The Jerusalem Declaration

In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit:

We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, have met in the land of Jesus’ birth. We express our loyalty as disciples to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus. We joyfully embrace his command to proclaim the reality of his kingdom which he first announced in this land. The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of salvation, libe

ration and transformation for all. In light of the above, we agree to chart a way forward together that promotes and protects the biblical gospel and mission to the world, solemnly declaring the following tenets of orthodoxy which underpin our Anglican identity.

1. We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things.
2. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.
3. We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
4. We uphold the Thirty-nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God’s Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today.
5. We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humanity’s only Saviour from sin, judgement and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we deserve. By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all who come to him in repentance and faith.
6. We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture.
7. We recognise that God has called and gifted bishops, priests and deacons in historic succession to equip all the people of God for their ministry in the world. We uphold the classic Anglican Ordinal as an authoritative standard of clerical orders.
8. We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family. We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married.
9. We gladly accept the Great Commission of the risen Lord to make disciples of all nations, to seek those who do not know Christ and to baptise, teach and bring new believers to maturity.
10. We are mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation, to uphold and advocate justice in society, and to seek relief and empowerment of the poor and needy.
11. We are committed to the unity of all those who know and love Christ and to building authentic ecumenical relationships. We recognise the orders and jurisdiction of those Anglicans who uphold orthodox faith and practice, and we encourage them to join us in this declaration.
12. We celebrate the God-given diversity among us which enriches our global fellowship, and we acknowledge freedom in secondary matters. We pledge to work together to seek the mind of Christ on issues that divide us.
13. We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.
14. We rejoice at the prospect of Jesus’ coming again in glory, and while we await this final event of history, we praise him for the way he builds up his church through his Spirit by miraculously changing lives.

Fear and Faith- are they compatable?

Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity

160 Merovan Drive, North Augusta, SC 29860

You Are Invited

A Teaching Weekend

The Rt. Rev. Thaddeus Barnum

“Real Courage”

January 27-28, 2017

Friday evening, 6:00 pm, beginning with a covered-dish supper

Saturday morning, 9:00 am, beginning with continental breakfast- ending at noon

Fear and anxiety seem to be part of life in the broken and hurting world, particularly in the times in which we live.  We face, among a myriad of other things, the onslaught of Islamic aggression, economic and political uncertainty, societal polarization, and rising racial/ethnic tensions.  In our personal lives we face economic insecurities, unstable relationships, anxieties over personal safety, and uncertainty about what the future holds for our children and grandchildren.

The antidote?

Courage that brings peace & victory over life’s challenges,

but where do we find it?

The world tells us courage comes from only one place- from within ourselves, but as people of faith, we know real courage comes from beyond ourselves- from God.  It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us for real living.  The question we face, then, is our Fear and our Faith compatible?

This teaching weekend will explore this topic using the biblical story of Jacob and Bishop Thad’s book, Real Courage.  The Rev. Dr. John W. Yates II, Rector of our sister church in Falls Church, Va. writes,

“Thaddeus Barnum has written one of the most honest, vulnerable books about grappling with fear I have ever read.  He acknowledges the power fear wields to distort the truth, especially for leaders in the church.  Through illuminating meditations on Scripture, alongside gripping anecdotes from his life, Real Courage invites us into a robust, but never simplistic, faith to handle the day’s most pressing crises.”

To register:

call 803-341-0075, or email robhartley@ccomcast.net,

or sign up on the parish hall bulletin board.

Ministers of the Church

We are all ministers in God’s holy Church, and we are each called to represent Christ and His Church to the world around us.  We, the laity, are to bear witness to Him wherever we may be, and, according to the spiritual and natural gifts given each of us, we are to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation and servanthood in the world.  Within the Body of Christ, we are each to take our place in the fellowship, worship, and governance of God’s holy Church.

Some are called and “ordained” by God to more specific ministries within the Body of Christ.  The New Testament list three: deacons; presbyters (also called elders or priests); and bishops. These are not higher ministries, but rather more specialized ways of serving God and His Church.

The ministry of a deacon

The diaconate is a servant ministry. Deacons have the particular role of serving those around them and pointing the church to its call to serve.  Deacons serve priests and bishops by assisting them in carrying out their duties.

The ministry of a priest

The priesthood is a leadership ministry.   Priests have particular responsibility for the pastoral care and leadership of God’s people, for the administration of the local congregation on behalf of the bishop, and for the teaching and spiritual growth of the congregation. They are to preach, administer the sacraments, declare God’s forgiveness to those who repent, confess and amend their lives, and pronounce God’s blessing upon the people.

The ministry of a bishop.

Bishops have the apostolic ministry of propagating and overseeing the Church. They function as chief priest and pastor of a diocese and are the symbol of the local parish’s connectivity with the broader Church.  From biblical, bishops were appointed by the Apostles to carry on their apostolic ministry of guarding the faith, unity, and discipline of the whole Church.  They proclaim the Word of God, act in Christ’s name for the reconciliation of the world, and build up the Church.  In their apostolic role, bishops ordain priest and deacons to assist Him in their apostolic calling within local congregations.

Prayer Vigil for our state and our nation

Prayer Vigil

Tuesday, November 22, 12:00 to 12:45 pm

Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity

160 Merovan Drive

North Augusta, SC 29860

For information call 803-341-0075

 

Prayers for:

our unity as a nation

continued guidance and direction of Almighty God for our state and nation

forgiveness for the ways we have strayed from the Lord’s will

wisdom, compassion and resolve of our political leaders

effectiveness of our political process to serve all the people

the poor, needy and disenfranchised

 

Thanksgivings for:

God’s Grace and Providence over this Nation

deliverance from the recent wind and floods

the wisdom of the Founding Fathers of this Grand Republic

safety and well-being of family, friends and community

 

Christian Formation among Children and Teens at Holy Trinity

Dear Family and Friends of Holy Trinity:

I am very grateful and excited about those who have recently joined the teaching ranks of our children and teens.

Sunday School- The teachers are now Nancy Hartley, Margaret Williams and Diane Havird.  Sunday School follows the 10 am service each Sunday from 12:40 am to 12:15 pm.

Wednesday Children’s Gathering- Betty Croy has taken this on.  This takes place on Wednesday evenings beginning with supper and worship with the adults at 6 pm.  This time includes both teachings and fun activities for the children.

Children’s Church- Doris O’Neil, Amy Hane and Tracy Perdue have had this wonderful program 0n-going for several years now .  Children’s Church takes place during the 10 am Sunday service.  Our children step out of the main service to briefly have their own worship, readings and study and return to their parents for Holy Communion.

Nursery- Our nursery director is Kimber Nault.  The nursery is available Sundays during the main service and during the Sunday School time that follows worship.  Nursery is also available Wednesday evenings.  The nursery is for children ages 0 through 3.

Trinity Teens- The teens are led by Jason Nault and meet in the Teen Room after the 10 am service on Sundays.

I want to thank these teachers for their ministry to our children and teens.  I encourage all you parents to bring your children and grandchildren to these programs and allow them to benefit from what these teachers are offering to our children.

Blessings to you all,

Father Rob

Stewardship of Our Time, Talent and Spiritual Gifts at Holy Trinity.

As we prepare to look at what the Lord has for us in the coming year, it is helpful to take stock of where He has brought us thus far.  Last Sunday I highlighted what our financial stewardship looks like at Holy Trinity and where we are headed in that part of our life in Christ.  This Sunday I would like to do the same with our stewardship of our time, talent and spiritual gifts, which are those things we are doing here at Holy Trinity to grow the Kingdom of God within ourselves and in the world around us.  

As the “Body of Christ,” we participate in what God is doing in the world by being His hands, feet and voice, by doing the work of the Kingdom, and being Christ’s ambassadors.  It is a great privilege for us to be invited to participate in Christ’s ongoing healing and redemption of this world.  Some of our ministries we support with just our financial resources and through our prayers, but others involve us sacrificially giving of our time and talent for the sake of others- let me try to name them:

 

 

CMONA

Anglican Mission in Gambella

Kairos Prison Ministry

Wycliffe Bible Translators

Christ Church, Jerusalem

Anglican Relief and Development Fund

Socks for Nicaraguan Orphans

Prayer shawls/cancer bonnets

Christmas Shoebox Ministry

Megiddo Dream Station

The Lydia Project

Rector’s Discretionary Fund

Trinity Seminary

Nichols SC flood relief

Adopting families at Christmas

Louisiana flood relief

Winter coat ingathering

Others?

Some of our outreach ministries above are strategic and well planned, but others are simply spontaneous and Spirit-driven.  Some ministries just happen because we are open to the Holy Spirit and are continually looking for ways to serve the broken and hurting world around us. 

We also have ministries internal to our church family through which we support and encourage one another in our corporate worship, Christian vocation, fellowship and spiritual growth. They are:

Wed fellowship supper and study

Tuesday women’s Bible study Saturday

Men’s fellowship/study

Sunday adult forum

Children’s Church,

Trinity Teens

Catechism and newcomer classes

Choir,

Vestry,

Altar guild,

Ushers

Lay readers,

Acolytes

Lay Eucharistic ministers

Kitchen Angels,

Meals to homebound

Treasurer, tellers, IT, bookkeeper

Daughters of the Holy Cross

Audio-visual team,

prayer teams Prayer chain;

Crisis response

Prayer counseling / Inner healing

Blessing of the Animals,  

Friday night at the movies

Cursillo

Pastoral Counseling

Home Communion

House blessings

These lists are probably not exhaustive, but as you can see, there is no shortage of opportunities.  Everyone at Holy Trinity is encouraged to seek those places where they can grow and serve. 

 

A Vision

It is the Lord’s expectation (and of course mine as God’s priest in this place) that we are all making the age-old Christian pilgrimage from self-absorption to self-giving.  By the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, we are learning to sacrificially give ourselves for the sake of others.  Sacrificially giving of our time, talent and spiritual gifts for the sake of others is at the heart of what it means to be Kingdom People.  This means that we are all challenged to grow in our discipleship, understand our callings, and pick our ministries.  This journey toward self-giving is a journey toward Christ-likeness, because it is Jesus who is the ultimate giver and who sacrificially gave His life for the sake of all of us. This is our vision, because it is God’s vision.

Father Rob    11/13/16

Financial Stewardship at Holy Trinity

How your tithes and offerings are presently used.

How do we move forward from here?

 

It is this time of year that we begin planning for the next year, and we will be communicating thoughts on this throughout November.  A place we need to begin is with everybody’s least favorite topic- our stewardship of money.  Below outlines where we are presently, as well as some of the visions and plans the vestry has for moving forward.

Our Ministry Budget

We commonly call this our operating budget. It has three major sub-categories.

 

·         Outreach budget:  This reflects our planned commitments to support local, regional and overseas ministries.  This year’s outreach budget is approximately $24,000.

Vision:  Our vision is to sacrificially grow this portion of our budget to 50% of the operating budget.  We are presently at about 14%.

 

·         Staff compensation and staff expenses:  The total compensation for our three clergy, including their expenses, is about $30,000.  Additionally, we compensate our nursery worker, office administrator and sexton (building cleaning) together a total of $9,000.  Ever since we planted this church in 2009, staff compensation has been recognized by our successive vestries as a critical growing edge for our congregation.

Vision:  Planning for a Future Rector.  The objective is to position ourselves to be able to call a new rector.  For a young, high energy priest with a family, a compensation package with appropriate benefits is roughly $100,000. 

Vision:  Music Director.  We presently do not have a paid music director/organist.  This places a burden on both our keyboardist and the Rector.  The challenge here is more in finding a music director/organist than it is coming up with the money.

·         Other operating expenses:  This includes everything from mortgage to youth ministry- everything else it takes to run a church.  We are tracking well under-budget on many of these line-items, but we nonetheless have a budget of approximately $96,000.  About half of that is the mortgage on our building.

You can see the details of Ministry Budget in last year’s annual report.  The account for this Budget presently has a cash balance of approximately $38,000.   

Separate from the Ministry Budget above are several other funds:

·         Facilities Improvement Fund:  We commonly call this our Building Fund. Although we budget for the maintenance of our building and grounds in our Ministry Budget (above), funds for capital improvements to our facilities are tracked in a separate account.  This fund presently has a balance of approximately $27,000.

 Vision  Road cut-through from Merovan Drive to Walnut Lane:  This will significantly improve the church’s accessibility, and it is presently being looked at in partnership with the other property owners in Sweetwater Business Park.  Father Rob represents us on the Property Owner’s Association.  We will need to raise the funds for doing this in the near future.

Vision    Kneelers.  This project is well underway.  Thank you to all who have supported this with donations.

Vision   New bathrooms:  We have had a long-standing vision to renovate the storage area at the west end of the building to provide bathrooms, showers, one more classroom and a storage/workshop.  This is one of our more long-term plans.

Vision   Re-roofing: Leaks abound.  Our Junior Warden Mike Sanders has done a good job getting the roof repaired as needed.  Common wisdom says that at some point we need to look at a new roof.

Vision   Landscaping on the Walmart side of our building.

·         Reserve Fund:  This fund has a balance of approximately of $12,000 and when fully funded will allow us to ride through emergencies and other unforeseen events.

Vision:  The vestry has a goal of building the Reserve Fund to half our operating budget.

·         Memorial Fund: The memorial fund collects gifts and memorials.  It is used as directed by the giver or as the Vestry deems appropriate. It presently has a balance of $1,400.

Father Rob, 11/6/16