Ordination of Joshua Baker to the Sacred Order of Priests

A Public Service of Worship
Saturday
November 15, 2014
1:00 p.m.
St. Patrick's Church
Meeting in Amherst Community Church
77 Washington Highway, Amherst, NY
Reception to follow

Rev. Deacon Joshua Baker

will be ordained a Priest
by Bishop Gregory Ortiz
Diocese of the Northeast
Charismatic Episcopal Church

An offering will be taken to
establish a discretionary fund to help those in need
It is proper but not required to give a gift of choice to a new priest.

Here, Joshua left of the Bishop
at his ordination as Deacon
September 2013

Schedule for Holy Week

Holy Week Services

 11:30 a.m. Sunday

 

Stations of the Cross

6:00 p.m.

 

Holy Eucharist Resurrection Celebration
11:30 a.m.

The Real St. Patrick

The Real St. Patrick

When Fr. Kevin and Kathie returned to Western New York from Sarasota, FL in late 2002 to pioneer a CEC mission in Buffalo, the original choice of a name for the work was "Throne of Grace" due to their vision of being a church built on love, acceptance, and forgiveness.  Their diocesan Bishop at the time did not approve of that name wanting either a "Church of The _________" or a "Saint ________ Church" name.

Patricius: The True Story of St. Patrick
History.com documentary
 
As Fr. Kevin grew up with Irish heritage on his mother's side, and knew Buffalonians honored St. Patrick above all the saints with the big annual parade here, he chose St. Patrick's as the name.

Patrick had been a rebellious teen (like our founders had been).  He was taken as a slave from England to Ireland.  Patrick was converted while a slave, and became a man of prayer.  In prayer,he was led by the voice of God with a plan to escape the slave island. 

Later, called by God through a supernatural vision to a ministry of missionary church planting, he returned to the place of his slavery.  Through a ministry of signs, wonders, miracles, he led a nation to faith in Christ and changed its culture forever. 

Patrick's ministry of preaching the Gospel, baptizing converts, confirming them, and appointing clergy
lasted 29 years. He baptized over 120,000 Irishmen and planted 300 churches.

This is, and remains, the vision of St. Patrick's CEC in Amherst, NY.  We seek to be Spirit-empowered to proclaim the Gospel with signs following planting churches here.  With a net decline of over 179,000 adherents to Christianity in Erie County, and over 214,000 people leaving the Roman Catholic Church and not affiliating anywhere over the past 10 years, our parish is an ever growing secular wasteland (click link and compare 2010 to 2000 Association of Religious Data).

We ask St. Patrick, departed church founders of this mission now in heaven, and all of you still here on earth fighting the good fight, to pray that faithful service to God and the people of this region will result in the snake being driven out, and many conversions and disciples of Jesus Christ that will change our home from its growing atheism influenced by the university, to a shining example of a region transformed by the power of God.

Patricius: The True Story of St. Patrick
History.com documentary

Glory Before Lent

Wednesday March 5
7:00 p.m.  Upper Room on the third floor

Take elevator or stairs to third floor, turn left, and left again. 
Upper room last door on left.

Liturgy of Ash Wednesday
Music
The Great Litany
Holy Eucharist
A 60 minute service

Begin your journey to Good Friday this Wednesday.

Common Grace, Not So Common

Grace is an expression of love that most Christians seem to do better receiving than giving. 

⁴⁴But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? 
 
To be sons or daughters of our Father in heaven we must learn to show grace to others. What is grace? It is the divine favor.  The undeserving kindness, forgiveness, and pardon of God.  God's COMMON GRACE is shown to all people on earth in that he gives us sun and rain--a world to live in and work, receive provision to live, and experience the joys of life.

God's grace, common, and special (given in salvation) clearly shows human beings they are not God.  We want justice, revenge, and people to pay for their wrongs. God says I will pay.  Then, he says, I want you to learn this in order to be my spiritual offspring. 

That seems monumental.  So often, our human nature, what the Bible calls "the flesh" gets in the way of the Holy Spirit's work of making us people whose character become more and more like God's as time passes. 

The fruit of the Spirit in our lives is intended to remove from us the pettiness, gossip, revenge, self indulgence, lies, pride-arrogance, and pure selfishness that come to us naturally.  The Holy Spirit in the e of regeneration and sanctification supernaturally releases us into a life where love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, and self control prevail.  The new life begins as a seed grows in us throughout the span of our days into outward fruit of the spiritual life TO BENEFIT AND SERVE OTHERS. 

May God's grace become common in his people.  It is amazing when grace is shown by a Church to the world.  May we move beyond pettiness, judgment, and intolerance.  Let divine power make us people of grace demonstrating God's love to all. 

Fr. Kevin

The Birthday of the Human Race.

Celebrated on Feast of the Epiphany Sunday, Deacon Joshua delivers his sermon on the significance of the coming of the Magi.

The Birthday of the Human Race