The Church of the Messiah

We received some crushing news today.  Many of you know Randall and Andrea Terry.  Randall was the founder of Operation Rescue and has been a pillar of the Pro-Life Community for decades.  Andrea led our Women’s Retreat a few years ago.  Both were members of Church of the Messiah for a season along with their four wonderful sons.  We heard news today through Fr. Terry Gensemer of CEC-for-Life that Michael Winston Terry, Randall and Andrea’s 10 year-old son has been diagnosed with cancer.  They are currently not sure of the specific type, but they know that the cancer has spread and is already at Stage 4.  This is, of course, incredibly serious, and Randall and Andrea have taken to social media to begin asking everyone to begin praying for their son.  Please add Michael Winston to your prayer list.  For more information, you can visit Randall’s web-page where he has set up a special section dedicated to Michael by clicking HERE.

THE LATEST UPDATE:  We received this word from Fr. Terry Gensemer today.  The doctors are 99% sure it is lymphoma. That is way better than ewing-sarcoma but Michael is still in a fight for his life. The Cancer has metastasized to his kidneys and pancreas.  Randall and Andrea are admitting Michael to John Hopkins on Thursday to begin Chemotherapy no later than Friday. Randall and Andrea beg your prayers, and thank you for your love and support.

The first Saturday event for the 40 Days for Life campaign is this Saturday morning beginning at 8am.  If you are going to be in town on Saturday, please make plans to attend this important prayer rally.  We have received word that Planned Parenthood intends to open this clinic on October 7, so it is all the more important that Pro-Life Christians gather in prayer and ask God to spiritually bring down the walls of this stronghold of abortion in Jacksonville.

As the flyer says, we will gather at Planned Parenthood (click HERE for a map) at 8am and march around the building seven times, praising God with loud shouts of acclamation on the seventh time.  This is a city-wide event and Christians from many different churches will be present.  Parking will be available at the end of University Boulevard Court under the University Blvd overpass (see the map below).  You can also RSVP and find more information at Church of the Messiah’s Events Page.  Thank you for supporting this important event.

Parking for the Jericho March

This past Sunday, a long-time friend of Church of the Messiah Tamela “Tammy” Dugger went home to be with the Lord.  In the early days of Church of the Messiah, Tammy, along with her husband Buddy, served on the worship team for many years and also went on several worship missions along with many members of the Church of the Messiah worship department.  A memorial service will be held Friday, September 27, at 11 o’clock at Ft. Caroline Baptist Church (click HERE for a map).

Rest eternal grant to Tamela, O Lord:
And let light perpetual shine upon her.

May her soul, and the souls of the the faithful departed,
Through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Tammy and many familiar faces on a worship mission trip.

The Unstoppable Movie Night is tomorrow night, Tuesday, September 24!  If you have missed the announcements, award-winning actor, writer, and producer Kirk Cameron has created a documentary film in response to the question: “Why does a loving God allow horrible things to happen to good people?” He calls this his “most personal project ever.”  If you would like to meet up with other Church of the Messiah people and talk about the question and the movie either beforehand or afterwards you must either RSVP on the Unstoppable Movie Night Event on Church of the Messiah’s Facebook Page (by clicking the link) or by contacting Fr. Scott Looker directly TONIGHT.  This is a one-night only showing sponsored by Liberty University and, since there is only one showing, you should probably buy your tickets in advance.  (Click HERE to buy the tickets on-line.)  We would love for everyone who is interested to be able to attend together.  This could be a great conversation starter and a fantastic means of discussing the Gospel with friends who are wrestling with these kinds of issues.

On Sunday, October 6, Church of the Messiah will have will amazing opportunity to host the Patriarch of International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, Archbishop Craig W. Bates.

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.  While his official enthronement was not until the International Convocation that Summer in Orlando, Archbishop Bates’ election was effective immediately and the first church he visited after his election was Church of the Messiah.  There are many churches in the ICCEC who have never hosted the Patriarch.  Church of the Messiah is particularly blessed as this will be our second opportunity host the most senior bishop in our entire denomination.

In addition to pastoring the same church for over 25 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 six grand-children: Jocelyn, Callie, Charlotte, Aaron, Devon, and Hunter.  Of course, there is a local family connection as well.  Archbishop Bates’ middle daughter Katie married Fr. Scott Melanson’s middle son Alan in December of 2002.

This is an incredible opportunity and blessing for Church of the Messiah and we are truly privileged to be able to host the Patriarch of our Communion a second time in six years.  Some churches have never had such an opportunity.  We are truly blessed.  For a preview of what you can expect from a teaching by Archbishop Bates, you may click HERE to go to “Bishop’s Best,” a collection of sermons from Church of the Intercessor.  Archbishop Bates will be preaching and celebrating at our regular 10:30am service on October 6 at the Sam R. Marks Chapel on the Campus of Jacksonville University.  For directions, click HERE or, for more information, contact the parish office directly at 904-721-4199.

For perspective, let’s start off by looking at some before and after photos.

Do you remember this picture of the three sliding glass doors on the Southern wall of our Sanctuary?  The Altar will eventually go right in the middle of the center door.  See all of the stuff hanging from the ceiling and the who-knows-what left on the floor?

Look at it now!  There is nothing hanging from the ceiling now because there is no ceiling anymore.  That shining white light in the bottom corner of the photo is the only sliding glass door left because the other two have been closed up.  We also found the the trusses in the ceiling are going to give us a ceiling height of around 9’7″ which is much higher than we expected and will be much nicer for our services.  The construction crews are working on getting everything lined up with lighting and air-conditioning before they put the ceiling back in place for us.

Here is the Sanctuary from the opposite corner.  You can see that they have not only taken down the ceiling, but they have cleaned up the floors and completely removed the closets that were against the wall in this picture as well.

If you squint your eyes really closely and you can get a sneak peak of what the room will look like by checking out the blue prints that are tacked up to the back wall of the Sanctuary.

Do you remember this photo of Carla working hard at putting the office together?  Do you see the piles of boxes that are taller than she is?

Carla has been working so hard that now the room looks like this.  Of course, she worked so hard that we finally let her go home once the sun went down.  Then Janice sat down at Carla’s desk to start handing out new keys  to the new locks….

…while an “unnamed volunteer” works away at the accounting desk.  Special thanks go out to all of the volunteers who have helped make this transition possible over the last three weeks!  We thank God for all of you!

We now have a hallway that is almost completely empty.  This is a huge deal if you were there during the move and remember what it looked like that day.  Just know that many people had to turn sideways to maneuver all the way down the hall.  There are no “before” pictures from that time because it was too horrible to photograph.  Now the hallway is looking quite nice.

The Conference Room is back to looking like and functioning as a Conference Room again.  For about a week and a half it was a great furniture depository, but almost all of the furniture has been put back into the rooms which it belongs or is waiting to go into the Sanctuary.  The Rector’s Council was able to hold their meeting in the Conference Room last night.

Finally, while he has not yet got his pictures up on the wall, Fr. David has his office, complete with his old faithful desk, couch, and conference table.  He has also acquired a unique, hardwood vestment wardrobe from Ft. Caroline Presbyterian Church.

As for the real good news, the city has officially approved our building permits and David Monk’s team from ShayCore Enterprises has been hard at work already getting things prepared as quickly as possible.  We have met with out interior design team and have a plan for moving forward once construction in completed.  Although it is still very early in the process, we appear to be both on schedule and on budget.

There is still much to do but yet even more to be excited about as we move forward in this critical time in the life of Church of the Messiah.  Please continue to pray for God’s blessing and favor on all aspects of our move and all those who are involved!

Starting in two weeks, Jacksonville begins another 40 Days for Life Campaign!  40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life campaign with a vision to access God’s power through prayer, fasting, and peaceful vigils to end abortion.

Beginning on September 25 and running through November 3, willing pro-life Christians will have an opportunity to sign up for an hour-long vigil outside the new, proposed Planned Parenthood location on Powers Avenue.  Click HERE to sign up for a time slot.

On Saturday, September 28, Christians throughout the city will participate in a Jericho March around the new, proposed Planned Parenthood location, marching on public sidewalks around the Planned Parenthood building at 5978 Powers Avenue (Click HERE for a map) six times offering prayer and praise to God Almighty, and pleading for an end to abortion in Jacksonville. On the seventh time we will shout with the victory that God is answering our prayers. We will start the March with an 8′ Cross of the Unborn, the Ten Commandments, the American Flag and the Christian Flag. This will be followed by the Pastors and church leaders from all different denominations.

This is always an amazing event! After the first Jericho March 3 ½ years ago, the Planned Parenthood location on Beach Blvd stopped doing abortions. The day of the second Jericho March, 5 babies were saved. Last fall, we held a Jericho March around the empty Planned Parenthood building, and, to this day, it remains UNOCCUPIED!  Also, since the first Jericho March in 2009, abortions have dropped to a 10 year low of 6,547.

If you are able to attend, please RSVP on the Jericho March Event Page on Church of the Messiah’s Facebook Page or by contacting Lizz Looker directly.

In two weeks, on September 24, Church of the Messiah will have a Movie Night.  Award-winning actor, writer, and producer Kirk Cameron has created a documentary film in response to the question: “Why does a loving God allow horrible things to happen to good people?” He calls this his “most personal project ever.”  You can click HERE to see the Official Trailer for the movie.

On Tuesday, September 24, we will meet at a restaurant near Tinseltown to discuss the movie over dinner before heading over to Tinseltown Theater at 8pm.  This is a one-time only showing sponsored by Liberty University and, since there is only one showing, you should probably buy your tickets in advance.  (Click HERE to buy the tickets on-line)

We understand that this is a school-night and that some people may not be able to attend.  If you cannot attend dinner beforehand but still would like to join us for the movie, that is totally fine.  Some people may want to get a cup of coffee afterwards to further discuss the movie.  Please join us for whatever you are able to attend.  If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on the Unstoppable Movie Night Event on Church of the Messiah’s Facebook Page or by contacting Fr. Scott Looker directly.  This promises to be an amazing night and we look forward to addressing this challenging issue together.

The August Ultreya is this Tuesday night beginning at 6pm.  It will be a very special Ultreya for two reasons.  First, in preparation for the upcoming Tres Arroyos #7, we will be preparing Palanca, so bring any artsy and craftsy supplies you might have from previous weekends.  Secondly, this is the last Ultreya that we will have at the home of Greg and Diane Looker (Click HERE for a map).  There will not be a local Ultreya in October because of the Tres Arroyos Weekends and, in Novemeber, we will begin having the Ultreyas at Church of the Messiah’s new building where we have plenty of space and an ample kitchen!  This Tuesday night, dinner is pot-luck and begins at 6pm with the grouping beginning at 7pm.  We will conclude with the Holy Eucharist.  The Ultreya is open to anyone who has attended Tres Arroyos or any other three-day retreat along the lines of Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, Awakenings, Lighthouse Via De Christo, etc…

Church of the Messiah’s Youth Group is on their way to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom for the 31st annual Night of Joy, a Christian music festival at the world’s most famous amusement park.  The park opens at 4pm and patrons are given free rein until 1pm in the morning!  Meanwhile, artists like The Newsboys, TobyMac, Francesca Battistelli, Building 429, Group 1 Crew, Matthew West, PLUMB, and Jamie Grace will all be performing at various stages around the park.  With Michael Tait performing as the lead singer for the Newsboys and TobyMac also performing, could there be a DC Talk reunion in front of of Cinderella’s Castle?  I know some people who are wishing upon a star…  The Youth Group is able to attend this year due to some very gracious gifts from scholarships, a pair of donated tickets, and from everyone who bought pasta last week.  Thank you for all that you do to support our Youth Group.  We will see you next Sunday.  We will be posting pictures on our Facebook pages and our Church of the Messiah’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mycomjax.