Ordinations, Church and Missions in Northern California

Ordinations, Church and Missions in Northern California
by Fr. Aidan Jerry Hix, St. Aidan's CEC Mission, Antioch, CA

It was five years ago that Fr. Craig T. Isaacs, Ph.D., Rector of St. David's CEC in San Anselmo (now in San Rafael), shared with me that he believed the Lord was preparing to expand the CEC in Northern California. "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain" (Ps. 127.1 RSV). The Lord is faithful and over this past several months, we have seen the first signs of God's providence and plan for expansion in Northern California being fulfilled. Here are but a few of the blessings the Lord has shown:

Ordinations.
In preparation for the Priesthood, Deacon Jerry Hix and Mr. Scott Mitchell completed the St. Michael's Seminary program in September of 2004. Both men recieved their Seminary Diplomas from, and were ordained to the Priesthood, by The Right Reverend Douglas Kessler- Auxiliary Bishop to the Patriarch, on February 5, 2005 at St. David's Charismatic Episcopal Church in San Anselmo, CA.

New Names.
Both priests recieved New Names from Abp Adler and Bp Kessler. Father Mitchell recieved the ordination name of Patrick and prefers to be called, Fr. Scott-Patrick. Fr. Hix recieved the ordination name of Aidan and prefers, Fr. Aidan.

About Fr. Scott-Patrick.
Fr. Scott-Patrick has been married to his lovely wife, Linda, for about 8 years; and is a Public Safety Officer for the City of Rohnert Park (Rohnert Park and Sunnyvale are the only two cities in the state who have Public Safety Officers that rotate the duties of both Police Officer and Fireman). He also serves as the Liason Officer for the Public Safety Department's Chaplaincy program. He holds a Masters degree in Counseling Pyschology from the University of San Francisco. Fr. Scott-Patrick serves as an Assisting Priest at St David's Church and plans to retire in about three years and move to Red Bluff, where he hopes, with Episcopal Blessing, to begin a Mission work.

About Fr Aidan.
Fr. Aidan has been married to his wonderful wife, Deanna, for sixteen years (on September 4th!). They have two boys, Jerry III (14 yrs) and Brian (11). Both boys serve as Acolytes for St. Aidans CEC Mission in Antioch (Jerry III has also served as Acolyte at St. Timothy's CEC Mission in Eugene, Oregon, as well as St. Davids). Fr. Aidan has served in the U.S. Army and National Guard; and holds a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Miniestry from Eugene Bible College. Fr. Aidan is a Probation Counselor/Peace Officer for the Contra Costa County Probation Department, Juvenile Corrections; and volunteers as a Chaplain for both the county Sheriff's Dept., and Sutter Delta Hospital in Antioch.

St. Aidan's CEC Mission in Antioch, CA
Fr. Aidan serves as an Assisting Priest at St David's Church as often as possible (the Hix family lives on the other side of the San Francisco Bay, about an hour away); and since his ordination, has been serving as Priest for St. Aidan's CEC Mission in Antioch. St Aidan's meets on Saturday nites for Holy Eucharist (in a local Funeral Chapel); and in the Hix home on Wednesday evenings for Prayer and Bible Study. There are plans to begin leading the congregation through the St. Michael's Seminary Workbook program, "Contending for the Faith." We also hope to have our first Episcopal Visit in the next few months.

The Hix Family extends Special Thanks:
To Fr. Patrick and Connie Stuart and family (and St. Patrick's Church in Cascade Locks, OR) for sponsoring and guiding us into the CEC almost eight years ago.

To Fr. Jonathon and Becky Landon and Family. Fr Landon (who now serves as a U.S. Army Chaplain) was our first Priest and Pastor and St. Timothy's CEC Mission in Oregon. Fr Jonathon, Becky and their children- Denise, Jon Paul, and Naomi- each took part in custom making a Stole & Chasuble Set (in each Liturgical Color) for me as an Ordination Present! Thank you for your friendship and the beautiful gift!

To Fr. Craig and Mindy Isaacs for five years of pastoral ministry, spiritual direction, and friendship. We love you and the people of St. David's dearly.

To Bp Doug and Karen Kessler. Not only did we have Bp Kessler as our Bishop when we lived in Oregon, he was stuck with us again when we relocated to California! Bp Kessler and Karen, we love you! You have both been wonderful friends and inspirations in our Christian walk. We came out of denominational schisms and abusive authority into the loving but strong arms of a true Bishop and Father in the Faith! It has been such a wonderful and healing experience, for my whole family, to be in the Charismatic Episcopal Church under the Authority of Good, Loving, and Godly Men, such as Bp Kessler and Abp Adler. We love you and Karen and thank you for your leadership and friendship in Christ!

A Special Thanks from Fr. Aidan and Fr Scott-Patrick:
To Fr. Craig Isaacs for several years of mentoring and preparing us for the Priesthood. We cannot thank you enough for all the hours of investment you deposited in our lives. We also thank his lovely wife, Mindy, for all the hours she sacrificed for us to have the time with Fr. Craig.

To Bp Doug and Karen Kessler, Fr. Aaron Applebee, Fr. Mark and Stacey Finley, Becky Landon and Canon Gary Henizer for coming from around the country to attend our Ordination to the Priesthood.

Welcome Aboard:
St. Aidans Mission welcomes the Quinn Family. Deacon Ed "Patrick" Quinn, his beautiful wife, Linda, and their son, Conner, recently relocated to Antioch from St. Michael's Pro-Cathedral; and are now serving at St. Aidan's Mission. Deacon Ed, in addition to Deaconal duties will also be leading us in classes on Liturgical Seasons and Colors and training the Acolyte Team. Linda has recently recieved donations for a Keyboard (Thanks to all who gave) and is leading us in Songs of Praise and Worship. Conner is soon to begin his training as Acolyte.

New Church Building for St. David's.
While St. Michael's Pro-Cathedral may be likened to the Pentagon and St. Aidan's may be an Out-Post, we finally have our Fort Apache in Northern California! St. David's has recently been able to purchase a church building in San Rafael. There has been many hours of prayer (several months worth)- standing in faith for the finances- and hours of hard manual labor.

However, this is only a sneak-peak and a big PRAISE THE LORD! The full story must wait to be written by those who were actively involved. Thanks to all the worker who volunteered to make it happen.

Contemplative Prayer & Jack Hammers

Contemplative Prayer is the mystical dimension of the Gospel, now almost completly forgotten or abandoned by Todays Christians-those more interested in their own speech, prayer agendas, pet doctrines, than about truly seeking God.

What do I mean? I am being a bit hyperbolic in the above statement, on hand. Yet, there is this other side of the faith, treated like a Cynderella and pushed in the dungeons out of sight. Its the side of Contemplative Prayer, silence, and meditation on God. Most of us only pursue God by what the early Fathers of the Church referred to as Kataphatic Theology (kata in Greek means according to)- the theology of God based on the use of our own faculties of thought and reason, etc. to study, learn, and understand God revelations to us through the created order (general revelation) and his Special Revelation of Himself through Holy Scriptures.

However, there has always been another aspect, the way of Apophatic Theology (apo in greek means away from)- away from our faculties. That is, we approach God by way of negation. It is not possible for us mere mortals to comprehend God as He is in His Essence, His own Being, as He knows Himself to be. What understanding we may glean by way of kataphatic theology can never be comprehensive, it is still but a shadow for God is above our comprehension! So, we come to Him in loving attentativeness by way of stillness and silence! As the Psalmist said, "Be still and know that I am God."

It is learning to sit in His presence in silence and stillness, seeking only the eternal "THOU" as He knows himself to be. St Augustine once said, "Silence is God's first language." Should we not then learn His language? Be still, rest in his presence, with nothing but our naked and loving gaze toward him (The Cloud of Unknowing by an anonymous Christian author).

But we tend not to do so. We tend, rather, to come to Him with our agendas asking Him to Bless our purposes, even though they may be disguises as Christian works of service or charity. Many are afraid of the silence. Once we turn inward, we discover an inner world that revolves around our own ego, our own inner voice which never stops talking. Try, if you have never done so, to sit for just a few minutes in silence and see how noisy it is inside! We are full of our selves, our thoughts, our ego, our purpose, our agendas. Is it not time we laid these things down at the feet of Jesus, even surrendering our own ego. "Let Go My Ego!" But we don't want to let go.

If we are ever to truly put on the mind of Christ, we must learn to take off the Old Man- that is, our ego centered way of thinking, even at the very depths of our interior lives. As we learn by way of silence, to let go our ego, the polarity of our orbit begins to shift, and the Eternal Ego- the Great "I AM" begins to dwell and reign more and more in our lives. We become more aware of his abiding presence in our lives.

There are many wonderful Devotional Masters in the Christian Faith who can help take us there. Read the works of St. John of the Cross, St Teresa of Avila, St. Augustine, Brother Lawrence, for starters.

May the Lord help each of us to take the time to simply be with Him in silent prayer of stillness.

Be Still and know that I AM God!

Of course there are hinderances to challenge us. One of them is the City Workers outside today digging up the street with Jack Hammers!

Ordination Photo, Fr Aidan 

After Ordination photo: Fr Aidan, Fr Isaacs, Bp Kessler, and Fr Scott 

Fr Scott & Fr Aidan bless Bp Kessler 

Parable of The Ten Virgins

It's been several months since I have been able to blog anything. So, here is my first in months. The reason for this blog is a meditation on the Parable of The Ten Virgins in Matthew 25.1-13. It refers of course to the Parousia or Second Coming of Christ; and Christ refers to himself, the Messiah, as the Bridegroom. In the OT, the "Lord," is often pictured as the "Husband" (Isaiah 54.2-6; 62.4-5, etc) of his people. Jesus, in the Gospels, frequently places himself in the "Lord's" place.

In this case, we have the metaphor of ten virgins or bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom. It was Jewish custom for the bridegroom and his close companions to go to the brides home, in order to get her and take her to his home. They would walk through the city at night in procession, each one bearing his own torch or lamp. Once home, there would be the wedding feast and the various ceremonies.

Interestingly, there were ten women, each of them a virgin, each of them had done the work of keeping themselves chaste. Each virgin had her own lamp with oil in them to burn for light. The only real difference is that the five "Wise" virgins had taken the time and effort to prepare themselves with "extra" oil in advance, in case the bridegroom was delayed. And the Bridegroom was delayed. All of them, both wise and foolish, fell asleep (sleep is a biblical metaphor for death) waiting for him to arrive. When the announcement finally came at midnight (a symbol of the end time), all ten, both wise and foolish, woke up and trimmed their lamps for the journey. The foolish, however, realised they didn't have enough oil left to make the journey. They ask the five wise virgins to share their oil; but they refused, saying there wasn't enough to share; and instructing the foolish virgins to go to the marketplace and buy oil. While they were doing so, the Lord came, and took the Wise virgins in and shut the door to the unwise virgins who arrived a little later. But it was too late and he said he did not know them.

It seems like such a harsh judgment. The Door is shut! The way is closed. Its too late. But this parable is a deeply mystical metaphor of the spiritual life. In the first place, many spiritual writers teach that the Virgins are the believers and the Lamp or Light is the human soul or spirit; and the oil, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, is whatever grace we have aquired-or to put it in a Eastern Orthodox way, it speaks of "The Aquisition of the Holy Spirit."

In the Greek text, it is especially clear, where the word for mercy or giving alms is, eleos, and that for oil or olive oil is, elaion. It refers then to the grace cultivated in our lives through the various works of the spiritual disciplines, penance, and works of mercy, we had done in our lives to prepare ourselves for the "long delay" of the Lord.

This parable reveals that it is possible to cultivate the virtues, to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit in our lives. One the first level, they were all virgins- the angelic state of monastics regarded as the highest sacrifice short of martyrdom. Although each one had kept their estate pure and chaste, some of them did not do all to prepare themselves for their Lord. We must take every preparation through the various spiritual disciplines to cultivate and aquire the grace of the Holy Spirit through various works of love and service to God and others. It should be noted that the final grace at the end is non transferrable. We cannot expect to enter the door of the bridegroom just because we're Christian (virgin) or because of the faith of our praents, etc. All ten were virgin (Christian) but only five who had prepared themslevs entered in.

So, we must ask ourselves, before we too fall "asleep" in death, if we have made adequate preparation for our Lord's return. Have we sacrificed all to cultivate and buy the extra oil for our lamps? Have we aquired adequate grace for ourselves? It's something to think and pray about.

"Watch for you know neither the day nor the hour." Watch! Keep vigil! Guard your heart! This is also a spiritual discipline spoken of by the Fathers and Saints. It is called "Guard of the Heart." Have we kept watch over the condition of our souls, the various movements that stir within? Have we fallen asleep, when we should have been watching?