Saint Patrick's Anglican Church, Smyrna, Tennessee

Easter 2009 @ St. Patricks!
Pictures from the Easter egg hunt, Easter Masses and Baptisms

New! Letter from the Wilderness (April 2009)

As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord in this Easter season, we witness the power of His resurrection giving new life to the Anglican Communion. Much has happened since the last Letters from the Wilderness but I will attempt to be brief in my synopsis.

Last summer, as Lambeth[1] was approaching many Archbishops and Bishops were reticent to attend because Ms. Schori, as the representative of The Episcopal Church (TEC), would be present. At that point some 2/3rds of the Anglican Communion had declared itself as having either broken or impaired communion with the US and Canada because of their promotion of heresy and immorality. When it became clear that the Archbishop of Canterbury was going to drag the Trojan horse of dialogue into the conference, an alternative to Lambeth was born. It became known as GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) and it met in Jerusalem in June of 2008. It has been described as nothing short of a miracle in how quickly this international conference came together and all that was accomplished through it.[2] As leaders from across the Communion met they realized that GAFCON was more than a meeting, it was a movement; a movement to preserve the faith once delivered to the saints and to offer support for orthodox Anglicans who found themselves in heretical bodies. Also from this meeting came an important theological works called The Way, the Truth and the Life[3] andthe Jerusalem Declaration which has been added to the end of this letter.

Who We Are
We are a new Church formed to preserve and proclaim the apostolic faith. Members of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), we are part of the 77 million member worldwide Anglican Communion. We declare the Holy Scriptures to be the Word of God, confess the ancient creeds of the undivided Church and commit our lives to love, worship and obey Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Come worship with us and discover an ancient faith for modern times.

Christianity in Egypt traces its roots to St. Mark.Alexandria was once an international center of education and proclamation. In the 7th century Egypt was invaded by Muslim Arabs and today Christians make up only about 10% if the population. While the constitution proclaims religious freedom, Christians face significant discrimination. They must receive presidential permission to build churches. The children of converts to Christianity are still declared Muslim and Christian women and girls have been kidnapped and forced to convert and marry Muslim men. In May of last year several Christian workers were abducted and tortured for their faith.

Alleluia. St. Patrick’s has taken the first step towards a permanent presence in Rutherford County. This week we closed on 7 ½ acres of the most beautiful farm land on Baker Road. Beyond being beautiful property it has a nice home on it that will function as a ministry center with offices and classrooms, and since it has a kitchen, will be also used for various fellowship events.