistent. Ninety percent of it can be followed with only the Prayer Book in hand. This should help visitors who may not be familiar with it. The amount of music used has been simplified to two hymns and two sequences. We will soon add three ordinariums (Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei). All of this streamlining has put a greater emphasis on the Word and the Sacrament within the liturgy. Tomorrow meeting with three men who are interested in serving at the altar and hope to have someone assisting again in that role starting Sunday. I am grateful for the positive feedback I’ve received overall. The Vestry and I continue to work on projects aimed at improving the “curb appeal” of the property. There are several projects in the queue which will hopefully be completed soon. As people drive past and (as we pray) folks visit, it is important for them to see we care about the blessing God has given us in our property. If we don’t, how can we ask others to? A greater blessing is the return of parishioners who stepped away during the pastoral transition and the addition of St. communicants who have migrated north from Atlanta. Parish life is always about people. Reestablishing and gaining relationships in is an important component of the . Please continue to pray others are led to visit and then join with us. In my discussions with the Vestry prior to my being called here, I tried to be transparent about who I am and my approach to parish life and ministry. I am unapologetically Anglo-Catholic and seek to build St. Thomas up in this manner. I’ve written and said this several times before. To be true to whom we claim to be, an Anglo-Catholic parish has to be built on Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, the Sacramental Life and the Commission gave to the . We cannot be loose with God’s Word or adopt the thinking or practices of the world. Other churches can and morph as they want because they are tied to nothing more than self-generated doctrines and practices. Many of them are built by compromising with the world. Because of this we will appeal to a smaller segment of Christians. What we believe and practice does not interest everyone (though as the spiritual and cultural foundations continue to erode around us, I think more will seek it if we faithfully follow through on our witness). We believe and do what we do, not to hold on to the past or just to be countercultural. We believe and do what we do because it is true and lovely and of a good report (Philippians 4:8). Anglo-Catholicism has proved all things and holds fast to that which is true (1 Thes. 5:21). If our parish is to be strengthened and then built up, each of us needs to be personally involved and engaged. These though must be rooted in more than duty. They must be rooted in love; love for Christ and for His Church. They must be rooted in our love for each other. They must be rooted in love for the community we are to serve. If not, then that duty will become mechanical. As the saying goes, “If one loves what they do, they will never work a day in their life.” This is the way I think as a pastor. This is the life and direction I am trying to lead us towards as a parish. It has two thousand years of testing behind it, so I think it can be trusted. -Fr. Paul Both the Diocesan and Provincial Synods scheduled for the first week of August in Asheville, NC have been cancelled. The government of North Carolina informed the hotel and the host parish (All , Mills River) that gatherings of the size expected were not permitted because of COVID-19 restrictions. We have been informed that these circumstances call for the Standing Committee of the Diocese to act on the behalf of the parish delegates in approving the 2021 budget and any other business the Synod was to conduct. They will be doing this via ZOOM on August 4. In preparation for that meeting, each parish will receive their 2021 pledge paperwork. The Vestry will discuss this and send our pledge in, in time for the meeting. The Provincial Synod will not take place until 2021. The date will be determined as the COVID epidemic clears up. St. Barnabas in Dunwoody will be the host parish, which will make travel easy for our delegates. Speaking of Synod delegates, there has been a misunderstanding of who is eligible. A lay delegate must be a confirmed or received communicant member of the parish (18 or older). Delegates do not have to be members of the Vestry or hold any other office in the parish. As 2021 approaches, the Vestry will be discussing who to ask to represent the parish at Synod.

The first monthly, Sunday pot-luck fellowship will be this Sunday. Please join us!

The Vestry will meet this Wednesday, July 15 at 6:00 p.m.

There will be mass for the Prayer Book feast of St. James on Friday, July 24 at 6:00 p.m.

There is a Wednesday mass each week at Noon.

Wisdom from the : “If one single approach to sin is such an awful thing… how much more awful a thing it is to make sin the practice of a whole life, and to remain thereby absolutely ignorant of the purer course! How can you in your full life obey the Crucified? How can you, hale in sin, obey Him Who died to sin? How can you, who are not crucified to the world, and will not accept the mortification of the flesh, obey Him Who bids you follow after Him, and Who bore the Cross in His own body, as a trophy from the foe? How can you obey Paul when he exhorts you to present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, when you are conformed to this world, and not transformed by the renewing of your mind, when you are not walking in this newness of life, but still pursuing the routine of the old man?...If this all seems little in your eyes, to be crucified with Christ, to present yourself a sacrifice to God, to become a priest unto the most high God, to make yourself worthy of the vision of the Almighty, what higher blessings than these can we imagine for you, if indeed you make light of the consequences of these as well? And the consequence of being crucified with Christ is that we shall live with Him, and be glorified with Him, and reign with Him; and the consequence of presenting ourselves to God is that we shall be changed from the rank of human nature and human dignity to that of ; for so speaks , that thousand thousands stood before him (Daniel 7:10) . -St. , 4th century .

Fr. Paul and be reached by phone or text at 540-588-2766 or by e-mail [email protected]