The Patriarch’s Letter for this Sunday

Last March, I was in San Clemente, California, with the Primates Council members and their wives.  We had a great gathering, and the Lord spoke to us in so many ways.  At the time, we were hearing about this “Coronavirus” that apparently was in China and Europe and perhaps spreading to the United States.  Little did we know at the time what that “danger” and “spreading” was all about. When we returned home, suddenly, there was talk about a “lockdown” and the shutting down of entire countries in Europe, and we in the United States were soon to follow.  That shutdown happened.  We were told the shutdown would be 15 days to flatten the curve so that hospitals could handle the overwhelming numbers of people admitted.

We also heard about “essential services” and “non-essential services.”  Grocery stores were essential, and guidelines were given for those who needed to shop.  Elderly people even had special times to shop.  Of course, healthcare workers, police officers, emergency personnel, sanitation workers, pharmacists, and others were considered essential, and indeed they were.

Then there were the lists of non-essentials that ranged from “gyms” to restaurants and bars. Most small retail shops or barbershops and hair salons were non-essential.  Churches were considered non-essential, and still, in many states, churches face restrictions on the number of people who can occupy their buildings.  For sacramental churches, like the CEC, that meant there were no Eucharists, no baptisms, no weddings, no funerals, no last rites at the hospitals (clergy were even forbidden to visit dying parishioners), or any other sacramental rite available to the people of God.  Thank the Lord for the internet, as the churches could go virtual and minister to the people.  The Church established an online presence. But, while churches were considered non-essential abortion, clinics were deemed essential.  While medical procedures and other medical services were put on hold as non-essential, abortion was a procedure that was deemed to be essential.

The pandemic put life and death before us.  As the numbers of hospitalized patients and those dying from COVID increased, we faced a new pandemic of “fear.”  On the positive side, we became deeply concerned about the vulnerable among us in nursing homes, long-term living facilities, assisted living centers, and senior living facilities.  Thousands died in these facilities, and the medical community told us outright that the elderly were most at risk and most likely not to survive the virus.  The elderly who lived at home were advised to avoid contact with their children and grandchildren.  Contact with an asymptomatic child could result in being infected and death.  Those who are isolated from the community’s daily life were now even more isolated to be protected from this virus of death.

It is good that soon a vaccine will be available. Healthcare workers and these seniors in facilities will be the first to receive the vaccine, followed by senior citizens who have underlying health issues.  Soon those with other diseases will receive treatment.  And perhaps our hearts will be changed in our appreciation for the elderly among us.  Hopefully, the Church will be awakened to the concerns of our elderly.

Throughout it all, abortion clinics, however, remained open.  Abortion clinics were an “essential service.”  While society rightfully cared for the elderly, they ignored the preborn — innocent little children who rely totally on others for their protection and life.  These babies were still disposable.  While politicians ran for office on the handling or mishandling of the Coronavirus, there was little concern or even awareness that some of the candidates ran on a platform that advocated the right to abort a baby up to the moment of birth, and, even in some cases, to allow a baby to die after birth.

The Church is always called to be present during human suffering with the message of life.  Our faith is based on a God who suffered among us.  It is right and a good thing that many churches ministered to those suffering from COVID.  It is also right and good that the Church advocates for the poor, the widow, the fatherless, the single mothers, the disenfranchised, the homeless, the hungry, those in prison, immigrants, and those seeking freedom from tyranny.  These are pro-life concerns.  The Church needs to proclaim life into these situations, or as some say, we have a ministry of life from the womb to the tomb.

During the pandemic, we continue to have concern for everyone who is at risk, who has the disease, and especially those who mourn the death of a loved one because of the disease.  We mourn the loss of almost 300,000 who have died from COVID and pray the new vaccine will end this horror.  We continue to preach life and not give in to a fear of death.

Yet, we must also continue to cry out with a loud voice for the preborn babies’ right to life.   As of this year, almost 40,000,000 abortions were performed worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.  That is 125,000 babies a day.  In the United States, roughly 3,000 preborn babies die every day at the hands of abortionists.  We are told that 22% of all pregnancies in American end in abortion.  There are more babies aborted in parts of New York City than brought to a full-term pregnancy and birth.  We cannot get quality of life if we continue to destroy life.  Death cannot be a solution to injustice or oppression.  That is not good news.

A great deal of progress has been made over the past few years in bringing about change and saving babies’ lives.  Abortion clinics continue to close, and some states could soon become “abortion free” states.  The courts are now more “friendly” to pro-life cases and rule in favor of the right to life and the protection of the preborn.  We could face some setbacks in the next few years, but we will continue to fight to be a voice for the voiceless.  (Thank you to all who continue to pray at the abortion mills regularly.  Persevere and do not give up.)

A lot still needs to be done on all different levels if we are to win and find a day when abortion will not only be illegal, but unthinkable.  We must continue to work towards the day when the truth that God loves the unborn child, and that God loves the mother who has tragically presented herself for abortion, is understood.  Our churches should be centers of life and healing for all the little children, for families in crisis, for single mothers, the fatherless, and the widows.

Churches should be a voice for the poor and a place where mercy and justice meet at the cross.  We must work towards the day when death is not considered a solution; rather, choices of life for both mother and baby are more obvious and more available.

This is going to take a change of heart.  The Pro-life movement is a Gospel movement.  We need to support our clergy in preaching and teaching the Gospel of life from womb to tomb.  We need to raise a generation that continues in the fight until the right to life is a reality for all.  We need to raise a generation that has the heart of God.  This is what CEC for Life is all about. Though the end of abortion is a primary concern of CEC for Life, it does not mean the leadership of CEC for Life is not concerned about all life.  The battle cry is “All Life is Sacred.”

The Charismatic Episcopal Church was birthed in the Pro-Life movement and the “cultural wars” of the past few decades.  As a people, God spoke to us and drew us into the life of the ancient and historic Church. We saw and continue to see that through liturgy and sacraments, along with preaching the Good News and the transformation of the heart, and empowerment by the Holy Spirit (the Lord and giver of Life), we join in a cultural war that has been raging since the beginning of time.

The cross of Christ is a cultural war, and victory was won on that cross in the wounds of Christ Jesus and the shedding of His blood. We found out that, as we participate in His life, and particularly His death, we find that ultimate gift of life, the resurrection and defeat of death.  This truth is lived out every day in our people, but particularly in the praise and thanksgiving of the Eucharist Feast.

On January 17th, the third Sunday of the Christmas season, the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church celebrates a feast in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord and Giver of Life.  During the Eucharist, an offering is to be taken where we ask every participant and member of the ICCEC to give generously to the pro-life work of our communion.  We also ask every clergy, along with every parish, to partner with CEC for Life by submitting their membership request for the year.

I can only ask you to give generously, which most of you do.

What more will we do? We will persevere with the Gospel, knowing that in due season we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  We will continue to pray at abortion clinics.  We will continue to work with other Pro-Life groups.  We will continue to raise up a generation around the world who are Gospel activists.  We will continue to equip the Church with the message of life.

Please once again join us.  Be a part of a godly solution and a warrior for life.

Under His mercy,

The Most Rev. Craig W. Bates

Patriarch, ICCEC

This letter was originally published on CEC for Life’s web-site.

March for Life at Church of the Messiah

This week more than a dozen members of Church of the Messiah will be heading up to Washington, D.C., to join with CEC for Life and participate in the 47th Annual March for Life.  If you cannot make the trek to the frozen north, you can still participate in a series of events planned right here at Church of the Messiah.

On Thursday night, beginning at 7:00, we will have a night of pro-life intercession and prayer at Church of the Messiah.

On Friday morning, starting at 9 o’clock, we will participate in a silent prayer vigil at All Women’s Health Center at 1545 Huffingham Road (click HERE for a map.  Please park in the church parking lot or alongside the road.)

On Saturday morning, starting at 9 o’clock, we will be leading the Liturgy for the Pre-Born in front of All Women’s Health Center.  If you have never attended one of these liturgies, this will be a perfect opportunity to do so.

For more information on any of these services, please contact Casey Harlow or Fr. Scott Melanson.

In light of these scheduled event and our many youth who are traveling to Washington this week to participate in the March for Life, we are cancelling both Youth Group and our Adult Bible Study on Wednesday night, January 22nd.  This events will resume as normal on Wednesday, January 29th.

Church of the Messiah to Host Life & Leadership Conference

We are excited to announce that on Saturday, December 14th, Church of the Messiah will host the first-ever Life & Leadership Conference in America.

Throughout history, the biggest changes in the tide of time were brought about by dedicated servant leaders.  This training brings those leaders to life and offers intense spiritual instruction that will equip Christians to change their world.

Fr. Terry Genesmer, the Director of CEC for Life and long-time friend of Church of the Messiah, has led several Life & Leadership conferences in Europe, usually over three days.  This event will be an intensive one-day course geared towards men and women (ages 17 & up) who are currently in leadership or actively seeking to become leaders in their church or community.

The cost is $30 and covers your leadership booklet, light breakfast and lunch.  Only 35 spots available!  To register for the conference, click HERE.  To pay for the conference, you may give Sunday at church or you may pay on-line by clicking HERE (select “Life & Leadership Conference” option).

Join with Church of the Messiah and Fr. Terry Gensemer on Saturday, December 14th, as we learn how to become focused servant leaders who will turn the tide for this country and the Kingdom of God.

Church of the Messiah to Pray Liturgy for the Pre-Born

This Saturday, April 28th, starting at 9 o’clock, the clergy and people of Church of the Messiah will gather outside of A Woman’s Choice, one of Jacksonville’s few abortion clinics and one which often performs abortions on Saturday mornings.  We will be praying for an end to abortion and especially for those who are about to die in that very clinic that weekend.

Please join with us as we pray for the pre-born children throughout Jacksonville and the world, but especially those a A Woman’s Choice, (Click HERE for a map) who will be murdered by the holocaust of abortion and have no one to pray for them. Let us pray for those who are about to die and for and end to abortion in America and in the world.

The best place to park is in the parking lot near the Payless ShoeSource (click HERE for a map) and walk to short distance to where we will be praying.  Be sure to park, however, away from the stores, because we do not want to be a nuisance to the vendors.

Fr. Terry Gensemer Will Preach at Church of the Messiah this Sunday

Fr. Terry GensemerFr. Terry Gensemer, the International Director for CEC For Life, will visit Church of the Messiah this Sunday, April, 28th.  Fr. Gensemer will preach and con-celebrate the Holy Eucharist at Church of the Messiah’s regular service beginning at 10 o’clock.

In addition to leading CEC For Life and sitting on the Patriarch’s Council, Fr. Gensemer is a Board Member of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, a Pastoral Care Associate for the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, and the Pastoral Director for the Society of Centurions, an organization which hosts healing retreats for those who have left the abortion industry.  Fr. Gensemer’s tireless work for the Pro-Life cause has taken him to five different continents and countless churches across the world.  On this trip, Fr. Gensemer will be joined by his wife Patti.

Fr. Terry will be fresh from a national meeting of pro-life leaders in Titusville, FL, and promises that he will have a powerful word for Church of the Messiah.  Be sure to mark your calendars and plan on joining us this Sunday, April 28th, as our time with Fr. Terry is sure to be anointed by The Lord!

Fr. Alan Melanson to Preach at Church of the Messiah this Sunday

This Sunday, August 20th, Fr. Alan Melanson will preach at Church of the Messiah’s ten o’clock service.

Fr. Alan is a Jacksonville native who graduated from Sandalwood High School and attended the University of North Florida.  In 2004, Fr. Alan moved to New York where he began serving at the Director of Youth and Children’s Ministries at the Church of the Intercessor in Malverne, NY.  Ordained to the priesthood in June of 2012, Fr. Alan currently oversees every ministry in the church that ministers to children from infants to college-age.  Heavily committed to the Pro-Life movement, Fr. Alan and his family are regularly involved in CEC For Life and have traveled internationally to spread the truth that All Life is Sacred.  Fr. Alan and his wife, Katie, married in 2002 and have three beautiful daughers: Jocelyn, Callie and Charlotte.  Fr. Alan is the son of Fr. Scott and Cyndy Melanson.

Please join us this Sunday as Fr. Alan Melanson brings the Gospel to Church of the Messiah.

 

The Patriarch’s Letter on the Feast of Our Lord and the Giver of Life

Dear brothers and sisters,

The murder of pre-born children is the moral issue of our generation, though it is not the only moral issue of our times. There remains issues of poverty, hunger, lack of medical care for the poor, the refugee crisis, sex trade industry, sexual slavery, the use of children as soldiers in war, consumerism, and the care of the elderly. These are all life issues. However, the murder of 5,000 children every day in America, and over 150,000 children worldwide, far outweighs these other issues. The victims of abortion are the most innocent of all these human atrocities.

Abortion is the tip of the spear of the culture of death. The church cannot declare an end to the “cultural wars” until abortion is illegal and we have a generation that cannot imagine how we committed such a genocide and holocaust.

CEC for Life is part of the Patriarch’s Office and is funded by Churches around the world to lead us in our pro-life efforts and to raise up a pro-life generation in our Churches. The ministry is also committed to promoting unity among all pro-life Christians and organizations, not just those of our own denomination. Fr. Terry Gensemer, along with Sarah Howell and others, persevere towards these goals every day. And they have done a phenomenal job! Fr. Terry is perhaps one of the most respected leaders in the pro-life community. He is a man who is loved around the world. Everywhere I travel young men and women ask me, “How is Fr. Terry?” Or, they ask me to tell Fr. Terry that they love him.

It brings my heart joy when I see young people praying at abortion clinics in the countries of Europe, or marching and praying with “All Life is Sacred” t-shirts on the streets of the Philippines. When I go to Brazil, it is the young men and women who will ask me to please bring Fr. Terry with me. He is reaching — we are reaching — that pro-life generation.

How is this funded? By God, of course! God, however, calls us to be generous in our giving. In fact, God calls us to be sacrificial in our giving. On the Feast of Our Lord the Giver of Life, every Church in the ICCEC is to take up a special offering for CEC for Life. We are also asked to have our churches join CEC for Life and for us to encourage others to become members. The funding of pro-life work by an entire denomination is unique and practically unheard of in denominations across the globe. But it is what God has called us to do.

What do you get for your offering? I could be very practical. I could talk about the pro-life leadership training of young men and women, or the closing of abortion clinics in places like Birmingham or Selma, or the prayer efforts at abortion mills, along with seminars and conferences, around the world, or the representation that CEC For Life gives us in the pro-life community. However, the real reward is that through our efforts babies are being saved and rescued.

How much would you give to save even one life of a precious baby who would otherwise be brutally murdered? Ten dollars, twenty dollars, thirty dollars, or how much?

Please give and give generously. We are at a critical time in the movement. We put our trust in God, but there is opportunity to defeat Planned Parenthood, to appoint over 1,000 pro-life judges, to appoint at least one pro-life Supreme Court justice, and to get laws that restrict abortion, particularly late-term abortion. Abortion most likely will not end in the next four years, but we will make major advances in winning the hearts of people for Christ.

Under His mercy,

The Most Rev. Craig W. Bates

Fr. Terry Gensemer to Lead Liturgy for the PreBorn This Saturday Morning

Liturgy for the PreBornThis Saturday morning, at 10 o’clock, Fr. Terry Gensemer, International Director of CEC For Life, will lead the local pro-life community in a Liturgy for the PreBorn.  The Liturgy will be held in the public right-of-way in front of A Woman’s Choice of Jacksonville (Click HERE for a Map).  The service is being held in conjunction with Jacksonville’s Fall 40 Days for Life campaign.  The Liturgy for the PreBorn is a service similar to a prayers at the time of death for the many preborn children who will face death in abortion clinics in Jacksonville and all over America each day.  A Woman’s Choice of Jacksonville is one clinic in Jacksonville where abortions are performed six days a week so people will be praying at the same time women and children could be going into the clinic to have abortions.  The following morning, Fr. Gensemer will preach at Church of the Messiah’s 10 o’clock service.

Fr. Terry Gensemer to Visit Church of the Messiah

Fr. Terry GensemerFr. Terry Gensemer, the International Director for CEC For Life, will visit Church of the Messiah October 3-4.   During his time at Church of  the Messiah, Fr. Gensemer will lead a Liturgy for the Pre-Born outside of one of Jacksonville’s most notorious abortion clinics as part of the annual 40 Days for Life Fall Campaign.  Sunday morning, Fr. Gensemer will preach and celebrate the Holy Eucharist at Church of the Messiah’s regular services beginning at 10 o’clock.

In addition to leading CEC For Life and sitting on the Patriarch’s Council, Fr. Gensemer is a Board Member of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, a Pastoral Care Associate for the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, and the Pastoral Director for the Society of Centurions, an organization which hosts healing retreats for those who have left the abortion industry.  Fr. Gensemer’s tireless work for the Pro-Life cause has taken him to five different continents and countless churches across the world.  On this trip, Fr. Gensemer will be joined by his wife Patti.

Be sure to mark your calendars because October 3-4 are going to be an exciting weekend.  There is never a dull moment with Fr. Terry and Patti Gensemer around.  Be sure to join us for each of these powerful events.

ICCEC to Celebrate Life on Worldwide Feast Day

Dear Brothers,

I hope you are experiencing a fruitful time of reflection and anticipation as we move from the Christmas season and into Epiphany.  This coming Sunday (January 20), as always during the Epiphany season, we will celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lord the Giver of Life.  This Feast Day is unique to our own Communion, a day set aside to celebrate and stand in wonder at the gift of Life bestowed upon us by our loving Father.  It is a joy and an honor to celebrate such a day with each of you.

As all of you know, I was raised in the Anglican Communion. Hence, for all of my youth and for a significant part of my ministry, the Episcopal Hymnal was a deep part of my spiritual discipline. I grew up under a Pastor who was a retired Ensign in the United States Navy. Like every male adult I knew as a youth, he served in World War II. He was also deeply influenced by the ministry and writing of Dietrich Bonheoffer. As a result, so were all the members of his congregation.

Dietrich Bonheoffer had to confront directly the moral issue of his day – the rise of fascism, particularly National Socialism. It was the moral issue of my father’s generation and so, as a youth, I also heard a clear message that there really was such a thing as evil, and that it incarnated itself in the men, particularly Hitler, who attempted to rule Europe and enslave millions of people. In that War it is estimated that somewhere between 62 and 78 million people died either in military service, civilian casualties, or in the concentration camps. One hundred and thirty-five thousand, five hundred and six American military personnel were killed in action between D-Day and V-E Day.

My father and every veteran I knew talked of the horrors of war and their desire was that their sons would never have to go to war. Yet, they knew there was evil, and that evil was to be confronted, even if it meant giving your life – the greatest sacrifice.

My Pastor and my father also taught me that there was good and righteousness. There was right and there was wrong. They believed that virtue and all that was good was found in Christ Jesus and so, we, along with all the kids I grew up with, went to Church.

Today, the battle we face between good and evil is no longer contained within some foreign land; it is across the globe and against a very prevalent culture of death.  Whether we live in America or Africa, the battle for freedom, religious liberty, the inalienable rights of all persons, and the traditional and God-ordained pattern of marriage and family is being fought in our own back yards.

There can be no compromise on these issues. There can be no compromise on the right to life for all people – born and preborn. The murder of preborn children at the rate of 115,000 a day worldwide is wicked, and those involved in this holocaust are wicked. This is not a political issue, it is a battle between good and evil, light and darkness, righteousness and wickedness, and life and death.

In 1845, James R. Lowell wrote a poem protesting America’s war with Mexico. It was set to music by Thomas J. Williams and placed in the Episcopal Hymnal, until it was removed in 1982, along with “Onward Christian Soldiers”, for questionable theology. My Pastor had us sing this song at least once a month to teach us the importance of not remaining silent in the face of evil.

“Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever, ‘twixt that darkness and that light.

“Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.

“By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, They bleeding feet we track,
Tolling up new Calv’ries ever with the cross that turns
not back; New occasions teach new duties, time make ancient
good uncouth, They must upward still and onward, who would
keep abreast of truth.

“Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is
strong; Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the
throne be wrong; Yet that scaffold sways the future, and
behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow,
keeping watch above His own.”

We will be victorious in the fight to end abortion. I believe a generation of young people is being raised up in the international communion of the CEC who are not only committed to ending abortion in their own nations, but are Pro Life because they have a radical and passionate love for the Risen Lord Jesus.

We can and should give to all types of Pro Life activities, from Pregnancy Centers to Post Abortive Counseling. We should also be Pro Life from conception to natural death, which means we need to support ministries to the homeless, single mothers, fatherless children, and drug/alcohol victims. The Lord loves a cheerful and, might I add, generous giver. Yet the Lord, from the founding of the Charismatic Episcopal Church and through consensus of the Bishops and Patriarch’s Council, established CEC for Life as our voice in the Pro Life Ministry.

We agreed, in consensus, that every year Parishes, Missions, and Clergy should renew their memberships for CEC for Life. We agreed, in consensus, that we should encourage all of our parishioners to give annually to CEC for Life. We also agreed that the Lord directed us to establish the Feast Day of Our Lord the Giver of Life, to be celebrated every January with a special Sunday service during which each parish would take up a special offering to be given to CEC For Life.  This year that Feast Day will take place on Sunday, January 20th.

Times are tough.  Many of our nations are currently facing extreme economic crises, even here in America.  Some see this as a reason for cutting back on giving; I see it as a time to increase my giving.

We can give lip service to being Pro Life. We can even vote Pro Life. But the end to abortion will not happen until the Church is mobilized and called to apostolic action. And any mobilization will require the sacrificial giving of time, talent, and treasure.

On Sunday, January 20, please encourage your clergy to take part in this important offering. Bishops must take the lead. Your voice has influence in the lives of your sons in the Lord.

Be assured of my prayer and affections.

Under His mercy,

The Most Rev. Craig W. Bates,
Patriarch, ICCEC
Primate, CEC-NA

For more information on the Feast Day of Our Lord the Giver of Life, please contact Fr. Terry Gensemer through the Office of the Patriarch at frterry@cecforlife.com.