"I said, “God,
what are You praying for?” And He said something that I would have never
thought of, “I gave men free will and I will never take it from them and I make
intercessions continually so that you will surrender your will to Me.” Let me tell you something, you cannot expect
any of the great world leaders to surrender their will to God if you can’t find
your own Bishop surrendering.”
-Patriarch Austin
Randolph Adler-
International
Convocation 2004
February 12, 1995, Patriarch Austin Randolph Adler made his pastoral visit in our church – Army of the Lord Christian Life Fellowship (now, Cathedral Church of St. Michael) in Kalibo, Aklan, Philippines. During the service, he gave words of encouragement to then, Pastor Ricardo "Dick" Alcaraz and prophesied, as follows:
“And the
Lord says, “Do not worry or fret. Do not pay attention to the looks and the
words of those who would spurn or those that would speak evil against you, for
the Lord says, the prophetic anointing is upon you and I called you to this place,
to this day, and this hour to establish the work that I had, sayeth
God. And I declare and decree to you this day, the oil is going to
be poured fresh out upon you, sayeth God and the insults and the remarks of
those who would speak evil against you shall flow out of you like water on
duck’s back. For the Lord says: No weapon form against you shall prosper and
every tongue that would rise up against you in judgment, you shall condemn, for
this is your heritage, sayeth God. And the Lord says: what you do
and what you accomplish is not dependent upon the condition of things around
you but it is dependent upon My word and forever My word is
established. So you shall rise up in the things of God, sayeth the
Lord. And God said: 1995 shall be a time of increase and
multiplying, sayeth the Lord, for the enemy would lie and say, oh it’s gonna be
different, it’s gonna be difficult but God says: I’m gonna cause blessing and
increase to come, sayeth the Lord God. For my anointing is upon you
in a fresh and mighty way, sayeth God.”
Does Patriarch Adler
have a prophetic calling? Let’s found out.
The late Patriarch
Austin Randolph Adler was born on November 14, 1945 in Oceanside,
California. He was baptized in a
Lutheran church though his parents were not Lutheran. At the age of 11, he
attended a Baptist Youth Camp where he knew for the first time that he had a
call on his life. After attending this
Baptist church for four years, the church experienced a split, and he became
disillusioned with the whole thing. From
that point, he began to “drift” away due to the theology of that church and the
"decision" to drift away lasted for about four years.
When he surrendered
his life to Christ in the early seventies, he began attending a local
Pentecostal church though he had no idea what was like since he grown up
as a Baptist. Shortly thereafter, he received the gift of tongues
and with his serious commitment to Christ, he began leading others to the Lord
and bringing them to the services. He was able to enter the denomination's
intern program after he had been fasted for twelve days. Likewise, he also received his Doctor of
Divinity from Christian International School of Theology.
Discipleship and
shepherding played an important role in our growth in life and in the ministry
and just like everyone else, Archbishop Adler was once a disciple. The three men who have affected his view of
life and ministry more than anyone else were: Pastor Arnold Godwin, Bishop Bill
Hamon and Elbert Willis. Pastor Arnold
Godwin allowed him to start in the ministry. Bishop Hamon taught him how
to hear the prophetic voice of the Holy Spirit and took him under his
wing. This mentoring period lasted about seventeen years and Bishop Hamon
even told him that he had a prophetic calling. Elbert Willis taught him
about faith and to ask God for whatever he needed for his life. He helped
Archbishop Adler financially to start his own church which is then, the St.
Michael’s Church in San Clemente.
When Archbishop
Adler recognized the gifts of the Holy Spirit and realized that the
easiest way to hear God was through fasting and prayer, he spent three hours a
day praying in the Spirit. When he began
this experiment in prayer, he had no idea that it would become a permanent part
of his daily devotions which proven to be the most significant change in his
life. As what Bishop Bill Hamon said to him, when no one wants to hear
what you have to say, spend your time in fasting.
From 1973 to 1982, he
went on fasting for many ten-day (or more). In 1982, he went on a
forty-day fast with his wife, Sis. Betty and this seemed to signal the end of
that ten-year fasting period. Fasting and
prayer became a foundation of his life in the ministry and he realized that
these are necessary to see God work miracles. He witnessed countless of
miracles and he was even certain that God could not have used him to do
miracles had he not been fasting and praying.
Years passed, God dealt
with Archbishop Randolph Adler certain areas of his understanding of the
Church. Dominion theology began to play a prominent role. He deals
with his transition from a classical Pentecostal theology to a more traditional
Reformed Protestant theology, and, subsequently, his move into liturgy and the
Sacraments. It was a dramatic shift in theology and it happened through
the prophetic gift. He continued to pursue what he has believed to be God’s
direction for both life and ministry. The journey
did not end when we became liturgical; it had only just begun.
On June 26, 1992, he was
ordained as Bishop and the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC for brevity) was
founded in United States. When the denomination first began, a House of
Bishops meeting was held in Tucson, Arizona and the bishops voted him into the
position of Archbishop of the CEC. During the second convocation in Jacksonville,
Florida in 1996, the bishops officially recognized him as Patriarch. In
the spring of 1997 at San Clemente, the House of Bishops formally pledged
themselves to him in a ceremony for the renewal of vows. It took him
about a year to deal with the culmination as there were so many things that he
had to work spiritually. He also taught the bishops about “consensus
government in and through the power of the Holy Spirit” as well as the
importance of the tithe in the life of the Church. Being placed in such a high place of
prominence, bearing the weight of the office and trying to work out his own
salvation is not an easy task.
In one of their House of
Bishop’s Meeting, Patriarch Randolph Adler called on the House of Bishops to
become a house of prayer. Describing the
temptation to become a legislative body with its own agenda and political
factions, he said that, “We need to come together, lay aside our own agendas
and wait on the Lord in intercession for this church. We must be a spiritual house that covers the
communion of the CEC around the world in prayer. This is our mandate, succeeding generations
of bishops must not succumb to a political process.” His love in prayer and the way he valued
prayer in his ministry marked with powerful works of the Holy Spirit in
deliverance, healing and the release of the gift of tongues which provides episcopal
covering and care.
When God raised up the
International Communion Charismatic Episcopal Church (ICCEC) to restore the
three streams of the Church: the sacramental, the evangelical and the
charismatic, Patriarch Adler travelled around the world and preached in 70
countries. In a short span of time, there
was a rapid, radical and tremendous growth of the CEC churches not only within
the United States but worldwide. No one anticipated
what God already accomplished or the speed which He has worked. God is faithful in everything He do.
In commemoration of the founding
of the CEC and the consecration of its First Bishop, Randolph Adler, the House
of Bishops in the year 1995 has added to the CEC’s liturgical observance, the
CEC Feast Day also known as Foundation Day today to be celebrated on the Sunday
closest to June 26. A special offering
will be taken in all the church of the CEC on this annual feast and the money
will be used to fund a specific ministry program or project selected for that
year by the Primate. Through the years, the
Foundation Day has been carried out to fund, helps churches build, relocate and
remodel.
During the Patriarch's Council Meeting on October 15, 2007, Patriarch Randolph Adler, requested to retire as Patriarch of the ICCEC and as Primate of the United States. The council accepted his request, expressing gratitude for all he had done in the formation and launching of the vision which led to the ICCEC.
In the lifetime of Patriarch Austin Randolph Adler, he devoted himself in prayer and fasting, in preaching and teaching, strengthening and equipping the flock, among others. When he was asked sometime in 1999, of what would be the most significant statement if he would write his own epitaph, he only answered three words: "God is faithful".
The late Patriarch Austin Randolph Adler joined his Creator and enjoy the blissful of heaven on December 9, 2016.
Lord of All Magazine
Sursum Corda, Vol. 6, Num. 1, 2, 3, 4, Interview with the Patriarch of the ICCEC by Philip Johnson
Sursum Corda, Vol. 5, Num. 10
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/theoaklandpress/name/austin-adler-obituary?id=16064321
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