Posted on 08/07/2005 7:57:28 AM PDT by sionnsar
What a wonderful celebration to our Lord!!!
On 8/6/2005 Christ and the Epiphany Church in East Haven, CT (Rev. Gil Wilkes) hosted “The Feast of the Transfiguration”. The church was nearly full for a Saturday evening. The congregations from the CT6 parishes were represented there in some way or another.
We warmed up with hymns such as “The Church’s One Foundation” and “Blessed Be the Name of The Lord”. There were meaningful readings Exodus, Peter and Luke. And Psalm 99 touched all of our hearts from the first verse… “The Lord is King’ let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake”.
The sermon was of special interest to all and delivered by Rev. Geoff Chapman. Fr. Chapman’s reputation is as a Biblically based Rector with an ability to get his message to the people. And that he did indeed! The weather was hot and so was the sermon. Fr. Chapman spoke of the “human project” vs. the “God project” and explained this is the root of our current conflict. In the human project the belief is that humans can solve the problems - kingdom of Man. While in the God project, all fulfillment of our desires lies with the Kingdom of God. He told us that “what happens in CT is important, beyond our longest vision”. And that what the CT6 does will make a difference. “The Gospel is at stake here, and the CT6 is in the hot seat”. Fr. Chapman said that he honors us and encourages us not to give up. He spoke of The Cross and The Crown and how this is here, and in the transfiguration. “The plan and purpose of God is in our cellular structure”. And that transfiguration has already started for every follower of Jesus. The crown is God's glory. "The cross is God's verdict on human kingdoms". We must trust, listen, and follow Him. This obviously is a very condensed version of a very powerful sermon, and you have my apologies for that (wish I has a tape recorder). But the overall message I heard was not to give up, to stay the course and follow Him, and that we are not alone. It was so uplifting that at the end of the sermon everyone stood and clapped!!!
During the prayers of the people, you could hear people praying out loud for Bishop Smith. Mostly that he would come back to The Word. Also there were many prayers for the CT6 rectors and their parishes. These prayers were straight from the heart. The hairs on my arm were standing up; I knew Jesus was listening intently.
The Peace seemed like it went on forever… at least 10 minutes or more. People shaking hands, hugging (some for the first time)… but most of all it was the joy of meeting each other that seemed overwhelming. There was such love in that church that I saw a few wiping tears from their eyes, myself included.
We ended with a beautiful hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”. How appropriate! Thanks be to God!
After service we all went downstairs into the fellowship hall for, what else, fellowship! Thanks to St. Paul’s in Darien for providing us with much needed refreshments…. Quite a spread! There was much talking and first time greetings. Words of support to each other, and words of welcome to others. CTSister got to meet CTMom… they were friends for a long time on CT6 website! Peg met Ralph, Ceil met Geoff, Tammy met Fr. Gauss, and on and on and on. As it should be… Christians supporting Christians, I can’t think of anything better!
I personally thank Fr. Gil Wilkes and the congregation of Christ & the Epiphany for hosting this event. CT6 needs to stay together in all ways, including worship together when the opportunity arises. Perhaps this can be the start of something? Sort of a CT6 exchange program…. Anyone up for sabbatical to a different CT6 church once in a while?
In His Light,
Tammy Vogt
An active parishioner of St. John’s in Exile
P.S. Laity need not notify clergy of sabbatical.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Sounds like a blessed time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.