Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Bishop Chuck Huckaby has announced that the 2010 Synodical Convention of the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America will take place Friday, May 28 through Sunday, May 30, 2010 at Saint Andrew’s Church, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. We will gather on Friday afternoon at approximately 5 PM (final agenda to be determined in the coming weeks) for Vespers and an evening meal, followed by fellowship time. Saturday will be our business meeting, and Sunday will include a celebration of the Holy Supper of our Lord with the congregation of Saint Andrew’s Church.

Please mark your calendars now! We hope you will be able to join us for this time of fellowship.

More information will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead.

Open submission for general discussion agenda items will begin on March 15.

Clare Adele Lyons is baptized by Bishop Chuck Huckaby during the first worship service held by Saint Boniface Church in Johnson County, Indiana.

After six months of preparations, a new congregation of the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America held its first worship service on January 1, 2010, with Bishop Chuck Huckaby present to preach the Gospel, celebrate the Holy Supper, and baptize the child of the congregation’s pastor.

The new congregation, Saint Boniface Church, is focused on ministry on the south side of Indianapolis, and in the towns of Greenwood, Franklin, and Bargersville, Indiana. While the congregation is now worshipping on Sunday mornings at 10:30, it has plans to begin reaching out to the community with a series of informational meetings. The first of these meetings will be held on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at the White River Branch of the Johnson County Public Library.

Please pray for Father Lyons and his family as they seek to establish a new congregation for Christ’s Church in the midst of their community.

Olympias of Constantinople, born about 361, came to be considered a model of widows and deaconesses. Orphaned, but an heiress through her father, she married Nebridius, prefect of Constantinople. The marriage was good, but Nebridius died before very long; and Olympias, though perhaps not yet twenty years old, was left a widow. Naturally, a number of suitors were interested in marrying such a wealthy young woman. In fact, Emperor Theodosius pressed her to accept a kinsman of his own. However, Olympias declared to one and all that she intended not to remarry: “Had God wished me to remain a wife,” she said, “He would not have taken Nebridius away.” Theodosius was angry about this, and put her and her property under the guardianship of the city prefect until she was thirty. The widow then wrote to Theodosius suggesting that he go farther, and distribute her estate to the Church and the poor. That frank letter struck Theodosius. He saw that he was dealing with no ordinary young widow, but with a strongly spiritual character, so in 361 he restored her property to her.

Olympias then asked the bishop of Constantinople, Nectarius, to consecrate her as a deaconess. He did, and she established a large home where she invited other young women to reside who wished to serve God in a special way. Her community thus became in many ways like what a religious order would be in later centuries. It was a center of prayer and charity. An orphanage and a hospital were subsequently added. Olympias became admired and praised throughout the Near East for her charities: “a wonderful woman … like a precious vase filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Olympias had to suffer much along the way, however, especially because of her loyalty to John Chrysostom. John had succeeded Nectarius as bishop of Constantinople, but in 404 he was exiled by the Emperor for political reasons. Because Olympias refused to acknowledge Chrysostom’s imperially-sponsored replacement she was exiled and her house of charity was padlocked. Nonetheless, she continued to act as an agent of the absent Chrysostom, who held her in the highest admiration. She died in the year 408.

COLLECT
God of all compassion, you moved your servant Olympias to surrender herself to your service after the death of her husband, giving all that she had to minister to Christ in those whom she met. Raise up, we pray, in our own day deaconesses and widows like her, so that the needs of the less fortunate may be ministered to with compassion and love. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Ambrose, one of the greatest leaders of the Western Church, was the son of a civil leader in Gaul. He became a lawyer and, eventually, the governor of Aemilia-Liguria, with his seat in Milan. When the city’s bishop died, the people demanded that he succeed him, even though he was still preparing for baptism. He agreed, however, and was baptized, ordained, and consecrated as bishop on December 7, 374. He was a famous preacher, a staunch defender of orthodoxy (to the extent of opposing the state to maintain freedom of the catholic faith), and skilled both at linguistics and the composition of music. He was partly responsible for the conversion of Augustine, and introduced Eastern theology to the West. He died on Holy Saturday in the year 397.

COLLECT
O God, you gave your servant Ambrose grace eloquently to proclaim your righteousness in the great congregation, and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honor of your Name. Mercifully grant to all bishops and pastors such excellence in preaching and faithfulness in ministering your Word, that your people may be partakers with them of the glory that shall be revealed. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Nicholas was the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a city in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor. He was a man of deep faith, compassionate to all, and deeply concerned with the welfare of his people. Nicholas was well known for rescuing victims of shipwreck and advocating for the safety of young children, but it is his generosity that has –for good or for ill- gained the most notoriety, particularly in modern western culture.

Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters. Rather than see them forced into prostitution, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through the poor man’s window on three separate occasions, thus enabling the daughters to be married. Over the centuries, this particular legend evolved into the custom of gift-giving on the saint’s feast.

In the English-speaking countries, Nicholas became, by a twist of the tongue, Santa Claus—further expanding the example of generosity portrayed by this holy bishop.

COLLECT
Almighty God, in your love you gave your servant Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness both on land and sea. Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Clement, a native of Athens, was converted to Christianity by Pantaenus, founder of the Catechetical School at Alexandria, and succeeded his teacher as head of the School about 180. For over 20 years he labored effectively as an apologist for the faith and catechist of the faithful. He regarded the science and philosophy of the Greeks as being, like the Torah of the Hebrews, a preparation for the Gospel, and the curriculum of his School undertook to give his students both a knowledge the Gospel of Christ and a sound liberal education. His speculative theology, his scholarly defense of the faith and his willingness to meet non-Christian scholars on their own grounds, helped to establish the good reputation of Christianity in the world of learning.

COLLECT
O God of unsearchable wisdom, you gave your servant Clement of Alexandria the grace to understand and teach the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, the source of all truth. Grant to your church the same grace to discern your Word wherever truth is found. We ask this through Jesus Christ our unfailing light, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Nicholas Ferrar, born in 1592, was the founder of a religious community that lasted from 1626 to 1646.

After Nicholas had been ordained as a deacon, he and his family and a few friends retired to Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire, England, to devote themselves to a life of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. They restored the abandoned church building, and became responsible for regular services there. They taught the neighborhood children, and looked after the health and well-being of the people of the district. They read the regular daily offices of the Book of Common Prayer, including the recital every day of the complete Psalter. (Day and night, there was always at least one member of the community kneeling in prayer before the altar, that they might keep the word, “Pray without ceasing.”) They wrote books and stories dealing with various aspects of Christian faith and practice. They fasted with great rigor, and in other ways embraced voluntary poverty, so that they might have as much money as possible for the relief of the poor.

The community was founded when Nicholas was 34. He died in 1637 (aged 45), and in 1646 the community was forcibly broken up by the Puritans of Cromwell’s army. The memory of the community survived to inspire and influence later undertakings in Christian communal living in England and beyond.

Lord God, make us worthy of your perfect love; that, with your deacon Nicholas Ferrar and his household, we may rule ourselves according to your Word, and serve you with our whole heart. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Andrew was Peter’s brother, and was called with him. John the Evangelist presents Andrew as a disciple of John the Baptist. Little else is said about Andrew in the Gospels. Before the multiplication of the loaves, it was Andrew who spoke up about the boy who had the loaves and fishes. When the Gentiles went to see Jesus, they came to Philip, but Philip then had recourse to Andrew. Legend has it that Andrew preached in what is now Greece and Turkey and was crucified at Patras.

COLLECT
Almighty God, you gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son, and brought his brother with him. Give us, who are called by your holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into the gracious presence of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

READINGS
Ezekiel 3: 16-21
Psalm 19a
Romans 10: 10-18
John 1: 35-42

The First Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated and, overall, we have focused on how much we have and what we are thankful for. As one of America’s leading theologians and pastors, Jonathan Edwards’ Thanksgiving Day sermon in 1739 focused on what we should give in light of what Jesus Christ has given us.

His scripture text for that day was Luke 8:2-3 (ESV):

and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

Usually we don’t hear Thanksgiving Day sermons about demons or demon possessed people! Anything to interrupt our self-absorption is not too popular. The only things we want to contemplate on such a day are food, football, and the Black Friday bargains we hope to gain. Though the day is one designed to evoke thanksgiving to God, it is usually just a day about feeling satisfied in our own accomplishments and position in the world (see what Jesus said about that in Luke 12:16-21).

Edwards’ point is that Thanksgiving Day must move our focus beyond ourselves – as if we have “arrived”! – to the gifts of Jesus Christ to us, and how we ought to respond in gratitude for His gifts.

Perhaps we shouldn’t ask “Did you have a Happy Thanksgiving?” Perhaps we should be asking “How did your Thanksgiving to Jesus Christ overflow to serve Him and those He has called us to reach in His Name?”

You can read more about Edwards’ sermon here.

Edwards’ Sermon notes for this Thanksgiving Sermon at Yale

Catherine converted to Christianity after receiving a vision. At the age of 18, she debated 50 pagan philosophers who, amazed by her wisdom, became Christians—as did about 200 soldiers and members of the emperor’s family. All of them were martyred. Sentenced to be executed on a spiked wheel, Catherine touched the wheel and it shattered. She was eventually beheaded.

COLLECT
Almighty and everlasting God, fill us with the gift of your Holy Spirit, that we may always present to those we meet the reason for our hope, that following in the footsteps of Catherine of Alexandria, we may bring others to the saving knowledge of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.