Letter from Rector

A Letter from the Rector To the  wonderful Christian Family we call St. Michael’s,

It is with a sad heart that I write this letter confirming the passing into eternal life of our brother in Christ, who we knew as Fr. Rich.  When we look around our beautiful church facility we see the handiwork of a servant of Jesus Christ.  Several men who are in the ministry were influenced heavily by Fr. Rich and you will see several of them on Monday at his funeral.  Even the Bishop celebrating the mass on Monday owes gratitude for the support he received from Fr. Richard Bakley during these days of transition within our diocese.  Fr. Rich gave tirelessly of himself for twenty-three years in support of the members of St. Michael’s and his friendship will be missed by so many, and yet we must rejoice over his entrance into life eternal with his Saviour.

We all celebrate the success of his work over the previous years.  St. Michael is a loving Church reflecting the love of our Lord, and a continuing home for the Word and Worship of God The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost.  It is through Fr. Rich’s dedication via the Anglican Form of Worship that the Spirit thrives with the walls of St. Michael’s.  Fr. Rich’s love for St. Michael remains alive and is now eternal in all that she does.

Through the doom of losing a soul into the everlasting arms of Christ, let us rejoice in the fruit of his work, a labor of love, which is within the walls and grounds that surround us.  Each of us should use this loss as strength to continue to build the future of St. Michaels.  As I look around St. Michaels,  every week it seems that I see new faces coming through our doors wanting to visit this House of Worship.  They are coming from many churches that worship in a totally different manner, and what they find here is the worship practice of the past two thousand years which has been retained through the tireless efforts of the many traditional ministers of the Word.  Fr. Rich was and is one of those staunch traditional defenders of the faith.

Let the prayers and love of St. Michael’s flow to the Bakley family; his wife Pat, son Tom, and daughter Ellen, as well as his grandchildren, as they all mourn the loss of their anchor.  The endless efforts and the sacrifices of the entire Bakley family also help to establish and maintain this wonderful church family.  Let us mourn together and let our prayers ascend unto Almighty God for the soul of our brother The Venerable Richard E. Bakley.

I know that Fr. Rich would join with me in saying let us put to good use all the work done by so many, and I would add that Fr. Rich is with us in all that we do, continuing the work that has been done before us.

May God Bless our brother Fr. Rich and his family, and may God continue to bless these 9 acres of land that we call St. Michael the Archangel.  Let us join together in saying rest in peace “our brother in Christ!”

Requiem Mass

Monday, May 17th, 2 pm

St. Michael the Archangel Church

2211 Margaret Wallace Road

Fr. Michael Cawthon

Rector St. Michael the Archangel