ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY 2022-3
T H E B E N E D I C T I O N
Newsletter of St. Benedict’s Anglican Catholic Church
O WORSHIP
THE LORD IN
THE BEAUTY OF
HOLINESS
Our parish (founded in 1979) has
maintained the Liturgy of the traditional Book of Common Prayer. Our preaching
and teaching draw on the Holy Scriptures in light of the Tradition of the
Church from the earliest days.
Advent, Christmas, and
Epiphany 2022-3
From the Rector’s Desk
The meaning of Christmas
The humility of God is a staggering fact
that leaps off the pages of the Gospels. For we see the Son, equal with God,
deem to be made human for the sake of all people who were lost in sin and death;
to take upon Himself our very nature, to be found in fashion as a man, to take
upon Him the form of a servant, to be obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross, as written in Saint Paul’s famous passage to the Philippians. This
obedience unto death is a service that would be quite remarkable from someone
who is a creature; but the Son is not a creature; He is begotten not made. He
is equal with God, eternally one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. What
great kindness shown to us, the race of rebels, that we see His sacred face the
holy night of His birth. Into the eternity of His Divine Person He took time;
into His Godhead eternally begotten not created, he took our created nature;
into His omnipotence he took the weakness of a newborn infant; into His
omnipresence he took the location of a human body; into His omniscience He took
the mind of a man. Into His Divine life as the maker of created life, he took
our mortal nature, indeed death itself, and so swallowed up death, to give us eternal
life, adopted through him as children of God forever.
In
all of this we see that God does not deal with us as our sins deserve. If we
must cast aside our hope in the best idealism that fallen man can muster, it is
for a greater hope, a love that exceeds the story of every romance ever
written. It is the love of God for the undeserving children of men, benevolence
extended where wrath is deserved, immortality where death is justly due, the
joy of God’s kingdom where hell was earned. This hope for all who will believe
and repent, purchased by our Redeemer’s shed blood, sealed by His resurrection
and victory over death, is peace with God. This is the song of the angels: This is “Peace on Earth, goodwill toward
men.”
News
On Saturday October 15 Mr. Nicholas
Harrelson was ordained a Deacon at St. Benedict’s by Archbishop Haverland. God
willing, he should be ordained to the priesthood during 2023.
Going forward
Deacon
Harrelson and I have very real and serious ideas and plans for church growth,
the first idea to be implemented early in the year. Everyone is invited to participate and to invite
people you know. This includes, among other ideas, study of books that are of
interest among people at Duke University, or graduates of the same. The first
book we plan to hold a study group on is THAT ALL SHALL BE SAVED,
written by my brother David Bentley Hart, PhD. We expect his participation for
part of it either by Zoom, or maybe in person. That alone is expected to draw
people in due to the interest many people have in his work. We are starting
with that book because the topic is of interest to many, and that book is
receiving a lot of attention. Working “two by two” in this manner is quite
ideal, we believe, because Deacon Harrelson has the student and former student
contacts to invite, and I have well-known and interesting contacts in and
through my brother, who has been called “A theological rock star” more than
once in the news media. In this and other ways we know we have our work cut out
for us. We invite your participation and request your regular prayers for the
ongoing mission of this parish.
Evening prayer on Zoom
We are
looking to expand our weekly Monday night community Evening Prayer that makes
use of Zoom. That is, you can join in from home or wherever you can connect by
computer or other device. You may present your email address to Deacon
Harrelson or simply type in this address:
https://zoom.us/j/91325399779?pwd=bjVqckpaUFc4UU9WR1VvZFk0dzA3dz09
At the
time of this writing it seems most probable that it will be Wednesday that will
be added (so, two evenings each week, making it as easy as possible to
participate in one or the other, or both). I will remind you that the offices
are called, in our Book of Common Prayer, Daily Morning Prayer, and Daily
Evening Prayer. The emphasis in our community prayers making use of Zoom is
prayer that has as one main focus church growth, praying that God will use our
efforts for evangelism. Also, I ask that
each of you commit to praying for church growth, remembering that the most
effective evangelists are you, the people, inviting others to come, to “Taste
and see that the Lord is good” as we gather together at Saint Benedict’s.
Prayer for Church Growth
To that
end, again I ask each of you to make use of this prayer each day.
O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose will
is that none should perish, and Who hast given us gifts by thy Holy Spirit to
do thy will on earth, By the power of the same Holy Spirit make us always true
and living witnesses for thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; And so guide us and
use us to bring people into thy holy church. Grow this parish in Chapel Hill
that is named in honor of thy saint Benedict. Make us a light to the world
around us. Draw people to our parish that they may partake of Christ and His
salvation in our fellowship. And Father, Direct us in all our doings, with thy most gracious favor, and
further us with thy continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and
ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy, obtain
everlasting life; All of this we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Your 2023 Pledge
Please send in your pledge for 2023
as soon as you can. If you cannot find the letter just contact me or Michael
Murray. You can even email your 2023 pledge to mail@saintbenedicts.net.
Christmas Offering
Enclosed please see the envelope
for your Christmas Offering. This is for special thanks to God for everything
this holy feast means to us.
Annual Meeting
Please take note: Every member of
the congregation is hereby informed that the Annual Meeting for 2023, at which
decisions are made by the voting members of the parish, will be on Sunday
January 29 following the 10:00 AM service of Holy Communion. First we will have
a potluck luncheon, after which the meeting will begin.
Food Basket
Please remember items for the Food
Basket. It goes to help people in need of food.
Schedule for Christmas Services
Christmas Eve Saturday Dec. 24
3:00 PM
Holy Communion at the Stratford Senior Center
11:00 PM Holy Communion
(Traditional Midnight Mass)
Christmas Day Sunday Dec. 25
Holy Communion (Sung Mass) 10:00 AM
Feast of the Epiphany Friday, January 6
Holy Communion 12:00 Noon and 7:00
PM
Regular
weekly schedule
Sundays
8:30 AM Morning Prayer
10:00 AM Holy Communion
11:40 Bible Study
Wednesdays
Holy communion 12:00 noon
Rev. Robert Hart, Rector
Rev. Deacon Nicholas Harrelson
Mr. Michael Murray, Senior Warden
Mrs. Jackie Kylander, Junior Warden
Mr. James Lazenby, Minister of Music
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