Join us tomorrow, March 1, at St. Thomas' for our Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesaday Pancake Supper. We will have pancakes, sausage, and drinks. You bring your favorite toppings. It will be fun for the whole family. We'll even eat our last bit of King Cake! See you at the party… 5:30 p.m. till the pancakes are all gone!
Lent begins on Wednesday, March 2, with our Ash Wednesday Liturgy and Eucharist at 12:10 p.m. or at 5:30 p.m.
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, Educator, 1964
The Collect:
Almighty God, who inspired your servant Anna Julia Haywood Cooper with the love of learning and the skill of teaching: Enlighten us more and more through the discipline of learning, and deepen our commitment to the education of all your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (August 10, c 1859- February 27, 1964). Educator, advocate and scholar. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina to an enslaved woman and a white man, presumably her mother's master, Anna Julia was an academically gifted child and received a scholarship to attend St. Augustine Normal School and Collegiate Institute, a school founded by the Episcopal Church to educate African-American teachers and clergy. There she began her membership in the Episcopal Church. After forcing her way into a Greek class designed for male theology students, Anna Julia later married the instructor, George A.C. Cooper, the second African-American ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in North Carolina. After her husband's death in 1879, Cooper received degrees in mathematics from Oberlin College, and was made principal of the only African American high school in Washington D.C.. She was denied reappointment in 1906 because she refused to lower her educational standards. Throughout her career, Cooper emphasized the importance of education to the future of African Americans, and was critical of the lack of support they received from the church. An advocate for African-American women, Cooper assisted in organizing the Colored Women's League and the first Colored Settlement House in Washington, D.C. She wrote and spoke widely on issues of race and gender, and took an active role in national and international organizations founded to advance African Americans. At the age of fifty-five she adopted the five children of her nephew. In 1925, Cooper became the fourth African-American woman to complete a Ph.D. degree, granted from the Sorbonne when she was sixty-five years old. From 1930-1942, Cooper served as president of Frelinghuysen University.*
* The Lectionary, via the Episcopal Women's History Project, http://satucket.com/lectionary/Anna_Cooper.htm
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Join us for “at church” or “virtually” for worship this Sunday, February 27, The Last Sunday after the Epiphany, at St. Alban’s, St. Thomas’, St. Patrick’s, and Iglesia Episcopal La Esperanza de Familias Unidas. Remember - Masks are optional, and communion will be offered in both kinds- wine by intinction. We strongly urge everyone to get vaccinated. Please maintain social distance in non-family groups.
* These liturgies will be Live-Streamed on Facebook for those who choose to remain at home. Download a pdf of the leaflet to print or to use on your phone or tablet with this link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SY7ohguERJ8jIFXX7uv5wMRWMKLNOVep/view?usp=sharing
We hope to “see” you all on Sunday as you are most comfortable!
Rita+, Rob+ and Whit+
Art from Clip Art, Steve Erspamer, Liturgy Training Publications – ltp.org
Photini, the Samaritan Woman, c. 67
The Collect:
O Almighty God, whose most blessed Son revealed to the Samaritan woman that He is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the World; grant us to drink of the well that springs up to everlasting life that we may worship you in spirit and in truth through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Samaritan woman at the well is a figure from the Gospel of John, in John 4:4–26. In Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic traditions, she is venerated as a saint with the name Photine (also Photini, Photina, meaning "the luminous one").
In Eastern Christian tradition, the woman's name at the time of her meeting Jesus is unknown, though she was later christened "Photina". Her continuing witness is said to have brought so many to the Christian faith that she is described as "equal to the apostles". Eventually, having drawn the attention of Emperor Nero, she was brought before him to answer for her faith, suffering many tortures and dying a martyr after being thrown down a dry well. *
* The Lectionary, via Wikipedia, http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/photini.html
Emily Malbone Morgan, Lay Leader and Contemplative, 1937
The Collect:
Inspire us, Gracious God, with that same spirit of devotion that animated your servant Emily Malbone Morgan; that, like her, we might dedicate our lives to your service and to the welfare of others; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Emily Malbone Morgan [Dec. 10, 1862-Feb. 27, 1937] was the founder of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross (SCHC).
She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the youngest child and only daughter born to merchant Henry Kirke Morgan and the former Emily Malbone Brinley.
In 1883, Morgan's childhood friend, Adelyn Howard, fell ill with a hip disease, which made her a lonely invalid in a town in which she had no friends or family. The following year, Morgan, with Howard and Harriet Hastings of Wellesley, Massachusetts founded the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, to allow the shut-in Adelyn—and other religious women who valued thanksgiving, intercessory prayer, and simplicity of life—to pray and work for social justice.
In 1889, two years after moving to New Haven, Morgan began her writing career, publishing A Little White Shadow, the proceeds of which she used to fund vacation homes for "tired women, girls and children." As such, Morgan can be considered part of the Deaconess movement in which over 5000 Protestant women participated circa 1890. In 1901, Morgan purchased what became their headquarters and retreat center, in Byfield, Massachusetts, which was named Adelynrood upon its renovation in 1915 (remembering both Howard, who had died in 1898, and an old word for "cross").
The Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross currently has approximately eight hundred members and continues to operate retreat centers.
The Lectionary, via Project Canterbury, and Wikipedia, http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/emily_morgan.htm
Saint Matthias the Apostle
The Collect:
Almighty God, who in the place of Judas chose your faithful servant Matthias to be numbered among the Twelve: Grant that your Church, being delivered from false apostles, may always be guided and governed by faithful and true pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
After the Ascension of Our Lord, His followers at Jerusalem chose a replacement for Judas. The man chosen was Matthias, "and he was numbered with the Eleven." Apart from the information given in the first chapter of Acts, nothing is known of him. It would be a mistake to conclude from this that he was a failure and a bad choice as an apostle. We know as much as we do about Peter and Paul because Luke (a traveling companion of Paul) wrote extensively about them. About most of the other apostles (those belonging to the original twelve and later ones like Matthias) we know little after Pentecost on an individual basis.*
* The Lectionary, James Kiefer, http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Matthias.htm
Polycarp of Smyrna, Bishop and Martyr, 156
Today, the church remembers Polycarp of Smyrna, Bishop and Martyr. Join us for Holy Eucharist today at 12:10 p.m. at St. Thomas', or for Zoom Evening Prayer at 5:30 p.m. to learn more about his life and work.
Holy Eucharist - Wednesday, 12:10 p.m.
Zoom Evening Prayer & Video Study - Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.
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The Collect:
O God, the maker of heaven and earth, you gave your venerable servant, the holy and gentle Polycarp, the boldness to confess Jesus Christ as King and Savior and the steadfastness to die for his faith: Give us grace, following his example, to share the cup of Christ and to rise to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna (today known as Izmir), a city on the west coast of Turkey. The letters to the "seven churches in Asia" at the beginning of the book of Revelation include a letter to the church in Smyrna, identifying it as a church undergoing persecution.
Polycarp is said to have known the Apostle John, and to have been instructed by him in the Christian faith. Polycarp, in his turn, was known to Irenaeus, who later became Bishop of Lyons in what is now France. We have (1) Irenaeus's brief memoir of Polycarp; (2) a letter to Polycarp from Ignatius of Antioch, written around 115 AD when Ignatius was passing through Turkey, being sent in chains to Rome to be put to death; (3) a letter from Polycarp to the church at Philippi, written at the same time; and (4) an account of the arrest, trial, conviction, and martyrdom of Polycarp, written after his death by one or more members of his congregation.
Polycarp was denounced to the government, arrested, and tried on the charge of being a Christian. When the proconsul urged him to save his life by cursing Christ, he replied: "Eighty-six years I have served him, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" The magistrate was reluctant to kill a a gentle old man, but he had no choice.
Polycarp was sentenced to be burned. As he waited for the fire to be lighted, he prayed:
Lord God Almighty, Father of your blessed and beloved child Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and hosts and all creation, and of the whole race of the upright who live in your presence: I bless you that you have thought me worthy of this day and hour, to be numbered among the martyrs and share in the cup of Christ, for resurrection to eternal life, for soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. Among them may I be accepted before you today, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, just as you, the faithful and true God, have prepared and foreshown and brought about. For this reason and for all things I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal heavenly high priest Jesus Christ, your beloved child, through whom be glory to you, with him and the Holy Spirit, now and for the ages to come. Amen.
The fire was then lit and shortly thereafter a soldier stabbed Polycarp to death by order of the magistrate. His friends gave his remains honorable burial, and wrote an account of his death to other churches. See the Penguin volume, Ancient Christian Writers. *
* The Lectionary, James Kiefer, http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Polycarp.htm
Margaret of Cortona, Monastic, 1297
The Collect:
Grant, O God, to all your people, as to your servant Margaret of Cortona, the spirit of repentance and supplication, that we might seek and desire nothing in this transitory life above you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Margaret of Cortona, (1247 – 22 February 1297) was an Italian penitent of the Third Order of St. Francis ("T.O.S.F."). She was born in Laviano, near Perugia, and died in Cortona. She was canonized in 1728.
Margaret was born of farming parents in Laviano. As she grew older, Margaret became more willful and reckless. At the age of 17 she met a young man, and she ran away with him. Soon Margaret found herself installed in the castle, not as her master's wife, for convention would never allow that, but as his mistress. For ten years, she lived with him near Montepulciano and bore him a son.
When her lover failed to return home from a journey one day, Margaret became concerned. The unaccompanied return of his favorite hound alarmed Margaret, and the hound led her into the forest to his murdered body. That crime shocked Margaret into a life of prayer and penance.Margaret returned to his family all the gifts he had given her and left his home. With her child, she returned to her father's house, but her stepmother would not have her. Margaret and her son then went to the Franciscan friars at Cortona, where her son eventually became a friar. She fasted, avoided meat, and subsisted on bread and vegetables.
In 1277, after three years of probation, Saint Margaret joined the Third Order of Saint Francis and chose to live in poverty. She pursued a life of prayer and penance at Cortona, and there established a hospital for the sick, homeless and impoverished.
Twice, following divine command, she challenged the Bishop of Arezzo, Guglielmo Ubertini Pazzi, in whose diocese Cortona lay, because he lived and warred like a prince. She moved to the ruined Church of St Basil, now Santa Margherita, and spent her remaining years there; she died on 22 February 1297. *
* The Lectionary, via Wikipedia, http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Margaret_Cortona.html
Agnes Tsao Kou Ying, 1856, Agatha Lin Zhao, 1858, and Lucy Yi Zhenmei, 1862, Catechists and Martyrs
The Collect:
Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly walked the way of the cross: Strengthen your church through the witness of your servants Agnes Tsao Kou Ying, Agatha Lin Zhao, and Lucy Yi Zhenmei to hold fast to the path of discipleship even unto death; for with the Father and Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Agnes Tsao Kou Ying, Agatha Lin Zhao, & Lucy Yi Zhenmei are three Roman Catholic nineteenth-century martyrs. They were all canonized by Pope John Paul II on 1 October 2000.
Agnes Tsao Kou Ying (1821 – 1 March 1856 was a Chinese layperson who was martyred for preaching the Gospel to the Chinese in Guangxi.
Her family was a traditional Catholic family originally from Sichuan Province. When Agnes became eighteen, she married a local farmer, but her brother- and sister-in-law treated her as an outsider (for she was Christian) and did not consider her a part of the family. Therefore, Agnes was left with little to eat. Things became worse for Agnes when her husband died after two years and she was driven out of the house.
One day, when Fr. Ma (Auguste Chapdelaine) was in town, he discovered how well Agnes knew the faith and asked her to move to Guangxi Province for some missionary work, especially for teaching the Catholic faith to some 30-40 Catholic families living there. She also taught cooking and household management.
In 1856, when she was helping out in Yaoshan, Guangxi (near present-day Guilin, Guizhou), the local government decided to take some measures against the Christians living in that area. Agnes was taken into custody along with many other Catholics who were soon released; only Agnes and Father Ma had to stay in prison. Father Ma later died in prison. The county magistrate tried to persuade Agnes to deny her faith under the promise that if she did, she would be released. However, Agnes was unmoved. Then the magistrate threatened torture, but she showed no fear. Finally, on January 22, the magistrate decided on her punishment. He had her locked in a cage so small that she could only stand up, but her spirit never failed. She prayed repeatedly, "God, have mercy on me; Jesus save me!" She died three days later.
Agatha Lin Zhao also was born into a Catholic family, in 1817. She became a school teacher in Mao-ken, Langdai, Guizhou, but was arrested for her faith. She refused to renounce Christianity and was beheaded on Jan. 28, 1858.
She should not be confused with Lin Zhou, a Chinese Christian who was executed in 1968 during China's Cultural Revolution.
Lucy Yi Zhenmei (December 9, 1815 - February 19, 1862) was a Chinese Roman Catholic saint from Mianyang in Sichuan.
As she matured she developed a love for reading and study. At age 20, in the midst of her higher education she grew very ill. After her recovery Lucy took her spiritual life still more seriously. She devoted herself to the discipline of prayer with great devotion, assuming a way of life much like that of a religious while continuing to assist in the support of her family.
After her father died, she lived with her brother and mother, using part of her leisure time to teach the faith to children nearby. The parish priest, who asked her to teach at the school in Mianyang, noticed her devotion and reliable knowledge of her faith. Full of enthusiasm for spreading the Gospel, she went on doing missionary work. However, for her own safety she decided to stay at the convent of lay virgins.
In 1862, she went with Fr. Wen Nair to open a mission in Jiashanlong, but just then the administrator of Guizhou Province, began to stir up hatred against Christians, which the local magistrate supported. As a result, Father Wen and several others were all imprisoned and sentenced to death without a formal trial. On February 18, the day of their execution, they met Yi Zhenmei on the road. She was also jailed and put on trial that very day and sentenced to death, because she refused to renounce her faith. The following day at noon, February 19, 1862, she was beheaded. Brave believers took the bodies of all five martyrs to the Liuchonnguan seminary grounds for burial. *
* The Lectionary, via Wikipedia, http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Chinese_Martyrs.html
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Join us for “at church” or “virtually” for worship this Sunday, February 20, The Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany, at St. Alban’s, St. Thomas’, St. Patrick’s, and Iglesia Episcopal La Esperanza de Familias Unidas. Remember - Masks are optional, and communion will be offered in both kinds- wine by intinction. We strongly urge everyone to get vaccinated. Please maintain social distance in non-family groups.
* These liturgies will be Live-Streamed on Facebook for those who choose to remain at home. Download a pdf of the leaflet to print or to use on your phone or tablet with this link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NZShBTG6fe7q4_5wnRCFvPebAO2JyUI_/view?usp=sharing
We hope to “see” you all on Sunday as you are most comfortable!
Rita+, Rob+ and Whit+
Art from Clip Art, Steve Erspamer, Liturgy Training Publications – ltp.org
Martin Luther, Pastor and Reformer, 1546
The Collect:
O God, our refuge and our strength, who raised up your servant Martin Luther to reform and renew your church in the light of your word: Defend and purify the church in our own day and grant that, through faith, we may boldly proclaim the riches of your grace, which you have made known in Jesus Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Martin Luther was born November 10, 1483, at Eisleben, in Germany. His intellectual abilities were evident early, and his father planned a career for him in law. Luther’s real interest lay elsewhere, however, and in 1505, he entered the local Augustinian monastery. He was ordained a priest on April 3, 1507.
Join us today at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church as we celebrate the life of Robert "Bobby" Edward Biggs. A reception and visitation at Noon, will be followed by the Burial of the Dead, with Holy Eucharist at 2:00 p.m. with The Rev'd Rita T. Jefferson, and The Very Rev'd Dawnell S. Stodghill officiating.
Bobby's obituary can be found here.
Janani Luwum, Archbishop and Martyr, 1977
The Collect:
O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for his sheep: We give you thanks for your faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the sake of his flock. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Janani Luwum was born in 1922. His father was a convert to Christianity. Janani was sent to school and eventually became a schoolteacher. In 1948 he was converted. He became very active in the East African revival movement, and became a lay reader, then a deacon, and then a priest in 1956. He was chosen to study for a year at St Augustine's College in Canterbury, England. He returned to Uganda, worked as a parish priest, and then taught at Buwalasi Theological College. He made a second visit to Britain to study at the London College of Divinity, returning to Uganda to become Principal of Buwalasi. In 1969 he was consecrated bishop of Northern Uganda.
The Church in Uganda began with the deaths of martyrs (see Martyrs of Uganda, 3 June 1886, and James Hannington and his Companions, Martyrs, 29 October 1885). Around 1900, Uganda became a British protectorate, with the chief of the Buganda tribe as nominal ruler, and with several other tribes included in the protectorate. In 1962 Uganda became an independent country within the British Commonwealth, with the Bugandan chief as president and Milton Obote, of the Lango tribe, as Prime Minister. In 1966, Obote took full control of the government. In 1971, he was overthrown by General Idi Amin, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. Almost immediately, he began a policy of repression, arresting anyone suspected of not supporting him. Hundreds of soldiers from the Lango and Acholi tribes were shot down in their barracks. Amin ordered the expulsion of the Asian population of Uganda, about 55,000 persons, mostly small shopkeepers from India and Pakistan. Over the next few years, many Christians were killed for various offenses. A preacher who read over the radio a Psalm which mentioned Israel was shot for this in 1972.
In 1974 Janani Luwum he became Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire. As we have seen, it was a time of widespread terror. Archbishop Luwum often went personally to the office of the dreaded State Research Bureau to help secure the release of prisoners.
Tension between Church and state worsened in 1976. Religious leaders, including Archbishop Luwum, jointly approached Idi Amin to share their concern. They were rebuffed. But Archbishop Luwum continued to attend Government functions. One of his critics accused him of being on the Government side and he replied: "I face daily being picked up by the soldiers. While the opportunity is there I preach the Gospel with all my might, and my conscience is clear before God that I have not sided with the present Government which is utterly self-seeking. I have been threatened many times. Whenever I have the opportunity I have told the President the things the churches disapprove of."
Early in 1977, there was a small army rebellion that was put down with only seven men dead. However, Amin determined to stamp out all traces of dissent. His men killed thousands, including the entire population of Milton Obote's home village. On Sunday, 30 January, Bishop Festo Kivengere preached on "The Preciousness of Life" to an audience including many high government officials. He denounced the arbitrary bloodletting, and accused the government of abusing the authority that God had entrusted to it. The government responded on the following Saturday (5 February) by an early (1:30am) raid on the home of the Archbishop, Janani Luwum, ostensibly to search for hidden stores of weapons.
The Archbishop called on President Amin to deliver a note of protest, signed by nearly all the bishops of Uganda, against the policies of arbitrary killings and the unexplained disappearances of many persons. Amin accused the Archbishop of treason, produced a document supposedly by former President Obote attesting his guilt, and had the Archbishop and two Cabinet members (both committed Christians) arrested and held for military trial.
On 16 February, the Archbishop and six bishops were tried on a charge of smuggling arms. Archbishop Luwum was not allowed to reply, but shook his head in denial. The President concluded by asking the crowd: "What shall we do with these traitors?" The soldiers replied "Kill him now". The Archbishop was separated from his bishops. As he was taken away Archbishop Luwum turned to his brother bishops and said: "Do not be afraid. I see God's hand in this."
The three (the Archbishop and the two Cabinet members) met briefly with four other prisoners who were awaiting execution, and were permitted to pray with them briefly. Then the three were placed in a Land Rover and not seen alive again by their friends. The government story is that one of the prisoners tried to seize control of the vehicle and that it was wrecked and the passengers killed. The story believed by the Archbishop's supporters is that he refused to sign a confession, was beaten and otherwise abused, and finally shot. His body was placed in a sealed coffin and sent to his native village for burial there. However, the villagers opened the coffin and discovered the bullet holes. In the capital city of Kampala a crowd of about 4,500 gathered for a memorial service beside the grave that had been prepared for him next to that of the martyred bishop Hannington. In Nairobi, the capital of nearby Kenya, about 10,000 gathered for another memorial service. Bishop Kivengere was informed that he was about to be arrested, and he and his family fled to Kenya, as did the widow and orphans of Archbishop Luwum.
The following June, about 25,000 Ugandans came to the capital to celebrate the centennial of the first preaching of the Gospel in their country, among the participants were many who had abandoned Christianity, but who had returned to their Faith as a result of seeing the courage of Archbishop Luwum and his companions in the face of death. *
* The Lectionary, James Kiefer, http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/janani_luwum.htm
Charles Todd Quintard, Bishop of Tennessee, 1898
It is uncertain whether the Church still lists Charles Todd Quintard as an official remembrance. He is listed both in Holy Women, Holy Men - Celebrating the Saints, Copyright © 2010 by The Church Pension Fund, and A Great Cloud of Witnesses, Copyright © 2016 by The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, but Quintard is not on the most current Liturgical Calendar for The Episcopal Church, see - https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/
It is likely his involvement in the Civil War, and at the University of South has called his remembrance into question. The information below provides some of the history of his complex and paradoxical life. This serves as one more reminder of the difficulty we face as we remember and tell of our nation’s difficult history.
Join us for Holy Eucharist today at 12:10 p.m. at St. Thomas', or for Zoom Evening Prayer at 5:30 p.m. to learn more.
The Collect:
Mighty God, we bless your Name for the example of your bishop Charles Todd Quintard, who opposed the segregation of African Americans in separate congregations and condemned the exclusion of the poor; and we pray that your Church may be a refuge for all, for the honor of your Name; through Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Charles Todd Quintard was the second bishop of the Diocese of Tennessee and the first Vice Chancellor of The University of the South at Sewanee.
Quintard was born in 1824 in Stamford, Connecticut. In 1847 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Medical College of New York University and worked at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital. After a brief episode of practicing medicine in Athens, Georgia, Quintard became the professor of anatomy and physiology at Memphis Medical College and an editor of the Memphis Medical Reporter. In 1848, Quintard married Katherine Isabella Hand, a native of Roswell, Georgia, and together they were the parents of three children.
It was while he was in Memphis that Quintard came to know Bishop James Hervey Otey, the first bishop of Tennessee. Under Otey’s personal tutelage, Quintard prepared for holy orders. He was ordained to the diaconate on New Year’s Day, 1855, and to the priesthood on the Feast of the Epiphany, 1856. He served as rector of the Church of the Advent, Nashville, until his election as the second bishop of Tennessee in October 1865. He served as bishop until his death in 1898.
During the Civil War, Quintard played dual roles in the Confederate Army as both chaplain and surgeon. Following the war, he was instrumental in bringing together the previously divided factions and extending the reach of The Episcopal Church, particularly among African Americans.
Bishop Quintard was a strong advocate of education at every level and played a major role in the establishment of schools. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was the rebuilding of The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, after its destruction during the Civil War. He made several successful trips to England to raise the funds to secure the future of the University. From February 1867 to July 1872, Quintard served as the reconstituted University’s first Vice Chancellor. Quintard believed that a great Episcopal university was essential, not just to the church in Tennessee and the southeast, but to the whole church, and thus devoted much of his ministry to Sewanee. *
* Holy Women, Holy Men - Celebrating the Saints, Copyright © 2010 by The Church Pension Fund - see https://diobeth.typepad.com/files/holy-women-holy-men.pdf
Thomas Bray, Priest and Missionary, 1730
The Collect:
O God of compassion, who opened the heart of your servant Thomas Bray to answer the needs of the church in the New World: Make your church diligent at all times to propagate the Gospel, and to promote the spread of Christian knowledge; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
In 1696 Thomas Bray, an English country parson, was commissioned to report on the condition of the Church in the colony of Maryland. He spent only ten weeks in the colony, but he radically re-organized and renewed the Church there, providing for the instruction of children and the systematic examination of candidates for pastoral positions. He founded thirty-nine lending libraries and numerous schools. Both in Maryland and upon his return to England, he wrote and preached in defense of the rights of enslaved Africans, and of Indians deprived of their land. Back in England, he worked for the reform of prison conditions, and for the establishment of preaching missions to prisoners. He persuaded General Oglethorpe to found an American colony (Georgia) for the settlement of debtors as an alternative to debtors' prison. He founded a missionary society, the SPG (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) and an educational and publishing society, the SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge), both of which are still active today. *
* The Lectionary, James Kiefer, http://satucket.com/lectionary/Thomas_Bray.htm
