SPRING A.D.

2019

VOL. 61 NO. 1
 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
MARION CHANCELLOR

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

INQUIRIES AND CORRESPONDENCE

TOM WALKER, GENERAL MANAGER
805 COUNTY ROAD 102
EUREKA SPRINGS, AR 72632-9705
EMAIL: TWALKER@ANGLICANDIGEST.ORG
PHONE: 479-253-9701
FAX: 479-253-1277
ANGLICANDIGEST.ORG

Opinions or views expressed in articles & advertisements

do not necessarily represent those of the Board of Trustees.

ISSN 0003-3278 VOL. 61, NO. 1

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

©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
and accomplishments of all expressions of Anglicanism: Anglo-
Catholic, Broad, and Evangelical. Thus, TAD does not cater to
any one niche or segment of the Church, but finds its enduring
ethos in serving the Church, including her clergy and lay leaders,
those theologically educated and “babes in Christ.” Each issue,
therefore, is unique.

TAD is sent to anyone who desires to receive it, and is supported

by contributions. To receive your own copy, or to partner with
us in sharing the work of the faithful, visit anglicandigest.org or
call 479-253-9701.

spring 2019 3
 A Letter from the
Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Dear Anglican Digest Family,

I am not sure I would be a practicing Christian  without the parables

of Jesus. Okay, that may be a bit over the top — or is it? 

Where would we be without such lavish and poetic expressions

of God’s boundless grace? Remove the tale of the shepherd who
leaves the ninety-nine sheep to find just me, and leave out the
Forgiving Father who throws a party when he sees me coming
home, and we’d surely be spiritually impoverished, even depleted.
In a word, the parables are essential tokens of grace, lagniappes of
God’s love. 

This is the third in what will be a series of four issues focusing on the
parables. As you read these pages, I hope your faith is strengthened
and your load is lightened. 

Will you continue to pray for the Digest, and may I be so bold as to
ask for your support? 

Yours in Christ,

The Reverend Charleston David Wilson

4 anglicandigest.org
 6 You Made Them Equal to Us!
9 The Wise and Foolish Builders
12 A Royal Invitation
20 “All In” for Jesus
23 The Unjust Judge
27 Salt, Light, & Lamps Under A Bushel
31 The Anglican Bookstore
38 Lazarus & the Rich Man
41 Too Many Bushel Baskets
44 Which of You?
47 Hurry Up and Wait
54 The Pharisees and the Publican
57 Necrology

QQQQQQQQQQ

Cover photos taken by Marc Langille, ©

Front Cover:
Sculpture in Hillspeak Cemetery by Ben Bunyar

Back Cover:
Foland Memorial Cross and Memorial Bricks;
Cross by Charles Robbins and Rick Allee

spring 2019 5
connecting
YOU MADE THEM
EQUAL TO US!
Matthew 20:1-16
The Rev. Anjel Ayrer
Scarborough, St. Peter’s
Church, Ellicott City, MD
I spent my teen years living
in Orange County, California.
While the 1980’s saw unprec-
edented development of open
spaces, there were still a few
farm fields of strawberries
and orange groves. Migrant
laborers flocked to South-
ern California from Mexico
and Central America seeking
work and fleeing the wars in
El Salvador and Nicaragua. In
Santa Ana, there was a street
corner every migrant work-
er knew: “Fifth and Euclid”.
It was an open air market
for day laborers that took on
mythical qualities. Among
the migrants coming north,
the stories of “Fifth and Eu-
clid” loomed large. “Fifth and
Euclid” was where you could
get real work! If you worked
6 anglicandigest.org
hard, you could make a liv-
ing getting jobs at “Fifth and
Euclid.” Sadly, reality didn’t
always live up to the hype as
workers were abused and at
times went unpaid with no le-
gal recourse. But the legend of
how anyone who worked hard
could get a job at “Fifth and
Euclid” was persistent.
In the predawn hours, mi-
grant laborers would congre-
gate at the corner of Fifth and
Euclid. Farm trucks and con-
struction vehicles would pull
up: “Necesito cinco hombres”
… “I need five men”. Laborers
would scramble to be first to
be picked to get work that day.
Trucks filled up and pulled
out — many found work for
the day but others were left
behind. “Quizas mañana” …
“Maybe tomorrow.”
These migrant laborers were
not unlike those whom Jesus
describes in his parable of
the Laborers in the Vineyard.
This parable is full of scandal
gathering
that strikes to the heart of our
sense of economic fairness.
It follows on the heels of Je-
sus’ encounter with the rich
young man who is told to sell
all his possessions and give
the money away and then
come follow Jesus; the young
man turns away grieving be-
cause he has many posses-
sions. Jesus closes this teach-
ing by saying, “Many who are
first will be last and the last
will be first.” This parable also
illustrates that motif.
The vineyard owner goes out
in the early morning hours
and hires some laborers to
work in his field and agrees
to pay them a denarius for
the day — the common daily
wage. This was not an extrav-
agant amount as it just bought
enough for a day’s food. It was
the minimum wage of Je-
sus’ time. About nine o’clock,
the vineyard owner goes out
again and finds idle laborers.
He calls them, “Go work in
the vineyard and whatever is
telling
right I will give you.” This sec-
ond group gets no guaranteed
amount, merely “whatever is
right.” But they go, and the
vineyard owner repeats this
offer to two more groups of
laborers at noon and 3 o’clock
— he’ll give them “whatever
is right.” At 5 o’clock he finds
more laborers and asks them
why they are not working —
“Because no one hired us” is
the response. The owner then
tells them to go work in the
vineyard.
The scandal of the parable
comes at the end — at the
pay station. The manager, on
behalf of the owner, is told
to pay the laborers, begin-
ning with the last ones hired.
Had he begun with the first
ones hired, there would be no
scandal as the first laborers
would have received the wag-
es they expected. But when
the last ones get the same pay,
the first are set up to presume
they will get paid more — af-
ter all, that’s only fair. Instead,
spring 2019 7
connecting
all of the laborers receive the
same wage, and outrage en-
sues. “You have made them
equal to us!”
And there is the rub: “You
have made them equal to us!”
How many times do we fall
into the same trap of believ-
ing God’s economy is a mer-
it-based system? How many
times do we think there is a
“brownie points for Jesus”
program giving out more
rewards to those who work
harder or have been here lon-
ger? Do we really believe there
is a seniority system in heaven
where those who work longer
and harder get more reward?
We do, in fact, behave as if
we believe in a celestial merit
badge program. These beliefs
manifest themselves when
long-time members of con-
gregations say things like “I’ve
been a member of this church
for 45 years” as a way of es-
tablishing why their opin-
ion should be given greater
8 anglicandigest.org
weight in discussing church
matters. They are on display
when we hear “Well we tried
that back in 1962 and it didn’t
work then and won’t work
now” when new mission ini-
tiatives or programs are con-
sidered. “I’ve been here lon-
ger” implies that we employ a
seniority system in the church
— an implication this parable
refutes clearly.
Works righteousness is
deeply ingrained in our col-
lective psyche — especially in
our American culture which
values being “productive”
over all things. Our whole
sense of fairness and what is
right is upended in this para-
ble. We can be quick to judge
the workers who came at 5
o’clock as lazy and not want-
ing to work instead of longing
to work but perhaps judged
by other employers as not “in
their prime” or “fit to work.”
The graciousness of the sto-
ry is not just in the vineyard
gathering
owner making everyone
equal, but in the invitation to
work to those who wanted to
but were left behind. In God’s
economy, nobody gets left
out.
This graciousness, both of the
offer to work and treating ev-
eryone the same, flies in the
face of everything we learn
about economic values. We
are deeply imprinted with the
message that we need to pull
ourselves up by our bootstraps
and work hard to get ahead.
Jesus undoes all the expecta-
tions of how God’s economy
works in this parable, flipping
the script on our self-righ-
teous desires to be rewarded
the way we think we should
be. God’s vineyard is one
where everyone, no matter
how long they’ve been there,
engages in valuable work for
the Kingdom and receives the
same reward. Our Lord is the
great equalizer of all.
telling
THE WISE AND
FOOLISH BUILDERS
Matthew 7:24-27;
Luke 6:46-49
The Rev. Jane Schmoetzer
All Saints’ Church,
Richland, WA
The wise man built his house
upon a rock
The wise man built his house
upon a rock
The wise man built his house
upon a rock
and the rain came a-
tumblin’ down.
Hearing or reading the par-
able of the wise and foolish
builders always triggers an
“ear worm” from my child-
hood Vacation Bible School
days. It’s a cheerful little song
— complete with hand mo-
tions, of course! —meant to
encourage placing our whole
trust in Jesus, as the prayer
says, “not only with our lips
but in our lives.” A fine and
important thing to remember,
of course, and not only for
children.
spring 2019 9
connecting
This parable is found at the
conclusion of the Sermon on
the Mount in Matthew, and
the Sermon on the Plain in
Luke. In a few short verses, Je-
sus calls those who have been
listening to his teaching to put
it into practice, and he effec-
tively illustrates the difference
it makes.
Of course, like any good para-
ble, the lessons go far beyond
the corporeal realities of con-
struction and civil engineer-
ing success or failure.
We human beings are very
eager to build houses, aren’t
we? And not only literal shel-
ters made of wood or stone
or steel. We are forever con-
structing “castles in the air,”
making our plans and plan-
ning our lives around them.
A comfortable home in a
safe neighborhood; a long
and loving marriage; a happy,
healthy family; a prestigious
career… We’re confident that
if we simply pull ourselves up
10 anglicandigest.org
by our bootstraps and work
hard enough, all will be well.
Then life intervenes, and all
too often our grand, self-
made houses turn out to be
built on sand — or worse yet,
no more substantial than sand
castles themselves. Houses of
comfort and security washed
away by job loss or disabili-
ty or economic downturn…
Houses of power and prestige
ripped apart by the blowing
of political winds and human
machinations… Houses of
“happily ever after” collapsing
under the weight of illness,
death, or betrayal.
Suddenly there they are: all
our grand plans, lying in ru-
ins at our feet. None of us is
immune. Sorrow and pain
and loss are part of the human
condition; they happen to all
of us at one time or another.
What Jesus is saying in this
parable is that those moments
gathering
are precisely when the way of
life that he has been trying
to teach, matters most. That’s
when he shows himself to be
the rock for weathering those
inevitable storms, and the gift
for our salvation that he real-
ly is, in this life as well as the
next.
Because if who we are is
conditional upon what we
achieve; if our emotional and
spiritual well-being is depen-
dent on wealth or power; if
able-bodied health (our own
or those we love) is the key
to happiness, then life’s trials
can reduce us in an instant
to worthlessness and self-re-
crimination, hopelessness
and despair.
On the other hand, if our best
best laid plans are not in fact
the center of our being, then
even their utter destruction
cannot destroy us. We can an-
chor in God’s love and mercy,
knowing that they have never
been related to or dependent
telling
on worldly success. We can
lean into the “grace and com-
fort of the Holy Spirit,” with-
out regard to any notion of
“deserving.”
The ability to turn to God and
find strength in the midst of
hardship is why Jesus urges us
to act on his words, and not
merely to listen. Jesus is not
teaching ways to earn God’s
favor; emphatically not! In-
stead, he’s showing us that
what we learn by walking
in his footsteps allows us to
be able to see what has been
there all along, and to build a
relationship of intimacy and
trust that reveals and sustains.
In the Book of Common
Prayer’s Compline office, the
psalm I choose to pray most
often is Psalm 31. The psalm-
ist says it well (verses 1-5):
In you, O LORD, have I taken
refuge; let me never be put to
shame: deliver me in your righ-
teousness.
spring 2019 11
connecting

Incline your ear to me; make A ROYAL

haste to deliver me. INVITATION
Matthew 22:1-14
Be my strong rock, a castle to
keep me safe, for you are my The Very Rev. Kevin L. Morris
crag and my stronghold; for Church of the Ascension,
Rockville Centre, NY
the sake of your Name, lead me
and guide me.
A few church fairs ago, a
Take me out of the net that they couple of my more industri-
have secretly set for me, for you ous parishioners decided to
are my tower of strength. edit and publish a new parish
cookbook. As a part of this
Into your hands I commend my project, one of our editors
spirit, for you have redeemed decided to send a request for
me, O LORD, O God of truth. recipes to Queen Elizabeth
at Buckingham Palace. Now
In his life, death, and resur- of course, nobody imagined
rection, Jesus gives all of hu- that Her Majesty spends
manity the tools we need to much time in the kitchen, but
drill deep into the presence it seemed like a clever idea
of God and set the pilings for and, who knows, maybe one
all the rest of our life, building of the palace chefs would take
a dwelling that no storm can pity on us and send us a reci-
shake and that even the gates pe. Well, the parishioner who
of hell cannot destroy. was responsible for this idea
did get a response from one of
the Queen’s secretaries, very
politely declining to submit
any recipes. Now you must
understand that in addition

12 anglicandigest.org
gathering
to being a foodie, I am some-
thing of a monarchist. Yes, I
am an American citizen, but I
happen to be a huge fan of the
royal family and Her Majesty.
So I was endlessly amused by
the fact that we actually got
a response from the palace.
It didn’t matter that it was a
stock response from a volun-
teer secretary; what mattered
was that it came from the pal-
ace on official letterhead. If
you open up our cookbook,
you will find there a picture of
this letter, forever memorial-
ized on one of the front pages.
Now I just want to point
out here the subtle craziness
of this: this is a REJECTION
LETTER. This is a rejection
letter from the palace, and
I still found it so meaning-
ful that I thought it needed
to be bound and included in
the book. This isn’t an invita-
tion to tea. It isn’t a recipe for
the Queen’s favorite scones.
It’s a rejection letter from a
telling
secretary — a very sweet re-
jection letter, but a rejection
letter nonetheless. Here it is
though, right in the front of
our cookbook, right where I
think it belongs. If that is how
I respond to a rejection from
the palace, can you imagine
how I would respond to an in-
vitation?
Let me tell you, it’s probably
never going to happen – I’m
not that crazy – but if it ever
did, if for some reason the
Queen decided that she need-
ed a few more priests at her
parties to balance out all the
politicians and celebrities,
and if I were to come home
one day and discover a letter
from the Lord Chamberlain’s
office slipped into my letter-
box inviting me to any event
whatsoever at the palace, I
can promise you: I would go.
There isn’t much in this world
that would keep me from go-
ing. I wouldn’t care if I had
spring 2019 13
connecting
to take a redeye flight then
turn right around and come
straight back. I would still go.
I’d probably even buy a new
suit, just so that I looked my
best. It wouldn’t matter if I
was sick, tired, busy, whatever
— I would find a way, because
it would be important to me.
What an honor it would be.
What a privilege it would be.
How many people get invited
to be the guest at a royal ban-
quet?
What would make it especial-
ly meaningful is that there is
no reason for me to be invit-
ed: I’m not a celebrity, I’m not
a politician, I haven’t made
a significant contribution to
British culture, I’m not even a
citizen. I’m just your average
admirer from across the pond.
And maybe you all think I’m
a bit eccentric — and maybe
I am — but if I were a bet-
ting man, I’d be willing to bet
that if any of you received a
similar invitation, you’d do That is what makes this para-
the same.
14 anglicandigest.org
I don’t care what your citi-
zenship is, what your politics
are, or what you think about
monarchy; I’m willing to bet
that if you got an invitation to
the Queen’s house for dinner,
you’d take it seriously. If there
was any way you could go,
you would go. Who wouldn’t?
And I’m also willing to bet
that you would take it so seri-
ously that, when you showed
up for dinner, you’d look pret-
ty sharp. Maybe you wouldn’t
buy a new suit, but you’d
probably wear the best one
you had, because this would
be a special occasion. Some-
one really important was tak-
ing notice of you. You would
take the invitation seriously.
I think that’s pretty much hu-
man nature. I may be a mon-
archist, but I have a hard time
imagining why anyone would
refuse the Queen’s invitation.
How grumpy would you have
to be?
ble in Matthew’s Gospel such
gathering
a ridiculous story. A king
gives a wedding banquet for
his son. He sends out invi-
tations, but the guests don’t
come. He sends out messen-
gers to the guests to invite
them again, and this time
they kill the messengers. Fi-
nally, he tells his servants to
invite anyone who will come,
and even then someone has
so little respect for the invi-
tation that he can’t even be
bothered to change out of his
street clothes. This is a ridic-
ulous story. Jesus knows that
it is a ridiculous story. His lis-
teners understand that this is
a ridiculous story because, for
the most part, that’s not how
people act toward kings and
queens. If an invitation comes
from a king or queen, you
take it seriously. You don’t ig-
nore it, you certainly don’t kill
the messenger, and when you
show up, you show the proper
respect to your host by trying
to be and look the best version
of yourself that you can. Jesus
knows that the story is ridic-
telling
ulous and unbelievable, and I
think that is part of his point.
We know that we wouldn’t
treat an earthly king this way,
but how do we treat the King
of Heaven?
People get squirmy with this
Gospel story because they
don’t like the part about the
guy getting thrown out in the
end for wearing the wrong
thing. But I don’t think the
point of this story is the be-
havior of the king at all. Jesus
isn’t trying to say that God is
like this King; what he’s trying
to say is that we are like those
guests. His main point isn’t
how God acts towards us; it’s
how we act toward God. He
tells this absurd story so that
we will recognize the dramat-
ic difference between how we
treat God and how we treat
the leaders of this world. We
treat the heavenly King in
ways we would never dream
of treating an earthly king:
We ignore his invitation, we
kill his messengers, and even
spring 2019 15
connecting
if we openly accept his in-
vitation, still we often prove
ourselves unwilling to take it
seriously, unwilling to change,
literally or figuratively. We
don’t take God and God’s in-
vitation nearly as seriously
as we would take the invita-
tion from any earthly king or
queen. That, I think, is Jesus’
main point.
In Jesus, we know God to be a
God of forgiveness and grace.
We know God to be merci-
ful. I don’t think that God is
tossing people into the outer
darkness for not being dressed
appropriately. We know that
the heavenly king is infinitely
better — more just and more
merciful than any earth-
ly king. An earthly king or
queen will reject you. Earth-
ly rulers are fallible. They are
human. They won’t even share
their recipes. Although I am a
monarchist, I can understand
why some people aren’t be-
cause, if you look at history,
there have been plenty of in-
16 anglicandigest.org
ept and sometimes even wick-
ed kings and queens. But we
know that the King of Kings,
the heavenly king, is so much
better. So if we are willing to
take an invitation from an
earthly king very seriously,
shouldn’t we take an invita-
tion from a heavenly King
that much more seriously?
We all have been invited to the
most amazing banquet. We
have been invited to share not
just in God’s table at our own
parishes; we have been invit-
ed to partake of the heavenly
banquet. I know that Holy
Communion may not seem
like a real meal — just a small
piece of bread and a tiny sip
of wine — but consider for a
minute what is truly happen-
ing there: The God and King
of all creation has invited us
poor sinners to a banquet.
We don’t deserve to be there.
There is no reason that God
should welcome us there, but
he does. We come together
with other Christians, not just
gathering
in one place, but across the
world and across time. Those
we have loved and see no lon-
ger, they are there. The saints
of God throughout the ages,
they are there. Communion
is a foretaste of the eternal
heavenly banquet that God,
the King of Heaven, has in-
vited us to, and the food that
he offers us is his own life. No
earthly king or queen could
do that. The invitation to
Communion with God is the
most important invitation we
will ever receive. It is a roy-
al invitation, so shouldn’t we
treat it that way?
Let’s face it, even those of us
who accept God’s invitation
often don’t do it with the true
joy and enthusiasm that it de-
serves. Maybe we are willing
to show up and eat, but do we
care enough to change, to be
better; not to be phony, but
to be the best version of our-
selves? Are we just dropping
by this feast reluctantly on
our way to someplace else, or
telling
is this where we really want to
be? Are we excited to accept
this invitation? Are we really
taking the King of Heaven’s
invitation seriously?
The truth is, I’m probably nev-
er going to get an invitation to
dinner with the Queen. She’s a
very important and busy per-
son, and it’s no surprise that
I’m not at the top of her guest
list. Don’t get me wrong: I still
want go, and I’d be thrilled to
get one. But it’s ok. I have to
remember that I have already
received a royal invitation. A
far greater and more import-
ant King has taken notice of
me and invited me to dine at
his table. Can I take his invi-
tation just as seriously?
spring 2019 17
gathering telling

OPERATION

PASS
ALONG
S ince 1972, Operation Pass Along has shared more than 245,000 books,
tapes, vestments, and other items.

Pioneered by the late Wynne Swinson Hensel, Operation Pass Along is

a tangible extension of our mission of sharing the words and work of the
faithful throughout the Anglican Communion; it allows us to collect books
about the Church and usable vestments from those who no longer want or
need them and pass them along to those who do.

spring 2014
Requests for books from seminarians or other readers are filled from whatever
is on our shelves at no charge, other than for shipping and handling. When
we have funds available, books and vestments are reshipped at no charge to
churches and clergy in countries where access to those items is limited or too
costly.
Make a Donation:
If you have, or your parish has, books or vestments that are not being used,
you are encouraged to send them to:
The Anglican Digest
Operation Pass Along
805 County Road 102
Eureka Springs, AR 72632-9705
The most economical way to send books is via the U.S. Postal Service, marked
“Media Mail.” We will send you a receipt for the number of packages received.
If you wish to claim them as a tax-deductible, charitable donation, you must
put a value on them; if you obtain a receipt from the post office, you may also
claim the cost of mailing.
To Submit a Request:
Requests for books may be sent to the same mailing address or submitted
via e-mail at OPERATIONPASSALONG@ANGLICANDIGEST.ORG or
telephone at 800-572-7929. When submitting requests, please be specific with
titles and authors. If we have the book(s) you seek, we will advise you of the
postage and handling charge and, upon receipt of your remittance, will mail
the book(s) to you. There is no charge for the book itself.
If we do not have the book when you submit your request, we will hold your
request for a year, and will notify you as above if and when a requested book
is received. If, at the end of a year, you have not heard from us and want us to
continue to watch for the book, you must resubmit your request.
Items come and go almost daily, so we do not attempt to catalog them, nor do
we maintain a printed list.
For more information, please call 479-253-9701 or email us
operationpassalong@anglicandigest.org
connecting
“ALL IN” FOR JESUS
Luke 14:28-33
The Rev. Brandt L.
Montgomery, Church of the
Ascension, Lafayette, LA
At 13 years old, I was a 7th
grader at Saint Peter’s Epis-
copal Day School in Talla-
dega, Alabama. It was a year
that provided me an in-depth
introduction to Anglican
Christianity. I remember the
Wednesday mornings when
the Rector and school’s chap-
lain led chapel service for the
students in the church’s nave.
These Wednesday morning
experiences were the begin-
ning of my deep interest in
Christianity. I began paying
attention to the day’s Scrip-
ture lessons, feeling a hun-
ger for them. I found myself
being drawn closer to Jesus,
even praying regularly. I was
coming to know Jesus in a
way that I had not before. The
morning chapels at Saint Pe-
ter’s Episcopal Day School
20 anglicandigest.org
became the best and most
important time of the day for
me. And it was then I made
the decision to be “all in” for
Jesus.
To confess Jesus Christ as
Lord is to become free by
God’s grace from the power
of sin and heirs of his eternal
kingdom. But a serious com-
mitment is required on our
part. Belief in and confession
of Christ requires a complete
surrender to his will, to dai-
ly take up our cross and fol-
low him. This is the cost of
Christian discipleship. The
Church’s baptismal greeting is
not for the faint-hearted.
Jesus makes clear that follow-
ing him requires a definite
decision. “Whoever comes
to Me and does not hate fa-
ther and mother, wife and
children, brothers and sisters,
yes, even life itself, cannot be
My disciple. Whoever does
not carry the cross and follow
gathering telling

Me cannot be My disciple. pendence from earthly things

None of you can become My and powers that will one day
disciple if you do not give up crumble and fall to God who
all your possessions.” (Luke was, is, and forever shall be.
14:26-27, 30) To “seek first [God’s] king-
dom and His righteousness”
As it was in Jesus’ day, many (Matthew 6:33) is to push
in our own have misgivings our wills to the side and al-
about this “carrying the cross” low God entrance to provide
stuff. “Which of you, intend- us the real things necessary
ing to build a tower, does not for living. “To live is Christ,”
first sit down and estimate Paul says, “and to die is gain.”
the cost, to see whether he (Philippians 1:21) By surren-
has enough to complete it? dering our hearts, minds, and
Otherwise, when he has laid wills completely to Jesus, we
a foundation and is not able become our best selves and,
to finish, all who see it begin through God’s grace, go from
to ridicule him. What king, strength to strength.
going out to wage war against
another king, will not sit down
first and consider whether he Hence, Jesus bids us to ful-
is able with ten thousand toly commit to him. He knows
oppose the one who comes all our misgivings, fears, and
struggles. The hopes and fears
against him with twenty thou-
sand?” (Luke 14.28-29, 31) of all people through all the
years are met in him. “Come
Jesus warns us: If you’re not
ready to commit and be “all to Me, all who labor and are
in,” then don’t start. heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take My yoke upon
Christian discipleship re- you and learn from Me; for I
quires us to switch our de- am gentle and lowly in heart,

spring 2019 21
connecting
and you will find rest for your
souls.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
We should not fear follow-
ing Jesus, for he, through the
cross, overcame all destruc-
tive powers, and his resurrec-
tion from the grave opened
to all who confess him the
way to everlasting life. Only
through Christ can we bear
life’s struggles and stand up to
oppressive forces. Christ’s way
“bears all things…endures all
things.” (1 Corinthians 13:37)
Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313-
386), one of the foremost
theologians of the Early
Church, said, “Let us not…be
ashamed to confess the Cru-
cified. Be the cross our seal
made with boldness by our
fingers on our brow, and on
everything…in our comings
in, and goings out; before our
sleep, when we lie down and
when we rise up; when we are
in the way, and when we are
still.”
22 anglicandigest.org
Therefore, though Christian
discipleship is not the easiest
life to live, if we want to tru-
ly live, we should fully com-
mit to it. Jesus’ victory on the
cross shows that we have been
given the power to do bat-
tle against “rulers…authori-
ties…cosmic powers of this
present darkness…[and] spir-
itual forces of evil in the heav-
enly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
Jesus showed on Calvary the
extent to which God goes to
prove his love for all of us.
“No one has greater love than
this, to lay down one’s life for
one’s friends.
“You are my friends if you do
what I command you.” (John
15:13-14) And what does Je-
sus command? “As I have
loved you, you also should
love one another.” (John
13:34) To be a Christian dis-
ciple, to walk Christ’s way of
the cross, is to really live, not
just on Earth, but forever with
Christ in Heaven.
gathering
May we all, then, have the
courage to commit complete-
ly to Jesus, boldly confessing
him as the Christ, the Son of
the living God. May we have
the courage to take up our
own cross, walking its way
to the destiny Jesus prepares
for all who commit to him
— eternal life in his everlast-
ing kingdom. May Jesus be
so glorified in us that “when
He comes in the glory of his
Father with the holy angels,”
(Mark 8:38) his words to us
may be, “Well done… enter
into the joy of your Master.”
(Matthew 25:23)
THE ORDER OF ST. ANDREW
A Religious Order of men and
women, both married and single,
not living in community.
For information contact:
The Father or Mother General
The Order of Saint Andrew
2 Creighton Lane
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Advertisement
telling
THE UNJUST JUDGE
Luke 18:1-8
The Rt. Rev. Anthony F. M.
Clavier, Co-Editor
It is alleged that a student once
defined a parable as being a
heavenly story with no earthly
meaning. Nowadays, a gener-
ation, or maybe even a second
generation, is growing up who
have never heard the parables
of Jesus. Those of us who pro-
fess to have faith are equally
prone to think that stories
about vineyards or sheep or
harvests have little to do with
a world of Starbucks, McDon-
alds, or Walmart. We hear the
stories Jesus told as we sit in
comfortable pews on Sunday,
perhaps wondering what the
preacher will make of them in
the inevitable sermon.
The story of an unjust judge
may seem to be an excep-
tion. If we haven’t person-
ally encountered an unjust
judge, we have probably read
spring 2019 23
connecting
stories about poor people or
minorities being ill-used by
morally corrupt or venial le-
gal officials. Problem solved:
This parable means that if we
badger God enough he will fi-
nally give in and do as we de-
mand. What’s the use of being
a Christian if we don’t get our
prayers answered? That leads
to a further problem: What if
our prayers aren’t answered?
Does it mean that we don’t
have faith, or that we haven’t
asked enough, or asked in the
wrong way?
Let us begin with parable,
the art of telling a short story
which has a moral or religious
point and which connects our
lives to God’s life. Note that a
parable has a single point. If
the reader gets bogged down
in the details, assigning to
each section an equally appro-
priate weight rather than con-
centrating on the real thrust of
the story, the point is missed.
For instance, the Parable of
the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9;
24 anglicandigest.org
Mark 4:3-9; Luke 8:5-8) is
not about people falling away,
but rather teaches that God’s
Kingdom will triumph. That
brings us to the Unjust Judge.
Judges in First Century Israel
sorted out complaints made
by those who believed they
had been wronged. Most of
the cases they heard were
about property or inheritance,
and so were unusually open
to corruption. Those who first
heard this story — whether
from the lips of Jesus or in a
gathering of early Christians,
where St. Luke’s careful histo-
ry of the life of Jesus was being
read — would have known all
about corrupt judges. They
also would have known some-
thing else, something which
opens up this story to us.
Modern Christians seem
convinced that faith is about
me. We talk about my faith
and even my God. We alter,
abridge, or edit the substance
of the Christian faith to suit
gathering
our own needs and desires.
“Jesus is my Savior” we pro-
claim. Well yes, he is, but only
because Jesus is the Savior of
the world and the Savior of
the Church. By baptism, we
become members of a saved
community. That communi-
ty is described in the Creeds
as One, Holy, Catholic, and
Apostolic. We can’t alter that
faith or design it for our own
needs and desires. Rather,
that “Catholic” faith alters and
changes our needs and de-
sires, and disciplines them to
adore and serve God and love
and serve humanity.
The Jews yearned for the com-
ing of the Anointed One, the
Messiah promised by the an-
cient prophets and foretold in
the Holy Books of the Hebrew
Bible. They believed that when
this event happened, Israel —
that is the ancient physical
land promised to Abraham
— would be restored to them.
Jesus dug deeper. He taught
that the idea of such a Messi-
telling
ah restoring David’s Kingdom
was flawed. The Jewish people
yearned to be vindicated, but
for the wrong sort of vindica-
tion.
The first Christians, looking
back at the Cross, the Resur-
rection, and the Ascension,
knew the true meaning. The
people of God were vindicat-
ed by Jesus the Messiah, the
Christ. By his birth, ministry,
death, resurrection, and as-
cension, he had accomplished
what the widow yearned for.
Israel and the Church of God
were now vindicated. The
Church’s unceasing plea “that
he will come again in his glo-
rious majesty” and will estab-
lish an everlasting Kingdom is
being fulfilled.
The parable of the Unjust
Judge does not address our
prayers for Aunt Ann’s bun-
ions, or what we call interces-
sory prayers. Elsewhere, Jesus
assures us that if we ask with
his mind (in his name), God
spring 2019 25
connecting
will answer in a manner best
for us. That he has promised.
We don’t have to bombard
God with prayers for our indi-
vidual needs — “Ask and you
will receive”. But faith isn’t pri-
marily about individuals at all,
or about personal needs. Faith
is the belief that we belong,
through baptism, to God’s
Kingdom, a kingdom at pres-
ent, here on earth, made up
of gathered communities, like
embassies, representing God’s
Kingdom, the Kingdom which
exists in the mind and will of
God in his Presence, the King-
dom which will come.
The Church’s cry is Marana-
tha, “The Lord has come and
will come”. We do what we can
to tell the Good News, care
for the poor, and seek justice,
but we know that the perfect
world for which we work and
yearn will come when the new
heaven joins with the new
earth and Eden is restored.
God the Righteous Judge
hears our prayer for vindica-
26 anglicandigest.org
tion. He lifts in our minds and
imagination the Cross, the
Empty tomb, the disciples on
a hill as Jesus disappears, and
the coming of the Holy Spir-
it at Pentecost. We don’t have
to nudge God to do what he
purposes to do. Rather, the
Church cries out for the final
vindication so that we keep
in mind the centrality of the
Second Coming. Without it,
Christianity is a generation-
al slog to create the kingdom
by our own efforts and by our
own means.
Every Sunday, we recite the
Creeds and avow that we be-
lieve in the life of the world to
come. This is not a statement
of belief in immortality, per-
sonal or for our families too.
This is the Church’s belief in a
renewed world which comes
at the end, and the beginning
of all things, when the Just
Judge vindicates his people.
So let it be.
gathering
SALT, LIGHT, &
LAMPS UNDER A
BUSHEL
Matthew 5:13-16
The Rev. Dr. Walter
Brownridge
Christ Church
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
You are the salt of the
earth; but if salt has lost its
taste, how can its saltiness
be restored? It is no longer
good for anything, but is
thrown out and trampled
underfoot. You are the
light of the world. A city
built on a hill cannot be
hidden. No one after light-
ing a lamp puts it under
the bushel basket, but on
the lampstand, and it gives
light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your
light shine before others,
so that they may see your
good works and give glory
to your Father in heaven.
The images of salt and light
are perhaps my favorite of
telling
Jesus’ metaphors to describe
what is Christian discipleship.
It is both concrete and poetic,
incarnate and transcendent at
the same time.
Before I explore our text, it is
important to note that in Mat-
thew this image is mentioned
immediately following Jesus’
discourse on the Beatitudes.
The Beatitudes expands what
we learn about the call to dis-
cipleship.
Blessed are … The poor in
spirit … The meek … Those
who hunger and thirst for
righteousness … The mer-
ciful … The pure in heart
… The peacemakers …
Those who are persecuted
for righteousness sake …
The Beatitudes lay out a bib-
lical foundation for Christian
ethics that has become essen-
tial reading for an introducto-
ry course in moral theology
and Christian ethics. Jesus’
discourse holds up several
spring 2019 27
connecting
virtues and pairs them with
such promises as: “Theirs
is the kingdom of heaven”;
“They shall inherit the earth”;
“They shall be comforted”;
“They shall receive mercy.”
The placement of the salt and
light parable indicates that
the audience that heard the
Sermon on the Mount is the
same audience that heard the
salt and light parable. More
importantly, Jesus uses the
metaphor to give encourage-
ment and direction to the
faithful.
In the first metaphor, “You
are the salt of the earth”, Jesus
is suggesting to his disciples
their identity. Salt (among
other purposes) is a natural
preservative for food, thus it
is essential for nourishment.
Salt was and is a valuable
commodity.
Jesus gives his disciples a
distinctive capacity to elicit
goodness on the earth. Like
28 anglicandigest.org
salt, which is used to alter or
enhance the tastes of food,
the disciples’ capacity to elicit
goodness as they participate
on the earth should be of pro-
found consequence.
The danger for disciples is
that they may lose that capac-
ity by forgetting that they are
to disorder the status quo by
valuing those who are dispos-
sessed, caring for those who
suffer loss, seeking to do jus-
tice, showing mercy, having
integrity, being peacemakers,
and courageously standing
for what they believe. Dis-
ciples who do not engage in
such practices that humanize
life on earth will be like salt
that has lost its taste. As fol-
lowers for Jesus, we have the
same identity, purpose, and
calling.
The second metaphor, “You
are the light of the world,” in-
vites us to consider the role of
disciples as a gathered com-
munity (vv. 14-16). Light
gathering telling

enables us to see things and Christian virtue, but we must

is a kind of energy that gives always remember that our hu-
things color, helps vegeta- mility is about ourselves, not
tion to grow, provides solar “the treasure we have in jars
power for electricity, and can of clay” (2 Corinthians 4:7).
be focused for specific uses, We must always remember
such as a laser. Like light, the that we are the jars of clay
disciples as a gathered com- (or “earthen vessels”, as the
munity have the overarching King James Version translates
purpose of being the mirror it), but our calling — to pro-
that reflects God’s light so claim the Gospel of Jesus and
that all peoples and nations to participate in hastening
can know of God’s justice and the coming of God’s Beloved
mercy. As a gathered commu- Community — is a treasure
nity, the disciples are like the that is compelling and should
light when they engage others not be hidden.
in the world, enabling diver-
sity, sustainability, and recon-
About 15 years ago, I left for
ciliation. These are the good three years as a missionary
works that will glorify God. with the Anglican Church
of Southern Africa in Cape
What is interesting to me is Town, During my time there,
that the metaphors of salt and I learned much about the ne-
light can be contrasted with cessity of maintaining this
the virtues in the beatitudes, balance of humility and bold-
especially meekness and pov- ness. A quotation that was
erty. Those qualities tend to popularized by the late South
confirm the belief that Chris- African President Nelson
tians should be more humble Mandela, during his inaugu-
and avoid self-promotion. ral address was actually writ-
Humility is an important ten by American spirituality

spring 2019 29
connecting

writer Marianne Williamson. ated from our own fear,

Like Mandela, we should take our presence automatically
heed of her words: liberates others.

Our deepest fear is not — “Our Greatest Fear”

that we are inadequate. by Marianne Williamson,
Our deepest fear is that we excerpted from “A Return to
are powerful beyond mea- Love” (1992)
sure. It is our light, not our
darkness that most fright- May we never become faint
ens us. We ask ourselves, of heart as we shine our little
who am I to be brilliant, lights of the love in this dark-
gorgeous, talented, fab- ened world. Our light is teth-
ulous? Actually, who are ered to the greater light of the
you not to be? You are a Word that was made flesh, a
child of God. Your playing light that the darkness could
small does not serve the not overcome.
world. There is nothing en-
lightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t
feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
as children do. We were
born to make manifest the
glory of God that is within
us. It’s not just in some of
us; it’s in everyone. And as
we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give oth-
er people permission to do
the same. As we are liber-

30 anglicandigest.org
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gathering telling

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gathering
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gathering
LAZARUS & THE
RICH MAN
Luke 16:19-31
The Rev. Dr. Calvin Lane
Affiliate Professor of
Church History at Nashotah
House Theological Seminary
St. George’s Church,
Dayton, OH
The parable of Lazarus and
the rich man appears in only
Luke’s Gospel, although, as
we will see, there are obvi-
ous echoes in Matthew. To
approach this passage, let’s
practice that life-giving and
catholic way of reading scrip-
ture — that is, with the church
across both space and time.
This is a fine opportunity
to draw on one of the more
important church fathers,
Gregory the Great. Obvious-
ly, mining patristic resources
can bring some insight, but
it is also a healthy discipline:
We read sacred scripture with
others so that our vision can
be challenged and refined.
That’s not to say that we bow
telling
in subservience to those who
came before, but rather that
we recognize the legitimate
claims our earlier brothers
and sisters can make on our
common life of worship and
scripture study. Gregory I was
bishop of Rome from 590 to
604; he is usually counted as
the last of the Latin church fa-
thers, and is likely best known
as the pope who simultane-
ously strengthened the papa-
cy while rejecting the notion
of universal supremacy. He
was also the first pope to have
been a monk, he sent Augus-
tine of Canterbury on mission
to England, and wrote one of
the most important treatises
on pastoral ministry. Gregory
was also a very fine preacher
and biblical exegete. His han-
dling of this particular para-
ble, in his Homily 40, is worth
our attention.
To begin, let’s survey the ma-
jor parts of this story Jesus tells
towards the end of his teach-
ing ministry in Luke’s Gospel.
spring 2019 37
connecting
There is a rich man, and a
poor beggar named Lazarus;
the rich man is wrapped in
fine clothes, while Lazarus
is covered in terrible sores
which are licked by dogs. The
rich man feasts; Lazarus eats
the crumbs. The rich man
dies and finds himself smol-
dering in hell; Lazarus dies
and is winged by angels to
“the bosom of Abraham.” The
rich man sees all this and begs
Abraham for just a drop of
water from Lazarus’s finger.
This is denied, as is another
request that Lazarus go warn
the rich man’s living brothers.
Abraham even specifies: Your
brothers have Moses and the
prophets and should listen to
them. Then Jesus closes the
parable by foreshadowing his
own resurrection: The con-
versation turns to whether
the rich man’s brothers would
believe if one returned from
the dead. Gregory reads this
parable as having primarily
allegorical and moral senses;
it uses symbol and metaphor
38 anglicandigest.org
(the allegorical sense) in or-
der to teach a particular man-
ner of life (the moral sense).
Gregory’s allegorical inter-
pretation is beautiful. While
he circles back to the surface
tension between the materi-
ally rich and poor at the end
of his homily (see Matthew
25), Gregory sees this para-
ble as a lesson on disclosing
our sins and placing our faith
in a merciful savior. The rich
man wrapped himself in lay-
ers of fine clothes, giving the
outward appearance of health
and vitality. He is a self-made
man, both trusting in his own
glory and displaying it. But
underneath the layers, hid-
den from view, are the same
sores Lazarus bears: The rich
man is riddled with wounds;
he is mortal and sin-sick. But
the rich man hides his sins;
he will not confess them.
Lazarus, though, admits his
sins; he shows his sores; he
openly confesses his failings.
Here Gregory also draws on
gathering
Isaiah 66 to say that the dogs
are allegory for preachers
whose “licks” (sermons) both
elicit repentance and offer the
comforting gospel of grace.
For Gregory, this parable also
figures the inclusion of the
gentiles: Lazarus here rep-
resents those non-Jews who,
like the Syrophoenician wom-
an (Matthew 15), having only
the crumbs of God’s cove-
nant, nevertheless place their
trust in a merciful savior and
expose their wounds to a lov-
ing God. By grace, they will
be grafted onto faithful Israel
and find themselves in the bo-
som of none other than their
father in faith, Abraham (Ro-
mans 4 & 11). This vision of
God’s global intentions built
into the covenant with Abra-
ham in the first place — that
is, that in Christ, God is not
taking some wild turn from
his earlier dealings with Israel
and thus abandoning his eter-
nal purposes for the whole of
his creation as the Marcionite
heretics taught — is under-
telling
lined by Abraham himself
pointing out to the rich man
that his living brothers al-
ready have the admonitions
of Moses and the prophets.
Like Lazarus, they should
show their wounds, confess
their sins, and have faith in a
loving God.
While Gregory has much
more to say, let’s simply close
on his discussion of the sub-
ject of names in this parable,
specifically that Lazarus is
named and the rich man is
not. Names mean an awful lot
in the Biblical narrative: Isaac
refers to Sarah’s disbelieving
laughter; “Israel” means to
struggle with God; Peter is
the rock; and Paul is small to
name but a few. Even Jesus’
name points the reader back
to Joshua, who led God’s peo-
ple into God’s promised land.
Gregory preached that, in this
parable, we find an inversion
of the worldly order which
prizes the names of the rich
and proud. Here in Jesus’ sto-
spring 2019 39
connecting
ry, God knows Lazarus’ name
— the name of a sinner who
trusts in Christ — but the rich
man has no name. (The name
“Dives” given to this charac-
ter in the church’s tradition is
simply Latin for “rich man.”)
Gregory sees a connection
here to Jesus’ teaching in the
seventh chapter of Matthew:
Not all will enter the King-
dom; some will hear those
dread words, “I never knew
you; depart from me.” This
rich man who never admitted
his need for a savior, who hid
his sins and never cried out for
mercy, does not know God.
And God, therefore, does not
know him. Lazarus, though,
has put his trust in God’s mer-
cy and is cradled in the loving
arms of Father Abraham. May
we likewise pull down the fine
robe, expose our wounds, and
discover God’s ever-present
grace.
40 anglicandigest.org
TOO MANY
BUSHEL BASKETS
Mark 4:21-25
The Rev. Brooks A. Cato
St. Thomas’ Church,
Hamilton, NY
As a camp counselor, I used
to lead kids in all kinds of
camp songs. In the dining
hall, we blessed the meal
with “Johnny Appleseed.” We
shortened hikes with a song
about dirty socks. We covered
unscheduled time between
activities with a whole song-
book of camp hits, most of
them falling shy of theologi-
cal oomph. The point of that
music, much of the time, was
to hype campers up or bring
them back down, to fill space,
and keep the kids from draw-
ing on the building or pulling
on loose strings in the carpet.
But when we’d head to Chap-
el, everything changed. We
moved into a reverent silence
first thing in the morning and
last thing at night. The mu-
sic there had purpose. These
gathering
songs became part of who
we were, part of who we’d be-
come.
Every morning, we may have
been groggy, but we were glad
to come to the house of the
Lord. And every evening, that
cliff-side house of God gave us
a peaceful night and a perfect
end. But in all the song select-
ing and last-minute shuffling
that was camp, there were a
handful of songs I tended to
avoid. I had my reasons for
each of them, but mostly I
shied away from things that
seemed too cutesy. One of
those seemingly cutesy songs
that I avoided was This Little
Light Of Mine. It’s fine — a
simple and catchy call-and-
response song — but I never
really got it. Even so, it has
stayed in my head and, like it
or not, I’ll whistle its tune or
sing along under my breath.
Like I said, it’s catchy and it’s
simple and it sticks.
When it comes to This Little
telling
Light Of Mine, though, lately
I’ve had my mind changed.
I was listening to an episode
of the podcast “Code Switch”
that focused on anthems,
songs that have carried and
continue to carry historical
significance, particularly for
people of color. The episode
covers a lot of ground, in-
cluding a significant portion
spent discussing the weighti-
ness of the song I so quickly
dismissed at camp. Where I’d
seen only the annoyance of
singing a song I didn’t really
care for, the song itself shined
its light into a dark world try-
ing to stay dark. The podcast
pieces together the historical
puzzle of the song’s origins,
but never settles in one place.
Instead, it allows the power of
the song throughout the past
hundred or so years to sing
for itself.
I had thought this was only
a song for kids, distilling the
message of Christ into an eas-
ily-regurgitated chorus. I did
spring 2019 41
connecting
not know, or I’d allowed my-
self to forget, that Rutha Mae
Harris and the Freedom Sing-
ers sang that simple, catchy,
sticky song as police stepped
toward them with billy clubs.
I did not know, or I’d allowed
myself to forget, that alt-right
marchers in Charlottesville
tried to drown out its power
with chants of “you will not
replace us.” And I did not
know, or I’d allowed myself
to forget, that while Presiding
Bishop Curry set the world
afire with his preaching, the
Kingdom Choir let their own
light shine into a world with
too few lamps and too many
bushel baskets.
I’m dumbstruck these days by
just how little of the world I
understand, especially by how
little I see because of my race
and my gender. I’ve heard it
said that “the greatest privi-
lege is not having to know that
you are privileged.” For much Mark’s light on a lampstand
of my life, I did not have to (or under a bushel, as the case
know. I did not have ears to may be) is a true and deep
42 anglicandigest.org
hear or eyes to see, as it were.
I could dismiss seemingly
saccharine children’s songs
because that’s all I under-
stood them to be. I suppose,
in a way, I was hiding under a
bushel basket, trying to keep
as many things as I could
hidden under there with me.
There was light under there,
too, but it was not reaching
terribly far, and it was only
shining light on those things
I already thought I knew to
be true. But there was great
truth beyond that bushel, and
I suppose there is still — truth
that sits somewhere beyond
the edge of what my light
sees. But if I read this passage
of Mark and understand this
light to be the same as my
light, then I’ve made a grave
error. And if I hear This Little
Light Of Mine and turn it over
on itself to be about me, too,
then I have erred once again.
gathering
challenge. That challenge
reaches in many directions
at once, shining the light of
Christ onto places and peo-
ple we aren’t ready to see in
their fullness, while also chal-
lenging us to shine that very
same light. This will hurt. This
will push us well beyond the
comfort of our snug bushel
baskets and, at times, it will
cause others to shy away from
the light we carry. If this light
is about me or you, then I
suppose we have the option
to hide it away. But this light
is not about me or you. This
light is Christ, and we do not
have the option to hide that
under a bushel. A light under
a bushel suffocates, flickers,
and dies, and to hide that light
of Christ under that bushel
basket is to extinguish Christ
himself and set him in the
tomb. But the Christian story
does not end in the suffocat-
ing cold of a closed-off tomb.
It begins again with light once
more: the Risen Christ shin-
ing, sometimes through but,
telling
more often than not, in spite
of us.
If there is anything in our lives
as Episcopalians that ought
to find its way under a bush-
el and stay there, it’s the ste-
reotype that we don’t shine
that light — that is, that we
don’t evangelize. There’s an
uncomfortable and discon-
certing degree of truth to that
statement, though. Too often,
too many of us view evange-
lism as a simple, catchy, sticky
thing that other Christians
do. We wait for them to shine
that light, and then we wait a
little longer, hoping to scoop
up the discontented as they
find themselves disillusioned
with the saccharine and the
shallow. It’s as though we
are saying ‘y’all do the heavy
lifting of This Little Light Of
Mine, while we hide comfort-
ably under Ubi Caritas.’
Setting the denominational
arrogance aside, that’s a great
sadness. It seems we are con-
spring 2019 43
connecting
tent either not to shine our
light, or to shine our light
safely behind the closed red
doors that we think holler
“Sanctuary” but more likely
whisper the words of Mr. Cel-
lophane: “You can look right
through me, walk right by me,
and never know I’m there.”
This Little Light Of Mine re-
fuses to whisper meekly, not
only in the face of oppression,
but also in the everyday, hum-
drum reality of a world that
needs fewer bushel baskets
and more Jesus. It’s no won-
der the song was and contin-
ues to be such a powerful tool
in outreach addressing social
deprivation. It is a powerful
tool because the light it shines
is the light of Christ, a light
that darkness comprehendeth
not, a light that is the word of
God.
I wonder what evangelism in
the Episcopal Church would
look like, what light we could
shine, if we knew the power
of the tools we carry. I won-
44 anglicandigest.org
der what light we could shine
if we weren’t afraid. I wonder
what light we could shine if
we uncovered the simplicity,
the catchiness, the stickiness
of the Gospel.
WHICH OF YOU?
Luke 11:5-8
The Rev. Brian McVey
Church of the Advent,
Nashville, TN
The blessings of pastoral
ministry are usually unpre-
dictable. Few argue that the
holiest moments are antic-
ipated. Rather, they are of-
ten discerned after the fact,
and in times and places that
are surprising. I had one
such blessed conversation on
Christmas Eve. I preached on
birth stories and how Jesus’
birth story made him more
relatable to us. In the course
of my sermon, I made a com-
ment that his dwelling with
gathering
us, as a carpenter’s son in
an out-of-the-way village in
an out-of-the-way province,
ought to embolden us and en-
courage us to approach him
with whatever cares we have,
whatever injustices we wish
him to set right, as Luke will
point out later in his Gospel.
Though it was by no means
the focus of my sermon, that
nugget resonated with some
in the pews that night. What
makes you think God cares?
What makes you so confident
that we should go to him with
everything? Can you give me
the Bible verses to back up
your teaching? As I answered
their questions, I found my-
self blessed with another un-
expected holy moment.
As most of us learned in
close studies of the Gospel,
Matthew and Luke’s versions
of the Lord’s Prayer are a bit
different. What really caught
my attention, and that of my
smaller audience that eve-
ning, though, was the setting.
telling
Matthew’s Gospel is placed as
a summary of Jesus’ Sermon
on the Mount, discussing the
ethical responsibilities and
callings of the believer. Luke’s
version of the Lord’s Prayer
occurs in the midst of a series
of teachings about relating to
God. How do we understand
God? How do we see our-
selves in his salvific work? In
pastoral terms, the questions
might be expressed in terms
that God is too busy with the
universe or the world’s big
problems to recognize a fear
or a lack or loneliness on the
part of a believer. But Jesus
teaches us in his prayer that
we are always in the front of
our Lord’s mind, and that we
should approach him shame-
lessly and boldly with our
cares.
Jesus drives the point home
with his teaching on the
neighbor asking for bread for
a friend. The setting is late at
night. The neighbor has gone
spring 2019 45
connecting

to bed, as has his family. In ognize that the word has no

mostly single-room dwell- equivalent term in English.
ings, there were no private The Greek word combines
bedrooms so families slept two distinct qualities into one
together in the same room. word: Boldness and shame-
A friend, Jesus says, arrives lessness. While we might wish
at night unexpectedly. So the friend responded out of
the individual in our story kindness or understanding or
is left with competing value the bonds of friendship, Jesus
claims on his behavior. In an is clear that the man responds
age where no grocery stores because his neighbor was
or late night drive-through’s bold and shameless enough
existed, how could one feed to approach and nag. Jesus
a friend? Most of what was then commends that behav-
made in the morning was ior to his disciples, encour-
consumed by the end of the aging us to be bold enough
day. Yet the needs of hospital-and shameless enough to ap-
ity are clear. And so the man proach God with all the cares
goes to his neighbor, con- and concerns expressed in
fidant the neighbor has the the prayer he has just taught
three loaves, and risks incur- them. Which of you…? Lest
ring the neighbor’s wrath by we think we have perhaps
waking the kids. misunderstood our Lord, Je-
sus will end this teaching on
In the course of his teaching boldness and shamelessness
on the parable, Jesus points with an instruction that we
out that the neighbor responds should keep knocking, keep
not because of their friend- seeking, and keep asking.
ship or proximity, but because
of his anaideian. Those who Does God really expect us to
have studied the passage rec- be shamelessly bold? Jesus’

46 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

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48 spring 2019 47
connecting
teaching takes place in a wid-
er section of Luke that deals
with our relationship to God.
The Lord’s Prayer rightfully
sets the relationship as like a
child and a loving father. How
do children behave around
their parents? Are they gen-
erally bashful about express-
ing needs? About expressing
their feelings? Worried, at
least at a younger age, what
their parents may think of
them? Of course not! Chil-
dren approach parents with
all their thoughts and all their
wants and all their needs with
little thought, at least in the
beginning. What happens
over time, of course, is that
a relationship is forged and
molded. Good parents begin
teaching children acceptable
societal and biblical virtues.
Helping children differentiate
between needs and wants is a
tremendous lesson. Learning
the value of money, or telling
the truth, or sharing, are a few
more. Over time, as children
grow, they begin to internal-
48 anglicandigest.org
ize the values their parents
have taught them. The same
happens to the disciples of
our Lord.
When we enter into prayer
with our Lord, boldly and
shamelessly as Jesus instructs,
we do so like young children
in loving relationships with
their parents. We expect God
to give us good things and
protect us from bad things.
Over the course of time,
though, as the relationship
deepens, what happens? Like
young children we begin to be
transformed; we begin to see
those values of God displayed
in our lives. Many of us begin
to see how our suffering glori-
fies God, how our need makes
us aware of our dependence
upon him, and even how
competing virtues play out in
our lives. More excitingly and
unpredictably, we begin to see
just how active God is in our
lives, how much he really does
care. As God meets our needs,
however surprisingly and in
gathering telling

whatever timely or untimely HURRY UP AND

fashion, we begin to be better WAIT
aligned to his purposes and to Mark 4:26-29
his will. In short, the process
we call sanctification never The Rev. Lennel V. Anderson, III
really begins until we have the St. Francis in the Fields
Church, Somerset, PA
boldness and shamelessness
to approach God with our “The kingdom of God is as if a
hearts’ desires and our long- man should scatter seed on the
ings. ground.” (Mark 4:26)
In that way, we share very It has been a blessing to serve
much in the ministry and in a rural context; I can now
life of all the saints who have better relate to the agricultural
come before, from those analogies of Jesus. A few years
like Sarah and Jacob of the ago I decided to take advan-
Old Testament, to the saints tage of a plot of ground next
around us today. Which of us? to the rectory and learn how
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Br. Glen Weeks, OSF,
228 Old Glenwood Rd., West Falls, NY 14170.
e-mail minister-general@fodc.net
or call 716-652-6616
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spring 2019 49
connecting
to grow vegetables. I typically
have to start my longer-grow-
ing seeds (tomatoes, aspar-
agus) indoors with a grow
light, but I am able to plant
my green beans directly into
the soil outside come May.
I’ve known the thrill of seeing
little shoots sprout up in clods
of dirt that were dormant for
weeks. I’ve faced the challenge
of transplanting tender plants
to bigger pots where they can
weather and harden in the
face of the consistent wester-
ly winds that blow across the
church property. I get excited
when I can pick the first hari-
cots verts from my bean trellis
or snag a couple of green to-
matoes in August for frying.
So when I encounter a pas-
sage like the Parable of the
Growing Seed in St Mark’s
Gospel, I can appreciate the
emotions Jesus conveys.
Though Mark is notoriously
terse, he’s describing a pro-
cess that can often seem end-
50 anglicandigest.org
less or frustrating. The farmer
musters a flurry of activity on
the front end — tilling, fer-
tilizing, planting — and then
has to wait. And it can be a
time full of trepidation: Will
the weather be too dry or too
wet? Will there be some new
strain of blight? Will critters
and bugs make this planting
a waste? But then the first
signs of life strengthen the
farmer’s heart. He can now be
vigilant in guarding the crop
from controllable variables —
maybe erecting some fencing
to ward off hungry cotton-
tails that made their way into
the area, or pruning the low
branches of the tomatoes to
inhibit fungus growth from
the damp earth.
Of course in talking about ag-
riculture our Lord isn’t talking
about agriculture. The King-
dom of God, the long-awaited
hope for our benevolent Cre-
ator to rescue and set right
all things under his most
gracious rule, is the seed be-
ing planted. Scattering seed is
often equated with preaching
the Gospel, but it can just as
easily be works of service or
holiness of example — any
means by which others can
taste and see that the Lord is
good when they encounter Je-
sus through us. That’s why the
General Thanksgiving keeps
before us the prayer to honor
God with our praise “not only
with our lips, but in our lives.”
We are committed from bap-
tism to spread the Good News
in word and deed. No one is
exempt, and ideally we use all
the means at our disposal to
make our faith public.
But what happens when, as
invariably happens, we hit
a low point? It seems we’ve
tried every way of showing,
telling, and modeling the
Kingdom, but we have no
more noses in the pews (and
no more nickels in the plates)
than usual. We can only wait.
As much as God involves us
in the growth and spread of
his Kingdom, the mystery of
that expansion does not be-
long to us. In Christ’s day, the
farmer “knows not how” such
growth happened. Today we
have scientific explanations.
But far from being a victory of
secular scientism over faith,
we find ourselves all the more
puzzled how the Spirit actu-
ally causes God’s Kingdom
to advance. So we entrust pe-
riods of lull in our mission
to a kind of sabbath, praying
for growth and keeping vigil
against known pests and ene-
mies that might seek to ravage
or diminish what our Father
is trying to do.
Thankfully, Jesus promises
we’ll see the fruition of our
planting and hopeful waiting.
Signs of the Kingdom will
flourish — “first the blade,
then the ear, then the full
grain in the ear.” (Mark 4:28)
Our spirits will rise as we see
answered prayers, intractable
situations resolve, and unex-
spring 2019 51
connecting
pected faces show up once,
twice, even three times in
a row! Someone will gain a
victory over a besetting sin.
Another will be stirred to go
deeper in their commitment
to Jesus. All this religious stuff
will finally click in a young
person’s brain. These signs of
the Kingdom’s advance in the
hearts of individuals are the
firstfruits of God’s Kingdom.
Of course, we expect the full
transformation of the created
order from a place of sin and
death into heaven on earth.
But until then, God gives us
tastes of that reality in this
current age, which is fading in
the light of the Risen Christ.
The flailing protestations of
our contemporary evil age
will not have the last say. Paro-
chialism, racism, partisanism,
sexism — however ubiquitous
and shadowy these and other
evils seem, they cannot and
will not have the final word.
The planting of the Lord,
his benevolent reign over all
things through God the Son,
52 anglicandigest.org
will displace every wicked act,
thought, and deed.
Until that eschatological hope
comes to pass, hurry up and
wait! Be busy about spreading
the Good News of the King-
dom. Don’t be discouraged
or weary when the way grows
hard. Keep vigil when there
seems to be no movement
from God. But be on the look-
out for the signs of the Holy
Spirit’s work, for it will spring
up speedily and unexpectedly.
Then you will have ample rea-
son for rejoicing!
Almighty and everlasting God,
we thank you for your servants
whom you called to preach the
Gospel. Raise up in this and
every land evangelists and
heralds of your kingdom, that
your Church may proclaim the
unsearchable riches of our Sav-
ior Jesus Christ; who live and
reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
gathering
THE PHARISEES AND
THE PUBLICAN
Luke 18:9-14
The Rev. Scott Hoogerhyde
St. Thomas’ Church,
Glen Carbon, IL, and
St. Bartholomew’s Church,
Granite City, IL
Identity and action: Who are
you, and what are you going
to do about it?
The Parable of the Pharisees
and the Publican (or Tax Col-
lector) really isn’t much like
most of the rest of the para-
bles, especially those in the
Gospel of Luke. Luke’s para-
bles seldom teach a straight-
forward lesson. Rather, they
are usually meant to be dis-
ruptive. They are meant to
make the hearer radically re-
consider some deep-seated
belief, or push us to a heart-
and soul-rending change in
point of view. They are meant
to push us toward, or deepen,
what is perhaps the most im-
telling
portant aspect of our spiritu-
ality: Conversion.
These verses in chapter 18
of Luke’s Gospel are more
straightforward. They are not
an ostensibly confusing para-
ble but more of an illustration
of Jesus’s teaching to the disci-
ples in Matthew 6:1 (“Beware
of practicing your piety be-
fore others in order to be seen
by them; for then you have
no reward from heaven”),
and Mark 11:25 (“Whenev-
er you stand praying, forgive,
if you have anything against
anyone; so that your father in
heaven may forgive you your
trespasses”). In Matthew and
Mark, Jesus instructs the dis-
ciples about how to pray and,
in Luke 18:9-14 he speaks, not
necessarily to the disciples,
but “…to some who trusted
in themselves that they were
righteous and regarded others
with contempt.” (18:9) Jesus
wraps those instructions in a
brief story. If this is a parable,
it is an unusual one in that
spring 2019 53
connecting

what makes it startling, dis- more importantly of course,

ruptive, and convicting isn’t we’re called to see ourselves
the story itself, but its audi- in it.
ence.
We are not Pharisees, but it
Again, the story is simple: doesn’t hurt, occasionally, to
Members of the well-respect- run a brief Pharisaical check
ed Pharisees pray publically, list. Are there aspects of our
and even incorporate their spirituality in which we are
sense of their own piety into overly focused on the regard
their prayers, telling God how of others? Are we overly fo-
awesome they are. The tax cused on sentiment, aesthet-
collector, on the other hand, ics, on our own fragile self-es-
is a despised member of soci- teem?
ety, hated not only for taking
I suspect none of us makes a
money, but even considered a spectacle of ourselves praying
collaborator with the occupy-aloud on street corners – al-
ing Romans. The tax collec- though, depending on how
tor stands quietly by himselfwe prayed, that might not be a
and, unable “even to look up bad thing. I also suspect none
to heaven [prays]…God, be of us stand as close as possi-
merciful to me, a sinner.” (vv.
ble to the front of the church,
13-14) Then Jesus tells his loudly informing God just
listeners that it was the taxhow pious we are. No, the
collector who was justified, challenge for us is not as much
who was accepted by God, to let go of our identification
who had yielded his heart andwith the Pharisees as it is to
mind to the Reign of God. embrace the most important
aspect of who the tax collec-
We hope Jesus’ hearers were tor is: A sinner in desperate
moved by this story but, far need of God’s mercy.

54 anglicandigest.org
gathering
Please God, where our hope
is, let our identity – let who
we are at the core of our being
– follow. What is our hope,
the hope of every Christian,
the hope of the universe?
That hope is best expressed
throughout Psalm 136: “…his
mercy endureth forever.”
That mercy is no abstraction.
It is embodied in God him-
self, taking on a body and
allowing that body, “for us
and for our salvation” to die
on the cross. God looks at us
all, Pharisee and Publican,
and sees us through the lens
of that cross. Our salvation
is accomplished. It is not our
job to worry about where we
go when we die. Our job is to
remember that, even so, like
the tax collector, we stand –
daily, hourly, moment by mo-
ment – sinners in need of the
mercy of God. Saved sinners,
indeed, but still sinners, still
deeply flawed, still desperate-
ly in need of God’s enduring
mercy.
telling
Somewhat paradoxically, the
more we find our identity as
saved sinners still in need of
God’s mercy, we find our-
selves empowered to take,
little by little, the actions to-
ward which the Gospel leads
us, to do what Jesus calls us to
do. We grow in confidence in
God’s authority over all cre-
ation. We develop the ability
to yield to God in our conver-
sations with others. We begin
to get out of the way and make
room for the One who has all
authority, enduring mercy,
and is with us always “even to
the end of the ages.”
Another way to say this is to
say that we become disciples.
Just like the followers of Jesus
who heard these stories and
parables and still consistent-
ly got everything wrong. God
used them to exemplify the
power of his Kingdom and to
build his church, and so will
he use us.
spring 2019 55
connecting
NECROLOGY
The Rt. Rev. David Em-
rys Richards, 97, in Coral
Gables, FL. A graduate of Le-
high University and General
Theological Seminary, he was
ordained to the priesthood in
Panama, and was consecrated
Suffragan Bishop of Albany in
1951. In 1957, he was elected
Bishop of Central America,
where he served until 1968,
during which time he provid-
ed leadership in the growth
of a national and indigenous
ministry in Central America.
He later became the national
coordinator of the House of
Bishops’ Committee of Pas-
toral Development, a position
he held for 20 years until his
retirement in 1988.
The Rev. Canon Alexan-
der Anthony Aiton, Jr., 68,
in Ames, IA. A graduate of
City University of New York,
General Theological Semi-
56 anglicandigest.org
nary, and Drew University,
he served parishes in Rum-
son, Palmyra, and Salem, NJ,
served on the Bishop’s staff
in the Episcopal Diocese of
Central Pennyslvania, and in
Ames, IA, for 27 years before
retiring as rector of St. John’s-
by-the Campus in December
2017.
The Rev. Derrill Plum-
mer Crosby, 94, in Sterling,
VA. A highly decorated naval
aviator, he served in the Navy
for over 30 years, fighting in
Second World War, Korea,
and Vietnam. A graduate of
the University of Maryland
and Virginia Theological
Seminary, he served as rec-
tor of parishes in Buchanan,
VA and Newport, NH; after
retiring, he did supply work
and assisted with services in
Peterborough, NH.
gathering telling
The Rev. Marcus Thomas and the School of Theology at
Cunningham, Jr., 55, in Ri- the University of the South,
pon, WI. A graduate of the he was a tireless advocate for
University of Wisconsin, Atlanta’s disenfranchised and
Green Bay, he served parishes poor. In the late 1960s, he
in Ripon and Wautoma, WI, founded and served as the
in addition to serving as the first director of Atlanta’s Em-
chaplain for various police maus House; in the course
forces. of that work, he set up an af-
ter-school program, once-a-
The Rev. Robert Melvin month transportation to the
Durkee, 92, of Nashua NH. state prison for families of
He joined the Navy at 17 and inmates, chapel services, hot
fought in the South Pacific meals, and a poverty rights
during Second World War; office. He also led efforts for
he went on to serve in the Air welfare rights, neighborhood
Force and the Army Reserves. empowerment, and racial jus-
A graduate of Tufts University tice.
and Boston University Theo-
logical School, he was initial- The Rev. William Alley
ly ordained as a Methodist French, 86, in Brookville,
minister and served parishes PA. Following service in the
in Massachusetts before be- Army, he graduated from Ed-
ing ordained as an Episcopal inboro State Teacher’s Col-
priest. He served as rector of lege, and went on to teach
Grace Episcopal Church in history, communications, so-
Medford, MA for 25 years. cial studies, and law at
Brookville High School for
The Rev. Austin Mcneill 36 years. A lifelong Episcopa-
Ford, 89, Atlanta, GA. A lian, he was ordained to the
graduate of Emory University diaconate in 1991, and to the

spring 2019 57
connecting
priesthood in 1992. Before his
retirement in 2012, he served
numerous parishes in Clear-
field, Houtzdale, Smethport,
Emporium, Franklin, Oil
City, DuBois, and Titusville,
PA.
The Rev. Donald Paul
Fuselier, 72, in Greenfield,
CA. After serving in the Army
and National Guard, he began
a banking career before de-
ciding to become a police of-
ficer, rising through the ranks
to Chief over the course of 29
years. He also taught in police
academies for 35 years. He
was ordained to the diacon-
ate in 1996, and went on to
serve parishes in Carmel Val-
ley and King City, CA. He also
devoted significant energy to
jail and hospital ministries,
as well as serving on multiple
boards and committees, in-
cluding the Monterey Coun-
ty Rape Crisis Center, Vic-
tim/Offender Reconciliation
Program, Restorative Justice
Commission, and the Monte-
58 anglicandigest.org
rey County Jail Ministry Pro-
gram, in addition to being the
Coordinating Chaplain for
the Monterey County Juve-
nile Hall.
The Rev. Linda Ann King
Gosnell, 69, in Simpsonville,
SC. A graduate of Winthrop
College, South Carolina Up-
state University, and Virgin-
ia Theological Seminary, she
retired as the Associate Rec-
tor of Holy Cross Episcopal
Church in 2017.
The Rev. Orloff Levin
Lake, 90, in Wilmington, NC.
A Navy veteran and graduate
of Southern Methodist Uni-
versity and Seabury-Western
Theological Seminary, he was
ordained to the priesthood in
1952. He served parishes in
Fort Worth, TX and the Chi-
cago area, including 25 years
as the rector of St. Edward the
Martyr in Joliet, IL. He also
served as Dean of the Joliet
Deanery.
gathering
The Rev. William Shat-
tuck Marshall, Jr., 76, in Wil-
kes Barre, PA. A graduate of
New York State University at
New Paltz, University of Pitts-
burgh, Adelphi University,
and George Mercer Memori-
al School of Theology, he was
ordained to the diaconate in
1989, and to the priesthood
in 2000. He served numerous
parishes on Long Island and in
the Diocese of Bethlehem, PA.
The Rev. Dr. James Wes-
ley Moore, 79, in Stilwell,
KS. A graduate of Bethany
College in Lindsborg, KS, he
obtained his DDS from the
University of Missouri Kan-
sas City Dental School. In ad-
dition to his private practice,
he also worked with children
with cleft lips and palates, as
well as children with leuke-
mia and oral infections. He
was ordained to the diaconate
in 1996, and was named chap-
lain of St. Andrew’s chapter of
the International Order of St.
telling
Luke the Physician, a Chris-
tian healing ministry. He was
the first deacon allowed to
serve as chaplain of an OSL
chapter. He also served as a
chaplain with the Missouri
State Highway Patrol.
The Rev. Joel Williams
Murchison, 94, in Chattanoo-
ga, TN. After attending The
Choir School of the Cathedral
of St. John the Divine, New
York City, he enrolled at the
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill; however, his
studies were interrupted by
a four-year tour in the Navy,
where he served in the South
Pacific. Following the end of
the Second World War, he
graduated from UNC. Soon
after, he felt called to enter
the ministry, and graduat-
ed from Virginia Theologi-
cal Seminary. He served St.
Columba Episcopal Church,
Detroit, MI, before becom-
ing a missionary in Central
America. He concluded his
spring 2019 59
connecting
years of ministry in New York
City, where he served first as
a chaplain to inmates in sev-
eral of the city’s prisons, and
later as a chaplain and recre-
ation director for residents of
a large continuing-care retire-
ment community.
The Rev. James Harris
Purks, III, 81, in Atlanta,
GA. After graduating from
the University of North Car-
olina and Stanford University,
he pursued additional study
at the University of Chile, in
Santiago, before becoming
a reporter for the Associat-
ed Press. In that capacity, he
covered the civil rights move-
ment in Alabama; in this role,
he covered the 1963 bombing
of the Sixteenth Street Bap-
tist Church in Birmingham.
He went on to work in poli-
tics, including serving as the
assistant press secretary to
President Jimmy Carter. Af-
ter working in business, he
began working in marketing
for Habitat for Humanity. He
60 anglicandigest.org
was ordained to the diaconate
in 1999. He was a member of
the Order of Saint Claire, an
Anglican healing order, and
the International Order of St.
Luke the Physician. He also
served as a hospice and hos-
pital chaplain.
The Rev. William Jessie
Redmon, 86, in Palm Springs,
CA. Prior to joining the
Army, he graduated from Bal-
timore City College; he sub-
sequently earned additional
degrees from the University
of Baltimore and Bexley Hall
Seminary at Kenyon College
in Gambier, OH. He was or-
dained to the priesthood in
1963, and served missions
and parishes in Follansbee
and Fairmont, WV and Bal-
timore and Irvington, MD,
before retiring in 1998. He
was active in the civil rights
movement. He also coached
track at City College and also
at Palm Springs High School.
gathering
The Rev. Hill Carter Rid-
dle, 82, in New Orleans, LA.
A graduate of the University
of Virginia and Virginia Epis-
copal Theological Seminary,
he was ordained to the priest-
hood in 1964, and served par-
ishes in Hampton, Ashland,
and Roanoke, VA. He spent
19 years as the rector of Trin-
ity Episcopal Church in New
Orleans, before retiring in
2003; in retirement, he served
as interim rector of three
New Orleans-area parish-
es and one parish in Dallas,
TX. He also served for three
years as an officer in the U.S.
Coast Guard, co-founded the
Southwestern Virginia Op-
era Company, served on the
board of the New Orleans
Opera and Virginia Seminary,
and on the Board of Regents
at the University of the South.
During his tenure at Trinity,
the church property doubled
in size, the Trinity Counseling
and Training Center was in-
augurated, the Trinity Artist
Series was established, yearly
telling
medical missions to Nicara-
gua and Honduras were es-
tablished, and Trinity’s Un-
doing Racism Network was
established.
The Rev. Courtney Al-
bert Shucker, II, 72, in Salida,
CO. After graduating from
the University of Redlands,
he spent 30 years serving as
an organist and choirmas-
ter at various parishes in the
dioceses of Los Angeles and
San Diego, CA. He left his
work as a church musician in
order to attend the Church
Divinity School of the Pacif-
ic in Berkeley, CA, thinking
that he might then become a
cathedral dean or a liturgist;
he later wrote, “Ironically (or
by holy influence), [my] first
clergy position was for a com-
bined Episcopal and United
Methodist congregation in a
rural Nevada town of 1,800,
followed by a combined Epis-
copal and ELCA Lutheran
parish in rural Utah … God
has a sense of humor...”
spring 2019 61
connecting
The Rev. John Richard
Tinklepaugh, 81, in North
East, MD. A graduate of The
King’s College, in Briarcliff
Manor, NY, and the Conser-
vative Baptist Theological
Seminary in Denver, CO, he
was initially ordained as a
Baptist minister. After he lat-
er began working for a cam-
pus ministry at the Univer-
sity of Rochester and other
area colleges, he attended an
Episcopal church and felt “at
home”; after additional study
at Virginia Theological Semi-
nary, he was ordained to the
priesthood and joined the
staff at St. Paul’s, Rochester,
NY. After spending some time
as a missionary to Rwanda, he
returned to the US and served
parishes in Savona, NY, and
Powelton Village and Lafay-
ette Hill, PA. After retiring in
2006, he served parishes in
Diocese of Easton, MD and
the Diocese of Fond du Lac,
WI.
62 anglicandigest.org
The Rev. George (Ted)
Edward Ridgway, 88, in Chi-
co, CA. He left the University
of California at Berkeley to
join the US Army, serving in
battle zones as a radar techni-
cian during the Korean War.
After leaving the Army, he
completed his undergraduate
studies before attending the
Church Divinity School of
the Pacific, and was ordained
to the priesthood in 1959. He
went on to serve churches in
Monterey, Danville, San Luis
Obispo, Windsor, Mt. Shasta,
and Redding, CA.
The Rev. Sidney Herbert
“Herb” Shears, 105, in Lom-
poc, CA. A graduate of Syra-
cuse University, Rochester Di-
vinity School, and Columbia
University, he was originally
ordained a Methodist min-
ister. He served in the Navy
(Pacific Fleet) for 21 years, in-
cluding two years as the chap-
lain on the USS Midway. After
pursuing additional studies
at Episcopal Divinity School
gathering telling

Berkley, he was ordained to tegrity, and purpose … em-

the priesthood in 1964. He brac[ing] sound learning, dis-
went on to serve parishes in cipline, and faith as essential
Palm Springs and San Gabri- elements of an educated con-
el, CA, before retiring in 1975. science.” He believed firmly
in the faith-centered nature
The Rev. Canon Stephen of ESD as a Eucharistic Com-
Barham Swann, 73, in Dal- munity with a profound com-
las, TX. A graduate of North- mitment to its four Founding
eastern State University in Tenets: Daily Chapel, Experi-
Oklahoma and the Church ences of Community, Studies
Divinity School of the Pacific, in Ethics/Faith and Service
he also attended the Perkins to Others. He retired in 2012,
School of Theology at South- and was made Canon of St.
ern Methodist University. He Matthew’s Cathedral in 2013
served as Chaplain at the St. by Bishop James Stanton.
Michael School and Director
of Christian Education Min- May they rest in peace
istries at St. Michael and All and rise in glory.
Angels Church in Dallas, TX,
before founding the Episco-
pal School of Dallas in 1974.
During his tenure as Rector
and Headmaster, ESD grew
from eight students and two
rented classrooms to more
than 1,100 students on three
campuses. The stated mission
of ESD is to prepare “young
men and women for lives
of intellectual discovery, in-

spring 2019 63
 MEMORIAL BRICKS
HILLSPEAK
EUREKA SPRINGS, ARKANSAS