Tag Archives: clergy

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Big News

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For those of you who do not follow my Facebook page, or my wife Jennifer’s page, I wanted to update you on a big change for us.

Effective the end of June I will be retiring from full time ministry. My health continues to be a concern and I need to step back and dedicate my time and energy into becoming the best self I can be, especially in the area of health. My illness will be with me forever but there are things I can do to keep the worst at bay and to live a full life. This will require more time and energy than I can give as a full time Rector, and only clergy person, at a growing and thriving Parish. I will have finished ten years as Rector of St. Simon’s when I step away, and we have done great ministry together. This Parish has already proven they can step up to the plate in my absence, as they did last year when I was so sick and missed over three months. They are ready for their next Priest and ready to be the people God has called them to be, of that I am certain.

I will continue to work some. I will be part time Associate Rector at Christ Church in Pensacola. I was their Interim Rector before I came to St. Simon’s, and I am hopeful to be able to help out as needed on a part time basis, to continue to offer sacramental ministry, to preach and teach on occasion, and to help with pastoral care. This seemed to us an answer to prayer and a great fit for this next stage in my life.

I am hopeful to have much more time to write. To that end I may be moving this blog to another platform, please stay tuned and I will let you know when and how that will work soon.

God bless. Please pray for Jennifer and me in this transition time and for the good folks of St. Simon’s on the Sound.

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Sunday, August 4th was a GREAT DAY

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This past Sunday was a highlight in my ordained life! I have never had a church celebrate an anniversary in that way, my family and I felt so loved and honored. I am grateful to the Bible study group and all who helped make it happen, and most of all for all of you. Your love and support mean the world to me. 

I got too choked up talking about my grandkids to add a few words for my wife and kids. I thank Steve Brown and Mary Hauge for honoring Jennifer as well – the life of a clergy spouse is hard, y’all! She will tell you, “I didn’t marry a Priest”, but she was also the first person to recognize my calling and to say it out loud! Thank you Jennifer for your love and support and sacrifices.

And when I was talking about why I have my grandkids join me at the altar whenever they visit, I really should have mentioned how my own children have had to make adjustments and compromises all these years. They even schedule grandchildren birthday parties early on Saturday mornings so I can come and be back for church! 

Every clergy family makes sacrifices and compromises (as do most families I know), and my family is honored and happy to do so. I wish my two sons-in-law John and Wynne, and my son Joseph and daughter-in-law Flannery, with baby George, could have been there too, but having Chelsea with Eliza and Oliver, and Mackenzie with Juby and Mills, along with our son’s first born, Jane, made the day perfect! And I must say, having Juby and Eliza, the two oldest grands, serve at the altar, was the best! What a day!

Again, I am so grateful for all of you and blessed to serve amongst you.

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General Convention Day Seven

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Today is our last day, and I suspect we will go down to the wire with many more resolutions to finish up. This morning the Rt. Reverend Sean Rowe, our Presiding Bishop Elect, will preach the closing Eucharist, the celebrant will be Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. I am anxious to hear Bishop Rowe while it will be emotional as Bishop Curry presides over his last Eucharist at General Convention.

Yesterday we approved several trial liturgies, including expansive language changes for Eucharistic Prayer C and some alternate texts (badly needed) finally approved for Good Friday. We will have time over the next three years to use these trial liturgies and report back our experiences.

Once General Convention is over I will do a more detailed look at some of the resolutions approved, and some that were not. It’s been a long 8 days and I will be glad to be home tomorrow. Thanks for checking in!

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New Year, New Post

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Gosh it is hard to believe a new year has started! Looking at my blog I am embarrassed I have gone so long since posting. So, no, I have not made a New Year’s Resolution to post more frequently, but I really do want to try to. I want to try some different kinds of writing, and your brutally honest critique is welcomed and needed. So hang in there with me friends!

It is New Year’s Day. A year ago today I was admitted to the hospital in Gulf Breeze for acute pancreatitis, caused by a medication I was on. Having had pancreatitis one other time, ten years ago, I knew it was back as far back as November of 2022. The pain was intense but I had a special Thanksgiving to celebrate at our middle child’s newly rebuilt and remodeled home on the coast of Mississippi, then I had the silent retreat my last several posts were about, and I needed that in such a visceral way I just couldn’t skip it. Of course, then it was time for the rest of Advent, then Christmas and New Year’s so I figured I would just tough it out until that was all over with. I did have blood work before Christmas (2022) that confirmed it was pancreatitis, so Jennifer and I knew what eventually would happen. We went to the ER on January 1st, 2023, after church, where I was admitted for a week.

Basically the only treatment for an acute bout is to be hospitalized for IV fluids and pain management. You cannot eat or drink ANYTHING, as it would cause the pancreas to act up, and mine was angry. I wasn’t a lot better when I left but wanted to get back to church and not miss a Sunday. So I did. By early February I was no better, so another week in the hospital was the ticket.

Since then I have had multiple scans, scopes and the like. Had to make a major change to some medications and deal with a lot of gastro issues, which occasionally affected how much time I could spend at the church during the week. Slowly my labs and symptoms improved over the summer, through it all I lost 45 pounds, the rapidness of the initial loss was concerning of course. I have two cysts on my pancreas but they are very small and have not grown any, we just have to keep an eye on them.

My family has been incredibly supportive through all this year of medical issues. I am forever grateful to have their care and love and prayers, and blessed by their unique gifts and offerings of sacrificial love – and I am also grateful for the prayers of many of the St. Simon’s family and others whom I have known throughout my life.

The last 12 months saw a lot of milestones. In December of 2022 I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. Man, that triggered a LOT of memories. In June I turned 65 (how is that possible), and in September, Jennifer and I celebrated our 40th anniversary with a two week cruise! On the way to our cruise we stopped at a friend’s home in Palm Beach where 3 priests I attended seminary with and spouses put together an amazing and moving celebration for Jennifer and I, where we renewed our marriage vows in the chapel of Bethesda by the Sea. Thank you so much Tim and Bryna, Todd, and Bill and Sue! I am so happy to be reconnected with seminary friends, to be honest it’s hard to have friends in this “business” and I treasure my seminary buddies and others along the way.

Happy New Year everyone! May 2024 be filled with good health, laughter, and joy in Christ. I hope to write again soon!

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A reflection on a life, and some regrets

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Well it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted on here, but I have several things brewing that will show up soon I hope. Those thoughts were interrupted by horrible news, the sudden and unexpected death of my friend, the Reverend Craig Gates.

A week ago Sunday was the closing Eucharist for the Diocese of Mississippi’s Annual Council. Ever since leaving for sunny Florida, my plans were to attend Council (as I am still canonically resident in MS). My body had other plans – a very fast moving infection in my leg, along with a very high fever, had me in the hospital all week, driving to Natchez from South Florida was not an option (and I didn’t get out until Saturday). On that Sunday a week ago, all the Clergy of the Diocese processed in together as is our custom. Amongst them was Craig Gates, now retired and living at Sewanee, but ever present at such events.

Craig was one of a kind. Loud and opinionated, a force to be reckoned with. Most of all though, a force of love, pure and unconditional, love of Jesus and love of every one he met, all of whom he called “child of God”. He tolerated nothing but love for one another, he preached it and he practiced it.

I first met Craig when I was Curate at St. James in Greenville, MS, in the heart of the Delta. He was Rector of Nativity in Greenwood, and we met a time or two before my ordination to the priesthood. On that day, I knelt before the Bishop, with my fellow priests gathered round, all laying hands on me, as they sang the Taize version of “Veni, Sancte, Spiritus”, with Craig’s booming voice leading the way, and then I stood up a Priest. I was vested in a beautiful red chasuble, was asked by the Bishop to proclaim the Peace to the congregation, and then greeted my family. After this I was sharing the Peace with my now fellow presbyters when Craig grabbed me, said “welcome to the club you beloved child of God”, and kissed me dead full on the mouth! That was Craig Gates in a nutshell. Singing loud, kissing, welcoming, loving.

Craig was a real mentor for many of us in our diocese. Never afraid to speak his mind, he always came from the aspect of inclusive love for all. I loved sitting near him at Clergy Conference and Annual Council, it was always entertaining. Last year I was sitting close as our Bishop gave his address. Being President of the Standing Committee, I knew Bishop Gray was going to announce his call for coadjutor. I also knew Craig would respond loudly. And he did, as soon as the Bishop issued that call, Craig hollered “Nooooooooo!”. He loved and supported our Bishop so well.

I began attending Clergy Conference in 2002. So many of the “old guard” are no longer there. We have quite a few wonderful young or new-to-us Priests, they are all delightful and so gifted. But I had the advantage for years of sitting in the bad-guys-and-girls corner at Clergy Conference where I was entertained by Craig and Chip Davis and Shannon Johnston and Tom Slawson and Andy Andrews and Joe Robinson and Stan Runnels and the wonderful Ruth Black. And of course there was Bo Roberts, 40+ clergy conferences under his belt.Cottage 3 rocked in those days and I am afraid that tradition has moved on as well. These Priests helped mold and shape me, mentored me, made me laugh and challenged me in so many ways.  That was a room full of experience and wisdom, snarkiness and delight, eye rolling and the occasional “nooooo”. And Craig was always leading the charge.

And now Craig is gone. It will never be the same.

Which brings me to the regrets. For how many centuries have people said the same – I wish I had said how I felt about this person to them when they were still alive. Facebook is full of great tributes to Father Craig, he was loved by so many and made such a mark on us all. I hope he knew that. I hope he knew how beloved he was, how helpful he was, how he taught us just by being the “child of God” that he was? I am so, so sorry I never said it directly to him. So sorry.

I hope to change. To be more like Craig, to see EVERYONE as a child of God, beloved. I wish I could sing like him. I hope to be a Priest like him. And I hope I can, from time to time, let those who have meant so much to me know it, on this side of the kingdom as well as the other.

When I first heard the news about Craig, I thought, “I will never attend the Dead Priest Society gathering again. It will be too painful, his absence too real”. Then I thought some more. Instead, I would love to be there next year and at the end of Clergy Conference, when we pass the candle around and name the priests who meant so much to us that are no longer with us, the first time around the circle I hope we all will say, “Craig Gates”. I know that would make him laugh that laugh.

Rest in Peace, you beloved Child of God. You are already missed. I thank God for you, for your life, and for your witness. My prayers are with Dorothy and  family. May you go from strength to strength, my friend.