Anno Domini 2025 August 7

Beloved of the Lord:

Today is Thursday, 7 August, in the year of our Lord 2025. The scheduled services are as-follows:

• Thursday (today): 6:30 PM (Holy Name of Jesus), BCP Lecture, Holy Communion, Soup & Study.
• Friday: 9:00 AM, Mass, Blessed John Mason Neale, Confessor, with Gregorian Canon.
  Immediately following, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Saturday: 10:00 AM, Holy Communion.
  Immediately following, vestry meeting.
• Sunday: 8:30 AM, Mass, Trinity VIII.
  10:00 AM, Mass, Saint Lawrence, Deacon & Martyr, Commemorate Trinity VIII.
  12:30 PM, Good Shepherd Parish holds their services.

As you will have read, there is an ad hoc vestry meeting this Saturday. With the Synod that we are hosting merely a month-away, it seems prudent to insure that we've made all due preparations; thus, the meeting. Additionally, there will be a meeting for all Synod volunteers on Saturday, 6 September, at 10:00 AM.

I'm certain that the announcement of 'Good Shepherd using our facilities caught many off-guard. Truth be told, I only received their request for aid the Friday before; they had been seeking, and failed to find, alternate housing for their services, and reached-out to me at the eleventh hour. In situations such as those, there is only one correct response in the sight of our Lord, and so, the decision was made.

However, quick decisions and changes do not always allow for proper planning. As-such, rather than shortening our coffee-hour, after the 10:00 Mass, we will simply close the doors betwixt the Parish Hall and the Nave, at 12:30 PM. This will leave our Sabbath routine unchanged, whilst we still offer aid to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

As has been noted in recent sermons and classes, Anglicanism is now in a greater state of flux, perhaps than it has ever been. We can anticipate these circumstances, and must acknowledge that these waves have already reached our shores, over the last few years, and will continue to do so. The single most important aspect is this ~ the preservation our Parish, before- and above all. Entire jurisdictions have come-and-gone, but Saint Matthew's has- and will remain. As it has been written, so shall it be! I remain

in His praise,

The Rt. Rev'd T. L. Crowder

Rector, Saint Matthew's Parish