Holy Spirit Church of Huntington Celebrates Pentecost with Bishop THOMAS
Left to right: Sdn. Joseph Peck - Parish Council Chairman; Bishop THOMAS, Fr. John Dixon.The Great Feast of Pentecost was a momentous weekend for The Holy Spirit Antiochian Orthodox Church in Huntington, WV. Pentecost is the church's feast, and they just completed construction of their new social hall and Sunday School annex. To celebrate, a banquet and hafli was conducted on Saturday, June 6. The following morning, Bishop THOMAS conducted hierarchical Divine Liturgy. Included was the installation of Abraham Saad to Subdeacon and the elevation of pastor Fr. John Dixon to Archpriest.
First Episcopal Visit of St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church + Lewistown, MD
On Sunday, April 26th (St. Thomas Sunday & Low Sunday), the faithful of St. John the Baptist Church in Lewistown, Maryland received His Grace, Bishop THOMAS, for their first episcopal visit and for the blessing of their space. Approximately 40 people were in attendance for the occasion at the historic chapel where the former Charismatic Episcopal Church congregation had been worshipping since Christmas 2005. Bishop THOMAS’s visitation followed closely the recent Chrismation of the new faithful on April 10th at Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Potomac, Maryland, and their first Divine Liturgy on Palm Sunday. During the episcopal visitation, James K. Hamrick, the congregation’s former pastor was also ordained a subdeacon by Bishop THOMAS. Fr. Peter Jacobsen from New York is currently serving St. John the Baptist Church as the interim priest and pastor.
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Paschal Greetings from Bishop THOMAS
PASCHAL GREETING 2009
Beloved in Christ,
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
In anticipation of the blessed occasion of Holy Pascha, I greet you with love in the Name of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ! As we celebrate this glorious Feast of Feasts, let us remember the uplifting words of St. Gregory of Nyssa:
It is a saying in Wisdom that evils are forgotten on the day of joy (cf. Ecclus. 11, 25). This day makes us forget the first sentence brought against us; or rather it eliminates its very existence and not just its memory…. At that time death reigned because of sin; now thanks to Life it is justice which has taken over the power. At that time one man opened the gate of death; now through one man the gate of life is opened in its place. At that time we fell from life through death; now death is abolished by life. At that time we were hidden under the fig tree by shame; now by glory we approach the tree of life. At that time through disobedience we were expelled from paradise; now through faith we are admitted into paradise. Once again the fruit of life is offered to us to be enjoyed by us freely. Once again the fount of paradise with its four rivers of the Gospels irrigates the whole face of the Church, so that the furrows of our souls are inebriated which the sower of the word has ploughed with doctrine, and the seeds of virtue raised by the victors over the vanquished. Since then the battle line of the enemy has collapsed, and the one who once held sway over the force of devils has been vanquished and disappeared, annihilated, let us say that God is a great Lord and a great King over the entire earth. He has crowed the year with his kindness (cf. Ps. 64.12) and has assembled us in the spiritual choir, in Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is glory rendered for ever and ever. Amen. (The Paschal Mystery, trans. by Thomas Halton, 97.)
May you and your family enjoy a wonderful Paschal season in the Light of Christ’s Holy Resurrection.
Yours in Christ,
Rt. Rev. Bishop THOMAS
PBS Showcases Orthodox Chant in the Diocese of Charleston
Recently, PBS’ Religion and Ethics Weekly program featured chanting from our own Holy Cross Church in Linthicum, Maryland.
Click here to see the PBS feature.
The segment, taped inside the parish of Fr. Gregory and Kh. Frederica Mathewes-Green, beautifully captures the otherworldly essence of Orthodox worship. Church chanter Emily Lowe explains in the clip, “The Orthodox Church is unique in modern times, having a completely sung liturgy. Everything is sung, from beginning to the end.” She also gives a helpful beginner’s explanation of why there are “dissonant…foreign sounds” in Orthodox worship, and she witnesses to the ascetic tradition of the faith when she concludes, “Orthodoxy demands change. It expects change.”
Chrismation of Catechumens of St. John the Baptist Church + Lewistown, Maryland
On the evening of April 10, 2009, the Eve of Lazarus Saturday and the Feast of St. Leo of Rome, twenty-six catechumens from the newly formed St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Lewistown, Maryland were chrismated and received into the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at Ss. Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church in Potomac, Maryland. The chrismations were conducted by the group’s catechists, including Fathers Nicholas Alford, Patrick Cardine, and Alban Waggener, as well as by the new mission’s interim priest, Father Peter Jacobsen.
New Mission in Maryland
St. John the Baptist Mission began as a small mission in the Charismatic Episcopal Church (called Lamb of God Church) on Christmas Eve, 2005 under the pastoral leadership of Fr. James K. Hamrick, a CEC priest and a former United Methodist pastor. The congregation, made up mostly of former Methodists, found a historic chapel for lease in Lewistown, Maryland, just north of Frederick, Maryland, an hour west of Baltimore and an hour northwest of D.C. The chapel, originally built in 1833 as a Methodist Church, has been home for the congregation since.
Retirement Dinner for Fr. Boniface Black
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| Bp. THOMAS and Fr. Boniface Black |
His Grace, Bishop THOMAS, visited St. Philip Church in Souderton, PA the weekend of Cheesefare, February 28th--March 1st. A surprise retirement dinner was held for Fr. Boniface and Kh. Joyce Black following Vespers on Saturday. Visiting clergy, family members and parishioners swelled the attendance to three hundred for Vespers and the beautiful Cheesefare dinner which followed. Sayidna THOMAS presided at Sunday's inspiring Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and was with us again for the Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesday, March 4th.
Fr. Noah Bushelli became the Pastor of St. Philip Church on March 1st, and Fr. Boniface will now be spending weekends at the Mission Community of St. Andrew the Apostle in Lewes, Delaware, and assisting at St. Philip on weekdays, as time permits.
