Last Sunday, Pastor Alice Marcrum, priest and vicar of St. Raphael's Episcopal Church, preached her last sermon at the historic structure. She is leaving to form a new church, the St. Raphael's By the Sea, an Anglican church next week. Most of the members of the congregation stood up and read letters of support for Pastor Alice, as she is known, declaring that they would make the change with her and leave St. Raphael's to form a new church. This Anglican church will meet, starting next Saturday at 5:00 p.m. at the Fellowship Hall of the Beach United Methodist Church. They will meet there until they find a suitable home for themselves.

Bob Bunting, the Junior Warden of St. Raphael's, said that Rev. Marcrum left without any warning and he had to call the bishop to get a priest to come and do the service for next Sunday. He said there was never any time that it was a possibility that St. Raphael's would close, and Rev. Marcrum agreed. She said she knew that St. Raphael's would be fine. That was just a rumor that was stifled immediately.

The new Anglican church will be part of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. ACNA. The Gulf Atlantic Diocese is now 23 congregations in Florida and South Georgia, ranging in size from about 600 congregates to fewer than 25 members. There are over 50 clergy members, both active and retired and a combined average Sunday attendance of over 3,000. The 23 churches were each submitted to the hierarchical structure of the world wide Anglican Communion through various ecclesiastical bodies such as the Anglican Mission in America, under the authority of the Archbishop of Rwanda, and the Convocation of Anglicans in North America under the Archbishop of Nigeria.

As those provinces continue to release our respective congregations into the Diocese in Formation under the authority of the Vicar General, it is precisely this joint association of churches that is now seen as a model of hope that is the biblically based and mission minded Anglican Church in North America.

Globally, regionally and locally, Anglicanism is in the process of reformation. Within the last three decades, some say the Episcopal Church in the U.S. and the Anglican church of Canada have increasingly accommodated and incorporated un-Biblical and un-Anglican practices and teaching. In the context of this widening theological gap, the existing geography based organizational model of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican church became problematic for orthodox Anglicans. Orthodox parishes, clergy and dioceses that upheld Biblical authority and historic Anglican practice became isolated within their existing structures.

Beginning in 2000 with the church of Rwanda, these leaders have responded by accepting orthodox Anglican parishes and dioceses in North America into their care.

The Anglican Church in North America is a conciliar church where clergy and laity serve together in leadership. The Most Reverend Robert Duncan, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, serve as the Anglican Church of North America's first Archbishop. Bishops meet together as the College of Bishops. Laity and clergy take leadership responsibility on the provincial Council and during the Provincial Assembly.

Marcrum served at four churches in the greater Chicago area before being called to serve in Florida. She was most recently the pastor of Saint Raphael's Church of Fort Myers Beach in the Diocese of Southwest Florida of The Episcopal Church. She wrote a letter to the members of St. Raphael's Church that is reprinted here:

"Most of you already know that I did not accept the call to St. Raphael's, because of the money nor as a career move. I came here for one reason and one reason only, because God placed you in my heart. So this was not a business decision, but a heart decision that brought me here to be your priest. As in all relationships, my time with you has had its ups and downs. Because of my love for you, I have remained with you.

Now I believe that the Lord is calling me to go and serve Him somewhere else. I have spent much time in prayer discerning this call. I am sharing this with you because I want you to know that this decision has not happened overnight, but has been prayed about and confirmed by others. Where I am going, I will be allowed to preach the gospel freely, which is something I have not been allowed to do since last summer.

While I was willing to do what was necessary to remain here as your priest at St. Raphael's, the Lord has shown me that He has other plans. These are exciting plans that I believe will have a positive spiritual impact on Fort Myers Beach and the surrounding area. Some of you may be wondering why I could not just stay here and reach others for Christ. Sometimes, we have to be willing to leave something behind in order for God to use us more effectively.

For me, this does not mean leaving behind all that we have worked for here together at St. Raphael's. The seeds we have planted here together for the Lord will continue to grow in the hearts of the people. From these seeds, I believe the Lord will bring a rich harvest, which is why I am asking you to join with me in serving the Lord God in this new exciting endeavor. My new position of ministry will be as the pastor at St. Raphael's by the Sea, which is a new parish in the Anglican Church of North America. Our first service will be held on Saturday, August 7th at 5:00 PM at the Beach United Methodist Church here on Fort Myers Beach.”

What will happen to St. Raphael's Episcopal Church? The bishop has already appointed a supply priest to come and hold Mass and the people who did not want to go to the new church will continue services at St. Raphael's. Next Sunday, Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. just like it has been all summer.

We asked Pastor Alice Marcrum what is the difference between the Episcopal and Anglican church? She said, "In 2003 the Episcopal church walked away from traditional teaching and values. They said that Jesus is only one way to salvation; there are others. The New Anglican church is embracing the values of the original church. They believe that the only way to salvation is through Christ, as He says,

‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh to the father but by Me.' The Episcopal church went against its own canons and made a lesbian a bishop. Then she made another lesbian a bishop. And they also made a divorced man a bishop. This is against the teaching of the Bible and against Church Canons. They are tearing at the very fabric of church. They no longer hold to core beliefs. They undermined the authority of the church. They revised traditional teaching. Jesus is our hope. We need to walk in his steps. The mission of the Anglicans is to know Christ and make Christ our own. We are so grateful to Pastor Jeanne Davis for the generous support of the Methodist Church in letting us have our meeting there, and grateful to the sisters of the Monastery of St. Clare for letting us have our Rosary service there on Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. This is a step of faith for everybody.”

There has been a shakeup in St. Raphael's for the last few days, but everybody who goes there is working to make the service normal next week. Former members will be returning and people who were disaffected will come back to the church.

The St. Raphael's by the Sea will have many former members of St. Raphael's attending the new church, but they asked to have their names left out of this article. Religion is very private and personal and the people who are going to the new church would like to have a fresh clean start. Anyone who wants to know more about the new church can go to the website StRaphaelsbytheSea.org.