Episcopal Diocese of Albany - Priests and Deacons Update

Business Office: 68 South Swan Street - Albany, NY 12210 - (518) 465-4737
Christ the King Spiritual Life Center: 575 Burton Road - Greenwich, NY 12834 - (518) 692-9550

Blessed William Laud, Archbishop and Martyr
January 10th, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The warm winds of January continue to astonish us as autumn seems to be lingering into spring. The Standing Committee met on Monday and approved Joseph Acanfora for ordination as a Deacon. The ordination will be Sunday, Jan 28, at 11:00 at Christ Church, Gilbertsville, where he will become Deacon Vicar.

This week Bishop Bill is in New Jersey for the Winter meeting of the bishops of Province 2. This is always a pleasant gathering and a chance to get to know one another in a smaller setting. Last Sunday Bp Bill was at St David's, East Greenbush.

Tomorrow, Thursday, January 11, is the beginning of the new day and time, 2nd Thursday schedule of the Eucharistic Holy Hour beginning at 10:30, still in the Healing Oratory Chapel at Christ the King.

Saturday, Jan 13, is the 1st Parish Leadership Conference for 2007 to be held at Trinity Church, Potsdam; begins with Coffee at 9:30 and Opening Worship at 10. Lunch included; closing Eucharist at 2:30.

On Sunday Bishop Bill will be at Grace and Holy Innocents, Albany; and I'll have the pleasure of being in my old stomping grounds at Christ Church, Morristown.

Last weekend I missed my first visitation in 10 years. Carol and I had taken our granddaughter out for her birthday on Friday evening and I seem to have gotten a bad dose of food poisoning. As a result, I never made it to Ogdensburg on Sunday. We went back home and it returned with a vengeance very early Monday morning so I missed the meeting of the Standing Committee and the grading of the ordination exams on Tuesday. Back to work today, but with a light intake.

The Dedication of the Infirmary of the Holy Child Jesus at the new Beaver Cross, (originally scheduled for Jan 21) has been deferred. The unexpectedly warm weather has made it too mush around the building. The new structure, to be dedicated in thanks for the labors of Art and Marge Bates, will be rescheduled in the spring.

The next round of Parish Leadership Conferences are Fri-Sat-Sun, Jan 26-27-28. The Friday and Saturday gatherings are at Christ the King; the Sunday is at Christ Church, Cooperstown. Times are as follows:
Friday, beginning with Evensong at 5:30
Saturday, beginning with Coffee at 9:30, Opening Worship at 10:00.
Sunday, beginning at 3:00pm.

Bishop Bill has graciously invited us to speak and to use this as a chance to bid official farewells to our fellow Disciples in the diocese. We look forward to seeing you all.

Today at the Noon Mass, Bishop Ball spoke of Archbishop Laud, whose martyrdom in 1645 we commemorate today. The Church of England was deeply divided, theology mixed with politics, the throne, and the altar, more accurately the monarch and the miter. Civil war was breaking out. (The next year the King himself would also be beheaded, the Book of Common Prayer made illegal, and the reign of Oliver Cromwell begun.) In spite of his imperfections, his alignment with the losing side and his heavy-handed style, Archbishop Laud gave his life for the faith in which he believed. 15 years later the Prayer Book and the Monarchy would be restored; but Archbishop Laud's death would stand as an encouragement for those who sought to serve the Lord through the sacraments, the liturgy and the apostolic ministry.

LORD JESUS, give us, like your servant William Laud, a willingness to die as well as live for you: deliver us from a reliance on the powers of this world and entrust ourselves only to the power of your Holy Spirit, that our lives may be formed, and re-formed and transformed by You. Amen.

In Christ,
+ Dan

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