Early Thanksgiving Dinner at St. Matthews

This Sunday Fr. Ron stepped into the pulpit for the first time in the seven weeks since his surgery to remove a tumor from his esophagus. Although his treatment will continue for several more weeks, the Lord has strengthened him so that he was able to lead the service at St. Matthews and with God’s continued grace Fr. Ron hopes to continue to lead our services during the healing process that is still before him.

Father Ron said “It was a very emotional moment for me when I lifted the consecrated bread and wine, and pronounced ‘These are the gifts of God for the people of God’ … and I thank the Lord for His strength that enabled me to be our celebrant once again.”

After the service we all moved back into the parish hall for baked ham and turkey (prepared by Yolanda Alfred) and the many delicious side dishes brought by so many others.

This was truly a “Great Thanksgiving Day” at our mission.

“The Baptism of Jordan”

One of our favorite things to do at St. Matthew’s is the sacrament of Holy Baptism and on Sunday July 12th we had a truly memorable time of it.  Father Ron baptized 16 year old Jordan Dorrough and Aaron Greggor (9 yrs.).

Following the liturgy of the sacred vows Fr. Ron sprinkled the entire congregation with Holy Water and when it came to the administering of the Oil of Sacred Chrism he invited all in the congregation that had been baptized but never sealed as “Christ’s own Forever” in a sacramental service, to come up and join with Jordan and Aaron.

All in all two were baptized and fourteen were sealed as Christ’s own.

Thousands March in Pro-Life Rally

July 6, 2009 – 9:39 am

Editors note: Father Terry Gensemer and a team from CEC for Life participated in this rally, working with Youth Defence. Cassandra Donatelli, Church of Christ Jesus Victor in Portland Maine, is seen in the photo below at the far right. The story and photo were provided to us by Precious Life – see preciouslife.com for more information.

Gardai put the figure at around 3,000, organizers believe it was more like 4,000-5,000 participants, but no matter what the attendance at Saturday’s All-Ireland Pro-life Rally the message was made very clear: the people of this island want Ireland to remain abortion free.

The rally heard speakers from such anti-abortion groups as Youth Defence, Precious Life and Coir.

Bernie Smyth of Precious Life told the marchers of the threats to life in the north of Ireland: “we’re dealing with an attempt by the Department of Health in the north to introduce abortion on broad grounds by attempting to introduce new so-called abortion guidelines”.

Niamh Uí Bhriain, chairperson of the Rally Committee, pointed to the current dangers to Ireland’s pro-life ethos in the south. She mentioned the push for embryo research in University College Cork; the abortion case being sponsored by the Irish Family Planning Association before the European Court of Justice; and the HSE’s recent comments regarding abortion and disabled children, as serious matters of concern. “The majority of people in this country are pro-life,” she affirmed. “But we need to make sure our voices are heard for the unborn, since together we are the voice for the voiceless.”

St. Matthews Begins Jubilee Celebration

Father Ron and Nancy Clemmer invited all St. Matthew’s Parishoners and friends to come to their “Memorial Day” backyard barbecue. Today we Thank God  and remember all the men and women who have given their lives to procure and preserve the freedoms we have in our country and we pray for all those who are currently serving America, especially those in harms way.

For our mission here in Hogansville Georgia this also kicks off the celebration of our seventh year anniversary. On “Pentecost Sunday” 2002  St. Matthews Charismatic Episcopal Church offically began in an “Upper Room” in downtown Hogansville.

Youth Night at St. Matthews

On Friday night (May 15th) St. Matthews held a special evening of “Praise and Worship” that was open to the community. Our worship band for the event was “Mosaic” from Fayette County. This group has a unique way of letting the Holy Spirt lead, and for the concert they set up a microphone for any of the young worshipers to come up and give a song, read a scripture, or deliver a “Word from God” .

“Mother’s Day at the Lake”

St. Matthew’s held it’s 2nd annual “Mother’s Day Picnic” after our service this past Sunday.

After the proclamation “Go forth to the lake rejoicing in the power of the Spirit” we all headed to West Point Lake.  Brat’s, Burger’s and Dogs grilled to perfection by Glen and Yolanda Alfred … and of course all the side dishes would hardly fit on the picnic table. The biggest eater award went to Susan Burnette’s son Tyler (a defensive lineman at Troy St. University) … He put away at least four hot dogs and five hamburger’s (He didn’t know we were counting).

We finished up the meal with a “Happy Birthday” Song (slightly off key) and plenty of cake as we celebrated Tracy Pike’s birthday.

For the rest of the day it was all about throwing the football, fishing, swimming, swapping stories and all the things that go along with a day at the lake.

It was a “Happy Mother’s Day”

“We’ve Been Busy”

On the Sunday before Lent the Holy Spirit took a direction that led us into doing something in our service that we had never done before … During the “Peace” it was made known to Fr. Ron that one of our teenager’s (Anthony Kampras) who had recently given his life to our Lord, had a desire to be baptized … Upon finding this out, Fr. Ron knowing that we were entering into the Lenten season prayed for guidance … Now, baptizing folks is not new to us at St. Matthew’s, but what happened next was! Usually we prepare well in advance for our baptismal services (because for one thing we have to borrow a font and service booklets from our bishop) … but this day was to be different.

Just before the offertory Anthony was called forward with the rest of his family … Fr. Ron had filled a chalice with Holy Water and in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Anthony was baptized … with water and tears flowing freely it was obvious to all of us that this was truly a Holy moment that will be remembered throughout eternity.

On “Palm Sunday” we began our procession from the sidewalk on Main St. here in Hogansville …  in the photograph we can be seen in front of the church studying our lines for the “Gospel Passion” reading.

“Sunshine” Comes to the Rainy South

This week we had a good friend and supporter of  St. Matthews come for a short visit with us. Marcia Grothe from “Christ the King” CEC mission in Champaign Illinois was traveling in the area and stopped in to have lunch with father Ron and Nancy.

Christ the King is linked with St. Matthews as an unofficial “Sister Mission” in that we keep in touch with them and support each other with our prayers.

It was great to see Marcia who brought to us a ray of sunshine during the rainy week we’ve been having here in Hogansville.

“Soldier of the Lord”

This past weekend our good friend Pvt. Sean Frazer came home to visit before continuing his training in the Army.

Sean first came to St. Matthews at the begining of 2008 as a broken man with no permanent home and without any direction for his life. While he was here with us he made the decision to trust in God and he volunterily placed himself in a recovery program offered by the  “Valley Rescue Mission” (Columbus Ga.) for men needing help in overcoming various emotional and substance abuse problems.  After his graduation from the program Sean felt strongly that the Lord was leading him to enlist in the U.S. Army … and so he was off again.

It was so good to see our friend Sean return to visit with us as a  strengthened, healthy and dedicated man.  As he left us to return to Ft. Benning we couldn’t help but be proud of Sean and feel secure in the knowledge that this “Man of God” is in the service of our country.

“God Bless Sean Frazer” … and all the men and women in America’s  armed services.

“A Sojourn to the Cathedral”

Some of the faithful at St. Matthews made the 100 mile round trip to Thomaston Georgia to attend the first in a series of classes being held at the Cathedral of St. Michaels and all Angels.

The Reverend Canon Bob Wills has opened up one of our CEC seminary classes on the “Unity of the Bible” to all laity who would like to attend, and some at St. Matthews are taking advantage of this special offering.

This first session centered around our need to understand  “How God Thinks” when we are reading, meditating and applying the Word of God to our lives.  

Pictured on the cathedral steps are David and Tracy Pike, and James and Heidi Kampras.