During his recent visit to Charleston for the Mere Anglicanism conference, Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) Archbishop Foley Beach preached at the invitation of the St. John’s congregation.

The decision of Archbishop Beach – who presumably would be welcome in the pulpit of any of the three dozen Charleston-area ACNA parishes – to preach at St. John’s Parish Church signaled care for and support of those who had lost properties.

“It was an incredible encouragement to have the Archbishop with us. We are humbled he chose to be with us,” St. John’s Rector Jeremy Shelton shared with me in an interview this week. “It’s been six months for us now and it has been an incredible blessing. It is difficult, for sure. But God is faithful and our congregation is growing in size, faithfulness, and unity. The Gospel speaks much louder than anything else.”

Shelton, who became St. John’s Rector at the time of the property handover, explained that the invitation for Beach to preach came about after a parish staff member suggested it. The Archbishop’s office circled back within a month, suggesting the weekend of January 29.

Johns Island is a formerly rural community that has quickly become a Charleston suburb. The fourth largest island on the United States’ East Coast, it now has a population nearing 30,000, a growth rate of 114 percent since 2000. Named for Saint John Parish in Barbados by the first English colonial settlers, there is a long history of Anglican worship on the island, with St. Johns Parish Church founded in 1734.

“Our neighbors are from Minnesota, New York, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania,” Shelton, who hails from Kentucky but has lived in South Carolina for nearly 20 years, tells me of his own residential subdivision on the island. “They are coming from everywhere.”

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Of the eight @anglican_sc parishes ruled by the South Carolina State Supreme Court to lose control of their properties to the Episcopal Church, several are now in new homes and are thriving. #anglican https://t.co/XSzx7N61tJ

— Jeff Walton (@jeffreyhwalton) February 8, 2023

I know there is fear of a slippery slope, of what may or may not happen at some point in the future, but let us not give in to the fear of a future which we can neither predict nor control. Fear leads us to do the wrong things – trying to secure the future for God tomorrow, rather than trusting the Holy Spirit today.

I have just been in Westminster Hall hearing President Zelensky, who knows well what it means for the world to change overnight. And who knows here what will come to us over the next few years, not least from there.

Each of us will answer to God at the judgement for our decisions on this matter. We are personally responsible. I am supporting these resources, not I think because I am controlled by culture but because of scripture, tradition and reason evidenced in the vast work done over the last six years so ably by so many.

I may be wrong, of course I may, but I cannot duck the issue any more than anyone else here. I ask each member of Synod to vote with their Spirit-inspired consciences, scripturally and spiritually guided, and not because groups or lobbies or outsiders have told you to. I have heard them over the last two weeks in Parliament, and been told exactly what to do. I am not doing any of it.

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I’m supporting the Prayers of Love and Faith, not because I am controlled by culture, but because of scripture, tradition and reason evidenced in the vast work done over the last six years so ably by so many. #Synodhttps://t.co/DMHSFntJ3D

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) February 8, 2023

NBC: “Only a fraction of the nation’s educators are Black men, pushing four Philadelphia teachers to work together in a school that serves Black male students. The goal: to provide an image that’s more than academic. NBC News’ Rehema Ellis spoke with them about how their students motivate them.”

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From there:

• Item 510 – Diocesan Boards of Education Measure 2021 (consequential amendment to regulations under Canon B12) which surrounds the administration of Holy Communion in church schools. This relates simply to updating the definitions of headteacher and church school.  Read more.
• Key misc issues
• Issues raised about insecurity around immediate termination of BMOs (Bishop’s Mission Order)
• Clive Scowen seeked to ensure for Artice 7 & 8 business has a two thirds majority of delegates in person to ensure robust debate on the most important issues.
• The Archbishop of Canterbury gave the loyal address. Read more.
• There was a further time of questions focused entirely on LLF. Read more. Questions focused around the details of the new prayers and proposed changes.
• Resourcing Ministerial Formations takes forward proposals discussed in July. Some concerns were raised about the need for transitional arrangements and the use of the tuition formula. Item 9 was passed.

Catch up on yesterday's business at #synod #generalsynodhttps://t.co/rIf5ZLy7zd

— General Synod News (@synodnews) February 8, 2023

O God of Love, thou didst deliver servant Josephine Margaret Bakhita from the bondage of slavery to serve you in true freedom; by her example help us to see those enslaved among us, and work to release them from their chains. In your mercy, give to all survivors healing from their wounds and joy in their liberation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Bakhita (Josephine Margaret Bakhita), Monastic, 1947

Abducted+sold into slavery as a child in Sudan, Bakhita later gained her freedom & in 1896 became a Canossian religious sister, from 1902 at a convent in Schio. She was canonised in 2000 pic.twitter.com/tkjyUFTnq9

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) February 8, 2023

O God, who hast sown in our hearts the precious seed of thy truth: Grant us to nourish it by meditation, prayer and obedience, that it may not only take root, but also bring forth fruit unto holiness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Red sky in the morning…

Our view looking towards Sumburgh Head and lighthouse, #Shetland at dawn this morning.@StormHour @ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/cVCE1XKbt6

— Hugh Harrop Wildlife (@HughHarrop) February 8, 2023

I do not turn aside from thy ordinances,
for thou hast taught me.
How sweet are thy words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through thy precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
Thy word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.

–Psalm 119:102-105

sunrise today stunning 🔥😎🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZYJ7iAzCVH

— graham ross (@grahamr27165817) February 8, 2023