May 11, 2008

Greetings this Mother's Day to the friends of Timothy and Upper Valley Mission groups who were not able to be with us yesterday in Amesbury.

It was a brilliant celebration and drenched in meaning for our groups as well as for everyone else there.

Bishop Murdoch set the tone and presided with dignity, grace and great humanity.  The pews were filled with people.  The place was filled with the holy spirit.  Take a look at the pictures Bill posted at ”Ordination Photos” and you will see for yourself the joy of the occasion.

The clergy vested in white with stunning sweeps of crimson for Pentecost Sunday the next day.  The music and song were excellent -- blended worship music at its best.  The liturgy was Kenyan.  Some representatives of other Kenyan churches were in attendance, plus Bishop Harvey and others from Common Cause Partners.  Patently, the Anglican Awakening is a cause held in common.

Ross Kimball was ordained to the deaconate.  Alex Cameron was licensed and received into the Anglican Church of Kenya.  Timothy and Upper Valley mission groups were licensed as missions of the Church of Kenya.  And when the Vermont and New Hampshire Anglicans were asked to stand, the applause was heartwarming.  We started as just three laypeople in search of a pastor in Providence, RI at the first ACN-NE convocation, and look what God has done.  We shall always be grateful to Peter and Mary Pierson and to Marnie Keator.  They heard the call, stepped forward,  and made a difference.  Now three years later our two missions are starting out on a new journey of their own with talented leadership in abundance and growing by one precious person at a time.

Timothy is excited because we are meeting for the first time in a church on Saturday, May 17th.  It starts at 10:30 am.  Timothy is meeting in the Greek Orthodox Church in South Burlington and is grateful to Archbishop Methodios of Boston and Fr. Athas and his council of elders for making this possible.  The irony is that Church of the Dormition was originally a chapel donated to the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont.  A group from Upper Valley is coming up and their presence is really important.  Dwight and Alex have planned the service, which will follow the Kenyan liturgy -- it's lovely, we all used it yesterday, too.

It will be a potluck fellowship lunch after the service in the church, so cooks bring it on.  The Lajzas will command the coffee machine, Bill will bring juices, cups, napkins and plastic utensils.  Someone needs to put the trash in the bin afterwards.  I have to be somewhere else for most of the day which is awful, but will do my best to catch some part of this red letter day.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the gift certificates at C.M.Almy's for Ross and for Alex.

For those whose participation is simply to pray for these two groups, we thank you.

Ann