AUTUMN A.D.

2019

VOL. 61 NO. 3
 Published quarterly by the Society for Promoting and Encouraging
Arts and Knowledge of the Church (SPEAK, Inc.).

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CHAIRMAN
THE REV. CHARLESTON D. WILSON
VICE CHAIRMAN
THE REV. CHRISTOPHER COLBY

SECRETARY/TREASURER
DR. E. MITCHELL SINGLETON
THE RT. REV. JOHN C. BAUERSCHMIDT,
THE RT. REV. ANTHONY J. BURTON,
THE REV. DR. C. BRYAN OWEN
MARIAN CHANCELLOR

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
THE RT. REV. ANTHONY F. M. CLAVIER,
CATHERINE S. SALMON

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do not necessarily represent those of the Board of Trustees.

ISSN 0003-3278 VOL. 61, NO. 3

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©2019 SPEAK, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

2 anglicandigest.org
 Reflecting the words and work of the
faithful throughout the Anglican
Communion for more than fifty years.

connecting gathering telling

For sixty-one years, The Anglican Digest (TAD) has been the
leading quarterly publication serving the Anglican Communion.
From its inception, TAD’s mission has been “to reflect the words
and work of the faithful throughout the Anglican Communion.”
At a time when print editions are becoming an endangered
species, TAD remains a familiar presence in the homes and
offices of many Episcopalians.

Founded in 1958 by the Rev. Howard Lane Foland (1908-1989),

our heritage is “Prayer Book Catholic,” and is open to the needs
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autumn 2019 3
 A Letter from the
Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Dear Anglican Digest Family,

St. John Chrysostom, a fascinating fourth century bishop,

claimed that Holy Scripture was like “a well with no bottom”;
in other words, its depth is unfathomable. St. Jerome, anoth-
er fourth century bishop, said “Ignorance of Scripture is ig-
norance of Christ.” A modern, rather crude, idiom we often
hear about wellness is “you are what you eat.” Well, the editors
have put together a delightful (and healthy) menu of articles
inspired by favorite Bible passages from our contributors. In
these pages, you will discover a feast indeed. Fill up and find
your spirit renewed. Please do send us a few prayers, and do
support us with a gift so that we may continue to offer this
ministry in more than 60 countries across the Anglican Com-
munion. With every good wish and prayer, I am:

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Charleston David Wilson,

Chairman of the Board of Trustees

4 anglicandigest.org
6 Speaking Hope

8 The Tree of Life

12 Is All Saints’ Day Still Relevant?

16 Be Fed and Go Feed

20 Wild Bread and Wild Jesus

23 Welcome

27 Book Review

37 Rejoice in the Lord

40 Sheep With Human Faces

43 When He Had Found Him

46 I Love to Tell the Story

49 Speak, Lord, Your Servant is Listening

53 A God Seen Only in Retrospect

QQQQQ

Cover Photo Marc Langille, © 2013

autumn 2019 5
connecting

SPEAKING HOPE that the many people who en-

couraged me to take this big
The Rev. Steven W. Lawler
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, step knew what they were
Ferguson, MO talking about when they said,
“You can do this.” But I most-
For I am persuaded, that ly believed they were wrong.
neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, I blathered my wreck of an ac-
nor powers, nor things ademic history to him almost
present, nor things to come, immediately after meeting
Nor height, nor depth, nor him. I remember his kindly
any other creature, shall presence more than his re-
be able to separate us from sponse. To use a phrase that
the love of God, which is a pastor friend uses often and
in Christ Jesus our Lord. well, he “spoke hope to me.”
(Romans 8:38-39)
When he died two months
One of the first services I at- into my second semester, I
tended as a new Episcopalian did not feel hope, but instead
was for a man I hardly knew. loss – terrible, unimaginable,
I was a college student who painful loss. When a col-
both found and was found league of his read from what
by the Episcopal Church. would soon be referred to as
The man was a retired faculty the “old” prayer book (1928),
member who had been very I caught a glimpse of his face
kind to me as I started college – and in that moment I un-
at age 23. I was a high school derstood, before I had the
drop-out, and my prepared- phrase for it, what “speaking
ness for this new phase of ed- hope” means.
ucation was spotty at best. I
came to school with the hope Origen, Calvin, Luther, and

6 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

Barth wrote commentaries on vinced” means that I am com-

this Epistle of Paul to the Ro- pletely certain about some-
mans. More recently, very fine thing. “Persuaded” means I
commentaries have been pub- am being moved to some-
lished by Brendan Byrne, SJ thing. In times where hope
and Scot McKnight. Reading is absent, I am explicitly not
each of these writers as they certain. Yet through grace in
attend to the bold crescendo these times, I may be moved.
that is the 8th chapter of Ro-
The depth and subtlety neces-
mans, one is reminded of how
sity to feel that hopelessness is
much there is to make of this
animated by “angels or princi-
brilliant work, and how care-
palities” is the stuff of Dwight
ful we must be in reading into
Moody or Mother Theresa.
the text our own wants, needs,
With my clay feet, times of
biases, and afflictions. These
commentaries offer many and hopelessness are caused by
more earthly creatures – some
profound insights, but for me
I work with, some who are on
the text is most alive when it
the nightly news, and most
is heard in times of loss, fear,
often the pedestrian one that
or anxiety.
I am. The cosmos and higher
and lower beings are not my
This simple passage read as
challenge. People are.
part of the 1928 Burial Office
brings us words like “per- These two verses have been
suaded,” and phrases like “nor heard by those gathered to
any other creature.” Lingering mourn someone who reached
with them brings more of the into their 10th decade, and
real-life power of Paul’s claim read as parents stand devas-
than the “convinced” and tated staring at their child’s
“neither angels nor demons” small coffin. They have been
of newer translations. “Con- clutched by lonely saints in

autumn 2019 7
connecting

squalid places and pondered is vexed by the very demons

by those whose lives are be- that the Bible imagines. She
yond comfortable. On that clutched a well-worn Bible. I
cold winter day in Northern asked for it, read from it, then
Illinois, a man who had long gave her a bookmark so she
spoken hope to students, staff, could find it and read it again
his dying wife, and much and again.
earlier in his life to his can-
My hope continues to be that
cer-riddled young adult son,
these words wend their way
wanted us to hear what for
into the troubled spirits of
him shone through hopeless-
these two hearers as they have
ness’ darkness as the precious
continued to into my own
light that he staked his whole
spirit in these 40 years since I
life on. He chose this lesson
first truly heard them.
because for him it was true.
Although biblical texts and
Two times recently, I have of- images inhabit our liturgies,
fered these verses in the face new and old, no single scrip-
of hopelessness. Once was to ture comes to my mind more
the mother of a 36-year-old often than this one.
for whose life she fears daily.
I reminded her that Paul was
in chains on his way to death. THE TREE OF LIFE
I prayed for her child and, as I
The Rev. Chris Arnold
write this, I am hoping that he Trinity Episcopal Church,
makes it through today. The Oshkosh, WI
second time, this past Sunday,
was to a young woman whose There’s one verse in the Bible
addictions and mental health that always brings tears to my
challenges have her hearing eyes. It’s a very strange thing
voices and believing that she — I’m not one of those men
8 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

who is ashamed to cry, but I You know, I hope, the section

don’t cry easily. But I always from which this comes? If not,
tear up, get that little catch in please stop reading my poor
my throat, when I run into words, take up your Bible,
this verse. and read the 21st and 22nd
chapters of the Revelation
I can hear it read, or read it of St. John the Divine. They
out loud, or just be reading it are the epilogue, the closing
in the course of my prayer; it chapters, of the entire Bible.
doesn’t change my response. Maybe you’ve skimmed Reve-
Here’s the verse: “the leaves lation and been fascinated, or
of the tree are for the healing creeped out, or put off, by the
of the nations.” It’s the end of bowls of blood and the drag-
Revelation 22:2. The leaves of ons and the destruction. It’s a
the tree are for the healing of bizarre book, and needs to be
the nations. Tears, every time. treated with caution. But push
A feeling of hope, springing through to the very end — or
up out of my heart. just skip straight to it — and
I have no idea why. The Lord we break through the smoke
plucks the strings of our and fire and roaring of the an-
hearts to his own hidden gelic host in battle to a peace-
melody. But my years of lec- ful place. We break through
tio divina practice tell me to the vision John is given of
notice the emotions, and to the new heaven and the new
wonder about them, but not earth.
to worry about them. So I
wonder why this passage res- According to the vision, this
onates so much for me, and is how it all ends: Not with
so faithfully. There’s obviously the destruction of the plan-
something special about that et, but the re-creation of cre-
tree and its leaves. ation. The heavenly Jerusalem

autumn 2019 9
connecting

comes to earth, and the city of the woods behind my house.

God is the city we’ve all been My favorite parts of being a
longing for since we first start- Boy Scout were the camping
ed longing. We were driven and hiking trips, out in na-
out of Eden, the Garden, but ture, learning about creation.
in the end we wind up in Je- Indeed, my first forays into a
rusalem, the City, where God religious life were in the world
will dwell with us for ever. of Wicca and Neo-Pagan-
ism at the end of high school
These last two chapters of the and the beginning of college.
Bible describe that heavenly I connected with nature. The
city. It sounds beautiful — heavenly city sounds wonder-
everything is gold and glass, ful, of course, but I guess I’m
precious stones and pearls. glad that there are trees and a
But it’s not all hard edges and river in paradise. I like rivers.
angles. The passage I love I like trees.
sits in the first two verses of
chapter 22: “Then [the angel] Just this summer, my wife and
showed me the river of the I got out to Olympic Nation-
water of life, bright as crystal,
al Park in Washington State,
flowing from the throne of and up into Southeast Alaska.
God and of the Lamb through I realized how refreshing it
the middle of the street of the was to be away from the city
city; also, on either side of the
where I live, and from the
river, the tree of life with itsvery controlled agricultural
twelve kinds of fruit, yielding land around me. When we
its fruit each month; and the are in cities, or in landscapes
leaves of the tree were for the controlled by humans, all we
healing of the nations.” see is the evidence of human
I suppose I’m a bit of a hippy. power, ability, and control.
I grew up wandering around When we get out into wilder-

10 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

ness, we are reminded of the endless harvest, and a perpet-

immense power of God. ual bounty of nourishment
for all.
And that power is life.
And then the words that, for
So I am delighted that there
some reason I don’t under-
is a place in the age to come
stand, bring tears of hope to
for the creation that isn’t just
my eyes when I hear them:
humanity. I’m delighted that
“The leaves of the tree are for
there’s a river there, and trees.
the healing of the nations.”
God has made these things,
Oh, how I love that the na-
and I’m glad that I shall get
tions shall be healed! How
to enjoy them in the age to
I love that the damage done
come — assuming I make it
when our first ancestors ate
to heaven! And the river — it’s
the fruit from one tree shall
as though there is a physical,
material symbol of the grace be healed and restored by the
leaves of another!
that flows from the throne of
God. I am writing this on the com-
memoration of St. Francis of
I wonder about that tree, too. Assisi, who so easily saw the
It’s a little strange that the work of God in all creation.
tree is on either side of the The maple trees on my street
river. How is there a tree on are starting to turn their bril-
either side of a river? Is the liant red. I wonder if you and
trunk massive, with a tunnel I will find ourselves thinking
through the middle of it, like about the leaves of the tree
those big redwoods in North- of life that will heal us, our
ern California? I love that the friends, our enemies. Lord,
tree of life has different kinds who hung upon the tree of the
of fruit, yielding fruit in each Cross for our salvation, bring
month. A diversity of fruit, an us quickly to the tree of life!

autumn 2019 11
connecting

IS ALL SAINTS’ DAY not have died.” It wasn’t the

STILL RELEVANT? first time someone had said
“if only” after a death, and it
The Rev. Dr. Virginia L. Bennett certainly wouldn’t be the last.
(retired)
Grace Episcopal Church,
Kirkwood, MO Scripture says Jesus was deep-
ly moved. The Greek suggests
Some years ago, a scholar of Jesus wasn’t just moved, but
ancient history said, “If an ed- angry; ready to explode. No-
ucated Greek or Roman had tice that Jesus didn’t say any-
been told that someone had thing like, “There there, his
been raised from the dead, soul is free at last!” or “God
his first question would have must need him more than we
been, ‘How do we get him do”. His grief was so raw that
back into his grave again?’” he wept bitter tears. His an-
On All Saints’ Day, the lec- ger was so hot that it explod-
tionary usually points us to ed into bringing Lazarus out
the Beatitudes from Jesus’ from the grave.
Sermon on the Mount, or
the raising of Lazarus. The But after that, we hear nothing
message Jesus received about more about Lazarus. As far as
Lazarus being ill didn’t seem we know, he didn’t go to work
urgent. Lazarus lived in Ju- for a hospice, or write about
dea, and Jesus was already in his experience. Although the
hot water with the authorities raising of Lazarus may be a
there. Whatever the reasons foretaste of the Resurrection,
for Jesus’ delay, by the time he it wasn’t a resurrection; it was
arrived it was too late. Mary just a temporary reprieve. In
and Martha said those poi- spite of the fact that his ‘pretty
gnant words: “If only you had dead’ experience didn’t finish
been here our brother would him off, it didn’t prevent the

12 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

day coming when a ‘complete- things we should be thinking

ly dead’ experience would. about these days. After all,
we’re earthlings, consumed
When Elie Wiesel stood be- with important earthly things,
fore the Holocaust Museum, like the political discord across
with Buchenwald and Aus- this country and the world at
chwitz on his mind, he said large, increasing violence and
“Remember, remember, re- bloodshed in our own country
member.” On All Saints’ Day, and abroad. Leave the things
we remember the saints; all of heaven for another day,
those who have been God’s many would say. But the saints
instruments in this world. concern earthly life.

In a world thick with amnesia, While passages from the

a world where there’s a great Book of Revelation are often
deal of self-centeredness and read on All Saints’ Day, as
arrogance, we will soon cele- well as at funerals, it was writ-
brate All Saints’ Day and bap- ten when the Christians of
tize new Christians. We are Asia Minor were undergoing
given the title ‘saint’ by virtue a savage time of persecution.
of our baptism. The moment While many meanings have
we came up dripping from been given for John’s dream
those baptismal waters, we or vision in the Book of Reve-
were called to be forever dif- lation, at the very least it’s the
ferent. While some have said message that human suffering
a saint is a dead sinner who is not unique, and that God
just never got caught, such knows and cares. It is poetry
definitions miss the truth. and high emotion. Like the
raising of Lazarus, it’s the cur-
However, we might feel as tain drawn back enough to re-
though saints are the last veal that God will have the last

autumn 2019 13
connecting

word. It’s trusting that the way

visions or dreams, it was often
things are now is not the way to denounce their killers. In
things will always be. On the the ancient world, there was
Feast of All Saints’, our procla-
absolutely no assumption that
mation is that most political of
every life was precious. Fa-
statements: God reigns. Our thers had the right to kill their
ultimate hope doesn’t depend children in certain situations,
upon politicians, armies, or as masters did their slaves.
the economy, but upon God, Crowds flocked to see the
and God alone. ‘theatre’ of public executions.
It still happens in this world,
Every life experiences an- in public as well as behind
guish, days when we feel embassy doors.
alone, cut off from God, from And while Christians have
each other. We feel like out- never been perfect in their
siders looking in, standing endeavors throughout histo-
at the edge, wondering, does ry, the fact is that Christianity
anyone notice, does anyone brought an irreversible shift
care? Does God care? This is in thinking about the value of
essentially what happened to every human life, value which
Mary and Martha when their could not be extinguished by
brother Lazarus became sick violence or death: That God
and died. holds on to the lives of all the
departed.
The news that someone had
been raised from the tomb, The entire New Testament
whether Lazarus or Jesus, declares that, because of the
would have been as disturb- Resurrection, we are called
ing for the Jew as for the to be caught up in the life of
Greek. In the ancient world, God now so that we might
when the dead appeared in be grasped so much by God

14 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

that we will be used for God’s would call out from the con-
purposes in the here and now. gregation, “Present!” When
The Church not only needs the assembly is gathered be-
the saints of the cloister, but fore God, the lost are indeed
saints immersed in the strug- present. When we pray at the
gles of today, remembering Eucharist “joining our voices
that those who reflect the with Angels and Archangels,
holiness of God will always and with all the company of
challenge the world. It needs heaven,” we’re saying “Pres-
mystics who see through the ent!” for all those the world
shadows of the world, re- would forget, but whom God
minding us that God is great- remembers.
er than the shadows.
In one of England’s most be-
The Communion of Saints loved hymns, and mine, “I
isn’t just an echo of voices that Vow to thee My Country”, we
death has silenced, but saints find these words, written by
in the sense that something Cecil Spring Rice:
of the warmth and brightness
of God’s presence in them not And there’s another coun-
only touched us while they try, I’ve heard of long ago,
were among us, but continues Most dear to them that
to touch us now. love her, most great to them
that know;
When death squads operated We may not count her
in countries like Argentina or armies, we may not see her
El Salvador, during the Holy King,
Eucharist Christians there Her fortress is a faithful
would read out the names of heart, her pride is suffering;
those killed or disappeared, And soul by soul and si-
and for each name, someone lently, her shining bounds

autumn 2019 15
connecting

increase, BE FED AND GO

And her ways are ways of FEED
gentleness and all her paths
are peace. The Rev. James C. Pappas III
Sewanee, TN
When we baptize new saints,
we graft them onto all those John’s account of the resurrec-
whose presence in the Church tion appearance on the sea-
has gone before us, those shore (John 21:1-19) begins
whose very essence lingers on with one of my favorite verses
earth, upon whose shoulders of scripture: Peter says to the
all the baptized stand. Yes, others, “I’m going fishing.” I
their days will have sadness, suppose I like it because, as
but to that Jesus says “Dry a fisherman myself, it’s what
your tears little ones. God’s I most wish that I could be
tomorrow has already begun.” doing many days. But I also
For all the saints, for those identify with the sentiment
whose lives reflect the glory of behind it. Even after hearing
God, for those wise ones who the testimony of the women,
embodied for us the shape of even after seeing the empty
faith, for those dear departed tomb with his own eyes, even
ones for whom we still grieve, after encountering Jesus in the
for those whom we hope to locked upper room, Peter just
meet on another shore, for all can’t get his head around the
the saints, we thank you, most idea that Jesus has been raised
gracious loving God. And we from the dead, or about what
pray that we might be count- this means for Peter’s own life.
ed among them. So he goes back to doing what
he had done before he ever
encountered Jesus in the first
place. Compared to following
16 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

Jesus, fishing is easy, even if net nearly breaks, 153 fish

you don’t catch anything. from a single cast of the net!
I love that the story tells us
I love the details about how such an exact number, that
this encounter with the risen one of the guys there actu-
Jesus takes place. Fishermen ally took the time to count
can all identify with the frus- those fish because he wanted
tration of a long day or night to remember every detail of
spent fishing without having the encounter (and probably
caught a single fish. And so because, like all fishermen,
the willingness of the dis- he wanted to be able to brag
ciples to follow the instruc- about it later). It is in the mo-
tions of a seeming stranger ment of this huge catch that
isn’t surprising at all. When the disciples recognize Jesus.
I run into a fellow angler on Now at first I find this unusu-
the banks of a lake or stream al: In the other resurrection
or the ocean, the conversation accounts, it is in a moment
always starts with questions of breaking bread, or maybe
like “Have you caught any- in hearing Jesus speak their
thing?” or “What are you us- names, that the various dis-
ing?” I think that in moments ciples come to recognize the
of desperation, most fisher- risen Lord. But in this story, it
men would be willing to try is in a huge catch of fish. It’s an
anything to get a fish to bite. odd detail, until you remem-
So being told to toss the net in ber that in John’s gospel, the
on the other side of the boat is multiplication of loaves and
an instruction that I wouldn’t fishes is the central Eucharis-
even blink at. tic story. So nets swelling with
fish bring back the memory of
What is surprising is the huge a few loaves of bread and two
catch — so many fish that the fish that somehow managed

autumn 2019 17
connecting

to feed thousands, with bas- stick with me. And it makes

kets full of leftovers remain- me love the story of Jesus
ing. And if the image hasn’t making a breakfast of bread
yet set in for them, when they and fish for the disciples that
get to shore, Jesus already has much more.
a meal of bread and fish wait-
ing for them. But beyond just finding an
affinity for the story of break-
When I was still in high fast on the seashore, I love
school, I went one summer the fact that, despite having
for a canoe trip in Queti- already prepared a meal for
co Park in southern Ontario them, Jesus invites the disci-
province in Canada. I didn’t ples to bring some of the fish
shell out the money for a fish- that they just caught and add
ing permit, but some of the them to the meal. That’s the
other guys on the trip did. way Jesus always operates:
One morning, they got up be- He always invites each dis-
fore the rest of us and caught ciple to bring his or her own
a few walleye pike. Not 153 of gifts and add them to what he
them, and nothing so big that is already doing. The meal is
the lines were ever in danger already prepared; there is al-
of breaking. But the rest of us ready enough cooked so that
woke up that morning to the everyone can have breakfast,
smell of fish frying and pan- but Jesus isn’t satisfied with
cakes being made. I think that that. It isn’t enough for Jesus
lakeshore breakfast of freshly to feed them by sharing what
caught walleye and a couple he has; the sharing must be
of pancakes has to be one of made complete by adding
the best breakfasts I’ve ever what only the disciples them-
eaten in my life. It is certain- selves can share.
ly a memory that will always

18 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

It’s that way with us too. Jesus about his relationship to Je-
shares himself with us at the sus, he had denied over and
Eucharistic table. He feeds over that he even knew Jesus
us with his own Body and at all. So now Jesus gives Pe-
Blood. But he also asks us to ter the chance to take back the
bring ourselves and lay our denial and proclaim his love
own bodies on the altar as for Jesus. But it isn’t enough
well. Each one of us is in the for Peter to say that he loves
unique position of being able Jesus. Jesus tells him over and
to share our own lives and to over that, if he loves Jesus,
offer them to God and to one then he has to put that love
another. Jesus invites us to be- into action and feed and care
come a part of the story, not for those who have been en-
just to give some sort of intel- trusted by God to Jesus’ care.
lectual assent to who he was
and is, but to actually become The same thing goes for us. It
part of the action, to take up isn’t enough for us to come to
our own place as those who church on Sunday and pro-
give of ourselves and feed and claim belief in God. It isn’t
care for one another and for enough for us to affirm that
those beyond our present fel- Jesus died and was raised for
lowship. us. If we’re going to proclaim
this faith, then we have to do
In case we need to reinforce something about it. We need
that invitation, John goes on to offer our own selves to the
to share the story of what service of others. We need to
happens between Jesus and feed those who are hungry,
Peter after that breakfast on and shelter those who are
the beach: The last time Pe- homeless, and clothe those
ter stood around a charcoal who are naked, and heal those
fire with someone asking him who are sick, and visit those

autumn 2019 19
connecting

who are lonely or imprisoned. WILD BREAD AND

Jesus asks us, just like Peter, WILD JESUS —
if we love him; in response to A REFLECTION
our answer, he gives us work ON JOHN 6
that must be done.
The Ven. Malcolm French, SCP
Vicar of Cambridge,
The good news is that we Archdeacon of Maungatautari
don’t do this work on our Diocese of Waikato and
own. Jesus still begins, just Taranaki, Anglican Church
in Aotearoa, New Zealand and
as he did with those first dis- Polynesia
ciples, by feeding us. He calls
us together around his table Most of us don’t make our
and forms us into a commu- own bread, or even eat a lot
nity. He invites us to share of homemade bread. Most of
ourselves with each other just us buy our bread at the gro-
as he shares himself with each cery store. And the bread at
of us. And only then does he the grocery store was blend-
send us out to do the work of ed and kneaded by machines,
following him, of giving our- put into large containers to
selves up so that others can be rise, cut into loaf-sized pieces
fed. Come to the Eucharistic by machines, put into indus-
banquet and be fed. And then trial ovens to bake, and sliced
go out and feed. and bagged by machines. You
can tell by the flavour and the
texture of the bread that it is
store-bought, machine-made,
industrial bread.
We know bread can be better
than that. That’s why artisanal
bread has become a thing.
20 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

Some of us even bake our crumbly thing. But real bread

own bread at home, at least is a wild thing.
occasionally. When you make
your own bread at home, it’s Last year our curate led a
just not the same. You have study on daily life in ancient
that smell in your house when Israel. As part of that study, he
you bake bread — some of us demonstrated how bread was
remember that smell from made in the ancient world.
childhood. And the way the He even built an oven in his
bread feels in your hand and back yard; it looked like one
in your mouth is entirely dif- of those volcanos schoolchil-
ferent than the bread you buy dren make for science fairs.
at the grocery store. It was a clay oven, open at
the top. He built a fire in the
In the past year or so, I have oven so that the clay would
learned that commercially set; some days later, he made
available yeast is only about his dough, built a new fire in
150 years old. Prior to that, the oven, rolled the dough
to make bread, you either (leavened or unleavened) into
had to save a lump of dough little balls, flattened it out, and
from the last bread you made reach into the fire to slap the
to put into the new batch to bread up against the wall of
provide the yeast and make it the oven to bake. That’s how
rise, or else you had to leave people made bread in ancient
your dough sitting out and Israel.
hope, with no guarantee, that To a modern person, it’s an
it would come in contact with odd process. It seems to me
wild yeast that was in the air. that sticking your hand into
the fire is a bit counterintu-
We’ve domesticated bread. itive. You don’t even have a
We’ve made it into a tasteless, guarantee how it’s going to
autumn 2019 21
connecting

turn out because some of the We’ve domesticated our re-

dough will fall off and into ligion. The difficulty is not
the fire. You even have to believing that Jesus is Lord,
guess when exactly the bread but believing that Jesus is Je-
is done, though I expect that sus. “What Would Jesus Do?”
would get easier with experi- Sometimes the answer is that
ence. he would turn over tables and
use a whip.
Bread, in its natural state, is a
wild thing. But we live in a so- We’ve domesticated Jesus
ciety where we have domesti- — or we’ve tried to domesti-
cated bread and taken the life cate him. Yet somehow, Jesus
right out of it. Think of Won- comes to us anyway, in any
der Bread, one of the first in- number of ways, but he comes
dustrially-baked, pre-sliced, to us in a particular way in the
packaged breads. Mostly, you Sacrament.
wonder if it’s actually bread, Now, as Anglo-Catholic as
but that is the kind of bread my heart is, and as much as
most of us grew up with. I understand the practicality
of wafers, sometimes it is eas-
We live in a society that has ier for me to believe that the
also taken Jesus and domesti- bread is Jesus than to believe
cated him: Gentle Jesus, meek that the bread is bread.
and mild. Sweet Jesus. Isn’t it
nice that Jesus is nice? Find But Jesus comes to us in this
me the passage in Scripture bread. Jesus comes to us in
that tells me Jesus is nice. Find this bread week after week.
me the passage in Scripture Jesus comes to us to feed us.
that tells me niceness is one of Jesus comes to us to feed us
the fruits of the Spirit. with that wild bread that is
the wild Jesus. Jesus comes to

22 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

us to feed us, to nourish us, so you have begun to get

that we may go out into the your Tabernacle. Now go
world in his name. out into the highways and
hedges where not even the
At the Anglo-Catholic Con- Bishops will try to hinder
gress in London in 1923, in you. Go out and look for
the concluding address, Bish- Jesus in the ragged, in the
op Frank Weston of Zanzibar naked, in the oppressed
touched on then-recent con- and sweated, in those who
troversies about tabernacles have lost hope, in those
and about the reservation of who are struggling to make
the Sacrament. With that as good. Look for Jesus. And
his starting point, he spoke of when you see him, gird
the implications of knowing yourselves with his towel
Jesus in the Sacrament: “You and try to wash their feet.
cannot claim to worship Jesus
in the Tabernacle, if you do Jesus comes to us in the Sac-
not pity Jesus in the slum.” rament to nourish us to do
the ministry Jesus calls us to
He went on to say: do: To look for Jesus in those
“It is folly — it is madness who need to know Jesus, and
— to suppose that you can to serve them in the name of
worship Jesus in the Sac- Jesus.
raments and Jesus on the
Throne of glory, when you
are sweating him in the
souls and bodies of his chil- WELCOME
dren. It cannot be done.” The Rev. J. Paris Coffey (retired)
Diocese of Chicago
Then, at the end he said:
You have got your Mass, Now all the tax collectors
you have got your Altar, and sinners were com-

autumn 2019 23
connecting

ing near to listen to Jesus. never find his way home on

And the Pharisees and the his own. Not surprisingly,
scribes were grumbling he would never come when
and saying, “This fellow called — but, ever hopeful, I
welcomes sinners and eats scoured the neighborhood,
with them.” (Luke 15:1-2) calling his name. Neighbors
joined in, until I finally spot-
For eighteen wonderful years, ted my wayward dog digging
our family included a 75- through some trash. Gently
pound canine named Bingo. I coaxed him to me with a
Half Bloodhound/half Lab- morsel of food, and when he
rador, Bingo was a prominent succumbed, I threw my arms
presence in our lives. He was around his neck. I had him!
devoted but disobedient, star- Then, hooking his collar to a
tling guests with his hair-rais- leash, I traversed the neigh-
ing howl. He gnawed be- borhood again, shouting to
longings from sofas to shoes all that Bingo had been found.
and, despite our best efforts, Dread gave way to joy in our
flunked obedience school. To reunion – unadulterated joy,
say that Bingo was a handful is which had nothing to do with
to put it mildly, and so it might merit. It had nothing to do
surprise you to learn that with Bingo’s behavior, but ev-
when Bingo went missing one erything to do with love.
day, I felt nothing but panic.
In the fifteenth chapter of
He escaped from our yard, Luke, such love is beyond the
which he had done before, comprehension of the Phari-
but this time we were in a sees and scribes. Their theolo-
different house. Bingo did gy is rooted in merit, prompt-
not know the neighborhood, ing them to grumble when
and I was sure that he would Jesus welcomes the wayward.

24 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

“Keep the letter of the law is more than the Pharisees can
and you will earn God’s fa- bear, or perhaps more than
vor,” these guardians of the they can even grasp. After all,
law insist. “Slip up and you Luke 15:1-2 and the parable of
will be banished from com- the lost sheep that follows are
munity.” To slip up and not be about the unconditional love
banished is nothing short of of One who welcomes all. All
apostasy to scribes and Phar- of us are sinners — whether
isees, which means that Jesus’ we know it or not — leading
approach to sinners in Luke Jesus to not only welcome sin-
15 threatens the very ground ners but to seek them out!
of their religious beliefs. “This
fellow welcomes sinners and What a stark contrast between
eats with them,” they say with the extravagant generosity of
shock, clueless to the fact that Jesus and the small stinginess
they are sinners, too. Instead that hangs over law-abiding
they grumble, shocked that scribes and Pharisees. “This
Jesus — who should know the fellow welcomes sinners and
letter of the law — exhibits eats with them,” they say in
such unorthodox behavior disbelief, for in Jewish cul-
ture eating together is one
Their shock lies not in the the closest forms of intima-
fact that Jesus admonishes cy. With whom one eats is a
sinners, preaches to them, matter of serious concern, but
or even forgives them, but Jesus places no conditions on
that he welcomes them. He his dinner guests. Repentance
welcomes tax collectors and is not a pre-condition to being
prostitutes, whom the Phari- welcomed in, but an outcome.
sees and scribes are sure have
nothing in common with “I tell you, there will be more
them. Jesus’ radical behavior joy in heaven over one sinner

autumn 2019 25
connecting

who repents than over nine- so that God can find us. After
ty-nine righteous persons all, bumper stickers that tout,
who need no repentance,” “I found it!” are bad theolo-
Jesus says in the parable of gy. We are the ones who are
the lost sheep (Luke 15:7). In found. We are the ones sought
addition, Jesus says, “Let any- after, retrieved, and welcomed
one with ears to hear listen!” by the God who loves us and
Apparently the Pharisees and will not let us go, which is
scribes are not listening, but good news.
these other sinners are. They
listen and are welcomed, and It is news that should fill us
being welcomed, they repent. with hope, for unlike the
scribes and Pharisees driv-
To repent means literally “to en by their fear of sin, God’s
change your mind — to come love depends not on who we
to your senses — and turn in are but on who God is. Fear
a new direction,” while the drives us to do foolish things
word translated in Luke 15 as — as Washington Post colum-
“sin” comes from a Greek ar- nist William Raspberry once
chery term meaning “to miss wrote about modern America,
the mark and so not share in “We keep imagining that the
the prize.” The prize is union problem is that young people
with God and one another, aren’t frightened enough, so
which we do not have to earn. we keep toughening criminal
God’s love is freely offered, sanctions to the point where
but we may have to come to our national incarceration
our senses to receive it. We rate is the highest in the west-
may have to turn in a new ern world. The real problem is
direction to stop judging oth- that our young people aren’t
ers, stop lying to ourselves, hopeful enough.”
stop running from the truth

26 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

The Pharisees and scribes A REVIEW OF

would have us live in fear, but ONE-MINUTE
God fills us with the hope and STEWARDSHIP:
the promise of love. In fact, CREATIVE WAYS
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MONEY IN CHURCH
“Give me your tired, your The Rev. Charleston D. Wilson
poor, your huddled masses Church of the Redeemer,
Sarasota, FL
yearning to breathe free,” we
once invited, “The wretched It’s stewardship season again
refuse of your teeming shore. in most parishes, which means
Send these, the homeless, clergy, stewardship commit-
tempest-tost to me, I lift my tees, and stewardship profes-
lamp beside the golden door!” sionals around the country are
scrambling. No one is looking
God welcomes all to the ta- for lectures on why Christians
ble. May we, in turn, welcome should give — we all know the
others. theology behind giving — but
if you’re looking to raise mon-
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book you can pick up for just fessionals, including both lay
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seven sections, the most valu- might itself be expanded in
able is Section VI, which eas- the future to become a sepa-
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one third of the book. In this
Readers who know the joys
section, Fr. Cloughen pro-
and pitfalls of parish steward-
vides dozens of brief, inspir-
ship will also appreciate the
ing meditations on a number
author’s sense of humor and
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the final analysis, One-Min-
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Of significant value, but not of ardship committees, profes-
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 ANGLICAN
BOOKSTORE

We offer many titles for sale through our in house book supplier, the Anglican Bookstore.
We also offer bargain books, which are priced at $3.00 each. You may also order by calling
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The Anglican Bookstore

JOY IN CONFESSION: RECLAIMING
SACRAMENTAL RECONCILIATION
By Hillary D. Raining
Reconciliation is one of the most beautiful
and life-changing gifts that Jesus offers us,
as well as one of the most misunderstood.
Joy in Confession combines art therapy,
scholarship, theology, and worship to create a powerful expe-
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In this accessible, user-friendly workbook, the author pro-
vides compelling evidence of transformation for individuals
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we would but answer the call.
ITEM F012 (153 pages, $15)

MORNING RESOLVE: TO LIVE A SIMPLE, SINCERE,

AND SERENE LIFE
By Patrick Allen
“A Morning Resolve,” an Episcopal prayer printed on the inside
front cover of Forward Day by Day, is a “help me tend my spir-
itual garden” prayer. It asks for God’s help in living a simple,

30 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

sincere, and serene life, by repelling negative

thoughts and attitudes, cultivating positive
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ticing faithful daily habits, and depending
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ITEM F013 (178 pages, $23)
A LIFE THAT IS GOOD: THE MESSAGE
OF PROVERBS IN A WORLD WANTING
WISDOM
By Glenn Pemberton
Somewhere out there is the “good life,” and
we’re all scrambling to get it. The author
maintains in this book that we will find this
good life not in good things but in living well
— and the biblical book of Proverbs teaches us how to live that
life. Though based on solid biblical scholarship, this is not a
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ITEM E1284 (paperback, 254 pages, $18)

autumn 2019 31
connecting

PRAYING THE STATIONS OF THE

CROSS: FINDING HOPE IN A WEARY
LAND
By Margaret Adams Parker
and Katherine Sonderegger
“Suffering, sorrow, injustice, confusion, and
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Stations can offer consolation and comfort
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— From the introduction
The ancient practice of praying the Stations of the Cross
strengthens our awareness of God’s healing presence. Ground-
ed in Scripture, the Stations remind readers of the overarching
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with long familiarity. Equally useful for individuals or groups.
ITEM E1285 (hardcover, 128 pages, $22)

LIGHT WHEN IT COMES: TRUSTING JOY, FACING

DARKNESS, AND SEEING GOD IN EVERYTHING
By Chris Anderson
We all have moments of joy, moments that move us somehow,
spiritual moments that we can’t quite put a finger on – but then
life rushes in and we move on and soon forget. In this book,

32 anglicandigest.org
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Chris Anderson encourages us to remember

and share such moments. What he writes will
inspire readers who are hurting, doubting,
or searching to find wisdom and meaning in
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dition — the examen of conscience — An-
derson spurs readers to take stock of their
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ITEM E1286 (paperback, 181 pages, $17)

ONE-MINUTE STEWARDSHIP: CREATIVE WAYS

TO TALK ABOUT MONEY IN CHURCH
By Charles Cloughen, Jr.
One-Minute Stewardship is designed to
promote the development of a meaning-
ful theology of giving in a new age. These
short reflections — helpfully indexed by
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can be included in weekly parish e-mails,
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The book addresses the issue of designated
giving, which is usually separate from gen-

autumn 2019 33
connecting

eral stewardship appeals and is designed to empower clergy

and lay leaders to promote the message of good stewardship
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ITEM CP01 (paperback, 200 pages, $17)

FOR CHILDREN
THE SPY AT JACOB’S LADDER: AND OTHER BIBLE
STORIES FROM THE INSIDE OUT
By Lindsay Hardin Freeman
and Paul Shaffer
In the kingdom of God, every single
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ITEM F014 (paperback, 108 pages, $12)
gathering telling

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34 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

REJOICE IN THE Many of you may recognize

LORD the final sentence of that
quotation as the preface of
The Rt. Rev. Anthony F. M. the blessing which may con-
Clavier
St. Thomas’ Church, clude Morning or Evening
Glen Carbon, IL Prayer; perhaps the rest is
regulated to that portion of
Rejoice in the Lord always:
our minds which houses all
and again I say, Rejoice.
those lovely biblical verses
Let your moderation be
we feel to be impractical in
known unto all men. The
“real” life”, such as turning the
Lord is at hand. Be careful
other cheek and loving our
for nothing; but in every
enemies. Christians are very
thing by prayer and sup-
good at compartmentalizing
plication with thanksgiv-
their lives. We have our pious
ing let your requests be
life — the one that goes with
made known unto God.
a Sunday-morning face we
And the peace of God,
believe portrays holiness, and
which passeth all under-
others may attribute to dys-
standing, shall keep your
pepsia — and then there’s our
hearts and minds through
weekday appearance, ready to
Christ Jesus. (Philippians
do battle over politics, ecolo-
4:4-7)
gy, the poor or football. If you
When I was a teenager, I heard don’t believe me, read your
these words at the end of ev- Facebook posts and those of
ery school year. They were your friends.
read by the school chaplain,
a willowy priest with a high- C.S Lewis described his con-
pitched voice – and so I still version as being “Surprised by
hear these verses, in my inner Joy”. He did not thereby imply
ear, in falsetto. that he went around there-

autumn 2019 37
connecting

after with a grin on his face, erything is in God’s purpose

giggling inanely. To rejoice eventually, deprives us of the
in the Lord is to be glad that thought that we must defend
a constant and abiding rela- God, or the Church, or the
tionship has been established. nation, or ourselves, in case
Rather as in a successful everything goes to hell in the
marriage, there is a constant proverbial handbasket. We are
thankfulness that one is loved taught patience and our place
and loves, a thankfulness that in the scheme of things. God
doesn’t depend on mood or doesn’t need us. The Trinity is
transient happiness. God self-sufficient.
loves us. There it is. We seek
As we live in a polarized world
to return that love and, oddly,
and a polarized Church, culti-
are even more aware of that
vation of moderation is all the
love when we disappoint or
offend God. We crucify Jesus, more necessary. Keeping our
heads while all around lose
hang our heads in grief and
their minds is, to misquote
shame, and yet he continues
Kipling, possible because we
to love and forgive us.
trust God and seek to do his
will.
St. Paul places emphasis by
repeating his injunction: Be If these Pauline command-
thankful, rejoice, be glad. This ments seem otherworldly and
quality of joy is the antidote impossible, consider what
to resentment, which leads comes next: “Don’t worry.”
us to the second of St. Paul’s Perhaps nothing is more in-
injunctions: The Lord is near, furiating than when, in the
therefore be moderate, be midst of a crisis when every-
known for your good sense, thing seems out of control,
for your sweet reasonable- someone smiles and says
ness. The realization that ev- “Don’t worry. It will be al-

38 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

right.” Yet here is Paul of Tar- little unless we are prepared

sus saying just that — and, to adopt them and, if at all
yes, he is annoying and ex- possible, see to their needs, or
asperating, and many wish at least make sure their needs
he had stayed in Tarsus and are being met by someone.
minded his own business. But
he didn’t stay there. After his Prayer is an action whereby
conversion, he was shunned we join our voices with the liv-
by other Christians and made ing and the faithful departed,
to cool his heels for fourteen with angels and archangels, as
years before starting off on our small petitions and fee-
missionary journeys. Along ble praises and expressions of
the way he was beaten, impris- thanks are swept up into the
oned, deserted, shipwrecked, roar of worship which echoes
and finally beheaded. In the through time, space, and
midst of these experiences, eternity. In the midst of what
he writes to the Christians in should be noise is the peace of
Philippi and tells them not to God. Perhaps you have been
worry, but rather to pray, to in a great cathedral when
intercede, and to give thanks. Vaughan William’s great set-
ting of “All People That On
I don’t think St. Paul meant Earth Do Dwell” is being
that they were to put people sung by choir and congrega-
on the local church prayer list tion, accompanied by organ
while humming the Hallelu- and brass, until it feels as if the
jah Chorus and then, satisfied ancient building is trembling
with having done their duty, – and then afterward, silence.
get on with life. As St. Bene- In that silence, one is caught
dict succinctly put it, prayer up in awe and reverence, and
is work, and work is prayer. filled with internal peace. All
Praying for someone means feels right and good, beyond

autumn 2019 39
connecting

intellect and logic — the I have always loved the scrip-

Peace of God which passeth ture passages depicting Je-
all understanding. sus as our Good Shepherd. I
think this has a lot to do with
It is then that we know what the stories and images I re-
it means to rejoice, that noth- member as part of my faith
ing is entirely in our hands, formation as a child. Growing
and thus nothing ultimately up, I had a collection of Arch
to worry about. God is; we are Books Bible stories for chil-
in peace. dren. My favorite was Jon and
the Little Lost Lamb, based on
the Parable of the Lost Sheep,
by Jane Latourette. When we
SHEEP WITH said bedtime prayers as a fam-
HUMAN FACES ily, we would end with this
song: “Jesus, tender shepherd,
The Rev. Meghan J. Farr hear me. Bless thy little lambs
Holy Trinity Episcopal tonight. Through the dark-
Church, Melbourne, FL
ness, be thou near me. Keep
I am the good shepherd. I me safe ‘til morning light.
know my own and my own Amen.” I still sing that song
know me, just as the Fa- each night when I say prayers
ther knows me and I know with my boys.
the Father. And I lay down
my life for the sheep. I have Now, as an adult, I do a lot
other sheep that do not of funerals each year (insert
belong to this fold. I must joke about priest in Florida
bring them also, and they here), and John 10 is often
will listen to my voice. So the passage families choose
there will be one flock, one for the Gospel reading. It al-
shepherd. (John 10:14-16) ways makes me smile when

40 anglicandigest.org
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they do because, if they are message of the tenth chapter

long-time parishioners, I can of John’s Gospel: Jesus is our
usually guess why. There is a Good Shepherd. We are the
large stained-glass window sheep, his sheep. The sheep of
in the shape of a Celtic cross his fold and the lambs of his
above the main altar in our flock.
church. We call it the “Good
Shepherd” window, because We’ve all heard stories and
it depicts Jesus as the Good sermons about sheep and
Shepherd. He is surrounded their lack of intelligence — it’s
by sheep in a pasture, and he probably one of the reasons
cradles a small lamb in his for the discomfort people
arms. Even if someone has have seeing sheep with human
only been to the church once faces! I once heard a shepherd
or twice, they remember the say, “Every shepherd knows
window. Everyone loves the a sheep is the only animal in
tender image of Jesus guard- God’s creation looking for the
ing his flock of sheep. Some- quickest way to die.” Now I’m
times, though, people will not saying we humans are all
comment that they don’t like running around looking for
the faces on the sheep because opportunities to get ourselves
they look too human. And, in killed! Sheep do, however,
fact, they really do! The faces have a knack for wandering
of the sheep have very human off and getting into some pre-
qualities. (I have been known carious situations. And, well,
to point out which one I think people can be like that too, es-
best represents me at any given pecially when it comes to our
moment in my life!) My guess relationship with our shep-
is that was probably the intent herd Jesus. “All we like sheep
in the design of the window. It have gone astray; we have all
is meant to reflect the central turned to our own way”, as

autumn 2019 41
connecting

Isaiah 53:6 reminds us. Some voice and follow. “I know my

stray deliberately; others have own and my own know me,
not yet learned to recognize just as the Father knows me
the voice of the shepherd. For and I know the Father...”
most of us, however, I think
it just happens from time to What sheep know they know
time. We wander. What we very well. The sheep know
soon come to realize is that, the shepherd, they will listen
away from our shepherd, to his voice and follow him.
away from Jesus, life can get The beautiful promise of this
quite precarious. Without the scripture — and, I think, of all
Good Shepherd in our life we the shepherding passages – is
are left vulnerable to all the that Jesus never stops calling
dangers Satan and this world to, searching after, and car-
can throw at us, like the wolf ing for, his sheep. He follows
that snatches and scatters the each one of us and stays with
sheep. us even in those precarious
situations and dark moments
Blessedly, there is hope and of our lives, shining his light
help for us scattered sheep. to guide us back into the light
To be fair to sheep, another and life of God. He doesn’t
shepherd claims, “What sheep leave us; he leads us. “I came
know, they know really well.” that they may have life, and
And that is just what Jesus, have it abundantly.” (John
our Good Shepherd, is saying 10:10) Jesus the shepherd is
in this passage from the tenth inviting us, his sheep, into
chapter of John. Again and relationship with him and,
again, Jesus says that the shep- through him, into life with
herd knows the sheep, and the God. And that life with God
sheep listen to the voice of the is eternal life. It is the gift we
shepherd. The sheep know his have been given because the

42 anglicandigest.org
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Good Shepherd laid down his “You have seen him, and
life for his sheep. Thanks be to the one speaking with you
God. is he.” He said, “Lord, I be-
lieve.” And he worshiped
O God, whose Son Jesus is the him. (John 9:35-38)
good shepherd of your people; John’s Gospel shines with
Grant that when we hear his both power and intimacy.
voice we may know him who Jesus crackles with energy,
calls us each by name, and fol- turning water into wine, driv-
low where he leads; who, with ing the moneychangers from
you and the Holy Spirit, lives the Temple, confounding the
and reigns, one God, for ever learned and pious Nicode-
and ever. Amen. mus, speaking with a foreign
woman, and healing with a
word (whether the beggar by
WHEN HE HAD the pool wants it or not) —
FOUND HIM and that’s only in the first five
chapters of the story.
The Rev. Rodger Patience
Church of the Holy Apostles, Jesus’ power radiates from the
Oneida, WI pages as clearly as does his
love and concern for people.
Jesus heard that they had The man born blind, healed
driven [the man born by Jesus’ touch and by a com-
blind] out, and when he press of mud — how like God’s
had found him, he said, own touch, forming mud and
“Do you believe in the Son clay into the first human — is
of Man?” He answered, driven out of the synagogue
“And who is he, sir? Tell by the religious leaders. But
me, so that I may believe the story doesn’t end there,
in him.” Jesus said to him, and in the coda John provides

autumn 2019 43
connecting

the key to understanding it Steps and Twelve Traditions,

fully. 34) based in recognizing my
need and becoming willing to
What has always impressed accept help from outside my-
me is Jesus’ action here: self.
“When he had found him.”
Jesus actively comes back John’s Gospel, according to
and finds the man in order most New Testament schol-
to complete his healing and ars, was written for a commu-
overcome his estrangement. nity of Jewish Christians who
This is a truth of the Gospel had recently been thrown out
that applies to us today: Je- of the synagogues they had
sus actively desires that we belonged to. Like the man
be whole and reconciled, and born blind, they had “seen
his Spirit is working to find us the light” of Christ, but their
wherever we may have fallen religious community could
away. not see that something new
was happening. As Judaism
For me, these verses had long sought to distance itself and
been the interpretive key for differentiate itself from the
the Gospel of John, but I read growing Christian movement
them with fresh eyes sev- in the first century, followers
eral years ago when I went of Jesus were expelled from
through the experience of the synagogues.
losing my job because of my
drinking and entering into They were probably feeling
the process of recovery. That the same sense of estrange-
experience tore apart my ar- ment, loss, and grief as the
rogant sense of self-sufficien- man born blind, wondering
cy, replacing it over time with where they could go now.
a “faith that works” (Twelve

44 anglicandigest.org
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Jesus actively found those is the same Word who was

early Christians. His Spirit with God in the beginning,
led them into a new Way, as seeks out those of us who are
they came to call themselves, hurting in order to effect our
a new “faith that worked” to healing, and seeks out those
reconcile Jew and Greek, slave of us who are estranged in
and free, male and female. order to effect our reconcili-
We are even today members ation.
of that 2,000-year-old recon-
ciled community formed by “Indeed, God did not send the
Jesus’ active desire. Son into the world not to con-
demn the world, but in order
Where we feel estranged, that the world through him
where we feel loss and grief, might be saved.” (John 3:17)
where familiar religious struc- Whenever Jesus comes and
tures or family ties are chang- finds you — when he finds
ing, Jesus is there to find us. you in your grief or loneliness
“You have seen me,” Jesus says or shame, as he found me in
to us. “And the one speaking my addiction — may you
to you is me.” once more recognize the one
As Reynolds Price writes in who is speaking to you, the
Incarnation: Contemporary one who loves and wants you.
Writers on the New Testament, And may you, like the man
the Gospel of John “says in born blind, take that next fal-
the clearest voice we have the tering step, blinking away the
sentence that mankind craves mud and tears of your frus-
from stories – The Maker of tration and pain, and believe
all things loves and wants me.” him.
Jesus the power of God, whom All that God asks of us in re-
John has come to understand turn, I trust, is that we believe

autumn 2019 45
connecting

Jesus when he comes to us you, and the power of the

and become willing – willing Most High will overshad-
to follow the only Son, who ow you; therefore the child
is close to the Father’s heart to be born will be holy; he
(as best as we can understand will be called Son of God.”
him) along “the way to a faith (Luke 1:34)
that works.”
What was the best story your
parents ever told you? May-
be it was your mom telling
the story of your birth? Or
your parents telling how they
wooed one another? What’s
your favorite story to tell?
Could it be when you played
La guérison de l’aveugle de the best practical joke ever on
naissance your best friend?
by Henri Lindegaard
For Christmas, I bought my
sixteen year old son an elec-
I LOVE TO tric razor. It’s a grooming tool
for the new beard he is grow-
TELL THE STORY ing for the first time. When he
The Rev. H. Elizabeth Back opened it, I felt a flood of gig-
St James Episcopal Church,
Pewee Valley, KY gles from funny haircut mem-
ories. Once, when my baby
Mary said to the angel, brother George was sixteen,
“How can this be, since he asked me to cut his hair
I am a virgin?” The an- – which I did, in the hallway,
gel said to her, “The Holy over the carpet. Not only did
Spirit will come upon the haircut turn out shock-

46 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

ingly bad (with serious bald remember shaving the side

patches), my parents ground- of his head, but Aidan giggles
ed him for scattering hair when he remembers taking
everywhere! I still laugh just the scissors to his own hair
thinking about it. Later, when and my reaction to Joseph’s
I became a parent, I econo- partial buzz cut.
mized by cutting my young
sons’ hair in the backyard. When I tell you that Holy
When five-year-old Aidan Scripture contains all things
grabbed the sharp scissors, I necessary to salvation, I have
was distracted from two-year- no way of proving anything
old Joseph, who took the clip- of the sort, except maybe the
pers straight across the entire fact that Luke is a brilliant sto-
side of his head. More bald ryteller. When you read about
patches. That was the last of the angel Gabriel and the
that budget saving effort! announcement, and Mary’s
question, can you suppress
Some stories evoke the feel- a feeling of … I don’t know
ings from the original event as what, except wonder? I have
if the moment can be relived, read the Annunciation story
only better. In the telling, the countless times — more times
memory is richer because than I have told my children
the punishment or danger is about the day they were born,
passed. Plus, the telling of the or about the day they cut their
story is like proving that new own hair, or the times my kids
life occurs from old anxieties. asked Uncle George if it was
I can’t prove to you what hap- true he got grounded.
pened in that hair-covered
hallway thirty years ago, but If you are reading, this you
I also can’t suppress the smile are curious enough to want
when I tell it. Joseph doesn’t to know more about “on

autumn 2019 47
connecting

earth as it is in heaven.” You ers who have gotten ourselves

can say you desire education, tangled up in the most mys-
or explanation, or whatever terious, possibly the messiest,
reason sounds reasonable to arguably the best, story ever.
twenty-first-century Amer-
icans about the sex life of a Here’s my admonition to you:
first-century Jewish teenager. Tell your story. When you are
But your secret is safe with lonely. When you are happy.
me; none of us would be be- When you are desperately
musing about Advent if the searching for meaning. When
Annunciation had not got its you are up to your eyeballs
hands on us. in meaning. Tell the stories
your parents taught you. The
Maybe there’s a story you’re stories your Sunday School
holding and you want to put teachers taught you. Even tell
it into God’s hands. Maybe the stories your funny uncle
you can’t suppress that desire told you, whether they are
to be part of a story bigger true or not. It is the telling
than yourself. If you are over that entangles us, even binds
the age of thirteen, you are us, one to another: Parents to
now responsible for helping children, angels to mortals,
pass along the stories of God’s heaven to earth, the living to
plans and purposes to others. the dead, and our frail hu-
The church might look like an manity to the Resurrection of
institution full of respectable, God’s only Son.
pious people fulfilling godly
responsibilities and worship- The poet and agnostic Ste-
ping according to the ortho- phen Dunn begrudgingly al-
doxy in which we were raised, lowed his little girl to go with
and all that good stuff. We friends to the local Methodist
are, at the heart of it, storytell- Church. While trying to justi-
48 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

fy letting her go, he wrote: believed, so long

since we needed Jesus
She liked her little friends. as our nemesis and friend,
She liked the songs that we thought he was
they sang when they weren’t sufficiently dead,
twisting and folding paper
into dolls. that our children would think
What could be so bad? of him like Lincoln
or Thomas Jefferson.
Jesus had been a good man, Soon it became clear to us:
and putting faith you can’t teach disbelief
in good men was what to a child,
we had to do to stay this side
of cynicism, only wonderful stories, and
that other sadness. we hadn’t a story
nearly as good.
OK, we said, One week.
But when she came home Trust the telling of the story.
singing ‘Jesus loves me,
the Bible tells me so,’
it was time to talk. SPEAK, LORD,
YOUR SERVANT IS
Could we say Jesus LISTENING
doesn’t love you?
Could I tell her the Bible The Rev. Dr. Jennie Clarkson
Olbrych (ret.)
is a great book certain Charleston, SC
people use to make you
feel bad? I am not a good listener and
We sent her back do confess it freely, although
without a word. not happily. Too impatient
It had been so long since we when someone seems to be

autumn 2019 49
connecting

droning on and not getting by the altar might increase the

to the point. Too prone to in- likelihood of it happening to
terruption or planning what I me. My heart warmed to Sam-
will say in response. Too quick uel in his confusion. I felt sor-
to offer a solution to what I ry for Eli who was blind and
see as the problem needing to kept getting awakened from
be solved. Too ready to chime an old man’s restless sleep.
in with my own experience Later, when reading the story
when it resonates with what with a more adult awareness,
is being said. Kyrie, eleison! it was apparent that Eli had
Who will deliver us from this stopped listening to God. But,
failure to listen? How many in the critical moment, when
opportunities have we missed God’s call came to Samuel, Eli
to truly hear another and to knew just what was needful
form, deepen, or mend re- — that is, to listen, to hear, to
lationship with them? How understand, and to obey — all
many times have we missed meanings of the word shamea.
God speaking to us through This word is closely related to
that same other, or even in the shema, as in the great com-
quiet of the night? mandment to Israel known as
The Shema – Hear, O Israel!
The story of God speaking to (Deuteronomy 4:6-9). This
the boy Samuel in the quiet of same command to Israel was
the night was, perhaps, one of quoted and enlarged by Jesus
the first bible stories that reg- in his disputations with the
istered with me as a night-owl, scribes at the Temple, which
God-curious child. (1 Samuel we read about in the Gospel
3) I was encouraged that God of Mark (12:28-31).
might actually speak at night
in an audible voice, and won- When the boy Samuel kept
dered if sleeping in the church hearing his name called in the

50 anglicandigest.org
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night, Eli counseled him, “Say, to “listen with the ear of the
‘speak LORD, for your servant heart.” That is, to listen from
is listening.’” Samuel listened the center of our being and
to Eli and, following his in- as an act of love. Paul Tillich,
structions, heard the Lord call writing fourteen centuries lat-
his name once again. Then er, touched on the same thing
the Lord commenced to give when he said, “the first duty of
Samuel some fairly hair-rais- love is to listen.”1 Can we say,
ing instructions, which Samu- then, that listening and loving
el faithfully relayed to Eli. It is the other are deeply connect-
noted of Samuel near the end ed?
of the chapter, that “Samuel
grew, and the Lord was with When someone has listened
him and let none of his words deeply and faithfully to us,
fall to the ground.” What won- our trust in them grows as
derful fruit for Samuel came we come to know that they
from listening carefully and are truly present to and with
faithfully. Samuel was enabled us. In the bond of trust, the
to live with an awareness of foundation of love is laid, for
God’s presence with him, and we cannot love what we do
the people trusted Samuel’s not trust. We can be attached
words. What more could any to that which we do not trust,
of us want? but attachment is no guaran-
tee of genuine, life-giving love.
When St. Benedict set pen Listening not only builds the
to paper in the sixth century foundation of love, it makes
and composed his simple rule relationship possible — not
for beginner monks, the very only between people, but also
first word he wrote was Ob- between ourselves and God.
sculta, which means “listen”.
Benedict invited them and us How, then, can we learn anew

autumn 2019 51
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to listen? For a newborn, It’s there, and we can teach

learning to distinguish be- ourselves to listen for it. It
tween voices — and especially helps, too, to be aware of the
the voices of the beloved – is content of our inner voic-
one of our very first lessons. es. For me, it’s usually worry
For Samuel, the Lord’s voice about various things, remem-
spoke into the quiet of night. bering to-do’s, replaying con-
For Elijah, God spoke, not in versations I wish had gone
wind, earthquake, or fire, but better, problem solving, and
in a still, small voice (1 Kings remembered voices of par-
19:11-13). Silence is our most ents or other long-gone folks
important teacher in learning (for good or ill). Journaling
to listen and to distinguish about these as well as offer-
between the outer and inner ing them to God can help us
voices. make peace with them. And,
it is that — the sense of being
Recently, we had a hurricane at peace with oneself, one’s
in our area, with accompany- life, and with God — which
ing loss of electricity. I mar- can help us listen more care-
veled at how quiet our house fully not only to others but
and our neighborhood be- also for God. This is, I believe,
came in an instant. Many of because having some measure
us can ignore outward noise, of peace makes it possible to
but we are less able to deal create a space into which an-
with the inner racket to which other can speak and be heard.
we have become almost un-
thinkingly accustomed. Once, God spoke into the spacious-
when I complained about in- ness and quiet darkness of a
ner noise, a friend suggested holy place, and Samuel heard.
that I try to learn to listen for May we ask God to help cre-
the silence beyond the noise. ate that space in us so that,

52 anglicandigest.org
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like Samuel, we too may say, seeks to see the glory of the
“Speak, LORD, your servant Lord, but God also places a
is listening,” and we may hear restriction on this glimpse
rightly. of his Shekinah glory. God
_____________ would, according to Jewish
1
Paul Tilich – Love, Power, and Justice, rabbis, have a cause to dwell
1960. “In order to know what is just in
a person-to-person encounter, love lis- with his people. For Chris-
tens. It is its first task to listen.” tians, of course, this points to
the Incarnation. For the peo-
ple of the Tanach, or Hebrew
A GOD SEEN ONLY Scriptures, This pointed to a
IN RETROSPECT momentary experience of the
Glory of the Lord — a glimpse
The Rev. Dr. Robert M. Lewis of God present in life.
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church,
Grand Island, NE
I have found that, in times of
“Then I will take away my great transition, stress, or bur-
hand, and you shall see my den, God’s glory only appears
back; but my face shall not be in retrospect. We look back
seen.” (Exodus 33:23) and see how God has guided
situations, events, or people to
I have long been an advocate respond in a way that worked
of preaching from the Old to the highest and best of all
Testament. I can recall my concerned. Those times may
Hebrew professor at Nasho- not have been pleasant – in
tah House telling our class, fact, they can be so incredibly
“Growing churches do not difficult that they bring people
shy away from Old Testament to their breaking point. Moses
texts, but make them rele- was himself at the point of his
vant for a new world.” Such leadership capsizing while on
a relevant text is this. Moses Sinai’s mount. Moses asks to

autumn 2019 53
connecting

see God’s glory, the same way concept that all of the Old
Peter, James, and John see it Testament’s central figures
on the Mount of Transfigu- fail to know God in fullness
ration. Moses is asking for — Abraham, Moses, and the
confirmation — and, if we are prophets all see only glimps-
honest, often we are as well es. It is only in the fullness of
when faced with life-altering the Shekinah glory of the in-
or life-changing times. carnate Jesus that we can fully
know God.
Moses has been faithful to a
vision. After he saw the burn- Moses is given a promise: He
ing bush, he led the Hebrews will indeed see God’s Glory.
out of Egypt and to the point So he rises early in the morn-
of wandering in the wilder- ing, ascends Mount Sinai, and
ness. Now Moses, having seen stands in the cleft of the rock,
all this deliverance, asks bold- and even more important
ly in light of the recent idola- than what he sees is what he
try of these ransomed people hears:
— “Show me your glory.”
The odd fact is that Moses has The Lord, the Lord, a God
already seen this glory. God merciful and gracious, slow
replies with a bit of a sneaky to anger, and abounding in
caveat — essentially, “OK, you steadfast love and faithful-
will, but not face to face. In- ness, keeping steadfast love
stead, you will only see where for the thousandth genera-
I have already been.” You see, tion, forgiving iniquity and
there are limitations to reve- transgression and sin, yet
lation. While God is not lim- by no means clearing the
ited, our human experience guilty, but visiting the in-
is. A quick survey of the Old iquity of the parents upon
Testament yields the clear the children and the chil-

54 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

dren’s children, to the third but God was moving far too
and the fourth generation. swiftly for me to ever behold
(Exodus 34:6-7) his “face”. In that way, some
things never change.
Moses even hears the truth
that John wrote — God is love In my own life, one of the
(1 John 4:8). Indeed, God is spiritual gifts that I have long
holy love, and his grasp on our discerned is the gift of faith. I
problems is far more complete know God is already in my to-
than we could ask or imagine. morrow even when I am still
The bondage in Egypt, the in my today. I do not worry
plagues, the deliverance of the about the details, but trust
ransomed, and the drowning that God is working those
of Pharaoh’s army — none of things out in such a way that I
this can compare to the fact do not have to fret over them.
that God’s presence in our I learn to trust and release
lives is sheer love. knowing that God’s slightest
touch on the details of my
For the Christian, who lives in life will be far better than my
the already and not-yet reality best handling of them. Such
of the Kingdom of God, there faith has often been a frustra-
is similar confusion. We live tion to others around me, but
in a world that still bears the time and time again, I have
marks of sin and death, even seen the “back” of God and
though those very concepts know his management to be
are defeated at the Cross. As far more acutely precise than
I look back at my most chal- mine. My shepherd will sup-
lenging moments in life, I see ply my needs.
that God was already there,
long before I perceived his Perhaps you, this day, are faced
presence. I saw his “back”, with questioning, “Where is

autumn 2019 55
connecting

God today in the midst of discern that God was already

my troubles?” We all seek a there, showing us his “back”.
glimpse of this glory. We all The human condition is to al-
want confirmation, as Moses ways think that we should see
did, that God really does care him coming and behold his
about the problems of women “face”. Rest in the knowledge
and men. When we examine that God has already figured
the hardships and transitions out the details, even before we
of life carefully, we can often could see him act.

NECROLOGY
The Rt. Rev. Donald he also served parishes in
Maynard Hultstrand, 92, in Canton and Cleveland, OH;
Greenville, SC. A graduate Kansas City, MO; and Gree-
of Macalester College and ly, CO; and, in retirement,
Bexley Hall Seminary, he was served as Bishop-in-Res-
ordained to the priesthood idence at Christ Church
in 1953, and consecrated the Episcopal in Greenville, SC.
Ninth Bishop of the Episco- He also had numerous char-
pal Diocese of Springfield, itable involvements, and
Illinois, in 1982. In addition multiple published works.
to time spent as the youth ad-
visor for the Diocese of Min- The Rt. Rev. Harold A.
nesota and as an instructor at Hopkins, Jr., 88, in Scarbor-
the Breck School, he served ough, ME. A graduate of the
parishes in Worthington, Lu- University of Pennsylvania
verne, Wabasha, Duluth, MN; and the General Theological
56 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

Seminary, he was ordained year term as North American

to the diaconate and priest- Warden of the International
hood in 1955. He served par- Order of Saint Luke the Phy-
ishes in Pelham Manor, NY, sician.
and Millinocket, Bar Harbor,
and Yarmouth, ME, as well as The Rev. Dr. Frederic
serving as Archdeacon for the Augustus Alling, 88, in Dan-
Diocese of Maine. In 1980, vers, MA. A graduate of
he was consecrated the Ninth Princeton University and the
Bishop of the Diocese of General Theological Semi-
North Dakota, a position he nary, he was ordained to the
held until 1989, after which priesthood in 1955. He then
he worked for the Office of earned a medical degree and
Pastoral Development for the an MS in Social Psychiatry
national church. from Columbia University.
In addition to maintaining
The Rev. Donald E. Baus- a private psychiatry practice
tian, 87, in Ames, IA. A grad- for many years, he also pub-
uate of Augustana College lished many journal articles
and the General Theological and one book. His ministry in
Seminary, he was ordained to life was to treat patients with
the diaconate and priesthood substance abuse, volunteer
in 1957. He served parishes with the homeless, and pro-
in Emmetsburg, Algona, Fair- vide service to patients in his
field, and Keokuk, IA; and Lit- private practice.
tle Rock, Camden, Hope, and
Magnolia, AR. He also spent The Rev. Giles Floyd
three years on the faculty of Lewis, Jr., 91, in Spartanburg,
the Theological Seminary of SC. A graduate of Sewanee
the Diocese of Haiti. In retire- Military Academy, Clemson
ment, he also served a five- University, and the School of

autumn 2019 57
connecting

Theology at the University of tine, FL, and Ft. Wayne, IN. In

the South, he served in the Ocala, he also founded Hos-
United States Army during pice in Marion County.
the Korean War and was or-
dained to the priesthood in The Rev. Erroll Franklin
1957. He served parishes in Rhodes, 95, in Greenwich,
Clinton, Laurens, Greenville, CT. Born in Japan to mis-
and Spartanburg, SC; Lexing- sionary parents, he graduat-
ton, KY; Nashville, TN; and ed from Pepperdine College
Houston, TX. and the Divinity School at the
University of Chicago. As a
The Rev. Lance Allen Ball missionary himself, he taught
Gifford, 74, in Baltimore, MD. in the Christian Studies de-
A graduate of McDonogh partment at St. Paul’s Univer-
School, Washington & Lee sity (Rikkyo) in Tokyo for fif-
University in Virginia, and teen years before returning to
General Theological Semi- the US in 1967 to take up the
nary, he served as an Episco- position of Resident Biblical
pal priest in the Diocese of Scholar at the American Bible
Maryland for nearly five de- Society in New York. He pub-
cades, and as the rector of St. lished numerous books over
John’s, Mt. Washington, for 23 the course of his career.
years until he retired in 2008.
The Rev. Joseph Willet
The Rev. Dr. Robert Dar- King, 84, in Tucson, AZ. A
ling Askren, 77, in Jackson- graduate of the University of
ville, FL. A graduate of the Texas Southwestern Medical
University of Florida and Vir- School, he was a pioneer in
ginia Theological Seminary, the field of adolescent psy-
he served parishes in Ocala, chiatry, serving facilities and
Jacksonville, and St. Augus- patients in Dallas, TX; Rich-

58 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

mond, VA; Tulsa, OK; and parishes in Belmont and

Tucson and Wickenburg, AZ. Medfield, MA; North Syra-
After his ordination to the di- cuse, NY; and Lakewood, OH;
aconate, he served at St. Dun- as well as multiple parishes in
stan’s Episcopal Church in and around Pittsboro and Ra-
Tulsa, OK. leigh, NC.

The Rev. Clarence Ferdi- The Rev. Marvin Brady

nand “Dutch” Decker, 93, in Aycock, Jr., 86, in Greens-
Upper Arlington, OH. He en- boro, NC. After serving in the
listed in the Navy at the age United States Army, he grad-
of sixteen and served during uated from Furman Univer-
the Second World War. He sity and Southeastern Baptist
then went on to graduate Theological Seminary, then
from Michigan State Uni- served as a Baptist pastor for
versity and Seabury Western several years before becoming
Theological Seminary. While an addiction counselor, so-
working as a professor of biol- cial worker, and family ther-
ogy at Point Park College, and apist. He was ordained to the
later for private industry, he diaconate in 1988, and the
also served as a supply priest priesthood in 1995. He served
in Pennsylvania and Ohio. In Episcopal parishes in Char-
retirement, he served as the lotte, Warrenton, Salisbury,
chaplain at a convalescent and Thomasville, NC.
center.
The Rev. John Janney
The Rev. Richard Melvin Lloyd, 98, in White Plains,
Morris, 95, in Cumberland, NY. The son of missionaries,
RI. A graduate of Brown he grew up in Japan, and grad-
University and the Episcopal uated from the University of
Theological School, he served Virginia, Virginia Theological

autumn 2019 59
connecting

Seminary, and Harvard Di- being called to serve as rec-

vinity School. After the attack tor of Holy Cross Episcopal
on Pearl Harbor, he joined the Church in Kingston, NY. He
United States Marine Corps, retired after 25 years, then
and fought at Iwo Jima. spent more than 30 years as-
During his 60 years of active sisting the rector of Christ
ministry, he served in Japan, the King Episcopal Church in
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Stone Ridge, NY.
New Jersey, and New York,
and after he retired, he con- The Rev. Charles Wilbert
tinued to do supply and inter- Henley, 90, in Valley City, ND.
im work around New York. After high school, he joined
the United States Army, then
The Rev. Andrew David graduated from the Universi-
Parker, 61, in Houston, TX. ty of North Dakota and Bex-
A graduate of Texas Tech ley Hall Episcopal Seminary,
University, Texas A&M Uni- before being ordained to the
versity, and Berkeley Divinity priesthood in 1958. He served
School at Yale University, he parishes in Grafton, Park Riv-
was ordained to the priest- er, Fargo, Valley City, ND.
hood in 1989. He served par-
ishes in Abilene, Amarillo, The Rev. Michael Hunt
and Houston, TX. Murray, 97, in Easton, MD.
He served as an aviator for
The Rev. David Louis the United States Navy during
Bronson, 90, in New Paltz, the Second World War, in
NY. A graduate of the Uni- both the Atlantic and Pacific
versity of Michigan and the theaters. A graduate of Har-
Berkeley Divinity School, he vard University, Johns Hop-
served parishes in Hampshire kins University, the Universi-
and Surrey, England, before ty of Paris, and the Episcopal
60 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

Theological School, he was Princeton Theological Semi-

ordained to the priesthood nary. He served as a hospital
in 1964. He served parishes chaplain in Knoxville, TN,
in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and then worked as a counselor
Gloucester. He was an accom- and psychotherapist in New
plished writer, with several Jersey, before becoming pro-
books to his name. fessor at Colgate Rochester
Divinity School. He was or-
The Very Rev. John dained to the priesthood in
Clarke Sanders, Sr., 85, in 1992, after having previously
Chagrin Falls, OH. He was been a Presbyterian minister.
ordained to the priesthood He served Episcopal parishes
in 1957, and served parishes in Elmira, NY, and Troy, PA.
in Houston, TX, and Atlanta, He also served as the Chap-
GA, where he retired as the lain General of the Commu-
Dean of St. Philip’s Cathedral. nity of the Transfiguration in
Cincinnati, OH.
The Rev. Dr. Arie Johan-
nes “Han” van den Blink, The Rev. Dr. John Romig
84, in Elmira, NY. The son of Johnson, Jr., 84, in Charles-
Dutch missionaries to Indo- ton, SC. A graduate of Fur-
nesia, he and his family were man University and the Gen-
interned in Japanese con- eral Theological Seminary, he
centration camps from 1942 served as vicar of a parish in
to 1945, and in an Indone- Great Falls, SC. After earn-
sian concentration camp in ing a Ph.D. in Psychiatry and
1946. He came to the United Religion at the Union Theo-
States as an exchange student, logical Seminary, he served
and graduated from Trinity on the faculty at the General
College, Berkeley Divinity Theological Seminary and
School at Yale University, and Berkley Divinity School at

autumn 2019 61
connecting

Yale University. While also chaplain at the University of

working as a practicing ana- Tennessee, a position he held
lyst and teaching at the Jung for 30 years.
Institute, he served parishes
in New York City, Riverdale, The Rev. Dr. Edward
and Staten Island, NY. In re- Oscar de Bary, 80, in Hono-
tirement, he served parishes lulu, HI. He graduated from
in Charleston, SC. The University of the South
in Sewanee, TN, then served
The Rev. Gilbert M. Watt, in the United States Air Force,
97, in Verona, PA. He was or- before entering the School of
dained to the priesthood in Theology at the University of
1949, and served parishes in the South. He later also com-
Barnesboro, Peters Township, pleted a doctorate in Sacred
and Oakmont, PA, and Crys- Theology at the Catholic Uni-
tal River, FL, in addition to versity of Leuven, Belgium.
various interim assignments He served Episcopal congre-
throughout Western Pennsyl- gations in Virginia and Mis-
vania, Western New York, and sissippi before returning to
Western Florida. Sewanee to help develop, and
later direct, the Education for
The Rev. Albert Neely Ministry program.
Minor, 89, in Knoxville, TN.
A graduate of the Universi- The Rev. Theodore E.
ty of the South, the General Hervey, Jr., 68, in Bertram,
Theological Seminary, and TX. A graduate of Virginia
the University of Tennessee, Polytechnic Institute and the
he served a parish in Fort Val- Virginia Theological Semi-
ley, GA, then as campus chap- nary, he also attended Army
lain at East Tennessee State Chaplain School. He served
University, before becoming parishes in Alaska, and Cor-

62 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

pus Christi, San Antonio, Hills, MI. After high school

Weslaco, Wimberley, and he entered the United States
Burnet, TX. He started Span- Navy, served in the Pacific
ish language services, provid- theater for 18 months, and
ing Vacation Bible Schools in discovered the Episcopal
Mexico, and expediting de- Church. A graduate of Mich-
livery of medical supplies to igan State University and the
needy locations in Mexico. General Theological Semi-
nary, he was ordained to the
The Rev. James P. Mc- diaconate and the priesthood
Alpine, 87, in York Harbor, in 1953. He served parishes in
ME. A graduate of Trinity Pontiac, Corunna, Allen Park,
College and later the Epis- and Dearborn, MI. After he
copal Theological School, he retired in 1992, he continued
served parishes in Ivoryton, to serve as both a supply and
CT; Rumford, RI; North Con- interim priest in the Diocese
way, NH; and Newton, MA; in of Michigan, as well as serv-
addition, he served as chap- ing during the winter months
lain at Oakland University in at St. Gregory’s in Boca Raton,
Rochester, MI, and as Coordi- FL for a number of years.
nator of the National Ministry
to Youth and College Students May they rest in peace
and Chaplains for the Presid- and rise in glory.
ing Bishop’s office. He con-
tinued to do interim work in
retirement. In 1965, he joined
the Selma to Montgomery
Civil Rights March.

The Rev. Ward Henry

Clabuesch, 92, in Rochester

autumn 2019 63
gathering
connecting
connecting

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