Awesome, just awesome!

St. Michael's Conference for Youth!

A great week with about 60 kids and 15 staff; worshipping the Lord in the beauty of holiness, teaching and learning The Faith as the Church as received it, and building an intentional community of believers for Jesus Christ our Lord!

Thank you to all St. John's folks who contributed to the scholarship fund this year!

Aweful...just terrible

The results of General Convention.

The Episcopal Church's legislative body disregarded the pleas of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the primates of the growing, healthy parts of the Communion, and Scripture itself(!) and forged ahead with its own agenda trying to 'normalize' deviant sexual activity.

God Help Us.

A nice weekend

Friday (the day off) I went with the boys to rowing. They are really coming along! It was great to see, and also to spend time with another dad there - Todd Platt, who was married at St. John's and a frequent visitor. His daughter is in the rowing class. Todd rowed for the Detroit Boat Club in the late 70's/early 80's. Great hearing about the DBC in those days, and getting to know Todd.
Video of the boys rowing can be found here
www.youtube.com/kelfam48230

Then on Friday and Saturday afternoon we had an air show over our house. For the Gold Cup races on the Detroit River there was a fighter jet demo Friday and Saturday with a jet flying a few hundred feet over out house.
Video can also be seen of that at the above address.

But overall, it was a great time being with family, paying hardly any attention to what is going on at General Convention, and getting ready for the St. Michael's Conference this upcoming week.

Thinking baseball II - Sam

And here are some photos of Sam on the base-paths.

Thinking baseball I - Andrew

Last night was the draft for second season. Once again I am managing a team. And after a few weeks off we get back at it next week (although Sam and I will miss the first week due to St. Michael's Conference). I have Sam and Andrew on my team, and William will be playing for the same coach he had for first season that one the World Series for Grosse Pointe Park.

But I downloaded pictures today from my camera and found the following pictures from earlier in the year - so I thought I would throw them up here.

Here is Andrew's hitting routine. 1) Hold the bat out and up, 2) get ready to swing, 3) hit the ball.

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for the Episcopal Church

The General Convention (the every 3 year legislative gathering) of the Episcopal Church has started. LET US PRAY EVERYDAY!

For General Convention
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who by thy Holy Spirit
didst preside in the Council of the blessed Apostles,
and hast promised, through thy Son Jesus Christ, to be
with thy Church to the end of the world; We beseech thee
to be with the Council of thy Church assembled in Anaheim in thy
Name and Presence. Save them from all error, ignorance,
pride, and prejudice; and of thy great mercy vouchsafe, we
beseech thee, so to direct, sanctify, and govern us in our
work, by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost, that the
comfortable Gospel of Christ may be truly preached, truly
received, and truly followed, in all places, to the breaking
down the kingdom of sin, Satan, and death; till at length the
whole of thy dispersed sheep, being gathered into one fold,
shall become partakers of everlasting life; through the
merits and death of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

For the Church
O GRACIOUS Father, we humbly beseech thee for thy
holy Catholic Church; that thou wouldest be pleased to
fill it with all truth, in all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify
it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is
amiss, reform it. Where it is right, establish it; where it is
in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for
the sake of him who died and rose again, and ever liveth to
make intercession for us, Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord.
Amen.

Deacon Jack Dolan - may he rest in peace

I was one of 6 Rectors of St. Mary's to serve at the Altar at St. Mary's Church in Charleroi, PA while Jack was the deacon (Canon Wittkofski, Bishop Ackerman, Fr. Visconti, me, Fr. Croft and Fr. Ilgenfritz). May he rest in peace.
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Jack V. Dolan, 82, of Richeyville, died Saturday, July 4, 2009, in Monongahela Valley Hospital. He was born Oct. 2, 1926, in Charleroi, a son of the late John E. and Mildred Sangston Dolan. Jack was a retired Manager and a Certified Life Underwriter for the Baltimore Life Insurance Company in Washington, Pa. He was a member of St. Mary's Anglican Church in Charleroi where he served as an Ordained Deacon for 45 years. He was also a member of the Charleroi American Legion and the Beallsville Lodge No. 237 F&AM. He served in the U.S. Navy in the Atlantic and Pacific Campaigns on the USS Core during World War II. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Betty Kruell Dolan; two sons and daughters-in-law, Thomas J. and Kelly Dolan, of Kingwood, W.Va. and Patrick S. and June Dolan, of Bethel Park; five grandchildren, Jason Dolan, Elizabeth Dolan, Mark Dolan, Tessa Dolan and Haden Cramer; and a sister, Grace Popson, of Roscoe. Friends will be received on Tuesday, July 7, from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. in the CARL J. SPALLINO FUNERAL HOME, 819 Fallowfield Ave., Charleroi, where a Blessing Service will be held on Wednesday, July 8, at 9:30 a.m. followed by a Funeral Mass at 10 a.m. in the St. Mary's Anglican Church in Charleroi with the Rev. William H. Ilgenfritz officiating. Interment will follow in Maple Creek Cemetery.
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www.valleyindependent.com

Clergy turn-over

A few years ago we had a group of clergy, all relatively traditionally minded, who gathered together periodically for fellowship and encouragement. Today I read that Fr. Kevin Warner of Advent West Bloomfield is taking a position in California.
Of our origininql group there are few left.
Geoff Piper moved to Massachusetts, Phil Jackson to Arizona, Trent Frazer to Rhode Island. The Rector in Dexter whose name I can't recall to Colorado. Steve Bancroft, Art Mack, and Fr. Bedford have retired.

Eight years later the traditionalists are fewer and farther between.

One up, one down

As we rejoice in the reforming of the Detroit Mounted Unit last week, am sad to read that as of yesterday the Boston Mounted Unit has been disbanded due to financial problems.