Recent Baptisms: Many Blessed Years!
On the eve of Pentecost, Saturday, May 30, we celebrated the Baptisms of four catechumens
and one baby: Matthew (Dismas) Groessel, Preston (David) Jordan, Ella (Elizabeth) and Jesse (Gabriel) Wells with their newborn child, George Alexander. On Saturday, June 6, the eve of All Saints, we celebrated the Baptism of Sienna (Anna) Powers.
We wish them all, their sponsors and families, “health, salvation and furtherance in all good things,” and many blessed years! We look forward to future receptions into the Church.
July Assembly and Adjusted St. Barbara Schedule:
The 48th Annual Assembly of the Diocese of the South will be convened in Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida July 21 thru July 24. Accordingly, we will have an adjusted schedule at St. Barbara’s that everyone will want to consider.
Notably, we will have NO VESPERS at St. Barbara’s on Wednesday, July 22 and Saturday, July 25. And we will have a READERS SERVICE on Sunday, July 26 to allow ample driving time from the Assembly. During this period, I would encourage you to visit other local Orthodox Churches, if you would like, for either Vespers or on Sunday, July 26.
In conjunction with the Assembly a Special Session will be held on July 24 to nominate a candidate to succeed His Eminence Alexander (Golitzin) as ruling hierarch of the Diocese of the South. The Diocesan Council has already put forth the name of His Grace Bishop Gerasim for prime consideration, but the Diocesan-wide process must run its course in case other suitable candidates are brought to light.
After the July 24 vote, a name or names will be sent to the Holy Synod of OCA Bishops who will then elect – between now and November – the man to follow His Eminence Archbishop Alexander. In the interim, our Diocese will enjoy the oversight of a temporary overseer, a locum tenens: either His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, or His Grace Bishop Benedict of the Diocese of Hartford and New England. We have been asked to keep Archbishop Alexander, the Synod of Bishops and the Diocese in our prayers during this time of transition. I am sure that more information will become available on the OCA and/or diocesan websites after July 24.