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Ecclesia Anglicana ANGLICAN PROVINCE of AMERICA
The Most Rev. Walter H Grundorf D.D. Presiding Bishop DECEMBER 2016
Electronic copy available on line at www.anglicanprovince.org - under - News Articles
OUR HERITAGE
FEATURED PARISH
basis. In short order even the Masonic Lodge became
too small for the quick-growing Church. By this time,
two services were being held each Sunday and it
quickly became obvious that the group, now known as
St. Alban’s Church, needed a more permanent
location. A storefront on the busiest street in Orlando
was leased and begin welcoming more and more
parishioners. Before long, this intrepid band of
Christian soldiers outgrew the spacious storefront and
began looking for a permanent location to build their
church. Now led by Suffragan Bishop Walter Grundorf,
they contracted to purchase and build on the site of an
old orange grove. The plan was simple. Harvest the
oranges for a few years which would provide seed
money to start the Church. Great idea until the Great
Frost of ‘83 & ‘85 destroyed every orange tree. While
the grove died, nothing could kill the idea of an
Anglican Church in Central Florida, so the parishioners
self-funded their project. While they were always short
on cash, they never lacked faith or enthusiasm. Each
family helped in their own unique way, from providing
simple labor to other parishioners who were licensed
contractors to donating and installing a state-of-the art
HVAC system. Professionally-trained singers served
as the nucleus of their choir and their organist was a
senior demonstrator for Allen Organs in Florida.
Somehow, they were able to acquire an organ far
larger than our tiny budget could possibly afford. Pews
became available when a newly constructed Catholic
Church in nearby Deltona, Florida asked if we would
take them. After their land purchase and during
construction of their Parish House and Sanctuary, they
learned that the State began construction of a freeway
exit just a few hundred yards from their property
enabling the parish to trade part of their side property
for an adjacent plot and began construction on another
building to serve as a Sunday school classrooms and
a place to hold annual fundraisers.
Now, in their fortieth year, St. Alban’s Cathedral is
proud to have served as a teaching and training
St Alban’s
Anglican Cathedral
The Very Reverend
Ralph Waterhouse
Dean and Rector
Forty years ago, Mrs. Lillian “Golly” Tarr placed a
small, personal ad in the local Orlando Newspaper.
It simply read; “Has Your Church Left You?” and
included a phone number to respond. A handful of
phone calls and a few meetings in her living room
resulted in Golly and her like-
minded friends forming a new
church mission. They first met in
a small side Chapel in St. Paul’s
Lutheran Church in downtown
Orlando, but as word spread about their mission,
they outgrew that space and moved to a nearby
Masonic Lodge, then to another, larger Masonic
Lodge. Bishop Clark Dorman agreed to travel from
Florida’s east coast to perform services for this
small mission and present communion on a weekly
Fr Ralph Waterhouse
FOR UNTO US A CHILD WAS BORN
St Alban’s Cathedral
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Diocese of the West 2106 SYNOD
celebrated Friday afternoon, during which Bishop
Grundorf confirmed Hannah Staley and Brad
Rothacher, St. Andrew's,
and Aislinn Kencke, St.
Michael's. After Synod was
adjourned, the new
Standing Committee met.
Canon Robert Hawkins was
elected President, Bea Crites
was elected non-voting Secretary, and Dave
Mahar as Chancellor. Fr. Dan Squires and Fr.
Vince Varnas were appointed to the BEC, with Fr.
Squires as its President. Following the day's
proceedings a delightful Synod Banquet was held,
at which time Bishop Grundorf appointed Canon
Crites as Vicar General Emeritus,
in recognition of his faithful service
to the DOW over these past many
years. For the foreseeable future, it
was determined that the Standing
Committee’s focus would be on
mission planting, parish/mission
support, clergy/laity development
and diocesan growth. Bishop
Robert Griffin, Bishop Ordinary of
the DMA and recently appointed Episcopal Visitor
of the DOW, is a full time Hospice Chaplain
working in San Antonio Texas.
ground for many men who have gone into the
priesthood, and now serve in other APA churches. The
blessings bestowed upon St. Albans have been many,
and St. Albans has always tried to give back to the
community. Through the years, the parish has been
involved with many civic projects - Soles For Souls,
Super Bowl Sunday Food Drive, and Feed My Sheep.
In addition, they support the Christian Service Center of
Orlando, the Spouse Abuse Center in Sanford and
Daily Bread in Oviedo as well as provide meeting space
for civic organizations including the Scouts,
Neighborhood Homeowners Associations, voting
districts, Lions Club and others. Their Parish Nurse
Program provides grief counseling, nutrition and
wellness programs along with a variety of health
services both for their parish and parish neighbors.
“We’ve come a long way during the past forty years,”
wrote Fr. Ralph. “Our Cathedral has been blessed with
strong leadership, dedicated members, and the heart of
the Lord’s Son. While we are proud of what we
accomplished, we also know that the Lord is far from
being done with us. With the Lord’s blessing and his
grace, St. Albans will continue to move forward.”
The DOW 2016 Synod was hosted St. Andrew's
Anglican Church in Jacksonville, Oregon. The outgoing
Standing Committee met Thursday afternoon and
approved the 2017 DOW Budget for presentation.
Friday, following Morning
Prayer, the Synod convened
with introductions and an
Address by Presiding Bishop
Grundorf. After the minutes of
the previous Synod were
approved, the budget was
adopted, parish reports were
given, and Ben Lizak, Treasurer,
and new standing committee members elected, Canon
Robert Hawkins was appointed the new Vicar General,
replacing retiring Canon Walt Crites. Bishop Robert
Giffin, Ordinary for the Diocese of Mid America, was
elected Episcopal Visitor under the provisions of APA
Canon 16, Section 6 (a). Holy Communion was
Canon Crites and
Bishop Grundorf
Bishop Robert
Griffin
Dcn Bill Baker
Dcn Chris Smith
Fr John Longcamp
TENDING THE GARDEN
New stained glass at St Mary’s
Church, Delray Beach, FL
This Christmas the members of Saint
Mary’s the Virgin, Delray Beach Flor-
ida, celebrated the birth of Christ in
the radiance of five new stained
glass windows, and with the
knowledge that a donation has be
made for four stained glass windows for their
chapel. Ever mindful of the Anglican tradition of
visual teaching, the parish plan is to collect the
necessary funds for the remain three windows in
the church for next year. The Rector and Vestry
would like to express their deep appreciate and
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No Pooh-Poohing Biblical History by John Stonestreet abridged
Israel Antiquities Authority, digging in the remains
of what was once the biblical city of Tel Lachish,
made a discovery that confirmed the biblical text in
a most unexpected way. They found an ancient
PERSPECTVE
Confirmations at
St. Matthew’s Church
Fr. Greg Miller Rector
On Nov 6, 2016 St.
Matthews welcomed into
our church family Thomas
Kopt and Jeffery Allen,
during a confirmation
service officiated by Bishop Chad Jones. Prior to
the service Bishop Chad lead the parishes adult
Christian Education class speaking on the
Communion of the Saints.
St. Alban’s Church
Joppa, MD
Fr Gordon Anderson
Rector
St Albans Joppa MD - gets a face lift
A couple of years ago, when contemplating ex-
panding the interior of their church, the vestry of
St Albans decided it would be best to focus on the
outside of the building. So they had their beautiful
slate roof completely repaired, a new air condi-
tioner was donated, the gutters on the front of the
church were replaced, the bell was reinstalled in
the belfry, and now the entire church has been
professionally power washed, scrapped, and
painted. But they are not stopping there. Currently
the parish in the process of raising $7,000 to re-
build the front entrance ramp and repair the exte-
rior sacristy door. “Saint Alban’s is truly a fantastic
little church full of faithful and devoted people,”
wrote Father Gordon. “Once all of this work is
done we will turn our attention indoors: to our en-
trances which are un-welcoming, and difficult to
use, to the flooring in the kitchen, hallway to the
church, and bathrooms, and to the carpeting in
the church which is a problem as it is no longer
sticking to the floor, but bulging up in a couple of
places.
MISSION TRIP TO EQUADOR
Following the recognition of the
Ecuadorian Government the
APA undertook Episcopal
oversight of Indigenous Pasto-
ral of the Anglican Province of
America in Ecuador (English
translation) and on November
10th Bishop Walter Grundorf, in
his capacity as Presiding Bishop, accompanied by
the Very Rev. David
Haines, Vicar General of
Foreign Mission and Dr.
Mary Grundorf, member of
our Foreign Mission Board,
made his first Episcopal
visit to the country. To say
that they were embraced
by the leadership and the people would be an un-
derstatement. The highlight of the tour came when
2,000 representatives marched to the coliseum
(from the 32 parish/communities which total 20,000
people) to celebrate
Mass and witness the
ordination of the church
newest deacon. A de-
tailed trip report is being
readied for publication on
our Provincial Website.
March to the coliseum in
Quamote
The Bishop Mary and Fathers
Eulogia & Luis
Presentation of Ceremonial
Ponchos 2,000 representatives attended
Gathering after Mass
Thomas Kopt - Bishop
Chad and Jeffery Allen
thanks to William Laurie &
Patricia Moore in memory
of John Linton Moore and
Thomas & Gladys
Klingerman in memory of
loved ones.
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toilet. To fully appreciate the significance of the find,
we need to go back in time to the eighth century
BC. King Hezekiah, one of only a handful of post-
Davidic kings that earns the Bible’s seal of
approval, initiated series of reforms aimed at
eradicating syncretism in Judah. At the heart of
these reform efforts was eliminating what the Bible
called “high places” or bamot in Hebrew. These
were cultic sites containing an altar, usually located,
as the English name suggests, on a hill or a ridge.
While ostensibly dedicated to the worship of YHWH,
these sites where also used to honor pagan deities
and as a consequence asherim, or “Asherah Poles,”
cultic objects dedicated to the worship of the
Canaanite goddess of fertility, were erected. In the
scriptures Hezekiah was commended because “He
removed the high places, smashed the sacred
stones and cut down the Asherah poles.” And that
brings me back to the discovery at Tel Lachish.
Archaeologists found a “large room that appears to
have been a shrine. The room contained two four-
horned altars, whose horns had been intentionally
damaged.” Excavation leader Sa’ar Ganor “believes
that the destroyed altars corroborate biblical
references to King Hezekiah’s efforts to centralize
worship in Jerusalem and abolish it elsewhere.” As
if this weren’t exciting enough, Ganor and his team
found something else in the room: a “seat carved of
stone with a hole in the center.” In other words, a
toilet. Ganor believes that this “was unquestionably
a form of desecration of this shrine room,” and he
has ample biblical reason to do so. In 2 Kings 10,
we are informed that following the fall of King Ahab,
Jehu and his followers “demolished the pillar of
Baal, and destroyed the temple of Baal, and made it
a latrine to this day.” And to think that only a few
decades ago, many, if not most, scholars doubted
that Hezekiah, along with ancestors David and
Solomon, ever actually existed.
A Christmas Mistake
Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm
and peaceful experience. I had cut back on baking,
decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found
myself exhausted. My son, Nick, was in
kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for
a 6 year old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs
for his school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the
heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the
production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I
spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a
dress rehearsal and all parents unable to attend that
evening were welcome to come then. Nick seemed
happy with the compromise. So, the morning of the
dress rehearsal, I found a spot on the cafeteria floor
and sat down as the students were led into the room.
Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-
legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one,
rose to perform their song. Because the public school
system had long stopped referring to the holiday as
"Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun
songs of reindeer, Santa Claus and good cheer. So,
when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I
was slightly taken aback by its bold title. Nicholas
was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in
fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, Those in the front row-
held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title
of the song. As the class would sing "C is for
Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then,
"H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child
holding up his portion had completed the message,
"Christmas Love." The performance was going
smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed a small, quiet,
girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down
- totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W".
The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at
this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they
were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly
holding her "W". Although many teachers tried to
shush the children, the laughter continued until the
last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A
hush came over the audience and eyes began to
widen. In that instant, we understood - the reason we
were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first
place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose
for our festivities. For when the last letter was held
high, the message read loud and clear: "CHRIST
WAS LOVE."
Merry Christmas from ECCLESIA ANGLICANA