May 2007 Archives

On Wednesday evening the 30th we celebrated our first Holy Baptism at Canterbury House as Michael Quillen took this important step in his walk with Jesus. It was a marvelous, spirit-filled event. We have some pictures online from the festivies last night if you were unable to attend, or just wish to relive it.

Click on the picture below to be taken to the photo gallery. Once there, you can click on the small thumbnails in the gallery to see larger images (at this time there are 42 pictures in all).

Available right now is the new online members area for Holy Trinity Anglican Church.

It is similar in form to the version we had on our old church website, but with one major addition. You can now search in the members directory for names, addresses, etc. This should be helpful when looking for a specific name.

You will need to enter the members area with the user name and password which was published in the last two weeks' church bulletins. If you do not have the information, please call the church office to obtain it.

Thanks, and if you have any questions about the operation of the members directory, or any other part of the website, please email Joe Siegler.

Father Lawrence has posted an update to the "Rector's Reflections" section of the website. In this latest update, he talks in detail about the $100,000 down payment to the bank on the 15th, what the current status of the loan is, and future plans.

You will want to read this update, you can do so here.

As most of you know, we purchased the property on Miller Road with the provision from the bank that we make a 20% down payment of $100,000 in 60 days which was this past Tuesday. Making this payment on time would an important sign to us of God's blessing and provisions as well as an indicator the willingness of the congregation to be a part of the building of Holy Trinity Anglican Church from the very beginning. I am pleased to report that the final check needed to make the payment was received on Sunday morning, taking us over the top and allowing us to make the payment on schedule. Thanks be to God for His provision and for all of you who gave towards this need. We will continue to make monthly payments for the land for the next two years, or until sufficient gifts are received to allow us to pay off the remaining amount of about $475,000.

In regard to the building of the church, we have hired the firm of Brown & Brown Architects (view their website) to complete the Master Plan which should be completed around September 1st. As soon as the Master Plan is completed, we will unveil the plan to the congregation and kickoff our stewardship campaign to raise funds for the church building. However, we will not begin this process until we have paid off the loan in full for the purchase of the land. David Blom has been appointed as Chairman of the Building Committee. Other members of that Committee have been selected by the Board and will be announced to the congregation when we hear whether or not they accept the appointment.

Please continue to keep this process in your prayers and prayerfully consider a regular gift toward the Building Fund for the payoff of the property on Miller Road so that we may begin building our new church home as soon as possible. Checks may be made payable to Holy Trinity Anglican Church with a memo for "Land." Future reflections will offer some creative suggestions for giving that do not need to significantly affect your lifestyle or your regular tithe to the work of ministry at Holy Trinity Anglican Church.

May God's continued blessings be upon you.

Father Lawrence Harrison

Bishop Martyn Minns will be visiting us on June 10th. Anyone desiring to reaffirm their commitment to Christ and to be officially received into the Nigerian church may have an opportunity to do so on that day. Please contact the church office (972-240-0181) as soon as possible so we will know how many people to expect and know how many certificates to prepare.

If you wish to watch Martin Minns' recent installation service, you can do so on our website now in the Rector's Reflections section of our website. Make sure and check out the crucifer at the start of the service; it is our own Brian Pickard!

You can also read a letter from Archbishop Akinola to the Archbishop of Cantebury in the same section - so there's lots to check out there!

Available now on our website is a Microsoft Powerpoint presentation on Holy Trinity Anglican Church's decision to affiliate with Cana. This presentation contains some good information you should be aware of. You can click on the link below to download the presentation:

This file requires Microsoft Powerpoint to view, but if you do not have that, you can download a free Powerpoint viewer from Microsoft by clicking here.

The Angel Food Ministry needs volunteers to take orders, pick up and distribute food to people of our neighborhood. This is a program that provides food at a reduced price to anyone who wishes to participate (more info is available here). If you would like to help in this ministry, or have questions, call Helen Robinson at 214-912-1517.

“Loved by God”
by Liz Curtis Higgs

Women’s Bible study is continuing on Saturdays, from 10—11:30 a.m. at Canterbury House. It will be held each Saturday for seven weeks, ending on June 23rd. Childcare will be available.

We still need help with the renovations of our campus at 3809 Miller Rd., Rowlett. If you’d like to help clean, paint, garden, etc., call the church office to make sure someone is at the house or can arrange to let you in.

Think it’s a little early to think of July 4th? It is, unless you’re sending cards, letters and goodies overseas to our troops. We have to have ours ready to ship by June 10th. Eastfield College is collecting and mailing everything, so we have to do is bring stuff! There will be a box out in the lobby during coffee hour on Sundays to collect everything. Needed items include: cards, letters, gum, lip balm, beef jerky, individual drink mixes for water bottles (like Lipton Tea, Crystal Light, etc.)

If you have any questions contact Sherlyn Fulkerson or call the church office @ 972-240-0181. Thanks!

You can view the 45 minute service where Martin Minns was installed with the video here.

This is a letter from Archbishop Akinola to the Archbishop of Canterbury regarding the recent installation of Martyn Minns as Bishop of CANA. This is something you should read. It originally appeared online here.

Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth Palace, London
Sunday, May 6th, 2007

My dear Rowan,

Grace and Peace to you from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus the Christ.

I have received your note expressing your reservations regarding my plans to install Bishop Martyn Minns as the first Missionary Bishop of CANA. Even though your spokesmen have publicized the letter and its general content I did not actually receive it until after the ceremony. I do, however, want to respond to your concerns and clarify the situation with regard to CANA. I am also enclosing a copy of my most recent letter to Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori.

We are a deeply divided Communion. As leaders of the Communion we have all spent enormous amounts of time, travelled huge distances - sometimes at great risk, and expended much needed financial resources in endless meetings, communiqués and reports - Lambeth Palace 2003, Dromantine 2005, Nottingham 2006 and Dar es Salaam 2007. We have developed numerous proposals, established various task forces and yet the division has only deepened. The decisions, actions, defiance and continuing intransigence of The Episcopal Church are at the heart of our crisis.

We have all sought ways to respond to the situation. As you well know the Church of Nigeria established CANA as a way for Nigerian congregations and other alienated Anglicans in North America to stay in the Communion. This is not something that brings any advantage to us - neither financial nor political. We have actually found it to be a very costly initiative and yet we believe that we have no other choice if we are to remain faithful to the gospel mandate. As I stated to you, and all of the primates in Dar es Salaam, although CANA is an initiative of the Church of Nigeria - and therefore a bonafide branch of the Communion - we have no desire to cling to it. CANA is for the Communion and we are more than happy to surrender it to the Communion once the conditions that prompted our division have been overturned.

We have sought to respond in a measured way. We delayed the election of our first CANA bishop until after General Convention 2006 to give The Episcopal Church every opportunity to embrace the recommendations of the Windsor report - to no avail. At the last meeting of the Church of Nigeria House of Bishops we deferred a decision regarding the election of additional suffragans for CANA out of respect for the Dar es Salaam process.

Sadly we have seen no such respect from the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church. Their most recent statement was both insulting and condescending and makes very clear that they have no intention of listening to the voice of the rest of the Communion. They are determined to pursue their own unbiblical agenda and exacerbate our current divisions.

In the middle of all of this the Lord's name has been dishonoured. If we fail to act many will be lost to the church and thousands of souls will be imperiled. This we cannot and will not allow to happen. It is imperative that we continue to protect those at most risk while we seek a way forward that will offer hope for the future of our beleaguered Communion. It is to this vision that we in the Church of Nigeria and CANA remain committed.

Be assured of my prayers.

Sincerely,
+Peter Abuja

Bishop Kwashi visited us on Sunday the 6th, and it was a glorious service! If you missed it, or would like to relive it, we have some materials online now. First, is his sermon, which is available on our sermons page, along with the rest of the sermons from our clergy.

Second is a collection of photos. Available now in our photo gallery are 74 photos from the service this past Sunday. Make sure and look at them. If you have not used our photo gallery software, please note that the initial view is a small thumbnail version. You can click on the small thumbnail to see much larger versions.

You can view the photo gallery by clicking here.

From HTAC's Webservant:

"If you are seeing this message, then you've already seen that the new website is online! I had wanted to get this revision online before Bishop Kwashi's visit to our church this weekend, and I just managed to squeeze it in. This would have been online a week ago, but due to a death in the family, I had to put off working on just about everything.

You'll find that most of the layout we used to have at the old church is back. The members area is back as well, the username and password for that have changed again, that information will be given out during church, and will likely be in the following week's bulletin, as this website launched after the current bulletin had already gone to press. Very shortly I will be embarking on another round of photos for the members directory, so be prepared when you see me with my camera. :)

In designing the new layout, I went with a templated software back end so that it will make things easier to maintain, and allow me the flexibility to make updates from more than one location. It is a simple layout, but I personally believe simple website designs work better than giant, flashy, ostentatious designs. The Word of God is simple and effective, and since we are a church that preaches the Word of God, I believe our presentation should follow the same pattern; simple yet effective.

I hope you enjoy the new layout, and as usual, if you have any questions about it, let me know."

In His Service,
Joseph M. Siegler
Webservant - Holy Trinity Anglican Church

Starting next Wednesday, May 9, we will start our new Wednesday evening ministry schedule with all activities taking place at The Canterbury Ministry House at 3809 Miller Road in Rowlett (see our website for directions). We will begin with hot dogs and hamburgers being served from 6:15-7:00 pm. Although meat, buns and condiments will be provided, each person is invited to bring a side dish, chips, drinks or dessert to share with others. At 7:00 pm we will begin a time of ministry for each age group from nursery age to adult. The Holy Eucharist will be celebrated at 8:00 pm and Canterbury House will remain open until 10:00 pm for fellowship, snacks and swimming. Any person under 18 years of age may not swim in the pool until a release form has been signed by a parent. Only one-piece swimsuits will be permitted. No lifeguard will be on duty and children under 14 may only swim if accompanied by a parent.