I Epiphany

Let Us Pray For…

Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas (FACA)
The Rt. Rev. Paul Hewett (Moderator)


Prayer Petitions
Let us pray that God will empower FACA to remain faithful to its tenets:

1. FACA is a Federation of Anglican Provinces or Jurisdictions in North and South America which hold to the primacy of Holy Scripture, the Ecumenical Creeds and Councils, adhere to the 39 Articles of Religion, and the principles of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral. Each member jurisdiction has adopted one of the historical Books of Common Prayer (as the primary standard for worship).

2. The autonomy of the individual Provinces, or Jurisdictions and their local parishes is in no way restricted or superceded by membership in FACA.

3. The Federation will seek to maintain the Patronage of orthodox Primates in the Anglican Communion. Such patronage is for advisory purposes in expanding fellowship with those in the Anglican Communion and working in concert with the godly projects and programs of the Archbishops primarily in the Global South.

4. Some of the member jurisdictions of the Federation are also members of the Common Cause Partners in North America. All deliberations and actions of the Federation will be executed with sensitivity to the godly goals and purposes of the Common Cause Partners to proclaim the Gospel and effect unity among faithful Anglicans in North America.

WHS

From the Scriptures
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Romans 12:1-5 (ESV)

Guiding Prayers
O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“The First Sunday after Epiphany,” The Book of Common Prayer (USA, 1928)

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

“First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of our Lord,” The Book of Common Prayer (USA, 1979)

A Heritage Reflection
“Moreover, we have an evident and perfect image and spectacle of all patience in our Lord Jesus Christ, as he himself pointed us unto himself, saying, ‘Whosoever will follow me, let him forsake himself, and take his cross upon his back, and follow me.’ (Matt. xvi. 24) When his unspeakable martyrdom and passion began, he prayed: ‘O Father, if it be possible, take this cup from me; but thy will, and not mine, be done.’ Where did he ever once murmur or grudge, or cast out so much as one untoward and unpatient word, when he was mocked and scorned, scourged and beaten, and most cruelly misordered and dealt withal?”

Bishop Miles Coverdale (1488-1568)
Writings and Translations
as compiled in Love's Redeeming Work: The Anglican Quest for Holiness (Rowell, Stevenson, Williams [eds.])