The Church of the Messiah

Dear brothers and sisters,

As I am writing this letter, the news is consumed by and obsessed with a “caravan” of persons from Latin America seeking to enter the United States. Whether they are fleeing from poverty or from violence or both, they envision a new and better life for themselves and their families by crossing the border between Mexico and the United States. It doesn’t matter whether we call them refugees, aliens, legal, illegal, or asylum seeking. It doesn’t matter whether they are male or female, older or younger — they are, in many ways, the face of the poor.

I refuse to enter into the discussion of how to resolve the issue on the United States border. I pray for the government officials of Mexico and the United States hoping they will see in these people as desperate humanity and respond with compassion and mercy, rather than using them as political pawns in the next election cycle. I pray for an end to fear.

The plight of the refugee or the migration of ethnic groups is not something unique to the United States border with Mexico. I have walked through refugee camps in Africa. Some of the camps have existed for 30 years. Even today there are refugees fleeing civil war and unspeakable violence in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. I have listened to women who have held starving and dying children in their arms because the governments are holding back basic necessities as a means of war.

The majority of the world is hungry and without basic needs. Most children will not receive healthcare or an education. Poverty gives birth to crime, addiction, and prostitution. Poverty causes parents to sell their pre-adolescent sons and daughters to sex traders so the other children in the family can have a shelter over their heads or enough cash to buy seeds to plant.

I could go on and on about the plight of the poor and the large gap between the world’s rich and the world’s poor. And, I could also talk about the thousands upon thousands of people who are deeply distressed by any number of these concerns and have given generously, and continue to give generously, to alleviate poverty. There are people who have been motivated to spend their lives ministering to the poor, and I pray for them.

I am also concerned about the violence in our cities (and even outside the city). The fear that has been created by mass shootings is of particular concern. I can’t imagine the pain of parents who have lost a child in either a drive-by shooting or at the hands of an armed mentally ill person walking into a school and shooting innocent children.

The inner cities of the United States, but also around the world, are in the midst of a pandemic of opiate addiction. The death rate from addiction has increased dramatically. Prisons are overflowing with young men and women incarcerated for drug-related crimes. I know the plight of parents who cry themselves to sleep because the baby they once held in their arms now lives on the streets, stealing money or selling their bodies to obtain drugs. Every day the people dealing with recovery are aware that addiction is a life and death issue.

I could go on and on writing about the suffering of persons around the world, particularly the poor. And, I am thankful that many from all political and religious backgrounds are working to resolve some of these issues. But there is one group of persons who are victims of the most horrific procedure ever imagined in the history of mankind. ABORTION. Worldwide, over 150,000 children are aborted every day. That is just short of 56,000,000 children a year — nearly the population of California and Texas combined. In the United States, more than 1,280,000 children are killed by abortion every year. That is larger than the population of most cities in the United States. These children, made in the image of God, are sacred.

These murders are not only happening in distant countries, or in civil-war-torn areas dominated by corrupt governments; they are happening within driving distance of most American or European homes. These children are the silent victims of a culture of death consumed by materialism, hedonism, and greed. A culture that is ready to blame children — innocent preborn children — for poverty and the results of poverty around the world. These children are a victim of a culture that has convinced women in the West that their freedom and civil rights hang on their freedom to murder their own offspring.

How are we to resolve the problem of immigration, the plight of the poor, the gun violence in schools and on the street, the senselessness of civil wars, the sexual exploitation of children, the lack of adequate healthcare around the world, or the destruction of the family if we cannot end the horror of a child burned and mutilated in her mother’s womb? We will never see the face of Christ in the poor unless we see Him in the womb of Mary and hold Him in the manger of our hands at the Eucharist.

CEC for Life alone is not going to end abortion. However, CEC for Life is our voice in the wilderness. Fr. Terry Gensemer and Sarah Howell have traveled around the world speaking to Bishops, clergy, churches and particularly young adults about the sacredness of life, particularly the preborn, and how to impact their own churches, communities and nations for life. Many of these young adults are now committed to giving their entire lives to ending the holocaust of abortion.

I don’t like writing this letter. I don’t like praying in front of abortion mills. I don’t like talking about abortion. I don’t like hearing the pain and shame of women who have had abortions, or men who have participated in abortion. I pray daily for an end to abortion so that this horror will end in my nation and around the world.

Every January, on the third Sunday in January, we celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lord the Giver of Life. On that day, every church in the ICCEC is asked to take up an offering and send it to CEC for Life. It is also the time when every church and every clergyman renew their membership in CEC for Life, and every layperson is asked to partner with CEC for Life through a one-time donation or monthly pledge. This allows our pro-life ministry to continue, and we remain part of the increasing number of persons calling for an end to abortion. We cannot remain silent while the screams of the unborn go unheard.

The 2019 Feast Day takes place on Sunday, January 20th. Please take the time to pray and to give. Your giving has done and will continue to do so much.

Under His mercy,
The Most Rev. Craig W. Bates
Patriarch, ICCEC

Now that Christmas Vacation is officially over and the kids are all headed back to school, we are ready to restart Church of the Messiah’s Wednesday Night Services this Wednesday, January 9th.  Our service will begin at 7 o’clock and will include a time of praise and worship, a Biblical teaching, prayer, and Holy Communion.  Additionally, our youth group (6th – 12th grade students) meets during this time and our children have special planned activities as well.  Fr. Looker will be beginning a new teaching series on January 9th entitled: “Prophet, Priest, and King: Jesus and Our Mission.”  Because we are aware that there is a lot to accomplish to get everyone ready for work and school on time, we are committed to have the service end promptly by 8:30.  Please note that, in a change from previous weeknight services, we will not be having a community dinner prior to these services for the time being.  After almost two months on hiatus, we are very excited to resume our mid-week fellowship and can’t wait to see everyone again on Wednesday nights.  Be sure to invite your friends and we will see everyone on January 9th!

On December 18, Patrica “Patti” Russell went to be with The Lord, ending her battle with cancer.  Patti was best known to Church of the Messiah as the sister of Fr. David Paysinger.  Church of the Messiah will hold a memorial service for Patti on Saturday, December 29th, beginning at noon.   The family will receive visitors for one hour prior to the service, from 11 am until noon.  Patti’s obituary can be seen on-line by clicking this LINK.  Please keep all of the Russell and Paysinger family in your prayers during this difficult time.

Rest eternal grant to Patti, 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.

We invite you to join us as we celebrate the birth of our Messiah, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, Jesus Christ! We will have two services this year. Our Christmas Eve Family Service begins Monday evening at 7 o’clock and will have a special children’s presentation and sermon as well as traditional Christmas carols by candle-light. On Christmas morning, beginning at 10 o’clock we will have a brief, said Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation. We invite everyone to join us at either or both of these services and would love for you to invite your friends and loved ones to join you as well. Whether we see you this season or not, we wish you all a blessed and holy Christmas season!

Every year in this season, Archbishop Craig Bates, the Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, sends out a letter to all of the churches in the communion. Below is this year’s letter.  

Hebrews 11.1 reads, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (NKJV)  

I have heard too many sermons using this text as the foundation for preaching a Gospel of financial prosperity that has to do with consumerism, greed, and materialism. It has been used to somehow encourage the poor or the financially challenged that they can, with enough faith, find their way out of poverty and into economic well-being. I have heard it used to convince the sick and dying (or the families of the ill and dying) that if they imagine or picture their healing and believe it as if it already existed (hence denying reality) that they will be healed. And, I have seen it used to “have faith” for the conversion of loved ones, particularly non-believing husband or rebellious children. And, a great deal of the preaching also encouraged the “hearer” to send money to the preacher’s ministry resulting in the preacher becoming wealthy with large homes, beautiful cars, massive church structures, and even a private jet. Then these benefits were put forth as evidence of God’s blessings and are available to the “hearer” if they just have “faith.” And, especially if they send an offering to the ministry.

Of course, to use the text in this way, one has to stop reading further and ignore all that follows in Chapter 11. For the author of Hebrews points out that the heroes of Biblical faith “all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” No the heroes of faith faced persecutions, struggles, trials, even martyrdom because their hope was found by participation in the life of Christ Jesus who is the hope of the world. Their hope is in the One who becomes human as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and in so doing invites our own frail and broken humanity to be restored and redeemed through a sharing in His divinity – the divinity we are created to image.

Several years ago, I was blessed by being able to go to our Church in the Kibera Slums. It is perhaps one of the most impoverished areas of the world. Walking towards the Church, because we could not drive close enough, I could hear the people singing songs of joy. We entered the Church, and the singing grew louder and louder. In the front row of the Church were seated six young boys (maybe 5-10 years old). Like most young boys they were singing but not with the same enthusiasm as the rest of the gathering. Instead, they had their eyes fixed on this very large white man standing directly in front of them. They had been told that the leader of their communion was going to visit them and this visit was extremely important. The whole time I was there, they never took their eyes off from me and listened intensely to what I said (though they did not speak a word of English). As I made eye contact with them, and with the gathering, by looking beyond the desperate poverty, I saw hope. It was an invisible hope and it was more real than all the poverty, despair, and suffering that was the day to day reality of these beautiful people.

I am not sure I satisfied their needs that day as we celebrated the Eucharist together and shared a common meal of peanut butter, white bread, and milk after the service. I do know that I encountered Christ that day. In the faith of these poor people, the hope of Christ was made visible. I left this situation filled with their joy. It was a Christ-like joy, They were “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12.2).

I don’t want to glorify poverty. I certainly don’t want to suggest that we should ignore the poverty of the Kibera Slums or the misery of any persons, whether it is material poverty or spiritual poverty. Those of us who have been blessed with prosperity need to be generous in our giving to relieve the misery and suffering of people. Not that we will eliminate poverty but because Christ is ministered to in the poor. In fact, when we minister to the poor, we find Christ who we seek. In our efforts to alleviate the suffering of the poor we share in the life of Christ.

The Son of God of the flesh of Mary is found in the poverty of Nazareth and in poverty of the manger in the poor and humble village of Bethlehem. The Word become flesh, now present in the Eucharist, is found among a people – his people – who are oppressed under a brutal, tyrannical government. A people who will soon be scattered around the world because the Roman government will destroy their Temple and massacre thousands upon thousands. The Messiah does not come to an end the poverty or the oppression but to enter into it. Not just to identify with it but to become part of it and to draw our humanity unto His Father throughout all eternity. The joy set before us is found in the hope offered to us in the one who is hope.

Christmas will be celebrated in so many ways around the world. The Christmas morning families in the West will be very different than the Christmas morning of those in the Kibera Slums, or the homes of Christians living in places of discrimination and persecution. Yet, for all Christians, particularly those who understand Christ present among us in the Eucharist, it will be a celebration of Joy because His name is Emmanuel – Christ with us. Christmas will remind us that whatever is happening around us from personal suffering or loss to economic hardship, or the realities of martyrdom, that God is not distantly watching but He is a God who knows our humanity because He has become flesh of the Virgin Mary.

Christ and His Kingdom is all around us. Our faith is the evidence of the hope of that Kingdom and the proclamation of a people who await His return to reign forever and establish His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven – a Kingdom that shall have no end.

My prayer is for each of you to have a blessed and holy day. I hope that each of you can make the time, in the middle of all the other festivities, to go to the Christmas Eucharist and receive Jesus.

Under His mercy,

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

This Sunday, November 11th, at our 10 o’clock service, Church of the Messiah is blessed to welcome back Dr. David Kyle Foster.  Dr. Foster founded Mastering Life Ministries and Pure Passion Media in 1987, and for 10 years produced and/or directed the award-winning “Pure Passion” TV program. He is also the producer and/or director of the award-winning documentaries, “Such Were Some of You”, “How Do You Like Me Now?” and “Tranzformed.”  He is the author of several books including Love Hunger: A Harrowing Journey from Sexual Addiction to True Fulfillment, Sexual Healing: A Biblical Guide to Finding Freedom from Sexual Sin and Brokenness, and Transformed Into His Image: Hidden Steps on the Journey to Christlikeness.  His articles have appeared in numerous journals and magazines and he has been a guest on countless television and radio programs at home and abroad – witnessing to the power of God to set anyone free from anything. Dr. Foster has spoken on five continents for ministries such as Youth With A Mission, Ellel Ministries and others.  Dr. Foster is in Jacksonville to minister and teach the clergy of the southeast at the Archdiocesan Clericus and graciously agreed to stay in Jacksonville a few days extra and preach at Church of the Messiah on Sunday.  His life is a story of God’s transforming overwhelming grace and love and he is sure to preach the Gospel in power and in truth.  Come expecting to hear an amazing word from the Lord about the power of God’s love and His ability to heal and restore.  It is certain to be an amazing message.

This Wednesday Night, October 31st, beginning at 6:30, Church of the Messiah will host our annual All Saints’ Eve Festival.   Be sure to invite your friends, family, and neighbors to a safe night of family-friendly fun for all with loads of games, candy, free food, candy, bounce houses, candy, and even cotton candy if you haven’t gotten enough candy!  It’s going to be a blast for everyone.

This is a wonderful event which provides a safe and fun alternative to trick or treating through neighborhoods.  Kids (and adults) can come to one location, play games, have dinner, and get every bit as much candy as they would have trekking about the neighborhood knocking on strangers’ doors.

Volunteers should plan on arriving around 6 o’clock and parking in the Fr. Caroline Presbyterian parking lot.  The party will wrap up at 8:30 and we should be done by 9 o’clock, but, of course, the more volunteers we have, the quicker we can be finished.

Get your best costume on, head to Church this evening, bring your friends and neighbors, and get ready to have a great time.  We will see you here!

By now almost everyone has received the terrible news that Hunter Pardee went to be with the Lord following a tragic motorcycle accident last Sunday afternoon.  Hunter was the son of Mary Pardee and the grandson of Fr. Lon and Dru Pardee.  He has been a part of Church of the Messiah practically since his birth.  He was a member of our Youth Group, a dear friend, a brother, and so much more to so many of us.

There will be a viewing Monday night, October 29th, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm, at Eternity Funeral Home (click HERE for a map).  The following afternoon, Tuesday, October 30th, beginning at 3:30, there will be a funeral service at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (click HERE for a map). There will be a reception in the Parish Hall of St. Luke’s immediately following the service.  If you would like to help provide food for the reception, please contact Lizz Looker.

Arrangements have been made to facilitate taking meals to the family through takethemameal.com. To sign up to provide a meal, you may click HERE go go directly to the page or search “take them a meal” a enter “pardee” as the family last name and password.  For more information or to answer any question, please contact the Parish Office at 904-721-4199.

Please keep the entire Pardee family in your thoughts and prayers and they endure this unimaginable loss.

Rest eternal grant to Hunter, O Lord:
And let light perpetual shine upon him.

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

Some of Church of the Messiah’s representatives at the 2018 March for Life

This Sunday morning, beginning at nine o’clock, Church of the Messiah’s Youth Group will be hosting a pancake breakfast in order to raise funds for their annual trip to the March for Life in Washington, D.C.  Taking a stand for life and proclaiming the truth that all life is sacred, our youth will be heading to Washington, D.C., this January to meet up with member of the Charismatic Episcopal Church throughout the country as well as hundreds of thousands of others gathering there.  In order to raise funds for the trip they will be providing an amazing pancake breakfast for those attending church on October 21st.  There will be blueberry pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, lots of syrup, and fifteen pounds of bacon!  All that the Youth Group is asking is that you give a love offering to help support them in their efforts to go to Washington, D.C., this year.  Since the Youth Group is only taking offerings, they want everyone to be able to enjoy the breakfast and ask that everyone comes regardless of whether they make a donation or not.  If you cannot be here this Sunday and still want to support our youth, you can click HERE, follow the link, and choose “Youth March for Life” to give on-line.  Be sure to skip breakfast this Sunday morning and come to church hungry with a little extra in your pocket to support the Youth Group!

Some of the CEC representatives who were present at the 2018 March for Life

After a long hiatus for the Summer and very successful 25th Anniversary Celebration, Church of the Messiah is excited to restart Wednesday Night services, this Wednesday, September 12th.  We begin the evening with a free community dinner from 6:00-6:45.  Tonight there will be two different types of soups, salad, and a kid-friendly option.  The service itself begins at 7 o’clock with a time of praise of worship, reading of Holy Scripture, prayer, a life-application Bible study on the First Letter to St. Timothy, followed by Communion.  Since we know that many have to prepare for work and school the next day, we are committed to be finished by 8:30.  During our Wednesday Night services, Youth Group, which is for students in 6th through 12th grades, meets in our Youth Room.  Throughout the entire service we have childcare provided.  For more information email or call Church of the Messiah at 904-721-4199.