In the beginning
The most important thing you should know about me right now, in this age of 280-character tweets, is that I am a person of story. This does NOT mean that I cannot deliver a concise ten-minute sermon or that my correspondence approximates a Pauline epistle. What it means is I will not be writing in sound bites. I write that you may get to know me, and even more importantly, the one whom I follow.
I was around five years old when it happened. I remember standing at the bathroom sink while water gushed profusely from the bathroom faucet. It must have been the sound of running water that grabbed my mother’s attention. By the time she arrived, I was inconsolable.
Tears ran down my face as I explained, “I was trying to wash them. They were dirty. I wanted to make them clean, but (heave), but (heave), they keep sliding down the drain.” I can only imagine (I was crying too hard to see) my mother’s face as she peered over my tightly clinched little hands to see a host of God’s beloved earthworms rapidly escaping down the drain.
Fast forward thirty-five years and find me standing before the High Altar in Washington National Cathedral awaiting my ordination to the Episcopal priesthood.
Over the span of those 35 years, I grew up in rural State College (PA), graduated from Penn State University (University Park), spent a year in Tulsa (OK), and then relocated to the urban metropolitan Washington D.C. area where I currently reside.
I saw my childhood love for God’s creatures transform into a deep, abiding love for Jesus Christ and his Church; discerned and said yes to God’s voice calling me to “feed my sheep”; and experienced God through five denominations, including African Methodist Episcopal, Baptist, United Methodist, a non-denominational community of faith, and, ultimately, The Episcopal Church.
I like to say I now can speak God talk and Jesus love in five different denominational languages as well as with people from diverse cultural, racial and religious backgrounds including Muslim, Semite, Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, Buddhist, African, Asian Indian, Latinx, and undecided.
The Episcopal Church
I attribute my landing in the Episcopal Church to many things, not the least of which is it being the home of my ancestors. Not long after my confirmation, I discovered a letter from my maternal grandmother attesting that my great, great grandfather had been “an Episcopal”. Joining the Episcopal Church was like coming home!
I found room for my curiosity and inquiring mind (what can I say, I had educators as parents and love to ask questions), space where I could build upon my devotion to Holy Scripture by embracing tradition, reason and experience as illuminated by the Holy Spirit, and a courageous community willing to engage the tough contemporary issues from which other faith traditions shy away.
Most importantly how great is it to be part of a worldwide Anglican family that professes ethical vows consistent with the heart of Jesus, that welcomes all (or at least strives to), and that loves what I love when it comes to worship – order (with plenty of “may” rubric choices thrown in), pageantry, the arts, and artistic expression as apt conveyers of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
CV Snapshot
As you will see, I have gotten a whole lot better at holding onto those earthworms…or fish…or beloved children of God, however you want to characterize the object of God’s extraordinary love. And, I have lived into my calling by pursuing my passions for Church, family, diversity, and building intentional spiritual relationships. These are the things that make my heart sing.
For a look at my curriculum vitae that provides specifics on what my vocational and Episcopal life have looked like, download my CV here.
