2005

On January 23rd, 2005, a new chapter of the International Order of St. Vincent was dedicated at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Lansing, Mi. The new chapter’s name is St. Govan. The Rev. David R. Pike rector at St. David’s is the induction ceremonies celebrate. The chapter’s warden is Francis L. Jacobs.

St. Govan was born in Ireland. St.Govan joined the monastery of Dairinis, in Wexford where he worked as a cook. In 527, St. Govan and two other monks visited Rome to obtain a correct version of the Latin mass. When St. Govan returned to Dairinis, he was elected abbot. Later years of his life, St. Govan became a member of the Pembrokeshire monastery, where he died in 586.

Even though it was raining, the trip to Washington D.C. for the National Acolyte Festival 2005 on Oct. 8 was still an amazing experience for the acolytes of St. Anne’s, Hallandale. It was our third year being there and many of our family members accompanied us to the festival this year. The acolytes who went were Ashley Davenport, David Davenport, Dorrin Edgecomb, Demetrius Jones, Havanna Martin, Toya McDonald, Chris Newbold, James Newbold, Jr., Kaitlyn Neely, Marcus Neely and Andrew Rhone.
We were led by our acolyte master, Maceo Brown, Mrs. Edith Newbold and Everett Neely. For many of our family members, it was their first time seeing the Washington National Cathedral up close. Everyone enjoyed the tours, planned by Mrs. Newbold, to many sites in the Washington, D.C. area, including Howard University, the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and Mt. Vernon.
This year we proudly carried our very own banner, designed by Ashley Davenport, to represent the Acolyte Guild of our church. The banner shows a large shield against a red background with our church’s name written in gold lettering. The shield itself is divided into four sections. In the upper left corner is the lily of St. Anne to represent our church. The bottom left corner has a picture of the thurible and the boat, and the upper right corner displayed four torches and the cross. In the bottom right corner is a picture of the beach with water, a palm tree and a bright sun against a blue sky with white clouds to represent Hallandale Beach and the Bahamian ancestry of our founders. Our proudest moment during the festival was when it was our turn to process down the aisle. When we processed everyone stopped to watch us to see which church we were with. The vergers asked us where we were from, and Bishop Crane’s wife, who was sitting in front of us, turned around and told Mr. Brown, “You guys do everything, and everything you do is right.” Even Bishop Crane himself came down from the altar during the peace, shook Mr. Brown’s hand, and said, “Welcome, glad to see you again.” This shows that he noticed and remembered us!
We owe everything to the people in our church who support and believe in us. We especially owe thanks to Maceo Brown and Edith Newbold. Mrs. Newbold planned everything that we would need to do in order to make it to D.C. again this year. Mr. Brown taught us how to be the best acolytes we could be. He was able to train several acolytes who had just become acolytes right before we left for the trip. He even taught us the Canterbury step, a type of processional walk that is used in Canterbury Cathedral in England. We plan to make the National Acolyte Festival an annual tradition in our church.

St. Martin-In-The-Fields remembers Bishop Seabury

November 14 is an important date in the Episcopal Calendar. It was on this date in Aberdeen, Scotland in the year 1784 that Samuel Seabury was consecrated as the first American Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. In celebration of this historic and important event in the history of the ECUSA, St. Martin-In-The-Fields in Pompano Beach, Fla. held a Eucharist Service using Bishop Seabury’s Office of 1786, the first communion office of the American Church which was based on the Scottish Rite. Archdeacon Hobbs celebrated the Eucharist with Father Bernard Pecaro acting as Deacon of the Mass and Lee Davis as Sub-Deacon with approximately 30 people in attendance. In order to establish historical authenticity to the service the church was illuminated in candlelight and the rubrics of the service were followed exactly. In researching the liturgical style of the period Lee Davis noted that music was actually used sparsely, so he chose to have music only at the processional, recessional and while the Eucharist was being given. For the music, to honor the Scottish connection to Bishop Seabury’s consecration, John Geddes, President of the Fort Lauderdale Highlander Band, played appropriate selections on the bagpipes. The scared ministers wore historically accurate vestments and most of the service faced the altar as would have been done in the 1780’s. In addition, keeping with the historical accuracy of the time period, the alms for the poor collected during the offertory included bread, fruits and other food items. During the homily, Lee Davis read the biography of Bishop Seabury, after which Archdeacon Hobbs spoke about how Bishop Seabury’s consecration was not without its own turmoil and alluded to the turmoil in the church today and that we must remember that we must act with Love towards one another. The service was well received by those in attendance.

The preceding article was submitted by Lee Davis

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