NOVEL DUNDALK CHURCH TO FOLLOW TRADITION

Clerics will hark back to old-style liturgy

by Steve Pingel
The Dundalk Eagle, 7/3/08

This week, St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church on Eastern Avenue
became the newest site of the North American Old Catholic Church. The
idea, according to a June 25 press release, is to reach out to
"younger unchurched, and to older, traditional Catholics."

St. Andrew the First-Called Orthodox Church will operate out of the
St. Peter chapel.

Additionally, the FutureCare NorthPoint center on Old North Point Road
will host the Most Holy Theotokos Orthodox Church, a parochial mission
that will offer services to FutureCare residents.

The liturgies being offered are the same ones used by Eastern
Christians during the early days of the church, dated as far back as
400 A.D.

"We have established a good working relationship with Pastor Bob
Harvey at St. Peter," said the Very Rev. Daniel J. Garguillio, pastor
at both Dundalk sites and abbot of the Holy Cross Monastery, whose
clerics will staff the locations. "And since St. Andrew the Apostle
was the brother of St. Peter, it seemed a more than apt location for
[St. Andrew]."

Most Holy Theotokos is at FutureCare, he said, because "many of the
clergy of the North American Old Catholic Church are involved in
nursing home ministry, as a way of reaching out to people who are
often marginalized and forgotten by society."

The Old Catholic Church is a Christian denomination whose originating
churches split from the Roman Catholic Church more than a century ago.

Garguillio feels there is an attraction for ancient prayer that steps
away from "modernized" worship, which is why the parish will offer the
liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

"Our solemn, respected and chanted liturgy appeals to, and therefore
brings Christianity to, Goths, Renaissance Faire enthusiasts and many
other individuals who may just feel that the worship of God should
look like something other than an entertainment event," something that
people "just can't get anywhere else," Garguillio wrote in an e-mail.

"Beyond that," he continued, "let's face it: being able to attend the
same liturgy service which was seen by Byzantine emperors, early
saints and so forth is just, well, fantastic."

The service consists mostly of songs and hymns and offering of the
Communion, and closes with final thoughts and prayers from the
presiding cleric.

The Holy Cross Monastery, Garguillio explained, is a religious
community in the most ancient Eastern Orthodox tradition, in communion
with the North American Old Catholic Church.

'We currently function as an "extended community," but are in the
process of acquiring a property suitable for the use of spiritual
retreats, ascetic practice, etc.," Garguillio wrote.

In order to best support the sites, he said, that building will be in
the Dundalk or Highlandtown area.

Promotions are primarily through press releases from the North
American Old Catholic Church, word of mouth and integration into the
newsletter for St. Peter, Garguillio said.

"We're honored to have you," the Rev. Robert M. Harvey of St. Peter
said to Garguillio at St. Andrew's first liturgy last weekend.

The 3 p.m. liturgy at St. Andrew will be held every Sunday.

For more information, contact pastor Daniel Garguillio at
revdaniel@garguillio.com or 1-888-650-1817, ext. 110, or visit
http://church.garguillio.com