Mercy House hermitage and Church of the Holy Spirit
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Hello and welcome--updated Sunday 9 - 6 - 09
Much peace and joy to you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Come, Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of Your faithful people, and light in us the fire of Your love.
"I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man [or woman] who trusts in you."
-- Psalm 84:10-12
The world can be a cold, hard place. Life can be disquieting, and can leave us feeling very much alone. The Bible says the Lord Jesus Christ is "a friend that sticks closer than a brother." He is God Who came as a man, showed us how to live, poured out His blood on a cross, died there, and was raised back to life for the forgiveness of our sins. He loves each of us, and wants us to know Him, to have a relationship with Him. He is worthy to be worshipped and for us to fully give our lives to.
hermitage /n/ a place set apart for God, a monastic house, "a place where heaven and earth meet." (John Michael Talbot) Thanks for stopping by our little page here, and Welcome to Oklahoma! Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain! I am your Porter, or Doorkeeper, Fr. Francis Robert. I am privileged to serve as a monk, and as a priest of our cathedral parish in the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ and under the temporal authority of Bishop/Abbot James Beckett. The page here is the online home of Mercy House, the hermitage/monastic house and home of my wife Shirley, myself, Georgia the long-haired dachsund and Abbey Ruth our conure - a place where we welcome Jesus as Lord among us. I am a married Christian monk and priest in the Order of St. John the Beloved (Franciscan) -- an ancient-future (modern with roots in the ancient) monastic order of the Three Rivers Church, an evangelical Anglican jurisdiction or part of the Church. According to the ancient practice of believers, and continued in monastic orders and houses today, my wife Shirley and I practice hospitality -- and open our home for worship, fellowship, study, and the encouragement and promotion of the arts and sciences.
Church of the Holy Spirit meets at Mercy House Wed evenings and Sunday mornings at the Bishop and Shana's, 532 SW 151st St. (Three Rivers Church and Church of the Holy Spirit will have a web site soon, and currently has a myspace page (with music), at www.myspace.com/chapelofstfrancis. The Order of St. John the Beloved prays Morning Prayer and offers Communion here Tue - Fri at 6:30am (except holidays). Sunday Communion is at 9am at the Bishop and Shana's, 532 SW 151st St. near Vicki St., breakfast goodies and coffee (call 405-474-1954 for directions), and at Mercy House Wednesday evenings at 7pm. We follow the Church calendar, and it's the season after Pentecost, also called Trinity season and Ordinary Time.
The Order of St. John the Beloved offers Morning Prayer and Communion here weekday mornings. And as our Lord Jesus did, and monastic orders down through the ages have done, we welcome ALL.
For more information about Church of the Holy Spirit or Three Rivers Church, or email or phone Bishop/Abbot Jim or Fr. Francis -- 405-816-0905 (my cell), br.francis@yahoo.com. For info about the Order of St. John the Beloved, email Bishop/Abbot Jim at shanabeckett@hotmail.com.
Who are we? Spirit, Scripture, Sacrament
Mercy House is a monastic house of The Order of St. John the Beloved (a Franciscan monastic order) and Three Rivers Church, a Spirit-filled church in the Anglican tradition--the ancient apostolic Church, when she was one and undivided and called catholic, as she grew in the British Isles -- evangelical, liturgical/sacramental, and Spirit-filled. We have parishes, or worshipping communities, in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Come and be welcomed, and let us introduce you to the ancient Church, and to liturgical and sacramental worship.
CONTACT THREE RIVERS CHURCH AND THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN THE BELOVED
MAIL: 5901 NW 62nd St.
Warr Acres * OK * 73122* USA
EMAIL & PHONE: Bishop/Abbot Jim Beckett -- shanabeckett@hotmail.com, 405-474-1954, Fr. Francis Robert -- br.francis@yahoo.com, 405-816-0905.
Fr. Joe Mathy and his wife Dcn. Laura Mathy OSJB, pastor in Tulsa--it's called St. Timothy Church. They and I currently offer an alternative worship service (including food, Bible teaching, prayer and Eucharist) Sat nights at 5pm. The short, liturgical Eucharist is at 7:30 pm. (Contact them or Fr. Robert for more info.) St. Timothy Church meets at 3705 E 101th St., Tulsa, OK 74137, on the Harvest Church property, green building on the left--call for prayer, counsel, and more info at 918-455-1715.
Oblate Andrew lives in the Houston, TX area. If you are there, he would enjoy dinner, fellowship (with a good beer, coffee or hot tea, and a pipe/cigar smoke....!), and Morning or Evening Prayer. 832-228-5782, apcoleman@yahoo.com.
It was the practice of all faithful Christians since the beginning in the early Church to be in communion with an orthodox, faithful bishop (canons of the Nicene Council, 325). If you are a clergy person, a congregation, an individual Christian or a family looking for someone in the evangelical Anglican and ancient catholic tradition of the Church with which to affiliate, Bishop/Abbot Jim would enjoy talking with you. He is an orthodox bishop ordained in apostolic succession. Three Rivers Church is a good and safe place to be for orthodox clergy, churches, individuals and families, and those in monastic orders. We have drawn Christians from several different denominations and backgrounds into one body, and are also in the process of seeking out other jurisdiction(s) of the Church with which to affiliate. If you are clergy, Bishop Jim would enjoy talking with you and helping you find a good place to be and serve. If you are called to serve as clergy, Bishop Jim would enjoy talking to you. Feel free to phone or email him (scroll up for his email link). He is a hospice chaplain, very accessible, and is regularly leading worship (with myself) in Church of the Holy Spirit.
Recommended Books
Here's a beginning of the list:A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs--A Reference Guide to More Than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers, comp./ed. by David Bercot
Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelicals Are Attracted to the Liturgical Church, by Robert E. Webber
Evangelical Is Not Enough: Worship of God in Liturgy and Sacrament, by Thomas Howard
Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis (and anything else he has written)
Simplicity, Lessons of St. Francis, Hermitage by John Michael Talbot.
A Monastic Year: Reflections from a monastery, by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila Latourette. Happy reading..
got monastic?
There have always been believers who wished to go to the "desert places," as they have been called--simply places where one can be alone with God and seek Him, to meditate in the Scriptures and pray. These believers have a deep longing to be close to Christ and for Him to change them, and for nothing else to be first in their lives. They wanted to get away from distractions and live more simply, to give up everything to seek and serve Christ as radical disciples--trying to live out their faith with an intensity that every Christian should have. Their solitude was a great help in their being able to seek and live for Christ. Then other Christians wanted to join them. To deal with the compromise so prevalent around them, they began to take vows and to adopt disciplines in their lives--such as Benedict's and Francis' rules. Monastic or religious orders throughout history have come about at times when Christendom has needed a light to see. They have been prophetic signs to the church and to the world.We have spoken with a number of Christians of many different churches over the years who wanted deepen their relationship with the Lord, and have better times of prayer and meditation in the Word, but were not called to a monastic order or to change to a different church. A good way to begin would be to pray Morning and Evening Prayer from a good prayer book--I suggest the St. Augustine Prayer Book (this is the one we use), the 1928 or 1979 prayer books, The Glenstal Prayer Book, the Iona Prayer Book--any good prayer book will work, choose one, or alternate them; also having quiet time before the Lord when you just enjoy Him, and by attending Eucharist more often than once per week. Feel free to email or call if we can pray with or be of help to you in this.
Some of us are called to join some sort of monastic order. The Order of St. John the Beloved is a Franciscan order led by Abbot Jim Beckett and allows for married monks, nuns, and their families. We welcome those ordained and those not; We are a modern monastic order, yet rooted in the ancient. The Order doesn't center around one area of service--each of us serves as the Lord leads. We also are free to live either in community or out in the world, as He leads. Some feel a call to seclusion in order to focus on their prayer life; our call is to shine as lights in a darkened world while living in the midst of this world. Email or call Abbot Jim for more information. Pax Christi.
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