On the evening of April 10,
2009, the Eve of Lazarus Saturday and the Feast of St. Leo of Rome, twenty-six
catechumens from the newly formed St.
John the Baptist Orthodox Church in
Lewistown, Maryland were chrismated and received into the Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America at Ss. Peter and Paul Antiochian
Orthodox Church in Potomac, Maryland. The chrismations were conducted by the
group’s catechists, including Fathers Nicholas Alford, Patrick Cardine, and
Alban Waggener, as well as by the new mission’s interim priest, Father Peter
Jacobsen.
The chrismations were the culmination of nearly a year
of inquiry by the former Charismatic Episcopal Church congregation and
subsequent months of intensive preparation by the catechumens. The
congregation, formerly known as Lamb of God Church, had previously adopted St.
John the Baptist as their patron, and had therefore requested to bear the
saint’s name. In response, on March 20, 2009, Metropolitan PHILIP officially
named and established the new Western Rite mission as Saint John the Baptist
Orthodox Church. Since the congregation officially decided to become Orthodox,
the new catechumens have been joined by other local Orthodox Christians
searching for a local Orthodox church, including families from the Greek,
Romanian, and Orthodox Church in America (OCA) jurisdictions, many of whom were
present for the chrismation of the new faithful.
James K. Hamrick, the former priest and pastor of the
parish was among the 26 received into the Church. He said, “This is what we
have longed for and hungered for—to finally be joined to the ancient Church
established by Christ and the Apostles. We give thanks to the Lord for leading
us home, and for the sacrifices and faithfulness of those who helped us along
the way.”
Until he is approved for ordination to the priesthood
in the Orthodox Church, Hamrick and his flock will be served and mentored by
Father Peter Jacobsen, a retired Orthodox priest from New York.
Saint John the
Baptist Church, located in the Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the
Mid-Atlantic under the episcopal oversight of Bishop THOMAS, celebrated their
first Western Rite Divine Liturgy (Mass) on Palm Sunday, April 12, 2009 with
Father Peter Jacobsen as the celebrant. Bishop THOMAS will make his first
visitation to the new mission two weeks later, on Sunday, April 26th.
Saint John the Baptist Orthodox Church is located just
north of Frederick, Maryland, an hour west of Baltimore and an hour Northwest
of Washington, DC. The new mission is the first Western Rite Orthodox mission
in Maryland, and only the second Orthodox Church of any jurisdiction in
Frederick County, Maryland (Ss. Peter & Paul Greek Orthodox Church in
Frederick being the only other). The people meet in a historic chapel located
on Angleberger Road in Lewistown, Maryland, and have worked hard to transform
the space into a beautiful place appropriate for worship in a Western Rite
Orthodox Church.
Source: http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/19144
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