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Church of the Redeemer to celebrate Feast of Absalom Jones, the first African-American Episcopal priest, with special guest preacher The Rev. Dr. Richard Cornish Martin

Feb. 7, 2014 / Sarasota, Fla. — In celebration of the Feast of Absalom Jones and African-American History Month, the Rev. Dr. Richard Cornish Martin will be the guest preacher at the Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave., on Sat., Feb. 15, and Sun., Feb. 16. Fr. Martin will preach at the 5:30 p.m. Contemporary Mass on Saturday, and at the 7:30, 9 and 11 a.m. Masses on Sunday.

Born a slave in Delaware in 1746, Absalom Jones bought his freedom in 1784 and eventually, in 1802, became the first African-American ordained as a priest in The Episcopal Church. The feast in his name is a day of devotion set aside each February to commemorate his religious and social action.

Fr. Martin, now an assistant at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Raleigh, N.C., served for many years as Rector of both St. George’s and St. Paul’s in Washington, D.C., and as an assistant at St. Thomas’ on Fifth Avenue in New York City. For 46 years, he was the superior of the American region of the Society of Mary, and he continues to serve on the Board of Trustees of Nashotah House Theological Seminary, which presented him with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree to complement his Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary and his Doctor of Divinity degree from Howard University. A deputy master of the Society of the Holy Cross and a member of the Council of the Guild of All Souls, Fr. Martin was a member of the Societas Liturgica and the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation. He is the founder and convenor of The Anglo-Catholic Rectors. 

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