Advent
Bp. Lerow and Fr. Poff at St. Thomas of Canterbury, March 2020
St. Thomas of Canterbury is a church in the southern region of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic States, of the Anglican Catholic Church, members incorporate in the mystical body of Christ. The ACC respects the traditions of the one Catholic and Apostolic Church, as received from the early Church Councils, as outlined on the ACC's Resources page, newly minted in October 2020.
St. Thomas of Canterbury, Roanoke, has a rich history in the Roanoke Valley. Along with others of the Faith, we like to support groups
who help anyone in need of food, shelter, and emergency services such as
Feeding Southwest Virginia,
the Rescue Mission of Roanoke, and
Helping Hands,
as well as groups with traditional Christian values, such as
The Blue Ridge Women's Center. And we provide
a place for our local neighborhood watch group, the Airlee Court
Neighborhood Watch, to meet and host events, as well.
Of course our primary mission is to reverently worship the One Holy God Triune, in communion with those of the Apostolic Faith of
Jesus Christ ☧ Our Lord.
That worship entails:
- to provide Mass on Sundays and other Holy Days of Obligation, for all the Faithful who have been Baptised and Confirmed into the Church
- to promote Bible study (cf the Lectionary in the menu,
"Daily Scripture Readings"), and
- to pray for and support each other, as well as our sister churches throughout the world. (Which, as the new ACC website reflects, has grown significantly in the last few years as our College od Bishops have worked hard to find other Continuing Anglo-Catholic Sees who have much in common.)
Auricular Confessions and emergency Sacraments are available: call our rector, Fr. Poff (ph. number on the home page) and leave a message if you require counsel, or the Sacrament of Confession (Penance), or Last Rites. If he is unavailable, there are other nearby priests in the Diocese (or in communion with the ACC) who go to great lengths to make themselves available for such things.
And for any inquirers who believe Christ but are not yet Baptised or Confirmed, Fr. Poff is available to set up a time for further inquiry about the church, especially to any in need of Baptism, or who are Baptised, but would like to be catechised into the Faith (via the Sacrament of Confirmation — teaching the Faith after one has been Baptised), that all might be able to fully participate in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist (Mass). Because as it is written:
"Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." –St. John 6:53 (KJV)
Below is what you would have seen shortly into a pre-pandemic St. Thomas' service: the Gospel reading before the Mass proper. And under that picture is the Symbolum Nicaenum (Nicene Creed), read at every Mass.
I believe in
one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God
of very God; Begotten, not made; Being of one substance with the Father; By whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation
came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man: And was crucified also for us under Pontius
Pilate; He suffered and was buried: And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures: And ascended into heaven, And sitteth on
the right hand of the Father: And he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; Who with the Father and the Son
together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the Prophets: And I believe one Catholic and Apostolic Church: I acknowledge one
Baptism for the remission of sins: And I look for the Resurrection of the dead: And the Life of the world to come.
✠ Amen.