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Companions of St. Peter the Apostle Launched in Washington, D.C.
November 21, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The first service of a new Anglo-Catholic fellowship was launched today with an 11 am celebration of the Feast of Christ the King at the Upper Chapel of Church of the Holy City on 16th Street, N.W.
"It was beautiful service," noted Wally Spaulding, a parishioner from St. Paul's K Street.
The new fellowship, which has named itself the Companions of St. Peter the Apostle, is sponsored by the Ascension & St. Agnes Chapter of Forward in Faith. It plans to host weekly Sunday mass as one of its principal ministries.
Fr. Earle Fox celebrated the mass and preached a sermon on the role of the father in the family and society in the late 19th century Gothic Revival chapel.
The failure of fathers to play the role envisioned for them by God -- as revealed in the Judeo-Christian tradition -- has caused great harm to the family and society, Fr. Fox told the congregation.
In his sermon Fr. Fox cited a Swiss study that found that when Christian fathers regularly attend church, two-thirds or more of the children in the family remain in the church when they become adults. However, when only the mother attends services, only about 2 percent of the children from such families remain in the church.
The study, Fr. Fox explained, underscores the role of spiritual and moral leader of the family that God intended for fathers, and points to the peril to family and society when fathers fail to play that role.
Current and former members of Ascension & St. Agnes, were joined by parishioners from St. Paul's, K Street, St. Luke's, Bladensburg, Christ Church Georgetown, St. David's Washington, Holy Resurrection New York, and St. Matthias, Arlington.
The service followed the liturgy of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer with propers added from the Anglican Missal, with some features from Rite I of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, such as the Old Testament Lesson.
The service began with a procession led by Fr. Fox and acolyte Alphonse Vinh.
The new initiative was boosted by a generous gift of fifty 1940 hymnals and fifty 1928 prayer books from a source who wished to remain anonymous.
An Episcopal parish in Maryland lent the group a carved wooden crucifix, chalice, paten, cruets, candle stick holders, a linen altar covering and other essentials for celebrating Holy Communion.
The upper chapel at Church of the Holy City for many years during the 1980s was the home of a continuing church, St. Hilda of Whitby's.
Following the mass the group had refreshments and discussed the goals of the new initiative.
Robert England, President of the local Forward in Faith chapter, told the gathering that the Companions of St. Peter the Apostle is in a process of discernment to determine what ministries and missions it should adopt.
The fellowship intends to seek affiliation with the Anglican Communion Network of dioceses and parishes and plans to explore possible affiliation with a third (secular) forder or Anglican fraternal religious order.
Companions of St. Peter the Apostle will celebrate Holy Communion next Sunday, November 28, at 11 am. All are welcome to attend. Those who wish more information can call 703 522-7847.
Church of the Holy City is a Swedenborgian Church with a small congregation. It rents its chancel on Sundays to an Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Church from 6 to 10 am, and to a Hispanic Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Saturday mornings and evenings.
The Swedenborgians hold their Sunday services at 11 am in the chancel.
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