The Collect 
GRANT, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle. 1 St. Peter iii. 8 - 15
The Gospel. St. Luke v. 1 - 11

This week Fr. Roddy is sharing with us an unsolicited letter to him from a visitor (only the visitor's initials are used). 

Dear Fr. Roddy,

On October 27th, the celebration of the Feast of Christ the King two local parishes invited a comparison that otherwise might never have been drawn. The two are neighbors in Northern Virginia: one, The Church of St John the Beloved, McLean, a large, affluent Roman Catholic parish in a growing diocese, and the other, St Andrew and St Margaret's Anglican Catholic Church, a tiny parish in a minuscule diocese of an obscure jurisdiction. Coincidentally, they both observed this feast using the same traditional Epistle and Gospel as well as the several Propers. As is customary, both parishes concluded the celebration with the Last Gospel, displaying a uniformity. In its bulletin St John's uses the Douai version of Holy Writ, very similar to the KJV used by your parish. At St John's the festival is restricted to one noontime celebration. This important feast is merely one of many in that lengthy season termed Ordinary Time in the Roman Church. The day was merely another Sunday in the revised or as some would say the revisionist Kalendar's season of ordinariness, while at your parish there is no “Ordinary Time” but the long season of Trinity Tide and its emphasis on the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

Whilst they represent two different if complementary ecclesial traditions, their jurisdictions are each witnessing growth in a markedly different manner. Although Roman Catholicism is by far the world's largest Christian communion, its American wing would be like almost all Western churches shrinking were it not for mass immigration, which is permanently changing its face even more radically than the Irish immigration of the 19th Century. Many if not most of the Roman hierarchy are becalmed if not gratified by the Third World arriving en masse at its parochial doors. These faithful to the Bishop of Rome have been requiring the Mass in tongues far more occult to the native Roman Catholic than Late Latin. Already, signs announcing vernacular Masses in numerous, incomprehensible tongues save to their native speakers are common in all major coastal cities and are spreading inland. The American Church is growing if modestly but is changing. Already, the bishops are becoming advocates of the large Hispanic minority within its midst and soon will be seen as agents for a yet unknown political force. Certainly, it will not be pro-American.(On St Andrew and St Margaret's international jurisdiction you are the resident expert, and nothing more can be added, except to note the parallel growth if perhaps for very different reasons between the Church of Rome and the Anglican Catholic Church. One could profitably hear a sermon or two on the subject.)

As you well know, established Anglicanism is numerically experiencing a virtual implosion without any possible immigrant population to shore up its almost certain demise. Currently, it can claim far less than one per cent of the loyalty of all Americans. Statistically, it is well on the path to oblivion. Soon, the typical explanation of the birth of non-juring Anglicanism will be incomprehensible to the average American under 35, who will be completely ignorant of the Episcopal Church, which will have become a rapidly vanishing ecclesiastical geriatrics ward. As one observes the few remaining sizable Episcopal parishes, one is struck by their virtual childlessness, hastening the day of the last funeral attended only by the few faithful walkers or in motorized wheelchairs. Most likely, Episcopalians by then will have been subsumed into a pan-Protestant, post-Christian denomination, itself in statistical collapse.

But what of St Andrew and St Margaret's, which is not a part of this death by denial of the Living Bread? Will 'Anglican' become as obsolete a word as 'Episcopalian'? Although the population dynamics may not appear promising at first glance, one might take the long view and look again to the Third World for a portent of the future. As the Church suffers in lands of oppression and in some actual devastation, the Holy Spirit as always is inspiring those transfixed by the Faith to do the impossible; for in the darkest corners of the earth these brave souls are inured to the terrors and suffering of this life and will prevail in their death as in their life just as the martyrs have since the first Pentecost. As always and everywhere, the Kingdom of God is ever at hand.

And what of the parishioners of these two very different Northern Virginia bodies of Christ? One fears that one could attend St John's indefinitely without anyone being aware of one's presence unless one tries to speak to one of the clerical staff, who are more gregarious if not actually more hospitable than the reverent but rather standoffish laity. Here, St Andrew and St Margaret's presents a fundamental contrast in vision of what constitutes welcoming the stranger who crosses its threshold. One might be tempted to write off the difference as being the vast disparity in the size of the two bodies, but to do so would be to ignore the obvious. In my experience at your parish those of St Andrew and St Margaret's inspired to greet me have done so flawlessly without the slightest hint of affectation or false bonhomie that so plagues Americans in meeting strangers. It is the genius of the resident reverend cleric, who wisely leaves this task to the laymen, who have the advantage of an unpracticed if not inexperienced eye, and who have the innocence of the non-professional, and who approach the stranger as one merely as they are: seekers and by the Grace of God the sought.

You have, reverend sir, an admirable cadre of men who let their light so shine that even the nameless stranger feels illumined in their midst, where orthodoxy is taken for granted but is the ground of trust upon which the various members of the body can build friendships. Despite being frequently and easily expounded upon in various pulpits, love is a rather sticky, un-Anglo-Saxon term if not a concept. Perhaps, the faithful remnant such as is St Andrew and St Margaret's is most wary and, yes, suspicious of the very notion. Yet, one is reminded of and actually admonished by the weekly collect for the armed forces of this nation. In the face of the possibility of sudden and violent death, one’s mind is cleared of sentimental notions and fictions of what is encompassed by what was once called charity. In the trenches there is no place for sentimentality but only for deep interdependence. Everyone's life depends upon it. Perhaps, in a place as small as St Andrew and St Margaret's this truth will manifest itself. Perhaps, it already has, and I am merely becoming aware of its amazing grace.

What light is shed by the comparison of these two parishes, so dissimilar in size and strength? Which one is best prepared for the coming trials and terrors? Is it the larger more affluent, and the one more presuming of Caesar's support of the Church's charitable ministry? Or have the hierarchs of this enormous jurisdiction, having burned incense to Caesar for the last 80 years, blinded themselves to the inevitable corruption of power especially in the hands of social utopian ideologues and bureaucratic paladins implacably hostile to Truth's unpleasantness as seen through the eyes of unbelief?

Rather, it may be that a small, unlikely band of foot soldiers similar to the very one you so bravely lead along with myriads of other little platoons of soldiers of the Cross has an heroic role to fulfill in God's salvation of the cosmos through his son Jesus, our Lord thereby proving for all time that the foolishness of God is wiser than men. The greatness of power and strength has utterly failed us. Let us, therefore, consider the mustard seed.

In Christ,
P.O
 

All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee

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Services & Events
 
Sunday Services, 9:00 AM, & 11:15 AM (for online participation for the services go to: https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland)  NO 7:45 AM SERVICE THIS SUNDAY & NEXT SUNDAY -- PLEASE WORSHIP WITH US AT 9:00 or 11:15

Sunday School is on recess and will start again in September

Nursery 9:00 & 11:15 Services

This Monday July 21, 7;30 PM New Summer Bible Study of the Book of Jonah with Father Bragg, church undercroft, bring yourself, your friends and your Bible

Wednesday at Noon – Holy Communion and anointing for healing (for online participation please see above under Sunday Services)

September 12-13, DMAS Men's Retreat at Camp Hanover, 3163 Parsleys Mill Road, Mechanicsville, VA.  The cost of the retreat is $85 and covers accommodations and three meals (dinner, breakfast and lunch). For more info copy this link into your browser: https://dmas-acc.org/upcoming 

SAVE THE DATE: Sunday September 21, Church Picnic at Fort Hunt Park after combined 10 AM service, invite friends and neighbors too:  Great BBQ, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages and so much more (additional details forthcoming


 JUST UPDATED NEEDS FOR MaRiH CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER

 MaRiH Center has made some changes and additions in its critically needed items. The Center provides help to mothers-to-be and mothers in need.  Please provide some of the items that are needed..They are very greatly appreciated. (You can leave the donations where the food for the food bank is collected on the pew in the undercorft.)

Especially Needed
In Bold and with an asterisk are a critical need. Please note changes in diaper needs and additional items.

*Diapers ( newborn, 1, 2, *3, *4, *5, & *6)
*Lovies, Rattles, Teethers
*Baby wipes
Diaper rash ointment
Baby shampoo
*Baby blankets
Baby bottles
Bibs: infant, *toddler
*Formula: *Simulac Advance Formula
Formula: other but not recalled
Diaper rash ointment
Wash clothes
Hooded Towels
Spring/summer clothing: 0-3 mo, 3-6 mo, 9-12mo, 18-24 mo, 2T
*Grocery gift cards
Baby Food (make sure not expired)
Shoes: toddler

Food Bank Needs

The food bank appreciates the generosity of our parish.Please help this month with a food donation if you are able. Those we help feed are very thankful for the food we provide to them each month. Please also buy low sugar cereals (and not the kid's types that have lots of sugar). 

Current needs include the following:
canned meats (chicken, corned beef, spam)
peanut butter
jelly
tuna
canned vegetables (corn, green beans - (regular and low sodium)
individual fruit cups (low sugar)
canned fruit (low sugar)
canola or vegetable oil (48 oz)
boxed cereal (low sugar) and instant or old fashioned oatmeal (18 oz or 42 oz)
pasta (regular and gluten-free):
instant potatoes
single serving fruit juice
macaroni & cheese
soups: Chunky or Progresso,noodle soup; chicken broth, cream of mushroom
coffee, cooking oil, flour, sugar
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St. Andrew & St. Margaret of Scotland
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