My Dear Sisters
and Brothers in Faith,
As the Vicar of
Finance, I would like to ask for a moment out of your busy schedules to
earnestly read this letter and respond appropriately.
We are the
Reformed Catholic Church and “WE” are at a pivotal point in our Church’s
history, and “WE” are about to explode with international growth. In the
prophetic words of our Presiding Archbishop, we are the fifth pillar of
Catholicism.
Our boundless
love and acceptance of have fostered this growth. We are delivering the
Gospel of Christ around the world and there will never be a more appropriate
time or better set of circumstances than what is present to us now to
respond to this call. With that said, it takes financial stability to
maintain and continue as a recognized viable pillar. We need to be strong,
not a crumbling footing, but a strong pillar of faith and love.
“Thy
word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”
Psalm 119:105.
I ask you to
reflect upon these words. We have been moving our feet and we now have the
light of our path. There is no turning back. We have been called to holiness
and mission. That mission is to serve – and to serve NOW!
Our Presiding
Bishop, ++Phillip, has more than served us with the heavy burden of funding
RCC needs [ecclesial and personal]. This can no longer continue as “WE” have
grown and “WE” need to continue to grow. Therefore, “WE” must provide
financial support as part of our mission to at least cover the basics of
office supplies, postage, phone and web service. As we are all aware, there
is no profit to be made, no salaries to be paid. I am asking that we each do
what we can to support the pillar.
When each of us
professed our vows and signed the required administrative paper work with
the RCC, we understood that we needed to support the National Church.
Archbishop Zimmerman has requested that $25.00 per month, if possible, be
forwarded to the Cathedral. Sadly, that has been overlooked by the majority
of our community until now. Furthermore, we are becoming a more
International Church daily. This will mean that if “WE” are to continue to
preach the Gospel of Our Lord – his message of welcome to all – as a
National Church, the time has come in which we must embody our membership in
contribution to the works of which each of us are an intricately linked
part.
Beginning January
1, 2008, “ALL” clergy within the RCC are requested to send their monthly
tithing to the Vicar of Finance to support and maintain the RCC. I will be
sending you monthly tithing statements with a payment due date of the 20th
of each month. The total for each year will be $300.00. You may make
monthly, bi-annual or one annual payment due in January. Payments will be
sent to me for processing and then forwarded to the Cathedral.
I hope that you
are not taken back by this request, but our support of the National Church
is absolutely essential at this time. The Archbishop is still owed funds
from the last two synods that have not been paid as of this date. However,
++Phillip has advised me that he considers that the slate is wiped clean and
we are starting fresh. So when you receive your request to support the RCC,
please send those payments promptly and generously so that the fifth pillar
may remain strong and upright.
I remain Totus
Tuus (Totally Yours)
Rev. Fr. Martin J.
Jordan, RSJ
Vicar of Finance
P.O. Box 985
Gorham, ME.
04038
207-232-6144
Chaplainmjj@aol.com
