July 2026
Spirit of the Eagle
St. John the Evangelist ACC
Spiritual Tidbits & Rector’s Reflections for
July 2026 from Father Tim
July 2026 has arrived and as a nation we celebrate our 250th birthday on Independence Day, the 4th. On the Ordo Kalendar this month we celebrate Precious Blood (1st), Visitation of The Blessed Virgin Mary (2nd), S. James, Apostle & Martyr (25th), as well as four Trinity Sundays (5th, 12th, 19th,, & 26th). When entering Saint John’s church you may wonder why the choir section (the Chancel) is marked off from the rest of the church by being raised and with a railing. This is because as the body of the church (the Nave) signifies the Church Militant, the choir is typical of the Church Triumphant. The railing (or in some Anglican churches the larger Rood Screen) represents the gate of death, by which we enter into heavenly rest. You may also notice that the Altar is then railed off from the Chancel. This is partly for reverence and partly because the Sanctuary (the area behind the Communion rail containing the Altar) is symbolic of the Holy of Holies, into which the Priest entered to plead for the people. For Christians it is also symbolic of the innermost heaven where our Great High Priest has entered through the veil of His flesh, and where He makes intercession for us, pleading the merits of His all-perfect Sacrifice. The altar is placed conspicuously because it is the holiest part of the church. It is here the bread and wine are consecrated the Body and ‘Precious’ Blood of Christ. It is used in the highest act of Divine worship, the Holy Eucharist, in which by the ministry of His Church the Eternal Son of God offers His death and Passion to His Father. It is raised because our Lord suffered on the Mount; and is made of wood as representing the Cross. The Eucharist begins with God; it is an act of God; it ends in God: ‘All goes out in mystery’. The Eucharist unites earth and heaven. At every celebration, time, as we know it, fades away, and through Christ we are united with the Church Triumphant. As we worship, singing, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy,’ we join with saints and angels, with the spirits of just men made perfect, and with the great assembly of the first-born now in heaven. Time and space do not matter; here we touch Eternity. I hope and pray your July is full of Divine worship and heavenly mystery. ~ Father Tim
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Do you know any lost souls who celebrate national days of recognition but fail to celebrate the Holy Eucharist? If yes, please invite them to church this July where beyond words, beyond feeling, they will know: Jesus is near . . . all is well. ~ Father Tim
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Do we turn away from [the Lord’s Table] when it is administered? If so, how can we justify our conduct? It will not do to say it is not a necessary ordinance. To say so is to pour contempt on Christ Himself, and declare that we do not obey Him. It will not do to say that we feel unworthy to come to the Lord’s table. To say so is to declare that we are unfit to die, and unprepared to meet God. These are solemn considerations. All non-communicants should ponder them well. ~ J.C. Ryle, 1816-1900, Anglican Bishop of Liverpool & Author
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Did you know?
Did you know St. John’s gave a charitable donation to the ACC Saint Paul Mission Fund in May? Did you know Saint John’s has begun the process of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Did you know our July Book of Life Club will be discussing Mr. Jones, Meet the Master by Peter Marshall?
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Saint John July Ordo Kalendar
Wednesday, the 1st of July, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sun., the 5th of July, at 9:45 AM, Psalm-Children Sun. School Class
Sun., the 5th of July, at 10:30 AM, The Office of Morning Prayer
Wednesday, the 8th of July, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sun., the 12th of July, at 9:45 AM, Psalm-Children Sun. School Class
Sun., the 12th of July, at 10:30 AM, Trinity VI Mass
Wednesday, the 15th of July, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Sun., the 19th of July, at 9:45 AM, Psalm-Children Sun. School Class
Sun., the 19th of July, at 10:30 AM, Trinity VII Mass
Wednesday, the 22nd of July, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
Saturday, the 25th of July, at 9:00 AM, The Office of Morning Prayer
Saturday, the 25th of July, at 9:45 AM, Bible Study
Sat., the 25th of July, at 11:00 AM, Book Club, Mr. Jones, Meet the Master
Sun., the 26th of July, at 9:45 AM, Psalm-Children Sun. School Class
Sunday, the 26th of July, at 10:30 AM, Trinity VIII Mass
Wednesday, the 29th of July, at 6:30 PM, Evening Prayer
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If our sins outnumbered the number of the hairs on our head; yet the merits of the death of Jesus Christ are infinitely greater, and faith in His blood shall make them white as snow. ~ George Whitefield, 1714-1770, Anglican Priest
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See how red your guilt is. Mark the scarlet stain. If you were to wash your soul in the Atlantic Ocean, you might incarnadine every wave that washes all its shores, and yet the crimson spots of your transgression would still remain. But plunge into the “fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins,” and in an instant you are whiter than snow. Every speck, spot, and stain of sin is gone, and gone forever. ~ C.H. Spurgeon, 1834-1892, English “Prince of Preachers”
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July Birthdays & Anniversaries
Kyle & Alyssa Maycock – Anniversary – July 8
Leslie Shelton & Michael Griswold – Anniversary – July 9
Emily Dunn – Birthday – July 15
John & Janet Hoyle – Anniversary – July 20
Judie Boughner – Birthday – July 21
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Why should we want to worship Jesus well?
How willingly then should we part with our sins for Christ, and do our duty to Him! O that we could in our measures part as willingly with our lusts, as He did with His blood! He parted with His blood when He needed not, and shall not we with our sins, when we ought to do so, for our own safety, as well as for His glory. Since Christ came to redeem us from the slavery of the devil, and strike off the chains of captivity, He that will remain in them, when Christ with so much pains and affection hath shed His blood to unloose them, prefers the devil and sin before a Savior. ~ Stephen Charnock, 1628-1680, English Puritan Divine
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I acknowledge, dear God, that I have deserved the greatest of thy wrath and indignation; and that, if thou hadst dealt with me according to my deserving, I had now, at this instant, been desperately bewailing my miseries in the sorrows and horrors of a sad eternity. But thy mercy triumphing over thy justice and my sins, thou hast still continued to me life and time of repentance; thou hast opened to me the gates of grace and mercy, and perpetually callest upon me to enter in, and to walk in the paths of a holy life, that I might glorify thee, and be glorified of thee eternally. ~ Jeremy Taylor, 1613-1667, Anglican Bishop of Down and Conner, & Caroline Divine
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Last month I shared a word about religious experiences in other religions, and some possible strategies about how we could respond to them. This is one topic that has been surprisingly relevant in conversations I get into. After all, it would not be fair for us to claim an experience of the Holy Spirit, or a sense of conviction during Mass, and say that everyone else’s spiritual experiences are just invalid. One option is to say that the other person, or a founder of a religion (say, Joseph Smith) is lying. That is certainly possible, and there is reason to take that route in the case of Joseph Smith and the LDS church. Another option is to say that the experience was manipulated by social pressure or wishful thinking. But maybe, and I think in general this is my preferred strategy, things are as they appear to the person. Perhaps they really did have a spiritual encounter!
In epistemology (the philosophy of knowledge & belief), it is a pretty widely accepted principle that you are justified in accepting appearances unless you have an overriding reason to reject them. If you are out near farmland and see something that appears to be large and brown and four-legged, you would be justified in accepting the appearance that there is a cow there. But that is not certain, because it may be that on getting closer, you see it is in fact a cardboard cutout of a cow. So I could grant that Joseph Smith really did have an encounter with an entity named Moroni, I can grant that Muhammad really did receive messages from spiritual beings, that the Wiccan really does communicate with spirits, etc. If we are attentive to what is going on in our Bibles, encounters with spiritual beings should be one of the least surprising things we hear about. Consider Acts 16 and the account of the girl who told fortunes by way of a spirit, or all the references to the “gods of the nations” in the Old Testament. Or perhaps look at prohibitions against necromancy (Leviticus 19:31, 21:27; 1 Samuel 28). The best explanation of why these prohibitions existed is not because it could not work, but precisely because it could!
The problem lies, then, in the inference drawn from the experience. Fortune-telling and necromancy happened (and still does), but they are not good. A spiritual being appearing to you and telling you something does not make this being one of the “good guys”. The spiritual realm is quite populated with divine beings that are supposed to be subservient to God, and according to Scripture that arrangement does not sit well with every one of them. In Isaiah 40-46, God takes dig after dig at idols and other gods. In Isaiah 40:25-26, we are told that only God creates and sustains the universe. In Isaiah 41:21-24, it is only God who can declare the future. Messages brought from other-worldly beings are not necessarily to be believed and followed (Galatians 1:8; an odd thing for St. Paul to say if it was not a live possibility!). The Latter-Day Saint, Wiccan, Muslim, etc. is not crazy, or lying, but is rather the victim of manipulation and lying (human or spiritual). The solution is to look to Christ, who put other principalities and powers to shame (Colossians 2:15). A core claim of Christianity is “My God beat up your god.” ~ Chris Stockman
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Love is that liquor sweet and most divine, Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine. ~ George Herbert, 1593-1633, English Poet, Orator, Anglican Priest, & Caroline Divine
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Set up Thyself, O God, above the heavens and Thy glory above all the earth. By thine Ascension draw us withal unto Thee, O Lord, so as to set our affections on things above, and not on things on the earth. By the awful mystery of Thy Holy Body and Precious Blood in the evening of this day: Lord, have mercy. ~ Blessed Lancelot Andrewes, 1555-1626, Anglican Bishop of Winchester, Scholar, & Caroline Divine
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The seeking of Jesus Christ and the quest for chivalry combined lead directly to one place only: Anglican-Catholicism. Courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help and defend the weak and the poor. Welcome to the Anglican Catholic Church. ~ Father Timothy Butler