We welcome Fr. Thomas W. Allen and family to Saint Athanasius Anglican

 

Fr. Allen is from Greenville, South Carolina, and a graduate of Montreat College in Religion with a concentration in history. 

He earned a Masters of Divinity from Trinity Episcopal Seminary Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Fr. Allen has served in the Anglican Province of America and the Episcopal Church. 

He particularly enjoys preaching from the prophets and being an extrovert.  Prior to his receiving Holy Orders, Fr. Allen served as a deputy sheriff and in construction. Fr. Allen was ordained by Bishop Walter Grundorf in the APA.

He enjoys long walks, hiking, the outdoors, and the beauty of Alaska. His two children occupy much of his time and he loves it! 

Fr. Allen has much experience in church development- a gift well suited for this growing community that is preparing to build a new sanctuary on its property off state route 33 and Winn's Church Road in Hanover.

 We look forward to his guidance and pastoring and know he will be an asset here as well as in the larger community of the Henrico and Hanover area.

A hearty welcome to Fr. Allen and family!

A great list of Brithonic Saints

Brief sketches of various Saints of Britain

"St. Acca

Bishop of Hexham

Died: 20th October AD 740 

During his youth, Acca joined the household of Bishop Bosa of York, where he fell in with the Romanist party and became a faithful friend of St. Wilfred, Abbot of Ripon. They were constant companions for thirteen, often turbulent, years and Acca accompanied the great man on many of his Continental visits. 

Upon, Wilfred's deathbed (AD 709), he nominated Acca to succeed him as Abbot of Hexham and, in the event, he was able to take up the Bishopric as well. He completed the building work started by his friend and decorated the principal church at Hexham with altars, sacred vessels and holy relics.  

Acca was an accomplished singer and a noted scholar of the age. Bede praised the high quality and wide-ranging diversity of his theological library; and dedicated several of his biblical works to the Bishop. The two seem to have known each other well, for when Acca found St. Ambrose's commentary on St. Luke too long, he encouraged the father of English History to write a reduced version. He later supplied Bede with information for the Ecclesiastical History. 

In AD 731, political intrigues led to King Ceolwulf of Northumbria being seized by unknown opponents and forced to enter a monastery. His supporters subsequently restored him to the throne, but vengeance was swift and Bishop Acca expulsion from his see soon afterward almost certainly indicates his involvement in the coup. Some records imply that he fled west where he was appointed Bishop of Whithorn.  

Acca died on 20th October AD 740. He was buried beside the east wall of Hexham Cathedral, between two huge stone crosses decorated with Mediterranean-style vines and tendrils. These survive largely intact and can be seen today inside the Abbey Church.

http://www.britannia.com/bios/saints/