Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

It has been a joy for me to travel around and visit so many of you. Your courage and perseverance in increasingly hostile circumstances humbles me.

 

One of my goals for our Convocation for this year is to improve communications among our leaders. In inaugurating this email newsletter, my hope is to help us know one another better for mutual encouragement and strength. You?ll notice that we have highlighted three parishes and their ministries. We will continue this in the coming months and look forward to telling some of the story of each of our congregations.

 

If you are sponsoring an event that would be of interest to others, please let us know so that we can post it on the Convocation website.

 

To the clergy: if you have prayer requests that are more appropriately shared with only the other Convocational clergy, please send them to me and I will forward them on via email to just the clergy.

I'm preparing this week for General Convention. I've been at every Convention since 1976 and served six times as a deputy, five times as a committee chair. Although I was not reelected by my diocese in 2003, I continue to attend to work with the American Anglican Council and, this time, the Network. My personal role will be to support the Network and AAC Bishops. I don't know anyone on any side of the issue who thinks the Convention will vote to conform fully to the Windsor Report. The goal, of course, is to press for a clear decision for or against. Fudge should be eaten, not voted for.

 

The Network will not tell you and your congregation how to respond to General Convention, but we stand with you no matter what. If I can be of help to you in working through the implications of General Convention for you or for your congregation, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Regardless of the outcome of General Convention, the Network will continue to be a "united missionary movement of Anglicans in fellowship with global Anglicanism, making disciples who make disciples of Jesus Christ and planting churches that plant churches in North America and to the ends of the earth."

 

To that end we have begun to put structures in place to help fulfill our calling. In January, I appointed the Rev. George Beaven as Church Planting Director for the Mid-Atlantic Convocation. George has taken this on in addition to his pastoral duties at Christ Our Lord Church in Woodbridge, VA. Under his direction, we held a Conference for Church Planting Coaches in April to provide training for about 30 leaders to come alongside a new church start-up and provide direction and resources. We are in the process of linking some of these new coaches with "remnant groups" that are emerging and new congregations.

 

If you are aware of new groups that are forming, please contact George at gbeaven@comcast.net so that we can provide counsel and support.

Increasingly, churches are separating from ECUSA and seeking an overseas jurisdiction. In March, the Network sponsored an inaugural gathering for nearly 70 churches that have left ECUSA and are under the oversight of the Provinces of Uganda, Kenya, Southern Cone and Central Africa. The International Conference was formed to help unite these churches and provide assistance where necessary with overseas bishops.

 

If you are considering a move to an overseas jurisdiction, please contact me right away, before trying to arrange such a move yourself.

 

Let us continue to pray earnestly for one another!

 

Faithfully yours in Christ,

John Guernsey
Dean, Mid-Atlantic Convocation of the Anglican Communion Network
dean@acn-mac.org

 

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Anglican Communion Network Newsletter
 
If you are not yet receiving by email the ACN bi-weekly newsletter, be sure to sign up for it at:  
http://www.acn-us.org/get-involved/email-updates/
 

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Ministry Focus
 
St. Stephen's Church

The Rev. Jeffrey Cerar

Heathsville, VA

 

Being a small rural congregation, St. Stephen?s has made it a part of our vision to do God's work more effectively by entering into partnerships with other Christian congregations.    We have done ministry together with our sister parish in Mukono, Uganda, and we have worked together with an Episcopal Cong regation in Ocean Springs, MS to help their community recover from Hurricane Katrina. In our own community, we have a ministry partnership with First Baptist Church of Heathsville, an African-American congregation. Racial distrust and disrespect are still a reality in our region, and we aim to bring Christians together to overcome that. In April, St. Stephen's and First Baptist joined with another Baptist congregation to host an evangelistic community crusade, at which all three pastors preached and a mass choir sang. A week later, St. Stephen's followed up with a youth pizza party, at which 60 black and white adults and young people sang, prayed and listened together to one of our friends from Uganda. We also are hosting Vacation Bible School jointly with First Baptist the week of June 11. For more information about this ministry, contact Ward LeHardy at wardjudy56@verizon.net.

 

Please pray for...wisdom and discernment for future course regarding our relationship with ECUSA.  

 

Please pray...that our pleas for orthodoxy will bear fruit. Our Vestry and Rector have submitted two sets of comments to our diocesan Deputation regarding legislation coming before the General Convention this month.  

 

Please pray for...our sister parish, the Cathedral Parish of Sts. Philip and Andrew, in Mukono, Uganda, which is doing wonderful evangelism and ministry to youth. 

   

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The Rev. William Guerard

Helmetta, NJ

 

Our youth group has been infused with a new sense of vision from God.   They led St. George's in a powerful Good Friday worship service, and on April 29 hosted the first annual St. George's Biker Blessing with 55 motorcycles and a Christian band in the parking lot.   Lee Greaves is the adult advisor.  You can reach her at pickle796@aol.com.

 

Please pray for... St. George's to have more passion for the lost!

 

Please pray for... discernment regarding our relationship with the diocese and ECUSA.

 

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Anglican Mission of Southern Maryland Lay Leader:  Brookes Freegard

California, MD

 

We are a lay-led Anglican mission worship group with the ultimate objective of planting an Anglican Church.  We have an Intercessory Prayer Team, have obtained tax exempt status 503(c)(3) status, have approved By-Laws, and have completed an Alpha Course (with help from All Saints').  On Sundays, 0930, we offer Morning Prayer and on a Sunday when we have a visiting priest, we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. Our current worship location is at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center Room 108/109, 44219 Airport Road, California, MD.  For more information, please contact Brookes Freegard at sfreegar@gmpexpress.net or by phone at (301) 475-9337.

 

Please pray for...God's guidance for the establishment of an orthodox Anglican presence in Southern Maryland.

 

Upcoming Events...We are planning an ACN dedication service with Dean Guernsey and the date is to be determined  

  

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Recommended Reading
 
The Da Vinci Code, a novel by Dan Brown, as well as the recently-released movie by the same name, gives us an unprecedented opportunity to proclaim the truth about Christianity and Jesus Christ, our only Savior. The following books will equip people to help others discover the truth:

 

The Da Vinci Code: A Response, by Nicky Gumbel. (Alpha publication, 2005, $1.50) This is a simple and brief, but clear, response to the issues raised by Brown?s book.

 

The Da Vinci Code: A Quest for Answers, by Josh McDowell. This book is set as a conversation between college students and professors. It is readable and a solid presentation of the facts. (Josh McDowell Ministry, 2005, $3.95)

 

De-coding Da Vinci, by Amy Welborn.   (Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 2004, $10) This book is a systematic discussion of the issues presented in The Da Vinci Code. It includes a detailed synopsis of the book, so that you can understand the major issues raised by the Da Vinci Code without reading the book. Questions at the end of each chapter make this book suitable for group study as well as individual reading.  

 

The Books the Church Suppressed, by Dr. Michael Green (Monarch Books 2005; $10). This book focuses on the truth of the formation of the New Testament and the Gnostic gospels. This book is invaluable for pastors, teachers and anyone who wants a better understanding of how the Scriptures came into being.
 

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Upcoming Events
 
2006 General Convention of the Episcopal Church USA in Columbus, Ohio, June 12-21, 2006.   For suggestions on how to pray each day leading up to the Convention and during the event, visit this live weblog, a combined effort of a variety of Orthodox Anglican groups:   http://gencon06.classicalanglican.net/.

 

Transformation: "I Will Change Your Name"...As people around the world experience the healing the Lord can bring through Emotionally Free they find their lives are transformed. Wounded, outcast, lonely, afraid, becoming joyful, confident, overcomers. Your opportunity June 28-July1, All Saints' Church, Woodbridge, VA. Contact Gail Patton, gailpatton@comcast.net.or Sue Wheeler, 703-590-6727.
 
(Do you have an event you would like listed in the MAC newsletter?  Please send the event information to hreichert@acn-mac.org )

 

You may forward this newsletter to members of your congregation.  Past and current issues will be available on the MAC website.

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"In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him."  C.S. Lewis, The Joyful Christian 

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