October Rector’s Letter

Dear Parish Family,   

Thank You!

On behalf of all of our clergy, thank you for the incredibly generous clergy appreciation gifts! We are so blessed to serve the Lord here at St. Laurence and then to get a gift on top it is just incredible. As I said the other day, I’ve now been privileged to serve here 15 years, which is hard to believe. It is my joy to serve the Lord alongside all of you. I want to add my own “clergy appreciation” for my brother priests. They are incredible and we are so blessed. I also want to  add a “parish staff appreciation” for the lay people I am privileged to work alongside. They are also incredible and St. Laurence is what it is in large part because of their faithfulness and creativity. Lastly, the clergy and parish staff are only what they are because of your love, prayers, and support. Thank you, on behalf of the entire team, for the privilege to serve at St. Laurence!

Construction Loan Progress

We have been working closely with several banks to secure a construction loan for our upcoming expansion. The expenses will occur faster than the Capital Campaign receipts, necessitating a construction loan. The process started with 6 banks. We have had fairly extensive conversations with 4 of them. In the end, we received  "term sheets” back from three different banks. The Finance Committee met yesterday to review all of the terms and unanimously recommended to our Vestry to continue our relationship with Frost Bank. Frost Bank’s proposal was best on every single key metric that our Finance Committee was looking for. The Vestry unanimously approved their recommendation at our meeting last night.

RJM Contractors

We still have not signed the contract with RJM, although we are very close.  The attorneys for both parties are going back and forth on a few of the finer details, which we hope to have worked out by the end of the week.  Its very exciting to be so close on both fronts!

All Parish Meeting

On Sun, Nov. 10, we will have another all parish meeting to update everyone on our expansion progress. We’re putting weekly updates in the Friday morning parish-wide email, and in the Sunday bulletins, but there is no substitute for an in person meeting. Please make plans to join us between the morning services that day, about 9:50am in the Parish Hall.

Society of the Holy Cross

Many of you saw that a few weeks ago I was installed as the “Master" of the Society of the Holy Cross, usually called the SSC, from the Latin name of the Society: Societas Sanctae Crucis. The SSC is a group of Anglican priests who live together under a common rule of life. Our heritage goes back to a group of priests in London who were persecuted in the 1850’s for doing such shocking things as wearing vestments while celebrating the Eucharist. Obviously, that practice is commonplace in Anglicanism these days but it wasn’t back then.  Because they were taking such grief, they huddled together and came up with a common rule of life. They figured that if the clergy didn’t take the faith seriously themselves, then nobody would. There is a lot of spiritual wisdom in the SSC rule of life, which continues to be the reason that new priests are attracted to the Society. One of my first acts as Master was to admit new brothers, among which was our very own Fr. Travis Province.

The SSC is the largest society of Anglican priests, with about 800 of us worldwide. We are committed to promoting and defending the faith and practice of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. All five of our priests at St. Laurence are members of the SSC, something which no other Anglican Parish can claim. So, the ties are strong.

I will be trying to support the SSC brothers in the US and Canada, with an increasing presence in Latin America. The Master is to support the brothers who are trying to grow in holiness and faithfully serve the church, and that’s what I will be trying to do over the next 4 years, as I serve my term.

Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

Today marks the 86th anniversary of the restoration of the shine of Our Lady of Walsingham in England. On October 15, 1938, Fr. Hope Patten and many faithful Anglicans, re-built and opened the Shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Norfolk, England. I have been very privileged to have led two pilgrimages to the Shrine during my time as Rector of St. Laurence. It’s a holy and special place and we give thanks to God today for those who minister there. We also pray for those who go there seeking a deeper relationship with God. It is the most popular pilgrimage spot in England and very important for many Anglicans world-wide.

The stained glass window above the altar in our Lady chapel here at St. Laurence is an image of Our Lady of Walsingham. If you haven’t seen it, stop in there and say a prayer some time, or consider joining us for a weekday service where you’ll be able to soak in its beauty. The Blessed Virgin Mary plays an important role in the life of the church, pointing us always to her son Jesus Christ. If you look closely at the window of Our Lady of Walsingham, you’ll see her doing just that: gesturing to him. In that way, she provides for us a good example; we should always point others to Jesus.

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve at St. Laurence these 15 years! It’s been a true joy.

Blessings,

Fr. John Jordan