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Papa
Doc's Ponderings
Spiritual
Musings from Dean Dr. John Vornholt (Papa Doc)
The
Dean's Biography Page
CLERICAL CHOLER
The world will
little note nor long remember, but Sunday morning only one of two
retired priests attending nondenominational First Evangelical Church
in Memphis wore clericals. Fr. Robertson Eppes, a longtime friend and
former rector of All Saints, Memphis, did. I didn’t as I
occupied a pew next to my wife, kids and grandkids (my son-in-law, in
fact, is an elder and my daughter leads a Bible study)
First Evan has
long welcomed me. I officiated at my daughter’s marriage there,
using the 1928 BCP. A former pastor, Ronnie Stevens, used to joke
that seeing Rob+ and I in the congregation was good advertising. His
successor, Howard Clark, allowed Anglican Common Cause to use the
fellowship hall for a regional assembly.
So my rationale in
wearing civvies had nothing to do with First Evan but a lot to do
with what’s been happening in The Episcopal Church (formerly
known as PECUSA) and in the Diocese of West Tennessee in particular.
Prior to
ordination I had a long and honorable history in the Diocese of
Tennessee and its successor, having served at St. Andrew’s,
Harriman, as senior warden, lay reader and delegate to convention;
St. Michael’s, Knoxville, during a year of graduate school at
UTK; Christ Church, Chattanooga, during a year as visiting professor
at UTC (a much more conservative +Don Johnson was then rector); and,
eventually, Good Shepherd, Memphis, as vestryman and convention delegate.
Looking back, I
see a common thread—these were all either Anglo-Catholic or
Prayer Book Catholic parishes largely isolated from PECUSA’s
creeping national liberalism. Bishops tended to leave them alone&ldots;
Then in 1987,
through a chance (miraculous?) reconnection with +Ed Caudill, under
whom I read for Holy Orders more than 20 years earlier in the Diocese
of Oklahoma, I completed the canonical exams and was ordained deacon
and priest in the Anglican Diocese of the Southwest, a Continuing
Church body in which he had been made Bishop Ordinary following his
consecration in the undisputed Chambers/ Denver succession.
Yesterday I
decided I didn’t want to answer any more questions from First
Evan’ers who identified me with the Diocese of West Tennessee
and its policies/polity. It seemed too much like guilt by
association&ldots; So I wore civvies there for the first time in more
than 20 years, and will continue to do so.
Strangely I’m
reminded about somewhat similar confusion a half-century when my late
mother mentioned, “I see where some offshoot of your church is
talking about merging with mine” (she was then a United
Methodist and growing up and serving as a pastor’s wife in the
old Evangelical & Reformed Church).
I had a hard time
explaining to her that St. Matthew’s, Bloomington, IL, was in
fact a parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church. “Ach, no,”
she said, referring to the smells and bells, confessional booth and
other appurtenances common in the Biretta Belt of the upper Midwest,
in which Nashotah House was referred to as “The One True
Seminary of the Church” (all one word, similar to the way our
African-American friends refer to “Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.” as one word).
So there you have
it, for what it’s worth! “Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht
anders “ as Luther said—“Here I stand, I can do no other.”
Friendship
(with a capital F)
My wife is a
birthright Quaker come Anglican who currently attends a
nondenominational church...
Fueled by recent
conversations with a former Friend and longtime friend (now retired
from a Friends college), we had an interesting conversation this
morning about the difference between perception and intuition.
I opined that
while perception becomes reality, intuition anticipates reality.
All of which
reminded me an old Friend and fellow actor from Berea who visited a
meeting while in NYC. He later recounted the following dialogue:
Quaker
Woman--"Friend Martin, would Thee care to join our Temperance Committee?"
(Just then his
briefcase fell open and a couple of bottles of gin fell out)
Quaker
Woman--"Oh, I perceive not!"
On a tangential
note, here's a dialogue passed along by a priest friend:
{Phone rings in
his office}
Rector--"Good
afternoon, Christ Church."
Caller--"Is
this Dial-A-Prayer?"
Rector--"No,
but this is Father Ray at Christ Episcopal Church, and I'd be glad to
pray with you."
{long pause}
Caller--"Uh...do
you know the number for Dial-A-Prayer."
"Reviewing
the Situation" (Fagin, in Oliver)
"Nothing
to do but frown Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down."
(The Carpenters)
Grading finals
from two classes and assignments from three others, all of which have
a read/discuss week, and I'm starting two new ones! "Gloom,
despair, and agony on me"
(Buck Owens & Roy Clark on Hee-Haw)
Then I remind
myself that (1) my son-in-law was able to walk into church yesterday
for the first time since his brain aneurysm last October, (2) I'm
cancer-free for now and don't have to return to West Clinic for new
exam until October, (3) we've just beautified our condo with hardwood
laminate floors, tinted patio doors and energy-efficient windows, and
(4) I'm working full-time at age 75 while other,
much-more-able-bodied people are jobless.
"...I
think I'd better think it out again!"
(Fagin, in Oliver)
JV+
On CBs,
Prodigy and Exponentiation
During the CB
craze in the 1970s, my handle was "Wordy Bird" (can't
imagine why I chose it!), and I went at it with a vengeance, using a
power mike, whip antenna and other accoutrements. What fun to be able
to communicate with unknown folk, some often, some only as they were
driving through Berea.
A decade or so
later, once I was introduced to computers, I used dial-up to access
the Prodigy service, marveling at my newfound ability to recharge my
personal batteries via long-distance dialogues...and, occasionally, monologues.
Now Facebook,
CaringBridge (I've been maintaining a site on my son-in-law's behalf
since the day after his brain aneurysm) and teaching online for the
University of Phoenix have propelled me exponentially into a new era.
As I tell my
students, all my various careers have had communication as a common
denominator--first as a newspaper editor and publisher, progressing
through teaching, counseling and service as a parish priest.
All this came to
mind recently while watching TV programs on "6 Degrees of
Separation" and synchronicity. I also was reminded of their
theological ramifications by memories as asking a newly arrived Roman
Catholic priest in the 1960s if he'd care to participate in my
newspaper's weekly sermonette series.
"Of
course!" he exclaimed. "What wouldn't St. Paul have given
for such an opportunity..."
Earlier this week
a UOP colleague decided to remove all faculty-related messages from
Facebook, saying she wanted to reserve its use for notes from family
and friends. Perfectly within her rights, but I can't help but wonder
if she won't be missing a wider benefit...
JV+
On
Facebook...and Heaven
My dad, a
Protestant minister with Northern roots but a heart and soul for
Dixie, used to say his idea of heaven was that it was a place where
he'd be able to introduce far-flung friends and acquaintances whose
paths would never cross on this earth.
"Sally, I
think you and Jack have a lot of common...Joe, tell Idella about the
time you...Walter and Daisy, meet George and Rhoda--you folks can
share memories of...."
So far, at least,
that's why I'm fascinated with Facebook. If you look at the titles of
my Friends lists, you'll see they encompass a lot of
territory--people who will share stories only here.
Until heaven!
On a lighter note,
as a kid in Oklahoma we used to say fulfilled people were in "hog
heaven" or "happier than a hog eating slop!"
Well, that's how I
feel when making pithy comments on Facebook while taking a break from
my online classes, where I've just finished entering today's required
participation posts in the Main forums of five different classes.
In other words,
I'm in discussion mode--whether in Facebook or on the University of
Phoenix website. Not to mention reconnecting with a daughter whose
profile I hadn't found...
Ain't life grand!
JV+
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