St. Luke’s Bladensburg, Former Episcopal Church, Now Catholic, Moving to Nation’s Capital
Washington, DC (PRWEB) September 03, 2014 -- St. Luke’s Bladensburg, the Episcopal congregation that made headlines in 2011 as the first U.S. parish to join the Roman Catholic Church under a new, expedited process, is moving to Washington, DC on September, 7, 2014. Their new home is Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 1315 8th St, NW, in the diverse Shaw neighborhood two blocks from the Walter Washington DC Convention Center. The congregation will now be known as, Saint Luke’s at Immaculate Conception.
The move accommodates its present parishioners from DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia in a more centralized location, and hopes to attract new members who can now easily reach St. Luke’s by Metrobus and Metrorail Green and Yellow lines at the Mt. Vernon Sq. 7th St/Convention Center.
For its inaugural Mass at Immaculate Conception (8:30 am on Sunday, Sept. 7), St Luke’s is honored to host Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson, as celebrant and preacher. (Steenson, who previously served in the Episcopal Church as Bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande, was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to serve as the first Ordinary of the US Ordinariate on January 1, 2012).
The Ordinariate Use Mass, celebrated at 8:30 am each Sunday through Friday, is in addition to Immaculate Conception’s weekly Sunday 11:00 am Choral Mass and 6:00 pm Latin Chanted (Novus Ordo) Mass, as well as their weekday Masses at 12:15 pm.
Episcopalians and Anglicans will feel particularly comfortable with the Ordinariate Use Mass; St. Luke’s is in communion with the Holy See and fully upholds the teachings of the Catholic Church, but celebrates the liturgy according to an approved translation of the Latin Rite which beautifully integrates familiar, traditional-language prayers from the Book of Common Prayer.
Immaculate Conception, the ‘oldest daughter’ of St. Patrick’s Church—the first
Catholic parish in Washington, DC— is currently commemorating its 150th year of service to the
Shaw community. The buildings and parish property were placed on the National Register of
Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior in September 2003.
"Immaculate Conception Church and its grounds are exquisite, and really display both the interior and exterior beauty of the Church," said The Rev. Mark Lewis, Administrator of St Luke’s. “The 8:30 am weekday Ordinariate Mass is a great way to start the day before work, after getting the children to school, and other daily activities.”
This week, St. Luke’s also announced the beginning of a new initiative to build on its existing
tradition of Sacred Music. Named in honor of Saint Benedict and the Benedictine tradition of
Gregorian chant, and with a nod of gratitude to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (who founded the
Ordinariates), the women of The St. Benet Schola will provide the chant at the 8:30 am Sunday Mass at Immaculate Conception. The group will draw on the Anglican plainsong tradition, while at the same time emphasizing the universal, Catholic nature of worship, by singing the ancient chants and texts of the Sacred Liturgy.
"We are excited about the future of St. Luke's and its evangelism to non-Christians and bringing relapsed Catholics home to Rome," said Fr. Lewis. "By moving our services to Immaculate Conception, the Ordinariate will be located in the heart of the DC Metro area. We are truly blessed and grateful to the Archdiocese of Washington and Monsignor Watkins for this opportunity.”
The new Ordinariates are structures similar to a diocese and provide a door for former members of the Anglican Communion, which includes US Episcopalians, to enter the Church as a group or community, while still retaining some of their theological, spiritual, and liturgical heritage. The Roman Catholic Church also has other Ordinariates, notably, the military Ordinariates that work in collaboration with local bishops, to serve Catholics in the armed forces.
The US Ordinariate’s principal church, Our Lady of Walsingham, is in Houston, TX and
Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson is the Ordinary, which is comparable to a Bishop. In addition to the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, which includes communities in the United States and Canada, there are Ordinariates in Australia and the United Kingdom.
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St. Luke’s at Immaculate Conception
A Community of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter:
c/o: 1315 8th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001
Divine Worship Masses: Sunday – Friday 8:30 AM
For more information, please call Fr. Mark W. Lewis at 202-999-9934 or email him at
[email protected]. http://www.stlukesordinariate.com
Fr. Mark Lewis, St. Luke's at Immaculate Conception, http://www.stlukesordinariate.com, +1 202-999-9934, [email protected]
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