St. Bartholomew's Parish News

St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church youth hosting fundraiser for Christian Hamby, 11, of Gaines Township

ST. BART'S CELEBRATES 50th ANNIVERSARY

St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church celebrates its 48^th anniversary this year. Over these years it has grown in size and activities. There are currently four scheduled services per week, and once a month there is a public rosary.

The Christian education program includes Sunday school for children pre-school through high-school numbering 15. There are two adult education classes and for the first time a post-confirmation course. In Advent and Lent there are special study times. This will also be the first year of the Cherub Choir, of which there are 8 members.

St. Bartholomew's has an active outreach program. On a monthly basis they give to various organizations within the area and outside. In the last nine months they have given to the Salvation Army, United Way, YMCA Safehouse, My Brothers Keeper, Cedar Valley Iowa Habitat for Humanity, Rave and Whaley’s Children’s Home. They have also given to Forward in Faith and the Anglican Network, both organizations defending the Orthodox Anglican Faith. They also supported St. Theodore of Tarsus, their Diocese college ministry to the University of South Carolina. Next month their outreach will go to Hurley’s Children’s Miracle Network.

They have an extremely active Youth Group, which seeks not only to develop friendships, but their knowledge and love of their Savior. In the last year there have been three weekend retreats. There has also been one three-day bible camp in which the young people spend the night in tents on church property. St. Bartholomew's Youth Group has been the bulwark of the St. Michael’s Midwest conference. While this conference started primarily with young people from St. Bartholomew’s, it now includes young people coming from as far away as Texas, Tennessee, Illinois, Georgia and South Carolina. It should be noted that the people and parish of St. Bartholomew's have assisted St. Michael’s conference financially with more than $30,000 in the last 15 years. Without the assistance of the people of St. Bartholomew’s the conference would not exist. All members of the Youth Group raise money to pay for St. Michael’s by group work activity. In this way it is no burden to their families during these questionable economic years of Michigan. Each year they work to raise money so that young people from outside the parish living throughout the nation can attend St. Michael’s conference. At last year’s parish bazaar, the young people raised money for Boatsie’s Boxes to Baghdad, which provides stockings for our soldiers. This past year they raised enough to provide 30 stockings, which was 5 more than the year before. At Christmas time they carol the neighborhoods and the money raised goes to provide Christmas presents for poor families. Last year they donated $500 for the legal bills for a mother trying to protect her children from an abusive father. In previous years they have given $500 to Tsunami victims and also the victims of Hurricane Katrina. This month they will pray for the victims of abortion at the local abortion clinic. (Adult members of the congregation also pray at this clinic.)The Youth Group also cleans a section of Swartz Creek at the recommendation of the city manager. They provide and plant flowers, and weed the gardens of the parish.

This year the clergy of the parish have tripled in size. This is because Steven Maas was ordained to the sacred order of Deacons and Fr. David Sprunk moved here from his parish in Texas. Last year more than 300 hospital and shut in calls were made to people inside and outside the parish. In the last two weeks the discretionary fund has given nearly $400 to help a deserving family pay its mortgage, to help another family pay its fuel oil bill, to provide a space heater, and to feed a family without any food. Part of the food was provided through the food basket, which parishioners keep filled.

The actual strength of the parish is her people. A look at the bulletin board will show numerous articles on the community activities of the parishioners. Shirley Bonnett, who is our organist, is the face of St. Bartholomew's. Until her recent bout with cancer, she drove cancer victims to and from treatment on a regular basis. She still organizes blood drives and support groups for various illnesses. The Senior Warden, Mrs. Jane O’Dell, serves on more than a dozen boards and committees of various organizations in Genesee County and the State. The Junior Warden started numerous AA Groups and still ministers in that community. He is active in the Shriners raising money for Children’s hospitals. Our Deacon not only serves in the parish, but also works with young people as a coach for youth baseball and is a Boy Scout leader. The people of St. Bartholomew's are not only generous with their treasure and talent, but also with their time.

The clergy of St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church have begun work on starting a mission church south of the Flint Area. They have begun negotiations to rent a church on Sunday mornings. The mission will be located in the Hartland, Howell, Milford area of the state. For Fr. David Sprunk it is the continuation of a work begun in 1979. "We started a continuing Anglican mission church in the Howell/Hartland area in 1979, but were unable to continue after 1981. We look forward to reestablishing that mission over the next few months."

Bishop Paul Hewett of the Diocese of the Holy Cross has already presented a Chalice and Paten for use in the mission. While the negotiations go on to find a church in which to worship the clergy are seeking the names of individuals who are drawn to Anglican Worship and Theology. If you know of any families or individuals who live near routes 59 and 23 please call St. Bartholomew's at 810-635-9100.

May is the merriest month of all the year, as the old song says, and the people of St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church had good reason to be merry on the sixth of May this year. For on that Saturday evening, after a rousing high mass, and a delightful dinner, they burned the mortgage on their property. For six years, the people of ‘St. Bart’s’ had given spaghetti dinners and held raffles, gathered pennies, held bazaars, and, above all, made special pledges to raise the money to buy back their building from the Diocese of Eastern Michigan.

This was the second time that St. Bartholomew’s of Swartz Creek, Michigan had paid for its building. The first time was in paying back the Barth Trust, administered by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, after they had actually built the original building (and, later, an addition). Then why did they have to buy their own building again? Thanks to Corporate Sole, a provision of Episcopal canon which goes back to 1973, an Episcopal congregation does not own its own property. No matter who buys and pays for it, the diocese where that church is located has the title.

One would think that the parishioners of St. Bartholomew’s would have been both angry and discouraged by the burden of having to pay for their building all over again. Not a bit of it! They were happy to be able to leave the diocese on any terms, and delighted to have a chance to retain their own property. After all, they had been told six years ago that if they remained Episcopalians, they could not withhold obedience to the doctrines and canons of the Episcopal Church, even if those doctrines or canons came into conflict with Scripture. Furthermore, they had been invited to leave by the Standing Committee of the diocese, which apparently thought such a threat would cow them into submission. On the contrary, they were only too happy to oblige.

In addition, on this Saturday in May, after six years of hard work, these former-Episcopalians were full of gratitude. They have the distinction of being the only FIFNA parish in the nation which has been able to leave the Episcopal Church and retain its building and grounds. All around them are congregations who have been forced to leave without anything and are now meeting in borrowed buildings. Then again, there are other congregations who remain uneasily within the Episcopal ‘fold’, miserably aware that, had they the legal right to their buildings, they would have been gone a long time ago.

‘Non Nobis Domine’ is known as the song of the Knights Templar, crusading knights who maintained ‘hospitals’, resting places or inns for pilgrims, along the route to the Holy Land. The words are ‘Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam’. (Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Thy name be the glory.) It was sung, fitting enough, along with the Te Deum, after the Battle of Agincourt in Shakespeare’s Henry V, for Good King Harry believed that it was none other than God Himself who had given the weary, ill and battered English army of 2000, victory over a superior French force of ten times that number. Yes, we were taught in school that the mighty English longbow took pride of place, but that is not what Henry thought.

‘Non Nobis Domine’ was sung in a round by St. Bartholomew’s choir before the gospel was read and Fr. Gene Geromel made it the centerpiece of his sermon. Despite the hard work and dedication of a small, devout congregation, he said, despite the help and support of many generous friends, the true hero of the day was Christ, who had opened the way for them to leave an apostate diocese and had given them, a low- to middle-class congregation of slender means, the strength to accomplish the daunting task of raising $345,000 (including interest). He quoted Henry’s words, as penned by Shakespeare, “Come, go we in procession to the village; and be it death proclaimed through our host to boast of this, or take that praise from God which is his only.”

Fr. Geromel also observed that he did not entirely understand why this small congregation of fifty pledging units had been given such grace or what God intends that they should do with this gift, but reminded the people that God does, indeed, have a plan for them and that it is their job to try to discern what that is.

Over a hundred and forty people, visiting priests, friends of the parish, infants, children, adults and elderly, some of whom had been present when the parish was first formed, were present and received communion. After the reading of the ‘last Gospel’ the first chapter of John, regularly said after mass at St. Bart’s for the protection of our troops and the safety of our nation, the assembly repaired to the parish hall for Fr. Geromel’s chicken cacciatore and Italian salad, along with goodies and a cake baked in the shape of the church.

Many quips were exchanged that the roof of the edible church had stayed on better than the actual roof, which, during the month of March, had been partially ripped away by three straight days of fifty-mile-an-hour wind gusts. This means another fund-raising task ahead for these sturdy Anglicans, but the prospect did not dim their high spirits whatsoever. They seemed secure in the knowledge that God would crown their efforts with success so long as they are faithful.

After the burning of the mortgage, Old Hundredth was sung with gusto to acknowledge God’s hand in this happy day. The people of St. Bartholomew’s also took advantage of this joyous event to honor Fr. Geromel for his 32 years in the priesthood and his 22 years of service to this congregation. There was much laughter and many tears ‘which are the very wine of blessedness’ (Tolkien, not Shakespeare). At sunset, a solitary purple balloon, one of the many which decorated the tables at dinner, soared into the still, blue sky over a gold and green landscape, let loose by the hand of a child.