Messenger Articles
Church Planting in the Diocese
Stories from our Church Planters around the Diocese
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Messenger Articles
Frankly, I think this is actually great discipleship strategy. As Christians we trust Jesus, the author, pioneer and finisher of our faith, who goes ahead of us and calls us to follow him into a future that is totally secure and yet which can sometimes (often?) feel disorienting. With joy and a twinkle in his eyes, I can envision our Lord saying, “Come follow me - turn and face the strange…"
Church planting is a synergistic effort—a collaboration between our diocesan congregations and the diocese itself. This partnership beautifully balances our commitment to congregationally led ministry with the shared mission to expand God’s kingdom.
So, a heartfelt thank you for your prayers, generosity, and dedication. Please continue to pray for this vital work, and I look forward to sharing new stories of church planting in the year ahead!
Multiple generations of from Corpus Christi Anglican Church served their neighbors experiencing housing insecurity.
This Friendsgiving provided a gathering for the church family, local college students, and neighbors who might otherwise spend the holidays alone.
This year our older youth led an outreach event where we sold Christmas trees to give a percentage of the sales to the Ecumenical Community Housing Organization (ECHO).
The Christ the Redeemer annual fall festival, they offered hayrides, food, face painting, and fellowship. We also had the chance to meet many Messiah University students at an open house event for area churches.
In celebration of the Feast Day of St. Francis, many churches around the Diocese offered their communities an opportunity to participate in a pet blessing.
This summer Christ the Redeemer in Dillsburg, PA (CTR) was privileged to be at local events to give away Bibles and Bible sticker/coloring books. After receiving free face painting, a young girl in the sixth grade came to the table and spotted a Bible.
Stacy and I had the opportunity to escape the Virginia heat in early June as we walked St. Cuthbert’s Way in southern Scotland and northern England – a rigorous 82 miles of walking that left us wondering if we had made a fatal miscalculation! We were told to expect rain or “mizzle” daily! Thankfully, we had only half a day of rain, during which we were soaked, but for the most part, we saw the Scottish and English countryside as we journeyed to Lindisfarne. The trip exceeded our expectations in every way – a real gift!
God has been doing good things here, and as we move forward we are pleased to announce that Bishop Chris has approved St. Andrew's Anglican Church as the new name for the Frederick church plant.
Frederick Anglican Fellowship is looking forward with joy to having the Rev. Seth Zimmerman begin as priest for the Frederick church plant in July.
Canon Tuck Bartholomew is very pleased to announce that the Reverend Seth Zimmerman has accepted a call from Bishop Chris Warner to lead DOMA’s church plant in Frederick, MD.
We thank God for the public launch of Resurrection Anglican church plant in Midlothian, VA on Palm Sunday, March 24.
What a glorious day it was to have our community public opening for Christ the Redeemer in Dillsburg, PA! Our core team did an amazing job loving and welcoming our community and celebrating the resurrected Christ. Thank you DOMA for your prayers, love, and support.
In the 1980’s, a prophetic word was given at Church of the Apostles in Fairfax that was considered so significant that it was printed up with other “abiding words” and put in the literature rack there. I read it in the early 1990’s, and it gripped me. It was a vision that a series of renewed, on-fire churches would be planted which would become a “Ring of Fire” around our nation’s capital. I was discerning a call to church planting at the time, and this word helped to propel my calling.
Another first for FAF was an Ash Wednesday evening service. Since we do not yet have a priest, Bishop Chris gave permission for Dave Breisch, who serves on our core team, to lead the service and administer the imposition of ashes. This deeply meaningful service was shared among young and old in our congregation.
For Corpus Christi Anglican, it has been a year of growth and change: we have had three worship locations in one year, we have a new bishop, we had staff transition, we said goodbye to people moving away, and we welcomed in new members.
Looking back, we are very thankful to the Lord. He blessed Frederick Anglican Fellowship in 2023 with a faithful group of worshippers who share his love and grace, visiting priests willing to come and celebrate the Holy Eucharist with us, a creative core team that shares the work required to keep going, and a diocese that has helped and encouraged us time and again.
Does God answer prayer? Yes!! Yes!! We have seen God answer the prayers of the DOMA family at Christ the Redeemer in Dillsburg, PA.
On All Saints’ Day, November 1, Frederick Anglican Fellowship (FAF) met in a church (not a conference room) for the first time! We gathered in the evening at a beautiful downtown Frederick church (Centennial United Methodist) for a lay-led service of hymns, prayers, scripture, and reflections followed by hot cider, snacks, and multigenerational conversation.
Back in mid-2022, Corpus Christi Anglican (Franconia, VA) outgrew our old space in the chapel of the Springfield UMC, which prompted a search that resulted in us moving into the preschool at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in January 2023. Our church continued to grow and we quickly outgrew the preschool indoor play room!
What a joy it was to hear that space full of God’s people singing his praises, to baptize two dear boys, to break off piece after piece of homemade, gluten free Communion bread and place it in waiting palms: “the body of Jesus, given for you.”
f you have been following the journey of Trinity Burke (or any of the other DOMA church plants), you may know that it takes the support of the saints to plant a church: time, finances, prayer, and partnership. This Diocese has an incredible amount of supporters in every possible way. Thank you for your faithfulness.
On Sunday, October 1, we marked the anniversary of our very first monthly service in downtown Frederick. Father Charles Glantzberg kindly came to celebrate the Holy Eucharist with us, followed by a delicious brunch at a member’s home nearby. It’s a blessed milestone, even though we look forward to the day when we will have a priest/planter to lead us and the opportunity to grow into a more fully-formed church.
Simeon's prophecy about Christ's light going to the Gentiles is tethered to a prophecy about the pain that the Blessed Virgin Mary will experience in her son's life and ministry.