The first Mass will be at 7:00 p.m., Sunday November 11 at St. Martin's Chapel, 814 W. Maple St. in Fayetteville. Google Maps will show you the way.
You'll find more info on the new St. Rafe's Facebook page that I've created
I have also hit the publish button on the new St. Rafe's website.
Here's a little more information to tell you about what we're trying to do:
Saint Rafe’s: The Oratory of St. Raphael
Sacramental – Intentional -
Receiving Strength for Service
St.
Rafe’s is a new worshipping community in Fayetteville. “Oratory” is a Latin word meaning a place to
pray and, above all else, we seek to be a place of prayer in a beautiful but
hectic world.
We emphasize
the sacraments and prayer as the places where we meet the Risen Lord and grow
in his likeness.
We believe
in the truth of historic Christianity and the spiritual riches to be found
there.
We commit
ourselves to growing together through the Mass, prayer, sacred reading, and the
other devotional practices of the Western Church.
We welcome
everyone. The Good Shepherd loves and seeks us all. Period.
We contend
that Christian discipleship transcends political and cultural divisions when we
walk in love as Christ has loved us.
We acknowledge
our individual brokenness, but believe we can be made whole by the One who came
that we might have life more abundantly.
What to Expect
Our
worship is traditional, not from nostalgia or fear of change, but from what one
scholar has called “modern people making a consciously post-modern
choice.” The Mass is our principle act
of worship, offered with reverence in traditional English as a sacrifice of
prayer whose texts offer us infinite opportunities to encounter the living
God. Our primary participation in
worship is in our shared offering of prayer and praise and the joy and we we
show for the real presence of Jesus Christ in the sacrament. The service lasts about one hour with a time
for fellowship afterwards. All baptized Christians are welcome to receive Holy
Communion.
You
are welcome to participate to the level at which you feel comfortable. No one will be holding up score cards at the
end of the service to rate your participation, what you are wearing, or who you
came with.
What We Believe
The
Oratory of St. Raphael ministers to all who seek God or a deeper knowledge of
God, welcoming all people into the full sacramental life of the Church.
Our
beliefs may be characterized in the words of one of our sister bodies as
“creedally orthodox, joyfully sacramental, radically inclusive, and deeply
prayerful.” While professing the
historic creeds as the definitive statements of the Christian faith, we believe
“in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity” and seek
to work with all people of good will.
Following
the tradition of the Independent Sacramental Movement, we maintain the seven
sacraments of the church and the historic orders of ministry and believe that
all Christians are called to active ministry with an intentionality that is
consistent with the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers.
We
are one small part of Christ’s Church, working with other communities in the
hope that we may all be one. The gifts
we have to share are freely given in service to Christ and his church. We have no institutional ties to any
individual or group beyond Our Savior’s commandment to love one another and St.
Paul’s admonition to all Christians to bear one another's burdens and so
fulfill the law of Christ.
