This Sunday Is Foundation Day

The Foundation Stone of the Cathedral Church of the Intercessor. They met in the basement for thirteen years until they could build the first floor. A Cathedral was born from those faithful people worshiping in a basement for over a decade.

Please take a few moments and read the Patriarch’s letter on the 27th anniversary of our communion and our annual observance Foundation Day.

I have been hearing about a number of churches in the United States who are celebrating their twenty-fifth or more years since the founding of their Church. The time has gone by so fast.  I have been in the CEC for twenty-five of our Communion’s twenty-seven-year history. That is correct; it has been twenty-seven years since Austin Randolph Adler was consecrated the first bishop in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. Though twenty-seven years is a long time, it is really just a short period of time, and we are still a young fellowship within the larger Body of Christ.

The American House of Bishops decided many years ago to celebrate the “founder” of our communion on the anniversary of his consecration. Archbishop Adler stated very emphatically that he did not want an offering taken and given to him. Rather he wanted the Communion to take up a thank offering that would be used to assist churches in purchasing property or restoring property so that a CEC community could occupy it. Every year, an offering has been taken, and we have seen the vision unfold before our eyes. You can read about our successes on the CEC-NA website.

We have so much to be thankful for over the years. I am thankful for a Communion that has remained faithful to the vision of convergence worship, consensus government, and to living out the historic and ancient faith passed down to us through the centuries.  I am thankful for a Communion that has remained steadfast in proclaiming the Gospel. I am thankful for a Communion that is Sacramental and is centered in the Eucharist. I am thankful for the ministries of our churches to the least, the lost, and the lonely. I am thankful for the schools that are educating our children. I am thankful for the friendships that I have established over the past 25 years of my membership in the CEC. And, I am especially thankful that my children and grandchildren have a church family they can call home.

So, we will take a thank offering.  The offerings will be sent to the Primates of each territory to be used for the construction, purchasing, or repairing of buildings. One-third of the money will be distributed as grants, one third will be distributed as low-interest loans, and one third will be placed in an investment account where the interest can be used in future generations.

The Communion continues to grow under the guidance and anointing of the Holy Spirit. I expect God to grow the Church as we water and plant. As we abide in Christ and walk by faith, we will see good fruit, the kind that will endure.

Under His mercy,

The Most Rev. Craig W. Bates, Patriarch

 

For more information on Foundation Day, click HERE.

 

2019 is the Year of Evangelism

The North American House of Bishop met in Bel Air, Maryland just prior to the consecration of Bishop Rob Northwood. A great deal of the meeting centered around our morning time of prayer. Following this time of prayer, the Bishops decided to call for a year of evangelism.

Every year should be a year of evangelism. The call for a year of evangelism is not suggesting that at the end of the year we stop evangelizing. Rather, that together we are taking a year with every parish, mission, and ministry in the North American Church to pray, listen, reflect, and evaluate the churches evangelist works. Bishops have committed themselves to; teach evangelism at our clergy gatherings, to engage in conversation with every Rector/Vicar and his councils, to develop a diocesan plan of evangelism, and to engage is spirit directed evangelistic efforts. It also is calling for every pastor to engage his congregation in the work of evangelism.

Prayer

They recognized that every region of North America is different and will call for different types of activity. They recognized that every parish is different with a different demographic. They recognized that every person is unique and yet, they believe that every one of us, every parish, and every region is called to evangelism. 1 Timothy 2.4 informs us that the will of God is that every person is saved and comes to know the truth.

There are many definitions of evangelism, but I think Archbishop William Temple gave the best definition. He said, “Evangelism is to so present Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, that men shall come to put their trust in God through Him, to accept Him as their savior and serve Him as their King in the fellowship of the Church.”

Evangelism is fulfilling what our Lord Jesus commanded in Matthew 28.16-20. This is the Church’s mission statement.

I am excited about what God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, is going to do within our communion and among us as a people. I am excited because when people set their heart towards the presence of Jesus and His Kingdom, the Holy Spirit moves in miraculous and supernatural ways to fulfill the purposes of God.

Let us pray every day, a simple prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hardwood of the cross that everyone might come within reach of your saving embrace. So, cloth us (me) in your Spirit, that we (I), reaching forth our (my) arms in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of you name.”

Under His mercy,

+Craig, Patriarch, Primate

Holy Week at Church of the Messiah

Holy Week is the most incredible time of the year for churches throughout the world and Church of the Messiah is no exception.  We are so excited to share with you all that we have planned as we relive the events of Christ’s betrayal, death, and, ultimately, His Resurrection!  We want you to join us for all of these remarkable services.

Palm Sunday: Holy Week begins with the fanfare and celebration of Our Lord’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  We celebrate this momentous event in Jesus’ life by gathering in the church’s courtyard, blessing the palms, and processing into the church together.  During this service there is also a special dramatic reading of the Passion Gospel.  The service begins in the church courtyard at 10 o’clock

Maundy Thursday: Join with us as we commemorate Jesus celebrating the Last Supper with His Disciples on the night He was betrayed.  This deeply moving service includes the once-a-year foot washing service as well as the solemn stripping of the altar in remembrance of Christ’s betrayal.  Prior to the service we will have our regular mid-week soup supper from 6-6:45.  The Maundy Thursday service itself begins at 7 o’clock.

Good Friday:  Without a doubt, one of the highlights of the church year is Church of the Messiah’s annual Good Friday service.  From noon til three o’clock we reflect on the Passion of our Lord taking inspiration from seven different meditations each coupled with solemn prayers and contemplative songs and dance offerings.  The service also includes the reading of the Passion Gospel and the Veneration of the Holy Cross.  While the service is three-hours long, it is structured in such a way as to accommodate those who are only able to attend a portion of the service.  Come for the whole service, come for thirty minutes.  For whatever amount you can attend, you will be blessed.

Holy Saturday: While Our Lord may have rested from His labors, the abortion industry does not rest from its and Saturday is one of its busiest days.  We will take a prayerful stand for those who are condemned to die that day and pray the Liturgy for the Pre-Born outside A Woman’s Choice clinic.  We encourage everyone to join us on this very solemn occasion.

Easter Sunday: Celebrate with us the most glorious and triumphant of Feasts, the Feast which makes all other feasts possible, the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord!  Death has been defeated and the grave has been overthrown!  This year we are especially blessed to welcome Archbishop Craig W. Bates, the Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church back to Church of the Messiah to preach and celebrate Easter Sunday.  Also that morning, be sure to bring spring flower for the annual “flowering of the cross.”  Help beautify our Easter cross by bring your own flowers to help decorate.  The service itself begins at 10 o’clock and, as always, we pull out all the stops for the most glorious day of the year.  Immediately following the service we will have an Easter egg hunt in the courtyard outside the church.

Everyone is welcome to attend all of our services and childcare is provided at all events.  To help facilitate inviting others to join us, we have created Facebook events for each of these services.  To find these events, simply go to Church of the Messiah’s Facebook page and click on the “events” tab or click on the each event’s bold name.

Archbishop Craig Bates Will Visit Church of the Messiah this Sunday

This Sunday, March 31st, at our 10 o’clock service, Church of the Messiah is blessed to welcome Archbishop Craig W. Bates, the Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church.  Abp. Bates will be preaching during the service as well as celebrating the Holy Eucharist on Sunday morning.

Archbishop Bates began his ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church where, in 1985, he was called to serve as the associate pastor of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, in Malverne, New York. Five years later, after the retirement of the senior pastor then-Fr. Bates was called to be the senior pastors–a position he has maintained ever since! In 1994, Fr. Bates left the Episcopal Church and joined the fledgling Charismatic Episcopal Church. The following year, St. Thomas Episcopal Church became a part of the CEC and changed their name to Church of the Intercessor. On November 14, 1997, Craig Bates was consecrated the first Bishop of the Diocese of the Northeast. Nine years later, on January 9, 2008, Bishop Bates was elected the second Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. In addition to pastoring the same church for over 30 years and all of his episcopal ministry, Archbishop Bates holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Franconia College, a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Anna Maria College and a Master of Divinity from the General Theological Seminary. Archbishop Bates is extremely active in the New York metropolitan area as a voice for church unity, an original signer of the Manhattan Declaration, and a staunch defender of the pre-born in the Pro-Life movement. He has been married to his wife for over 40+ years and together they have three grown children and a growing number of grand-children!

Archbishop Bates is a mighty man of God and a powerful prophetic voice in the Church.  Please join us in welcoming our Patriarch this Sunday, March 31st, at 10 o’clock.  We encourage everyone to attend and invite their friends to witness how God is moving throughout the world.

The Patriarch’s Message on Sanctity of Life

Dear brothers and sisters,

As I am writing this letter, the news is consumed by and obsessed with a “caravan” of persons from Latin America seeking to enter the United States. Whether they are fleeing from poverty or from violence or both, they envision a new and better life for themselves and their families by crossing the border between Mexico and the United States. It doesn’t matter whether we call them refugees, aliens, legal, illegal, or asylum seeking. It doesn’t matter whether they are male or female, older or younger — they are, in many ways, the face of the poor.

I refuse to enter into the discussion of how to resolve the issue on the United States border. I pray for the government officials of Mexico and the United States hoping they will see in these people as desperate humanity and respond with compassion and mercy, rather than using them as political pawns in the next election cycle. I pray for an end to fear.

The plight of the refugee or the migration of ethnic groups is not something unique to the United States border with Mexico. I have walked through refugee camps in Africa. Some of the camps have existed for 30 years. Even today there are refugees fleeing civil war and unspeakable violence in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. I have listened to women who have held starving and dying children in their arms because the governments are holding back basic necessities as a means of war.

The majority of the world is hungry and without basic needs. Most children will not receive healthcare or an education. Poverty gives birth to crime, addiction, and prostitution. Poverty causes parents to sell their pre-adolescent sons and daughters to sex traders so the other children in the family can have a shelter over their heads or enough cash to buy seeds to plant.

I could go on and on about the plight of the poor and the large gap between the world’s rich and the world’s poor. And, I could also talk about the thousands upon thousands of people who are deeply distressed by any number of these concerns and have given generously, and continue to give generously, to alleviate poverty. There are people who have been motivated to spend their lives ministering to the poor, and I pray for them.

I am also concerned about the violence in our cities (and even outside the city). The fear that has been created by mass shootings is of particular concern. I can’t imagine the pain of parents who have lost a child in either a drive-by shooting or at the hands of an armed mentally ill person walking into a school and shooting innocent children.

The inner cities of the United States, but also around the world, are in the midst of a pandemic of opiate addiction. The death rate from addiction has increased dramatically. Prisons are overflowing with young men and women incarcerated for drug-related crimes. I know the plight of parents who cry themselves to sleep because the baby they once held in their arms now lives on the streets, stealing money or selling their bodies to obtain drugs. Every day the people dealing with recovery are aware that addiction is a life and death issue.

I could go on and on writing about the suffering of persons around the world, particularly the poor. And, I am thankful that many from all political and religious backgrounds are working to resolve some of these issues. But there is one group of persons who are victims of the most horrific procedure ever imagined in the history of mankind. ABORTION. Worldwide, over 150,000 children are aborted every day. That is just short of 56,000,000 children a year — nearly the population of California and Texas combined. In the United States, more than 1,280,000 children are killed by abortion every year. That is larger than the population of most cities in the United States. These children, made in the image of God, are sacred.

These murders are not only happening in distant countries, or in civil-war-torn areas dominated by corrupt governments; they are happening within driving distance of most American or European homes. These children are the silent victims of a culture of death consumed by materialism, hedonism, and greed. A culture that is ready to blame children — innocent preborn children — for poverty and the results of poverty around the world. These children are a victim of a culture that has convinced women in the West that their freedom and civil rights hang on their freedom to murder their own offspring.

How are we to resolve the problem of immigration, the plight of the poor, the gun violence in schools and on the street, the senselessness of civil wars, the sexual exploitation of children, the lack of adequate healthcare around the world, or the destruction of the family if we cannot end the horror of a child burned and mutilated in her mother’s womb? We will never see the face of Christ in the poor unless we see Him in the womb of Mary and hold Him in the manger of our hands at the Eucharist.

CEC for Life alone is not going to end abortion. However, CEC for Life is our voice in the wilderness. Fr. Terry Gensemer and Sarah Howell have traveled around the world speaking to Bishops, clergy, churches and particularly young adults about the sacredness of life, particularly the preborn, and how to impact their own churches, communities and nations for life. Many of these young adults are now committed to giving their entire lives to ending the holocaust of abortion.

I don’t like writing this letter. I don’t like praying in front of abortion mills. I don’t like talking about abortion. I don’t like hearing the pain and shame of women who have had abortions, or men who have participated in abortion. I pray daily for an end to abortion so that this horror will end in my nation and around the world.

Every January, on the third Sunday in January, we celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lord the Giver of Life. On that day, every church in the ICCEC is asked to take up an offering and send it to CEC for Life. It is also the time when every church and every clergyman renew their membership in CEC for Life, and every layperson is asked to partner with CEC for Life through a one-time donation or monthly pledge. This allows our pro-life ministry to continue, and we remain part of the increasing number of persons calling for an end to abortion. We cannot remain silent while the screams of the unborn go unheard.

The 2019 Feast Day takes place on Sunday, January 20th. Please take the time to pray and to give. Your giving has done and will continue to do so much.

Under His mercy,
The Most Rev. Craig W. Bates
Patriarch, ICCEC

Foundation Day this Sunday

Foundation Day is the Sunday closest to the anniversary of the consecration of Randolph Adler as the first bishop in the Charismatic Episcopal Church.  In honor of this event, we collect a special offering each year to help build the future of our Communion.  Due to an oversight, we neglected to collect the offering this past Sunday and will do so this coming Sunday, July 1st.  Below is a letter regarding the special occasion by Archbishop Craig Bates, the Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church.  Thank you for supporting the future of our Communion.

Brothers and Sisters
It is once again time for every Church in the ICCEC to take up an offering called the “Foundation Day Offering.” The original name of the fund was the Founder’s Day Fund and was to be an offering give to Archbishop Adler in honor of his consecration as the first bishop in the ICCEC. Archbishop was, however, a man of great generosity – he was a giver and not a taker. He decided that rather than receive the money for his personal use, he wanted the offering to establish a fund that would purchase property and buildings for the future generations of people who would call the ICCEC home.
What happens to the offering? It is collected in each country and is given to the Patriarch, who delegates the spending of the funds to the Primates. This money is then divided into thirds. One third is given as a one time gift to a congregation to purchase or build a church. One third is loaned to a congregation at a very low-interest rate for the purchase of building of a church. One third is put into an investment account where the interest can be used for the purchase or construction of a church. If you want a history of the account you can find out all the information on CEC-NA. (https://www.cec-na.org/foundation–day/)
The author, Ken Follett, wrote a novel, later became a mini-series, called “Pillars of the Earth.” It is the fictional story about the building of a Cathedral in 12th century England. It becomes clear that the beginning of a Cathedral is small (planting oak trees) and will take decades, if not centuries to complete. The largest Cathedral in America, St. John the Divine, is still under construction. The idea of a Cathedral for New York was first conceived in 1828, and it wasn’t until 59 years later, 1887, that the cornerstone was laid. The first service was held in the crypt in 1892.
The same can be said for St. Patrick’s Cathedral (the people’s Cathedral) on Fifth Ave., in NYC. Now a landmark in New York and a center for the spiritual life of the City of New York,  Archbishop John Hughes had a vision of a Cathedral for the glory of God. With offering taken from the poor immigrants and 103 larger donors (1,000 dollars each – 103,000 dollars), he began the work. He obtained property in what was then the wilderness of New York. People called it “Hughes Folly” But the lack of manpower, the civil war, and lack funds did not stop the dream.
These stories can be told about every Cathedral and most local congregations. The Church I served for 32 years, began in the dream of the Bishop of Long Island to have a local congregation for every town and village. In 1936, work began. The congregation has gone through many changes, including becoming part of the ICCEC. And, like the great Cathedrals, it is still a living organism ministering not only to present members but a next generation. Some in the congregation are the fourth generation.
The Charismatic Episcopal Church was placed into the heart of Archbishop Adler. He always reminded the early Bishops and clergy that the vision was a 500-year plan.  He once said, “all I can do is be faithful on my watch.” That is true for each of us. Are we faithful in what God has given us? Are we planting seeds for a 500-year plan? Are we opening our eyes to see beyond what our eyes can see?
This is what Foundation Day is all about. It is our participation in God’s incredible plan of a three streams community proclaiming the Gospel. Please take part.
Under His mercy,
Craig Bates