Fr. Nicholas Harrelson (Rector-Elect) and Fr. Mark Newsome (Assisting Priest) traveled to St. George’s Anglican Cathedral in Columbus, Georgia to participate in a liturgical practicum hosted by Bishop William Bower, the former Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church in America (ACA) and current bishop of the Diocese of the Eastern United States, a non-geographic diocese of the Anglican Catholic Church and newly elected Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of New Orleans (ACC).
The exercise brought together clergy from multiple churches throughout the South and Mid-Atlantic including St. George’s Anglican Cathedral, St. Barnabas Anglican Church of Picayune, St. George’s Anglican Church-Ocala, and St. Benedict’s Anglican Church of Chapel Hill. The day was spent discussing various aspects of the liturgy, to include an introduction to the Mass, basic movements, Canon of the Mass and manual actions, an introduction to chanting the Epistle and Gospel, a discussion surrounding the celebrant’s working with an organist, and finally instructing altar servers.
The participants arrived on Thursday, July 23rd, where they were hosted to dinner at the home of Bishop Bower. The bishop’s wife, Sabrina, was a kind and gracious host. Following a night of rest, the participants began the day with a pontifical sung mass celebrated by Bishop Bower and then dove into the daylong practicum. The program ended with dinner at the Green Island Country Club in Columbus, Georgia.
While these types of events are incredibly helpful for priests to develop their “priestcraft,” they are just as important for the fellowship that is developed and encouraged between priests of various jurisdictions, dioceses, and regions. Most priests of the Continuing Anglican Movement find themselves relatively isolated from their fellow priests. Gatherings such as this do much to further the pastoral and liturgical skills of the individual priest but do even more in strengthening the institutional and spiritual ties of the church.
