Holy Spirit Anglican Mission sows seeds in Cape Region

When Yvonne Moore moved to the Cape Region in the 1980s, she struggled to find a Anglican church to call home.

Moore and a group of five Cape Region families began attending an Anglican church in Berlin, Md., but the 40-mile commute became difficult.

Then in 2010, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of North America, the Most Rev. Robert Duncan, told parishioners during his inauguration that his goal was to establish 1,000 new churches in five years throughout the nation.

Inspired, the Cape Region group asked Anglican church officials for permission to sow the seeds of a new church in Lewes.

“We began the journey; it took two years of learning and training and evaluating the area,” said Charley Albert, a founding member of the new church.

Holy Spirit Anglican Mission now meets every Sunday at the Grange hall on Savannah Road in Lewes.

“We are the fifth church to start at the Grange,” Albert said.

In addition to regular Sunday services, church members also host Bible studies and potlucks, said Robin Chambers, also a founding member. While the church is small in numbers – just 56 people – it is big in heart, Chambers said.

In a twist of destiny, the Rev. Huey Sevier, a retired Anglican minister from Northern Virginia, moved to the Salisbury area.

Delaware Anglican Bishop, the Right Rev. Richard Lipka, reached out to Sevier on the Lewes church's behalf, and Sevier agreed to travel to Lewes each Sunday to preside over services.

“I keep the word interim in my title to remind me that I am retired,” Sevier said.

Sevier has experience with newly formed churches from his work in Mt. Vernon, Va., where he helped establish a new church and grow its membership.

“God has used Father Huey to plant churches,” Albert said. “It enables us to have an experienced person here.”

“I get to do what I love to do, which is celebrate the eucharist with a parish,” Sevier said. “I hope to foster this new congregation and get them on their feet.”

Church members are seeking new parishioners through the Each One, Reach One campaign, which urges each member to pray about a new member, then reach out to the person to spread the mission of the church.

“It's a prayerful way of enabling a congregation to help us grow,” Albert said. “We average about 18 people during each Sunday service. It is our goal to have 45 to 50 people each Sunday by the end of 2014.”

This month, church members have come together even more as they care for Yvonne Moore, the woman who initiated the effort to establish a new Cape Region church. Moore, stricken with cancer, and has not been able to attend to services. The members take turns staying with her at home.

Moore has one more goal on her list: to bring the Archbishop Duncan to Lewes for a grand opening celebration at the church.

While a student, Moore became friends with the archbishop and his wife. She reached out to him and told him about the new church and its goals. He agreed to visit Moore and the church.

The celebration is set for 10:30 a.m., Sunday, July 7, at the Grange hall during the regular church service. Archbishop Duncan will celebrate the Holy Eucharist and commune with participants.

In addition to regular services, church members also host a prayer and praise service every Sunday night at 7 p.m.

“When people ask me how the Anglican church has changed, I say we are more Bible-centered,” Chambers said. “We focus on the traditional gospel and lay on hands to ask the spirit to use us as the spirit sees fit.”

“It is a very community-based church,” Albert said. “We are going back to the original basis of what Christianity is all about.”

For more information on the church, call 302-251-8141 or go to www.holyspiritanglican-de.org.