The Good News
St. Francis Church, Peoria, IL
St. John’s Church, Henry, Il
April
2004
Welcome to visitors
and newcomers
Holy Week Schedule, St. Francis
Holy Week Schedule, St. John’s
Special Thanks to
Candice Hogden
A Night Of Pizza And
Bowling, April 30
New “Org. Chart” at
St. Francis & St. John’s
The Best Church
Bulletin Bloopers
A special welcome to you if you are a newcomer, or
visitor, at St. Francis. As we grow and
begin plans for our new church, we hope you’ll feel welcome and find St.
Francis your spiritual home!
Please call the office if you have needs or special
questions, and call Fr. Spencer if you’d like to arrange a visit.
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Don’t Be A Wimp!
--by Fr. Spencer
Yes, some of you have tried to convince
me that sunrise is too early to be in Church.
My secret police, however, have detected that many of you are up with
the sun every other day of the year. So
I challenge you for Easter to GET UP WITH THE SON!
If you have not
experienced the Great Vigil and First Mass of Easter, do so this year, 6:00 AM,
Easter Day at St. Francis.
Note:
We will also have a 9:00 AM mass for those who wish to spend their early
Easter hours worshipping at the Church of the Warm Springs.
What time did Jesus get up on
Easter? (Matthew 28:1; John 20:1)
Holy Monday & Holy Tuesday:
5:30 PM Evening Prayer
Holy Wednesday:
5:30 PM Evening Prayer
6:00 PM Holy Eucharist
6:30 PM Book Study
8:00 PM Stations of the
Cross
Maundy Thursday
5:30 PM Evening Prayer
6:00 PM Holy
Eucharist: The Institution
of
the Lord’s Supper, The Foot Washing
8:00 PM
Vigil at the Altar of Repose
(through
12:30 PM Friday, see signup)
Good Friday
7:30 AM Morning Prayer
12:30 PM Good
Friday Liturgy
5:30 PM Evening
Prayer
6:00 PM Stations
of the Cross
Holy Saturday
9:00 AM
Morning Prayer, Cleaning of the
Church (*all welcome*)
Easter Day
6:00 AM Easter
Vigil & Solemn Eucharist
9:00 AM Holy
Eucharist
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Holy Monday & Holy Tuesday:
7:30 AM Morning Prayer
Holy Wednesday:
12:15 PM
Holy Eucharist
6:00 PM Stations of the
Cross
Maundy Thursday
5:15 PM Evening Prayer
5:30 PM Holy
Eucharist: The Institution
of
the Lord’s Supper
Good Friday
7:30 AM Morning Prayer
12:15 PM Good
Friday Liturgy
Holy Saturday
7:30 AM
Morning Prayer
Easter Day
9:00 AM Holy
Eucharist
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--by Fr. Spencer
If you haven’t seen “The Passion of the Christ,” I encourage
all parishioners to do so.
We’re having a weekly “Coffee and Conversation” Thursday evenings,
6:45-7:45 PM at St. Francis (through April 15), to discuss the film and share
how it has affected us personally.
I’d repeat that I would only take older children to see
this due to the graphic violence involved.
I think parents should see it first to determine if it is appropriate
for their children.
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Alpha Begins March 29th
The Alpha
Course will be offered at St. Francis on Monday evenings beginning March
1. Alpha is a great
opportunity to ask questions, explore the Christian Faith, and grow in your own
faith while sharing with others. Take
advantage of this well-respected program as a part of your walk deeper into
Faith.
The course will
run 12 weeks, including a Saturday retreat (date to be determined by the
group). Each evening will begin at 6:00
PM with a light supper (provided), followed by a teaching presentation and
small group discussions.
Registration forms
are available at the church.
A special “thank you” this month to Candice Hogden who
has led the Outreach work of St. Francis for the last 3 years.
Candice retired as Outreach Chairman this month. Under her leadership, Outreach has done an
incredible amount of work. Much of what
has happened at our church over those 3 years wouldn’t have happened except for
the drive and spirit that Candice brought to this ministry.
Please express your thanks to her personally.
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Elizabeth Lewshenia, life-long missionary (and mother of Ruth
Holmes) will be at St. Francis for a women’s breakfast event on Saturday, March
27th, 7:30 AM. All women of
the parish and friends are invited.
Visit our website for more details.
Make your reservation now.
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The annual diocesan DAWN event is set for Saturday, April
24th, 11:00 AM at St. Paul’s, Peoria. Information is on the bulletin board, or call Debbie at the
office. Make your reservation now.
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Come
join us for a night of fun at the Chilli Bowl in Chillicothe, Friday, April 30
at 6:00 PM. Bowl the regular way or try
a new creative way. Either way you’ll
enjoy the evening. Sign is on the
bulletin board at St. Francis. Members
at St. Johns are invited too and can call Debbie to sign up. We need a number of how many, to reserve
enough lanes. Bring a friend or two for
a night of guaranteed Fun! See ya
there.
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Under our combined
mission structure, we have adjusted our operating structures and committees.
Bishop’s
Committee
Our combined Bishop’s Committee consists of four members elected
from each congregation and Fr. Spencer as Chairman. This group sees to the business affairs and overall organization
of our combined church operations.
Mission
& Outreach Committee, St. Francis
Mark Gamage has agreed to take over as Chairman of what will now be
our “Mission and Outreach” committee.
The principle goal of Mission & Outreach will be attracting and
retaining new members.
Christian
Fellowship Committee
We will put the fellowship and social function planning under a
separate committee at St. Francis.
Mission
& Outreach Committee, St. John’s
Dal Quinn will chair this committee at St. John’s that
will oversee all functions and events particular to St. John’s, and will also
work on bringing new members to the church in Henry. The committee includes Dal, Bruce Bauter, Denise Stout and Carol
Duke. Others are welcome. If you’d like to work with this committee,
please contact Dal.
If you want to do more at church, please offer to serve on one of
these committees and help us grow.
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--by Fr. Spencer
Many of you are asking
“what’s happening” in the Diocese and wider church. Space doesn’t allow full reporting here but I can summarize the
events of recent weeks as follows.
The Diocese of Quincy has held a steady course, standing shoulder
to shoulder with our bishop. But there
is a great deal of division and frustration in many dioceses around the
country. Many churches and clergy are
at odds with their bishops who supported the divisive actions that were enacted
at last summer’s General Convention. A
number of bishops who approved the Convention’s actions have ordered priests
not even to discuss these issues in their parishes. Other priests have been warned not to discuss the newly formed
Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes on threat that they will be
removed from their ministry if they disobey.
Despite this, month by month (sometimes week by week) many
traditional Episcopalians who are committed to the historic Christian Faith are
leaving their old parish to form new Anglican Churches. In some cases, whole parishes have voted to
leave the Episcopal Church and have allied themselves with other Anglican
Provinces, or with groups such as the Anglican Mission in America. Recent examples include two large parishes
in Atlanta and one in St. Louis.
As of January, over 100 parishes had applied to the Network for
alternative episcopal oversight, and another 200 were “inquiring.” Alternative oversight means they are seeking
a bishop within the Network to become their chief shepherd because they are unwilling
to allow their own bishop to visit their parishes or confirm their children,
either because their bishop supported the General Convention’s unorthodox
actions, or have because the bishop has been teaching false doctrine.
On Sunday, March 14, several senior bishops celebrated a
Confirmation service in Ohio — without the approval of the bishop there —
confirming over 100 people who belong to six parishes that have refused the
care of their own bishop.
I share these details (which many of you may be following
yourselves) not to sound gloomy or pessimistic, but because I want every one of
you to understand the seriousness of the crisis in which we find ourselves as
the Episcopal Church. We are — like it
or not — at a cross-roads in the life of this church, and of the entire
Anglican Communion. What happens over
the next few months will affect our course for decades to come.
So I continue to plead with you to be at prayer daily about the
life of our part of God’s holy, catholic Church. The actions of General Convention last August have further
divided the Body of Christ, and have brought ridicule from those outside the
Faith who seek every excuse to mock Jesus, and the Gospel. The Convention not only ignored the pleas of
many faithful Episcopalians, but also those of the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the other Anglican Primates, and millions of other Christians around the world
who begged them not to take these actions.
It seems our General Convention was less concerned with Christian unity
that it was with appearing avant-garde and popular in the eyes of our
secularized culture.
Please continue to pray for Bishop Ackerman and our Diocese, that
we will stand together against the wave of false teaching and immorality that
has infected our part of the Church. If
we don’t take a stand, and make it clear, we will be unable to win a hearing
with those we seek to reach with the Good News of Jesus.
So please be regular in your worship at St. Francis, and St.
John’s. We need your support right now
more than ever, we need to be meeting together, talking together, praying
together, in faithful witness to the Faith that has handed down to us. We need to stand together as a church
family.
To date, 14 Provinces representing over 50 million of the world’s
75 million Anglican’s have repudiated the actions of General Convention and
restricted or broken communion with the Episcopal Church. That number is likely to grow. Thankfully, those same Provinces have
endorsed the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes as the only
legitimate “remnant” of the Episcopal Church in the US. Pray for their continued support.
The following websites provide current news on what’s happening
around the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
The Living Church Magazine on-line
The Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes
(includes a link to
the Charter of the Network)
www.anglicancommuniondioceses.org
The American Anglican Council
The Anglican Communion News Service
www.anglicancommunion.org/acns
The Episcopal Church
The last address is ECUSA’s “official” website that supports the
actions of the Presiding Bishop and the General Convention. Their reporting is sometimes colored by the
fact that they are funded and supervised by ECUSA officials who are trying very
hard to put forward an “everything is fine” image to the world.
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The Best Church Bulletin Bloopers
This evening at 7 pm
there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
The peacemaking meeting
scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
Irving Benson and Jessie
Carter were married on Oct. 24, in the church.
So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
The ladies of the Church
have cast off clothing of every kind.
They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
Bertha Belch, a
missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from
Africa.
At the evening service
tonight, the sermon topic is “What is Hell”?
Come early and listen to our choir practice.
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How to contact us:
Snail Mail: 2910 W. Alta Lane, Peoria, IL 61615
Emergencies: 309-645-9949
Email: office@saintfrancischurch.net
St. Francis Office: 309-243-2404 Fax: 309-243-2404
Fr. John Spencer: 309-274-3952
Fr. Louis Mahue: 309-691-6125 Fr. Jim
Marshall: 309-364-3330
St. John’s Church Office:
309-364-2419
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