A Pastoral Letter from Bishop Charlie
March 19, 2020
My dear fellow members of ANiC,
This morning after breakfast my wife and I shared in Morning Prayer, which is our normal pattern whenever possible. These days, of course, I don’t have to worry about rushing out the door early in the morning. Nor do we have to do our worship together over FaceTime, as we would if I was away from home. We are here, like you, in our home, rarely going out, just for groceries and the pharmacy (we’re kind of at that stage) and the occasional walk.
As a result, Morning Prayer together has become even more precious. We both agreed we read the New Testament lesson of Matthew 24:1-28, with the description of the destruction of the temple and the Abomination of Desolation and how God would cut those horrible days short for the sake of the elect (v.22), with new eyes, ears and hearts in the light of what we are all going through in these days. I was impacted by this passage as never before, just in the reading of it.
But even more significant was the Canticle which we used after the Old Testament lesson, which was Psalm 67, and we read using the New Coverdale version as in the BCP 2019:
“May God be merciful unto us, and bless us, *
and show us the light of his countenance, and be merciful
unto us.
Let your way be known upon earth, *
your saving health among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
indeed, let all the peoples praise you.
O let the nations rejoice and be glad, *
for you shall judge the peoples righteously, and govern
the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
Then shall the earth bring forth her increase, *
and God, even our own God, shall give us his blessing.
God shall bless us, *
and all the ends of the world shall fear him.”
Psalm 67
I love this prayer and I invite you to mediate on it at your leisure, which perhaps, you like me, have more of in these days.
This Friday, March 20th during my noon hour fast and prayer, I am going to meditate more on this Psalm and make it the basis of my prayer for the world, for our nations and especially for our neighbours who are yet to come into a relationship with the Lord Jesus. What an incredible Lent we are all going through and what an opportunity to draw close to the Lord in study of His Word and intimate prayer with our beautiful Saviour!
I don’t know when our congregations will be actually able to come together again in person. What a thought! What I do know however is that Jesus who really did die, for our sins on the cross, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world, rose from the dead on the third day, Easter Sunday. So, whether together or apart, we will be celebrating as never before the glory of His victory. The sting of death is gone!
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
Colossians 2:13-15
I know it is still Lent, but I can’t wait to shout out at the top of my lungs that day, “The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
No doubt you have heard, but just in case, we posted a statement Tuesday evening after a whole day of calls with our wonderful ANiC clergy. Here is part of that statement:
“Given that the COVID-19 situation continues to develop and advance at a rapid pace, as Bishops of ANiC we have made the decision to call for the suspension of public worship services and all gatherings for all ANiC congregations for a minimum of 3 weeks. Another update will be provided on April 1st regarding the weeks to follow.
We are keenly aware that it will be a significant sacrifice for so many of us, to not be able to gather in person. But for now we believe it is an important one.
We are grateful that there are so many communication tools available now which can help keep us connected in a time such as this. And so we encourage churches to creatively implement digital means as well as phone calls to gather, encourage and support their people throughout the coming weeks.“
So, it is a real possibility that these three weeks referred to there, which will take us through Palm Sunday, may sadly have to be extended past Easter and beyond.
So, what do we do:
Pray, pray, pray.
Study Your Bible - Take the opportunity to study the scriptures more and more.
Contact Each Other - Keep in lots of contact with family and Christian friends by phone and the many media platforms.
Worship & Grow Online - Tap into the multitude of online services that now every day many of our ANiC congregations are providing especially on Sundays, and video meetings, online bible studies, online prayer groups and more.
Support Your Church - Please take the initiative, as you are able, to send in your tithes to your church by mail or online giving. Many congregations are helping people learn how they can give online, which would be a great blessing and much appreciated. This is really important at this time.
Witness to Jesus - Pray for ways to witness to Jesus to a terrified world. Perhaps even online you can let people know you pray to Jesus and invite them to share with you their concerns. Who knows perhaps that sharing could be an opening to the gospel.
Care for Needs - And pray for ways to care for others. Certainly in the days ahead there will be neighbours with serious needs. “Lord Jesus, give us the love, wisdom, generosity and courage in the days ahead to know how to reach to our needy church family and neighbours in the days ahead.”
My fellow bishops and I are tremendously thankful and very proud of you all and the way you are walking with God through these incredibly stressful days. Do keep in contact with us as you have opportunity.
We are very sorry that in these days our plans for visitations and special services are all being put on hold. We are certainly praying that even in these days of necessary separation—especially in these days:
“May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Of course all we are doing in ANiC is in fellowship with our Province of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and with the support, and under the leadership, of our beloved Primate, Archbishop Foley, who last evening sent out a letter to us all.
And in conclusion may I return to Psalm 67:
“May God be merciful unto us, and bless us, *
and show us the light of his countenance, and be merciful
unto us.”
The Lord bless you!
+Charlie
The Right Reverend Charlie Masters
Diocesan Bishop of the Anglican Network in Canada