Category: Episcopal Church

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45 YEARS AND STILL SERVING

Today marks the 45th anniversary of my Ordination to the Priesthood in the Episcopal Church. It is a milestone I find myself approaching with deep gratitude and no small amount of wonder. My journey to this point began even earlier, with my graduation from seminary 47 years ago, followed by a brief season of other work as a hospital chaplain and as deacon before I was ordained to the priesthood on this day at St. Lawrence Episcopal Church, in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

While I have stepped back from full-time parish ministry in retirement, the call to serve hasn’t quieted. I am already scheduled to supply at a local church three Sundays this month.  I wouldn’t have it any other way 

On a day like this, I am full of gratitude. I am profoundly thankful for my wife, whose steadfast love and support have made everything possible, and for my family and friends who have walked this road with me. I am equally grateful for the countless parishioners, colleagues, and fellow travelers I have been privileged to minister to and work alongside over these past 45 years. You have shaped me far more than you know.

Here’s to the journey head wherever it leads.

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GOD’S GENEROSITY TO ALL

A Faith that Does Justice has published another contribution of mine as the “Weekly Word.” The article poses the question, why do the people of God often fail to appreciate, or even notice, God’s many blessings and be thankful for them?

God’s Generosity to All
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THE BAPTISM OF JESUS AND OUR COVENANT WITH GOD AND ONE ANOTHER

The Baptism of Jesus and our Covenant with God and One Another

The Boston non-profit, A Faith that Does Justice, has published another submission of mine. This meditation examines Jesus as the “Beloved Son” of God who as such faces a difficult life as did Isaac and Jacob who were also “beloved sons.” It connects this account with the Baptismal Covenant of the Episcopal Church in which a promise is made “to respect the dignity of every human being.” Please read more!

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EUCHARISTIC COMMUNITY


Photo by Kate Remmer on Unsplash

Note: This is a follow-up to my post “We are Eucharistic Beings” from November 20, 2018.

All of the promises made in the Baptismal Covenant of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer are important. But the question that always stands out for me as a parish priest is, “Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?”

Making this promise puts us in continuity with the earliest church, the church of the apostles. In Acts 2:42 we read that the members of the earliest Christian community “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The central aspects of my ministry are shaped by this promise. I strive to teach and proclaim the apostolic faith of the church and to foster a Eucharistic community in which fundamental respect for the dignity of every person is not only welcomed but essential.

The other promises made in the Baptismal Covenant fall under this “devotion,” this commitment to living in a community formed by the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. We can only “respect the dignity of every human being” when we respect the members of our own community, the people we often know best but find most difficult to live with. In my ministry,  I find that people long for genuine community. They long for a place where they can love and be loved in return. This recapitulates the whole story of the Bible: God desires to form a people, first Israel and then the Church, who will love God and whom God will love in return.

In community, we have to learn to love people we do not necessarily like. That is why Christians need the Church. We need its community and fellowship if we are to grow and mature in our Christian lives. Christians need the church to teach them how to love others fully and to “seek and serve Christ in all persons.”

The response to the baptismal questions is important to keep in mind: “I will with God’s help.” Remaining in communion and fellowship with others is not always easy. We can only do it with God’s help, and God is always present to assist.

When we promise to continue in “the breaking of bread” we acknowledge that we are Eucharistic “companions,” literally, persons with whom we share bread. In a true Eucharistic community, we do not have to agree on everything. We only have to agree to continue to break bread and share it with one another. In a Eucharistic community, I believe, genuine diversity and differences of opinion can live side by side because in community we fundamentally live for one other.

Finally, when we promise to “continue in the prayers” we make a fundamental commitment that we will lift up and honor all of God’s people, and the world in which we live, before God. Prayer reminds us that everything we have comes from God and that nothing we have comes from ourselves alone. We are “Eucharistic beings” who are created by God to give thanks. It is only when we offer prayer and thanks to God and when we care to the utmost for those who are different from ourselves — always respecting the dignity of every human being — that we live into our full humanity.