SPRING A.D.

2020

VOL. 62 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
THE REV. DR. C. BRYAN OWEN
THE RT. REV. JOHN C. BAUERSCHMIDT,
THE RT. REV. ANTHONY J. BURTON,
MARIAN CHANCELLOR
THE REV. CANON NEAL O. MICHELL
DR. E. MITCHELL SINGLETON, HONORARY

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

INQUIRIES AND CORRESPONDENCE

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805 COUNTY ROAD 102
EUREKA SPRINGS, AR 72632-9705
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ISSN 0003-3278 VOL. 62, NO. 1

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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-two 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
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therefore, is unique.

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

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spring 2020 3
 A Letter from the
Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Dear Digest Family,

I remember the first time I heard the 70’s hit “I Believe in Miracles.”
My parents often turned on the radio while we were getting ready
for the day, and I remember liking the beat. (I still do.) I didn’t
know the lyrics were mildly racy until I was an adult (look them
up). Due to repetition, by the time I heard about the miracles of
Jesus in Sunday School, that song must have primed me to accept
miracles at face value – call me overly-credulous, or gullible, if you
must. As time went on, however, I began to doubt the veracity of
the miracles in the Bible. How could five loaves and two fish, for
example, really satisfy 5,000 people?
I’ve come full circle yet again, and now I find the inestimable grace
and promise in the miracles of Jesus that others have experienced
so joyfully throughout the ages. The miracles of the Bible are proof
positive that God is always moved with compassion to love us
and forgive us, and that’s both the longing and fulfillment of every
human heart. I am absolutely thrilled, therefore, that our editors
have chosen to focus on the miracles in the Gospel according to St.
Matthew.
I really do believe in miracles. Do you?
Please, as always, say a prayer for the Digest and contribute, as you
are able, so that others might discover the miracle of God’s bound-
less love and grace.
Yours always,
Yours in Christ,
The Reverend Charleston David Wilson

4 anglicandigest.org
 6 An Ordinary Miracle
7 Jesus Heals a Leper
12 Healing Simon Peter’s Mother-In-Law
15 “We Are Perishing!”
20 Reflecting on Jesus Healing the
18 Paralytic at Capernaum
23 Follow the Follower
28 Healing the Blind Men
37 Don’t Give Up the Ship
40 An Ordinary Cloak
46 The Exorcism of the Syrophoenician
18 Woman’s Daughter
50 Anglers’ Gnosis and Fishy Fundraising:
55 Necrology

QQQQQQQQQQ
A Note on the Cover Photographs
Every year, on Good Friday, the community of Sewanee,
Tennessee, is invited to participate in the Stations of the
Cross. The procession begins at Otey Memorial Parish
and ends at the nave altar in the University Chapel,
All Saints’. These photos are re-printed courtesy
of the University of the South, and were taken
by Buck Butler in 2017 and 2018.

spring 2020 5
connecting
AN ORDINARY
MIRACLE
The Rt. Rev. Anthony J. Burton,
Church of the Incarnation,
Dallas, TX
When we lived in Northern
Saskatchewan, I had a friend
who ran a Christmas tree
farm. He was a loveable old
guy named Frank and we
used to love to argue – about
politics, religion – anything
would do. It was fun to argue
with Frank. Before Christmas
each year, you could drive out
of town to Frank’s farm and he
would greet you with his San-
ta hat on, take you by hay ride
on a great loop through his
property – stopping half way
so you could pick out your
tree, cut it down, and throw
it in the back of the wagon –
and then continue the loop
back to his log home for hot
chocolate and cookies hosted
by his wife Lois.
One year, after we had load-
ed up the tree, I told Frank to
6 anglicandigest.org
go on with Anna, Caroline,
and Peter while I got off the
hay ride and doubled back
through the snowy woods on
foot to give my hunting dog,
Tim, a run. On the way, I saw
a vision: An enormous lynx,
pure white with great tufted
ears and leggings, crossed our
path about 20 yards ahead of
us. Tim froze by my side. The
lynx is an immensely power-
ful and graceful animal; this
one paused for a moment –
which in my mind seemed
like an eternity, so beautiful
and rare a moment it was –
and then just kept walking as
if we weren’t there. It was the
next thing to seeing God.
When I got back to Frank’s, I
hid my excitement. As I drew
my first sip of hot chocolate, I
said casually to Frank, “I saw
a Lynx.” “No you didn’t,” he
said. “I saw a Lynx,” I insist-
ed. “No you didn’t. Nobody
around here has seen a Lynx
in twenty years,” he replied. I
think Frank figured I’d been
gathering
into the eggnog. “I’m the
bishop,” I said, “I saw a Lynx.”
“I’m a farmer,” he said, “no
you didn’t.”
My friend Frank overcame
his skepticism later that day
when the lynx reappeared
and showed himself to Frank.
Sometimes you just have to
experience something your-
self to know it’s true.
Frank died in his sleep a few
days after we got our last tree,
and for a generation of chil-
dren the world was a little
sadder.
But I like to think that lynx,
an ordinary miracle, was a
reminder to us both that we
need to be alive to the word-
less Word of God who comes
to bless us not only on the
page but in unexpected mo-
ments of awe and wonder. As
E.B. Pusey reminds us, “the
absorbing sense of infinity, of
purity, or of holiness, infuse
conviction more directly than
reasoning.”
telling
Those who have eyes to see,
let them see.
JESUS HEALS A LEPER:
SOME REFLECTIONS
ON MATTHEW 8:1-4
The Very Rev. Steven A. Peay,
PhD, FBS
Associate Dean and Canon
Residentiary, The Cathedral
Church of All Saints’,
Milwaukee, WI
Dean-President Emeritus,
Nashotah House Theological
Seminary
When Jesus had come
down from the mountain,
great crowds followed him;
and there was a leper who
came to him and knelt be-
fore him, saying, “Lord, if
you choose, you can make
me clean.” He stretched out
his hand and touched him,
saying, “I do choose. Be
made clean!” Immediately
his leprosy was cleansed.
Then Jesus said to him,
“See that you say nothing
to anyone; but go, show
spring 2020 7
connecting
yourself to the priest, and
offer the gift that Moses
commanded, as a testimo-
ny to them.” Matthew 8:
1-4 [NRSV]
Jesus finished what we know
as the Sermon on the Mount
and was on his way when a
leper did the unthinkable and
approached him. Lepers lived
on the outskirts of society;
they were physically and ritu-
ally unclean. Leviticus 13:45-
46 says,
The person who has the
leprous disease shall wear
torn clothes and let the
hair of his head be dishev-
eled; and he shall cover his
upper lip and cry out, ‘Un-
clean, unclean.’ He shall re-
main unclean as long as he
has the disease; he is un-
clean. He shall live alone;
his dwelling shall be out-
side the camp.
Now, a leper comes to Jesus
after he has taught a new ap-
proach to the Law, though
he makes it clear that he’s not
8 anglicandigest.org
about to overturn the Law or
those Prophets: “Do not think
that I have come to abolish
the Law or the Prophets; I
have come not to abolish but
to fulfill.” [Matthew 5:17]
What is Matthew trying to get
us to see here?
The story of the leper’s heal-
ing provides a bridge from
the Sermon on the Mount in
chapters 5-7. We’ve seen Jesus
as a powerful, authoritative
teacher, and in the stories that
follow we see Jesus putting
those teachings into deeds.
Remember, miracles aren’t
magic tricks or flashy actions;
they’re signs that should lead
people to God, evidences that
what some perceive as the dis-
tant holy is making positive
intervention into the here and
now. So, the deeds are confir-
mations of the words. Jesus
IS the Messiah, which is why
Matthew gives us a series of
healings that makes the case
for who Jesus is. And those
healings bear reference to the
gathering
Old Testament, both the Law
and the Prophets. As the late
Biblical Theologian Brevard
S. Childs wrote, “The entire
Old Testament is viewed as a
prophetic revelation of God’s
purpose pointing to the future
which has been fulfilled in Je-
sus Christ, God’s promised
Messiah.”1 This little bridge
story demonstrates that Je-
sus does fulfill both Law and
Prophets, and more.
The leper expresses his faith
in Jesus’ ability to heal him,
and Jesus confirms it by do-
ing something forbidden
by the Law: He touches the
leper. Leviticus 5:3 made it
clear: “Or when you touch
human uncleanness – any
uncleanness by which one
can become unclean – and
are unaware of it, when you
come to know it, you shall be
guilty.” When Naaman came
to Elisha the prophet, Elisha
didn’t even come out to speak
to him; rather, he sent a mes-
senger and instructed him,
telling
“Go, wash in the Jordan sev-
en times, and your flesh shall
be restored and you shall be
clean.” [2 Kings 5:10] Yet, Je-
sus goes beyond and touches
him. Why?
Saint John Chrysostom offers
us
this insight:
He was able to cleanse by a
word, or even by mere will,
but He put out His hand,
“He stretched forth his
hand and touched him,” to
shew that He was not sub-
ject to the Law, and that
to the pure nothing is im-
pure. Elisha truly kept the
Law in all strictness, and
did not go out and touch
Naaman, but sends him
to wash in Jordan. But the
Lord shews that He does
not heal as a servant, but
as Lord heals and touches;
His hand was not made
unclean by the leprosy, but
the leprous body was made
pure by the holy hand. For
He came not only to heal
bodies, but to lead a soul to
spring 2020 9
connecting
the true wisdom. And then
He did not forbid to eat
with unwashen hands, so
here He teaches us that it
is the leprosy of the soul we
ought only to dread, which
is sin, but that the leprosy
of the body is no impedi-
ment to virtue.2
The touch is the means of
healing, but carries so much
more with it. Jesus’ action is
to be the sign that the holy is
thrust into the midst of the
here and now. Jesus not only
fulfills the Law and the
Prophets; he transcends, en-
compasses them. Chrysostom
makes the additional moral
point that sin – the turn away
from God – is the true disfig-
uring disease. Jesus has come
to cure more than the phys-
ical ailments humanity has
suffered – he heals from the
inside out.
The leper is healed, but not
yet restored to the communi-
ty. So, Jesus tells him to fulfill
the ritual requirements for
10 anglicandigest.org
the healing of a leper laid out
in Leviticus 14. Once again,
Jesus demonstrates what he
declared in the Sermon on the
Mount: That he has come to
fulfill, not to abolish, the Law
and the Prophets.
In four brief verses, Matthew
tells us a story making a pow-
erful point: Jesus authenticates
his teaching by his actions. It’s
designed to show us that he’s
not a false prophet – remem-
ber 7:18, “A good tree cannot
bear bad fruit, nor can a bad
tree bear good fruit” – but the
promised Messiah. Thus, the
miracle should never be the
focus, but should be seen for
what it is: A sign pointing be-
yond itself to the reality that
the holy has, indeed, invaded
the profane.
_______________
1
Brevard S. Childs Biblical Theology of the
Old and New Testaments: Theological Reflec-
tion on the Christian Bible (Philadelphia: For-
tress Fress, 1993), p. 273.
2
John Chrysostom in Thomas Aquinas Cat-
ena Aurea [The Golden Chain: Commentaries
on the Four Gospels] Matthew 8:1-4 https://
dhspirory.org/thomas/english/CAMatthew.
htm#8
 gathering
connecting
gathering
connecting telling

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11 anglicandigest.org spring
spring 2014
2020 11
connecting

HEALING Healers were not unknown in

SIMON PETER’S the first century world, and
MOTHER-IN-LAW some seem not to have been
(Matthew 8:14-17) dangerous frauds, but rather
men and women with an in-
The Rt. Rev. Anthony F. M. stinctive ability to diagnose
Clavier, St. Thomas’ Church, and relieve what we now term
Glen Carbon, IL
physical and psychological ill-
We know nothing about St. ness. Jesus is one of them, but
Peter’s wife, not even her one with a remarkable differ-
name. It seems that at this ence.
point in Jesus’ ministry, the
followers of Jesus and Jesus St. Matthew was Jewish, and
himself are staying in Caper- he framed his Gospel in a
naum, close to Nazareth, manner designed to demon-
quite a way from where Peter, strate to his Jewish interlocu-
James, and John were recruit- tors that Jesus is the Anoint-
ed. However, Capernaum ed One, the Messiah. At least
seems to be the home of Pe- from the time of the exile in
ter’s mother-in-law. Babylon and the destruction
of Solomon’s Temple, devout
We moderns often forget that, Jews recognized that the God
until fairly recently, going to who had illumined the Tab-
a doctor was probably more ernacle and then the Holy
dangerous than the ailment of Holies on the Jerusalem
itself. People’s life spans were Temple had withdrawn. They
short. My own uncle died as believed that Israel’s great
a young man in the 1920s of sin – worshipping the gods
a perforated ulcer; nowadays, of the Gentiles and adopting
he would have been put right depraved practices – created a
swiftly. schism between God and the

12 anglicandigest.org
gathering
Chosen People.
Yet they read of God’s prom-
ise, contained in the works of
the prophets in their Scrip-
tures, that an anointed ser-
vant would end the exile, and
restore Israel to God’s Favor.
Those who studied the Scrip-
tures learnt that the Messiah
would be a teacher and a heal-
er. So Matthew, in his Gospel,
sets out to demonstrate that
in his teaching – perhaps
most notably in what we call
the Sermon on the Mount –
Jesus restored the Law of God
in a quite new and vital man-
ner. Jesus taught how Jew and
Gentile might be found by
God by obeying his will and
loving their neighbor. This
message Matthew demon-
strates in the first seven chap-
ters of his Gospel.
Then Matthew recounts in-
cidents of healing. Two of
them are quite shocking, or
would have been in Jesus’
telling
day. First, Jesus touched and
healed lepers. Lepers were
untouchable, to be shunned
and consigned to live apart
from their families and com-
munities. By healing the lep-
er, Jesus showed that in God’s
perfect Kingdom, there are no
untouchables. Jesus came and
gave his life for all, even those
we would shun.
The second set of untouch-
ables Jesus heals are those who
were believed to be possessed
by evil spirits. These deranged
people were treated as if they
were lepers, or shut away by
embarrassed and fearful rel-
atives. Many were suffering
from what we now describe
as mental illness. Even today,
people have difficulty under-
standing that mental disabili-
ty is another form of physical
disease and that the two are
often connected.
Yet, under cover of dusk,
people brought their sick –
whether mentally, physically,
spring 2020 13
connecting
or even demonic – and Jesus
healed them. Set between
the healing of lepers and the
healing of the possessed and
the mentally afflicted, Mat-
thew sets the healing of Pe-
ter’s mother-in-law. I’m not
sure she would have appreci-
ated that. Matthew is demon-
strating that Israel’s Messiah
comes not only to restore the
outcasts (a metaphor for the
nation itself), but to restore
families – again, a metaphor
for God’s chosen family, that
of Abraham, in whom all the
nations of the world are to be
blessed. No one asks Jesus to
heal the poor woman. She has
suddenly been attacked by
a raging fever. Jesus touches
her and immediately the fever
drops.
These “proofs” that Jesus is
the Messiah, the Christ, are
not intended to show Jesus
doing magic, or disturbing
the laws of nature. In his pres-
ence, God’s world begins to
break through into an exiled
14 anglicandigest.org
and sinful world, just as the
Cross will change everything
and portend God’s return
to his world in the final day
when, in the person of Jesus
the Christ, Eden will be re-
claimed. Meanwhile we, his
people, hear his voice, are
touched by his healing hand,
restored from exile by the
Cross, and empowered by the
Holy Spirit to be Matthews,
those who tell that the Messi-
ah has come.
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For information contact:
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gathering
“WE ARE PERISHING!” I read the book and took com-
(Matthew 8:23-27)
The Rev. Anjel Scarborough,
SCP, St. Thomas’ Church,
Owings Mills MD
In 2009, the private writings of
Mother Theresa were released
in a book entitled Come Be My
Light. As a newly-ordained
parish priest, I had several
parishioners up in arms over
its content. The book is a bi-
ographical account of her life,
including the deep desolation
of feeling the absence of God.
The author, Fr. Brian Kolo-
diejchuk, MC, knew her per-
sonally and championed her
cause for beatification, and in
the book he shared her private
writings where she spoke can-
didly of her dark night of the
soul and sense of alienation
from God. Her candor about
the emptiness and alienation
she felt shattered the public
image many people wanted
to maintain. Some years later,
when I went through a diffi-
cult time in my own vocation,
telling
fort in her honesty. The life
of one seeking God is not all
sunshine and rainbows.
Matthew tells the story of Je-
sus calming the storm imme-
diately after one about crowds
gathering at Peter’s mother’s
home for healing and some
promises of would-be dis-
ciples to follow him. After
giving the order to depart to
“the other side” of the Sea of
Galilee, “a certain scribe came
and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I
will follow You wherever You
go.’” Jesus seems to say, “Real-
ly?” when he responds, “Foxes
have holes, and birds of the air
have nests; but the Son of Man
has nowhere to lay his head.”
This scribe has no clue what
the life of discipleship will cost
him. Another says he’ll follow
but first must bury his father,
to which Jesus replies, “Fol-
low me, and let the dead bury
their own dead.” These would-
be followers do not apprehend
(continued on page 18)
spring 2020 15
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connecting
the cost of leaving all behind.
The disciples, on the other
hand, have already left every-
thing behind to follow Jesus.
They’ve certainly given up far
more than you, I, or any other
American Christian has been
asked to relinquish in order
to follow Christ. Yet even as
they have given so much up,
they still have their lives – in-
cluding the fears which beset
them. While on the boat, a
“great tempest” arises on the
sea. It must not have been the
first time these fishermen had
experienced this – it happens
regularly on the Sea of Gali-
lee. Despite the storm, Jesus
sleeps soundly. The disciples
panic and wake him – “Save
us Lord! We are perishing!” In
that moment, they speak the
truth of our lives too: We are
perishing. Our only hope is in
the one who can save us.
The disciples have momen-
tarily glimpsed the reality
that they are perishing, and at
some point death will happen. This stilling of the storm is not
18 anglicandigest.org
They have not quite appre-
hended the reality that death
has already happened: They
have left everything behind
to follow Jesus, which was a
death of familiarity and the
life they knew. But in the big,
existential picture, they are
the “walking dead” – it’s just
a question of when and how
their earthly lives will end, not
if they will. As they face the
very real possibility of their
existence ending, they turn to
Jesus as their source of salva-
tion. While Jesus responds by
naming their fear and calling
them the ones of “little faith”,
the irony is they have made
a faith statement – “Save us
Lord! We are perishing!” They
have named their truth. Once
Jesus rebukes the wind, a
“great calm” descends and the
disciples wonder at this man
whom the “wind and the seas
obey”. If the wind and the seas
obey, how much more are we
to do so?
gathering
just one of mastery over na-
ture; it is also the calming of
the disciples’ collective panic
and a reality check that this
earthly existence is temporary.
It is the word of calm to each
of us when darkness descends
in our lives and God feels very
absent. This can happen when
we face storms in our own per-
sonal lives – job loss, a health
crisis, broken relationships,
estrangement. When these
storms arise, it can obscure
the sense of God’s presence.
Our minds swirl with anxiety
about what will happen next.
These storms also arise in our
public life with civil unrest,
violence, and corruption. In-
stitutions in which we placed
our trust are failing us – gov-
ernment, economic systems,
and sadly even the church. We
face a climate crisis of unprec-
edented scale and the global
rise of nationalism is wreak-
ing havoc on foreign relations.
Our collective anxiety is at an
all-time high, and we know
the truth: We are perishing.
telling
The question which remains
is, to whom do we go?
Jesus Christ has already saved
us, but we often live our lives
as if that were not true. Do we
trust in his message of God’s
love and how we are to em-
body it? Do we really appre-
hend that we are the “walking
dead” already, that it’s just a
question of when and how we
will die? Will we accept death,
whether our own or that of
the things of this world, so
that we can be freed to live ful-
ly for Christ and take the big
risks for each other and the
Kingdom?
The steadfastness of faith in
the face of storms and dark-
ness is the hard work of disci-
pleship. Following Jesus is not
a guarantee of an easy life at
all! Accepting the truth of our
own perishing lives is the first
step in trusting the One who
is mighty to save and empow-
ers us to embody the Gospel
for the sake of the world.
spring 2020 19
connecting

in which Jesus called me up

REFLECTING ON from my mat. In that state, I
JESUS HEALING was ill-equipped to recognize
THE PARALYTIC AT grace, much less give thanks
CAPERNAUM for it – much less remember
(Matthew 9:1-8) it now, over a decade later. I
can, however, tell you this sto-
The Rev. Lars Skoglund, ry. My dear friend and room-
St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church,
Hartford WI mate, Scotty, was interested in
checking out a nearby church
When I was a sophomore at that had proved popular with
Wheaton College, my eldest students from the college, and
brother was killed when the he dragged me along with
Blackhawk helicopter he was him.
flying on a training mission
experienced mechanical fail- My friend saw me in pain. He
ure. I can still, all too easily, saw me trapped. And he car-
trace the contours of that grief ried me to see Jesus.
– the raw, hollowed out pain
of loss; the bitter fury; the I was completely and utterly
overwhelming lethargy. Days lost, in more ways than one.
would pass where my only This church was nothing like
movement would be from the the church I grew up in. They
couch to the bed and back said the same things over and
again. It was this inertia, this over again every week! The
paralysis – as if all my limbs pastor called himself a priest
had been filled with sand – and wore a very funny kind of
that was the most surprising dress. I did not know when to
facet of grief. stand or kneel, when to sing
and when to shut up. And I
I cannot recall all the ways (continued on page 22)

20 anglicandigest.org
gathering

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QUARTERS
at Hillspeak

S
cenic vistas from atop Grindstone Mountain and the
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48
connecting
did not know if I wanted any-
thing to do with a God whose
ideas of goodness allowed
for helicopters to fall out of
the sky. (I was reading The
Brothers Karamazov at the
time, and the Grand Inquisi-
tor’s protestations echoed my
own.) For so long, my con-
nection to Jesus had been
forged through my emotions
and my intellect, neither of
which were willing or able to
carry that heavy load.
Scotty and I went together
for a handful of weeks. Some-
times, my father would come
down to visit me on the week-
ends, and he would take me
to church. On occasion, I’d
borrow a friend’s car. I am not
sure what compelled me to
keep going; most of the time,
I would show up late and
promptly collapse into a seat
in the back, and church would
just happen around me.
Then, something utterly bi-
zarre happened. One Sunday,
22 anglicandigest.org
I was grumbling along with
the words of the Nicene Creed
– a statement I would intellec-
tually affirm, but not exact-
ly something I believed in –
when surrounded by people I
didn’t know, muttering words
I resented, something moved
in me. Or rather, something
moved from outside of me.
Something was being given
to me that had not been in
me before. I looked around,
still mouthing the words. In
that room there were hun-
dreds of people, proclaim-
ing their faith in the words
of an ancient creed, kept and
preserved for centuries. The
faith of the living was joined
to the faith of the dead, and
the Spirit of God, the giver of
life, was joining me into that
same body of faith. Some-
where between “He became
incarnate…” and “he has
spoken through the Proph-
ets,” the Word spoke into my
soul, and the words I spoke
took on a new quality and
conviction.
gathering
I was being carried closer to
Jesus.
The other thing that I remem-
ber from my short time at
that church is the indelible
image of the priests holding
out the elements at the invita-
tion: “The Gifts of God for the
people of God.” I remember
receiving the Body and Blood
of Christ and finding the for-
giveness and healing that only
Jesus has the authority to give.
All of us lie paralyzed in our
trespasses, unable to lift a fin-
ger to secure our own salva-
tion. But isn’t it good to have
friends?
QQQ
“Miracles are not the
proofs, but the necessary
results, of revelation.”
– Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
Omniana
telling
FOLLOW THE
FOLLOWER
(Matthew 9:18-26)
The Very Rev. William O.
Daniel, Jr., PhD
St. Michael’s Church,
Geneseo, NY
What does it mean to follow
– specifically, to follow in the
way of Jesus of Nazareth? How
are our bodies to move so as
to bear witness to the mystical
way of incarnate love?
A while back, I participated in
a liturgy where there were too
many people who needed to
be involved in the service, and
too many others who want-
ed to be involved. However,
due to unexpected schedul-
ing conflicts, the crucifer and
torch bearers had to back out
of the service, which allowed
us to find roles for three other
people who had expressed a
desire to serve in the liturgy.
I extended the invitation to
serve, which was initially ac-
cepted. One person would
spring 2020 23
connecting
serve as the crucifer, and the
other two would be acolytes,
carrying the torches and at-
tending the altar at the mass.
I was caught off guard, how-
ever, when the two deacons
who had asked to serve in the
liturgy expressed their unwill-
ingness to serve as acolytes. “I
am an ordained person. I am
not comfortable serving as an
acolyte.”
The crucifer, a lay person, had
no qualms and served happi-
ly. The two deacons felt slight-
ed by being asked to function
as acolytes, even though they
had asked to be a part of the
liturgy.
In the church, clericalism in
its many forms is difficult to
overcome, in large part be-
cause we still resist our bap-
tismal vows and the mystery
of baptism itself. We de-
emphasize the grace of bap-
tism when we over-emphasize
holy orders as separateness.
Rowan Williams rarely ever
24 anglicandigest.org
wears the purple befitting
his office as bishop, not even
when he was Archbishop of
Canterbury, as a (humble)
reminder that “once a priest,
always a priest.” No prior or-
dination is undone once a
person is ordained a deacon,
priest, bishop, or archbishop;
rather, we are all among the
baptized, our original conse-
cration in Christ.
Acolyte, from the Greek
ακαλουθεω, means to fol-
low. But the implications of
this following reach well be-
yond what we might typically
think. We tend to jump im-
mediately to the wolf-pack
sort of following, where the
view is only good for the lead
dog. We think of competition,
which means that following
is couched in the negative.
However, when Jesus says,
“Come, follow me,” we are
talking about a different sort
of following. As Robert Schar-
lemann writes in his wonder-
ful, though dense, book The
gathering
Reason of Following, to follow
the voice of the “I am” is to be
called into being. “In the act
of following,” writes Scharle-
mann, “the one followed is the
same as the one following.”
This is what it means to be an
acolyte. Liturgically speaking,
an acolyte leads as one who
follows. The acolyte leads by
following in the service of
the Lord’s Table. Historically,
acolytes were priests. Later,
in the middle ages, the role
of acolytes shifted to dea-
cons, especially transitional
deacons. It is relatively new
that lay people serve as aco-
lytes in the liturgy, which is
a welcome change. In each
instance, however, an acolyte
fills a functional purpose – a
purpose any baptized person
can fill, which is by no means
a slight of dignity when a cler-
gy person fills this role, as dig- to know the inner thoughts of
nity comes not from outside
of us but from what wells up
from within, from the heart Perhaps there’s more here that
of faith that sees no division Matthew is describing. It is
telling
between their following and
the One – the “I AM” – whom
they follow.
In the account of the hemor-
rhaging woman who grabs
Jesus’ robe and is healed,
Matthew tells us that be-
fore she breaks through the
crowd, lunging at the hem of
his garment, the woman said
to herself, ‘If I only touch his
cloak, I will be made well.’
How does Matthew know
what she said to herself? How
does Matthew know the in-
ner thoughts of this woman?
Is Matthew one of those men
who, like Mel Gibson in the
movie, know what women
want? As someone who has
lived with a woman for twen-
ty years of my adult life, not to
mention the seventeen years
of life under my mother’s
roof, I would never presume
women.
spring 2020 25
connecting
doubtful that Matthew inter-
viewed the woman to get this
background to the story. Most
likely, Matthew knows some-
thing that transcends gender:
What it is to desire healing.
Who among us has not heard
the voice within saying, “If I
just do this, then God will do
that”? Sometimes this comes
from a misaligned desire: “If
I work endlessly, God will
bring me wealth,” an all too
American profession of faith.
Other times, it comes from
a heart desperate for grace, a
deep awareness of the inabil-
ity of human effort to bring
about lasting good.
Matthew tells us that the
woman has been bleeding
constantly for twelve years.
Again, where is Matthew get-
ting his information? Twelve
years is probably more akin
to saying, “This has been hap-
pening to her basically for as
long as anyone can remem-
ber,” not unlike the eczema
that won’t leave the palms of
26 anglicandigest.org
my hands – a gift of adult-
hood. To say the woman was
desperate, however, may be
an understatement. She need-
ed something she could not
do for herself, something no
physician could figure out,
nor any animal sacrifice make
well. So, when Jesus wanders
by, the woman’s hope, sparked
by rumors about this healer,
meets with the self-forgetful-
ness that is often the gift of
suffering, and opens her heart
to hear what the Spirit is say-
ing: “If I can just get my hand
on him.”
Faith is a strange thing. It
wells up within as a dispo-
sition of the soul known
through the body; it is a voice
that speaks within and, once
we are shamelessly unaware
of our righteous selves, we can
hear and respond with hope-
ful anticipation to the healing
that is come upon the world.
The trouble with being an
adult, however, is that “I” am
often too aware of “me” and
gathering
my self-importance, or the
dignity of my office. And, as
much as I’d love to stand “far
off ” with the Pharisee in the
Temple and thank God that
I am not like those deacons
described above (Luke 18), I
know that I’ve been there too.
Who among us hasn’t? (Let
those who have never lacked
humility throw the first stone,
as it were.) As I read and re-
read the Gospels, especially in
the encounter with the hem-
orrhaging woman, I am new-
ly aware that those who have
followed Jesus in faith have
forgotten themselves, lock-
ing in on the Anointed One
of God, shamelessly reaching
out to grab hold of an external
power that bubbles up within,
even jumping out of a boat
to walk on water as a ghost
(Matthew 14).
The hemorrhaging woman,
in a state of hope, fixed on
Christ – not unlike Peter on
the Sea of Galilee reached out
– because of who Jesus is. We
telling
do not know if she, like Peter,
turned her gaze after experi-
encing such a miracle, but this
would not change the story
of God with us. “Take heart,
daughter; your faith has made
you well.” The dynamism in
this and every healing en-
counter with Jesus is an en-
counter with an innate, exter-
nal grace. The power of God
is outside us; it is the core of
our being.
My faith heals because the
power of faith that wells up
within is not mine; rather, the
agency of God made manifest
in Christ calls out from the
depths of my soul to what is
beyond and makes me well. It
is the grace of adoption that
says to everyone who has ears
to hear, “Take heart daugh-
ter… Take heart son….”
The healing of the hemorrhag-
ing woman is the healing that
comes from becoming one
with the healer. My faith heals
because my faith is Christ’s.
spring 2020 27
connecting

We must follow this follower HEALING

– this unnamed, hemorrhag-
ing woman – and likewise be-
come one with the Anointed
One of God, grabbing hold of
Christ and casting the gaze of
our embodied selves upon he
who humbled himself, carry-
ing the torch of God in pro-
cession before the world, that
we might spread the light of
God’s countenance, for the
life of the world.
Fr. Daniel is also the author of
Inhabited by Grace: The Way
of Incarnate Love.
THE BLIND MEN
(Matthew 9:27-31)
The Rev. Sinclair C. P. Ender
Lt. (j.g.), CCPO,
United States Navy
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral,
Davenport, IA
In this day and age, can we
really see Jesus’ healing of the
blind men as a miracle? Even
people of faith may struggle to
see miracles for what they are:
“occurrences through divine
or supernatural intervention,
or manifestations of such

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or call 716-652-6616
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28 anglicandigest.org
gathering
power.” Today, many are blind
to faith, and therefore blind to
the reality of miracles.
I was in the fifth grade when I
first started to wear eye glass-
es. Before gaining my sight by
corrective lenses, I did not re-
alize how much of the world
around me I was not seeing.
Having been told that my eye-
sight was so poor, I wanted to
see what I now knew I had not
been seeing, but I had to wait
a period of time for the lenses
to be made, so I lived for a few
weeks still not seeing. Yet now
I knew that I was not seeing; I
knew I was blind.
Being blind is one thing;
knowing you are blind is yet
another. I did not realize how
out of focus my perception
was until it had been revealed
to me that it was so.
We are living in an age of
American history that has be-
come demystified, blinded to
the world around it. Fact and
telling
truth have become conflated
together, blurring reality,
making us blind to miracles.
Holy Scripture as sacred story
is regarded as little more than
moralistic myth at best, even
amongst many people who
would call themselves Chris-
tians. Just as I did not know
how blind I was before I was
told so, persons of faith can be
blind without knowing it.
Even from the most simplis-
tic view of Jesus’s healing the
blind men, we can fairly say
that those men knew they
were blind. Can a moralistic
myth view, near-sighted as
it is, lead us to seeing anew
the reality of miracles? It de-
pends on how one sees reality.
Today, reality is often limit-
ed only to what science can
prove.
One of the ways that our fail-
ure to differentiate fact and
truth has blinded us is in our
tendency to give science pre-
cedence in all things, includ-
spring 2020 29
connecting
ing faith. Somehow, we have
allowed ourselves to become
philosophically blind to the
limits of science. Philosophy is
the study of the fundamental
nature of knowledge, reality,
and existence. Science, partic-
ularly the scientific method, is
a procedure of philosophical
study. But science has a limit
to what it can see before it be-
comes blind.
We embrace the idea of sci-
ence but forget the honesty
of science in saying that it is
a process for discovery – a
starting point, and not the
end. Science is defined as the
exploration of the natural
world – so by science’s own
definition, it is incapable of
approaching the divine or
supernatural. This does not
mean that science is in any
way bad, only that it, like all
human things, has limits.
Miracles are beyond science
to explain by its own defini-
tion. Miracles are supernat-
ural, and science is limited
30 anglicandigest.org
to the natural. Science, then,
does not prove that miracles
are not real. Rather, miracles
are beyond science to explain;
and that is okay. Where sci-
ence is blind, faith can see.
This makes me wonder,
though: Can blinded faith
then know that it is blind, and
seek from God to regain its
sight? Or, as Jesus asked the
blind men, “Do you believe
that I am able to do this?”
This, then, is the question: Do
you believe that Jesus is able
to miraculously give sight?
This philosophical question
on the nature of faith leads me
to recall a prayer composed
by Thomas Merton:
My Lord God, I have no
idea where I am going. I
do not see the road ahead
of me. I cannot know for
certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know my-
self, and the fact that I
(continued on page 37)
 ANGLICAN
BOOKSTORE

We offer many titles for sale through our in house book supplier, the Anglican Bookstore.
We also offer bargain books, which are priced at $3.00 each. You may also order by calling
800-572-7929
connecting

The Anglican Bookstore

LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION:
A DAILY STUDY IN LOYALTY FOR
ASH WEDNESDAY TO HOLY
THURSDAY
By The Rev. Martin Shannon, CJ
A daily devotional for Lent on the subject
and the experience of temptation, this book
offers reflections on the hard school of
temptation, based on Scriptures, inspired
by the Lenten experience of a Benedictine
monastic community. Each day’s reflection includes a quota-
tion from the German pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bon-
hoeffer (1906–1945). Fr. Shannon is an Episcopal priest.
ITEM L171 (128 pages, $15)

VIA DOLOROSA: A GUIDE FOR CHRISTIANS TO PRAY

THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS
By The Rev. Martin Shannon, CJ
Based on early Christian practice, pilgrims to Jerusalem
reconstructed the events of Good Friday
along the “Way of Suffering,” the Via Doloro-
sa. In the Middle Ages, the Franciscans and
Dominicans in particular transported this
ritual from Jerusalem to chapels and church-
es outside the Holy Land – if one could not
make the pilgrimage to the place of Jesus’s
Passion, then the “place” could be brought to
the pilgrim. Over the centuries, the Stations
32 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

of the Cross spread across Europe and the British Isles. Even-
tually, fourteen stations were set, with accompanying books of
readings and prayers to guide the Good Friday pilgrims as they
walked the way with Christ – going “with him” as he bore his cross
from the court of Pilate to the hill of Golgotha, from his judgment
and condemnation to his death and deposition from the cross.
Allow these scriptures, meditations, and prayers to accompany
you as you walk and pray the Stations of the Cross with Christ.
ITEM L172 (paperback, 64 pages, $9)

MIRACLES: DO THEY STILL HAPPEN?

WHY WE BELIEVE IN THEM
By Henry M. Morris
Do miracles happen in our time? Did they
ever happen? And if the answer is yes, is
any explanation possible? The key might
lie in the fact that miracles are in the world,
but not of the world. The author, a leading
Bible scholar, explores recorded miracles and sheds light
on miracles that occur today. From the feeding of many with
just a few fish to a discussion of today’s healing miracles,
he examines why many scientists dismiss miracles; people who
are convinced miracles happened to them; the truth about “mod-
ern” miracles; and whether prayer can bring about miracles.
ITEM N0028 (paperback, 144 pages, $10)

ARE WE THERE YET?: PILGRIMAGE IN THE SEASON

OF LENT
Whether we’re taking the trip of a lifetime or the trip simply
feels like it’s taking forever, the question on everyone’s lips
spring 2020 33
connecting

is: Are we there yet? As we make our way

through Lent, we will come to realize that
the journey – the wrestling and the wan-
dering – is the real flesh and blood of our
endeavor. Our companions on this Lent-
en journey are fellow pilgrims, sharing
their stories about following yellow ar-
rows along the Camino and white blazes
through the Appalachian Trail to bearing
witness to the pain of historic lynching sites in the Ameri-
can South. Contributors recount their search for healing and
wholeness at Marian shrines, in a reunion with birth parents,
and around a prayer circle in a psychiatric hospital. Join us as we
make our way toward Jerusalem with Jesus. Through this holy
season, may we be open to the miracles of love and life, awe-
struck by the One who is both our journey and our destination.
ITEM F016 (hardcover, 94 pages, $30)

THE SOUL’S JOURNEY: AN ARTIST’S APPROACH TO

THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS
By Kathrin H. Burleson
Walk the historic tradition of the Stations of
the Cross in new ways that will open your soul
to grace. This beautiful coffee table book fea-
tures the paintings of artist Kathrin Burleson
as well as soul-searching reflections on her
creative process and spiritual journey. Each
station also offers devotions from key lead-
ers in The Episcopal Church. In images,

34 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

stories, and prayers, these stations reflect the Passion of

Christ, exploring betrayal, judgment, and suffering but ul-
timately celebrating the great triumph of life over death, the
Resurrection of Christ Jesus.
ITEM F017 (hardcover, 94 pages, $30)

FOR CHILDREN
I AM GOD’S STORYTELLER
By Lisa M. Hendey, Eric Carlson (illus.)
This book invites children to use their
gifts to shine God’s light and share the
Gospel. Offering children examples
of noted storytellers in Bible histo-
ry – Sarah, Moses, Deborah, Esther,
David, Isaiah, Mary, John the Bap-
tist, etc. – this colorful and engaging
picture book also looks at how Jesus used storytelling to teach
and share his message of faith, hope and love. It concludes by
asking children to be “God’s storytellers,” and helps them to
understand that our world needs them now more than ever to
shine God’s light. It also includes information for adults, with
suggestions and guidelines for building a love for storytelling
in the hearts of children. With encouragement and empower-
ment, young storytellers are sent on a mission to engage the
world around them with joy and creativity.
ITEM L173 (hardcover, 32 pages, $18)

spring 2020 35
connecting

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36 anglicandigest.org
gathering
think that I am following
your will does not mean
that I am actually doing
so. But I believe that the
desire to please you does
in fact please you. And I
hope I have that desire in
all that I am doing. I hope
that I will never do any-
thing apart from that de-
sire. And I know that if I
do this, you will lead me
by the right road though I
may know nothing about
it. Therefore will I trust
you always though I may
seem to be lost and in the
shadow of death. I will not
fear, for you are ever with
me, and you will never
leave me to face my perils
alone. Amen.
Yes, I believe that Jesus Christ
can grant faith enough for us
to remove our self-imposed
blindness and see God’s work
in the world. I believe that Je-
sus can grant me faith enough
to see that miracles are real.
telling
DON’T GIVE UP
THE SHIP
(Matthew 14:22-34)
The Reverend Brit Frazier
All Saints’ Episcopal Church,
Chevy Chase, MD
Toward the end of last sum-
mer, I sat in a corner booth of a
Washington, DC power-lunch
spot with a friend who had in-
vited me out to talk about re-
ligion. “I like Jesus,” she insist-
ed, “but the church is awful.”
She’d been a faithful Roman
Catholic for years, the two of
us active together in campus
ministry some time ago, but
she confessed that it had been
years since she’d been to Mass.
My heart broke as it sympa-
thized. How often had I – an
ordained clergyperson in this
stumbling institution – come
home hollering with Pope St.
John XXIII, “It’s your church,
Lord, I’m going to bed.” Oh,
the power of the waves and
tempests.
In his twenty-fifth sermon on
spring 2020 37
connecting
the New Testament, St. Au-
gustine extends a kind hand
to the ecclesially troubled.
He interprets St. Matthew’s
account of Jesus’ miraculous
walk on water with bold in-
sistence that “the ship which
carries the disciples, that is,
the Church, is tossed and
shaken by the tempests of
temptation; and the contrary
wind, that is, the devil her ad-
versary, rests not, and strives
to hinder her from arriving at
rest.” Tempests, it turns out,
are timeless. And yet he con-
tinues, “though the ship be in
trouble, still it is the ship. She
alone carries the disciples,
and receives Christ. There is
danger, it is true, in the sea;
but without her there is in-
stant perishing. Keep yourself
therefore in the ship, and pray
to God.”
Keep yourself, therefore, in the
ship, and pray to God.
According to much ordi-
nary logic, the story of my
38 anglicandigest.org
ex-Catholic friend and the
stories of so many like her are
stories that seem only natural.
If something is troublesome,
if something is broken, leave
it behind. And to be clear, in
cases of grievous human sin
(sin, I would argue, that is
far from the heart of the true
Church), it is not self-interest
that compels us to flee toward
safer ground, but God’s will.
But for all that this ship of the
Church pitches weary hearts
to and fro through time, the
Gospel assures us that the
Church remains genuinely a
place of truth, goodness, and
beauty. It is true, it is good,
and it is beautiful, because it
is where we see Jesus. It is his
Body and his Bride.
“Take heart, it is I; do not
be afraid.” Are these not the
words we are longing to hear
these days? They are the
words of Jesus to those in per-
il, to the disciples and to the
Church for all time. In the
ship, the disciples huddle in
gathering
terror, convinced that what
approaches them is a phan-
tom, something drawing near
to cause harm. The appear-
ance of this figure on the wa-
ter is not something they have
expected, and it is not some-
thing they recognize. How
often are we in the Church
like the disciples in the boat
– yearning for Christ and
yet terrified when he shows
up unannounced or in unfa-
miliar form? We are ready to
meet him on our own terms,
when we are prepared and ap-
propriately situated, and we
get so nervous when he seems
to be doing something new.
It never fails to strike me how
Jesus’ journey across the water
is ripe with sacramental im-
agery. Walking, while nothing
to be taken for granted, is cer-
tainly common enough. Wa-
ter isn’t anything particularly
out of order. And yet in this
miracle, as in the Sacraments,
ordinary things become ex-
traordinary players in a dra-
telling
ma of mercy and encounter. I
imagine most of us would be
just as stunned as the disci-
ples on that ship if we were to
witness Jesus walking toward
us on the sea, and yet we are
sometimes unimpressed with
this same unexpected, mate-
rial Jesus who meets us in the
Sacrament of the altar.
In this passage, we are re-
minded that it is the Church
where we kneel in similar
trembling and wonder each
Sunday as Jesus comes to us
in the Blessed Sacrament.
There can be no overstating
the importance of this com-
parison. Whether we speak of
the saving waters of baptism
or the graces of the Eucharist,
the Sacraments are a song in
the Church’s mother tongue.
It is true that we might read
scripture on our own or pray
with our families and receive
great spiritual benefit. It is
also true that Christ gives the
Sacraments uniquely to the
Church, and in the Church,
spring 2020 39
connecting
he gives us one another as liv-
ing members of his Body. We
do not grow in holiness on
our own, but together, trem-
bling, our eyes fixed toward
heaven. Augustine’s image
of ship-as-Church draws us
away from an understanding
of church as that flawed, often
sinful distraction from the
true mission of Jesus. It shows
us a clearer, truer vision of
the Church as blessed vessel,
cherished Bride – the site of
that holy mercy and encoun-
ter where we build one an-
other up in faithfulness and
perhaps even dare to step out
upon the waters ourselves.
The Church is indeed the
Lord’s. It is surely within the
bounds of his mercy to for-
give us those times when we
toss it over to him and go to
bed. But I believe this Gos-
pel from St. Matthew serves
as a graceful call not only to
trust in Christ with our whole
heart, but also to remember
with affection the vessel that
40 anglicandigest.org
he gives us to thrive in his
service. St. Augustine writes
that while the tempests and
terrors may threaten to over-
come the ship, “greater is He
who makes intercession for
us. For in this our tossing to
and fro in which we toil, He
gives us confidence in coming
to us, and strengthening us.”
May we remain steady in the
ship, praying to God! It is the
ship set toward its true des-
tination that can soothe our
fretful skepticism and free us
to meet our living Christ.
AN ORDINARY
CLOAK
(Matthew 14:34-36)
The Rev. Chris Arnold,
Trinity Church, Oshkosh, WI
There are miracles all through
the gospels. Some of them are
famous and dramatic. Some
are strange. Some are celebra-
tory, but all of them testify to
the kingdom of God, and the
gathering
wise disciple starts to get the
idea that all these events that
we see as surprising will sim-
ply be par for the course in
the age to come.
Even the Gospel writers start
to get a little jaded, it seems –
another day, another miracle.
Consider the two verses in
Matthew 14:34-36:
When they had crossed
over, they came to land
at Gennesaret. After the
people of that place recog-
nized him, they sent word
throughout the region and
brought all who were sick
to him, and begged him
that they might touch even
the fringe of his cloak; and
all who touched it were
healed.
Another day, another day of
miracles. It’s just become so
ordinary that Matthew bare-
ly mentions it! Admittedly,
this comes right after two
particularly exciting miracles
telling
in Matthew 14: Jesus feeding
the 5000, and Jesus walking
on the water. As miraculous
events go, those are big deals.
But then the boat reaches
the shore, we reach the end
of chapter 14, and Matthew
wraps it all up with ‘oh, and
lots of people touched Christ’s
cloak and got better.’
I’ll admit something to you,
dear reader. When I sat down
to write this I thought I was
going to be writing about an-
other cloak-contact healing:
the woman with the issue
of blood (Matthew 9:20-22,
Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48).
She pushes through the crowd,
grasps the hem of his cloak
and is healed. There’s a great
deal to explore in that event,
but the end of Matthew 14 lets
us know that it was apparently
a pretty common thing to be
healed just by touching the
hem of Jesus’ cloak.
So let’s think about Christ’s
clothing. All the way through
spring 2020 41
connecting

his life, we hear occasional made back then. Woven on

references to his clothing. In the loom of some local woman
the manger, he is wrapped in the village, I assume? From
in swaddling clothes. In his the wool of sheep and goats
Passion, he is stripped of his on the hillsides outside the
clothes and wrapped, briefly, town? At any rate, the clothes
in a scarlet or purple cloak of Jesus did not descend from
and crowned with thorns. on high, knitted from the hair
On the cross, the soldiers cast of angels and adorned with
lots for his clothing. We hear carnelian and sapphire. His
bits and pieces about how he’s clothes were ordinary clothes.
dressed, but there’s never any-
thing exceptional about what His clothes were ordinary
Jesus wears. clothes, yet here in this mira-
cle they convey healing pow-
Jesus himself was exceptional. er. The masses come to Jesus
Jesus was and is God incar- and are healed – but not by
nate, the whole glory of God praying to him or talking to
present in a human being. Of him or letting him wipe mud
course Jesus himself radiates into their eyes. They touch his
holiness from the moment ordinary clothes, and they are
of his conception onwards, healed.
and in his very being is all
the power and presence of theThe ordinary clothes have
Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is become sacred. The healing
exceptional, but his clothes?comes from Jesus, of course.
They’re just the ordinary Healing is a side-effect of
clothes of an ordinary man. his divinity, since God is the
source of all life, and what is
Come to think of it, I don’t healing except for a resto-
even know how clothes were ration of life? Something of

42 anglicandigest.org
gathering
that healing power has passed
into his clothes, though. How
so? Simply through proximi-
ty to the man? Through being
close to his human body, the
clothes have picked up the
power of his grace? Indeed.
Once, we wouldn’t have
thought this strange at all.
We once lived in an age of
enchantment, as the philos-
opher Charles Taylor has
reminded us in his A Secu-
lar Age. Once, we inhabited
a world saturated with the
holy and with the demonic.
It was a world where the un-
seen forces were every bit as
real as the beasts of the field
and the trees of the air. Divine
power, or its opposite, deco-
rated the landscape like fog
on the roads, or frost on the
grass, or perfume lingering
in the air. This power flowed
from God, or from the Ad-
versary, and thence through
their respective agents, angels
and demons, and on down to
humans. And why not or-
telling
dinary objects then? When
the hidden energies of God
move in and through every-
thing that God has created,
why shouldn’t objects become
carriers for grace? We live in a
tangible world. We are people
of stuff and matter in a world
of stuff and matter. Should
stuff and matter be unaffect-
ed as regards the presence of
God and God’s power? God
created all matter in the first
place, and called it good. It
was an ordinary cloak, with
an ordinary fringe. It wrapped
around the shoulders of the
Lord of Life, and – so close to
such glory – how could it re-
main ordinary?
After all, this is essentially the
sacramental principle which
lies at the heart of catholic
Christian life: Christ is equal-
ly present in countless places.
He is in the assembly gathered
for worship, in the reading of
his Gospel, in the hearts and
lives of his faithful people, in
(continued on page 46)
spring 2020 43
gathering telling

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spring 2020 45
connecting
the acts of compassion and
mercy done in his name, in
the Blessed Sacrament of
the Altar. Ordinary things,
brought near to the Lord, be-
come charged and scented
and bright with his glory. The
same holds true, of course,
for ordinary people, like you
and me. If we were as close to
Christ as that cloak had been,
people would reach out for us,
and find healing.
THE EXORCISM
OF THE
SYROPHOENICIAN
WOMAN’S
DAUGHTER
(Matthew 15:21-28)
The Rev. Mark Broadway
The Parish of Coity, Nolton
and Brackla with Coychurch,
Llandaff Diocese, Wales
Grace, not place.
“It is grace, not place, that
makes people believers”. These
words from the great J.C.
Ryle, the Macclesfield-born
46 anglicandigest.org
first bishop of Liverpool, sum
up the major theme of the
Gospel reading which we are
considering here. It is grace,
not place, that makes people
believers.
I think Bishop Ryle is right
in his summary, but how did
he get there? Let’s begin, as
we must always, by return-
ing to the text. Matthew be-
gins the reading by giving
us some clues about what he
wants us to learn. Remember,
Jesus did and said all sorts of
things – the Gospel writers
recorded stories deliberately,
and purposefully, under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
to teach us certain things; not
merely to furnish our Sunday
Schools with fun stories.
So, what does Matthew want
us to learn?
First, we see that Jesus goes
away; he leaves where he was
and what he was doing – de-
bating purity laws with scribes
gathering
and Pharisees – and he en-
ters a region called Tyre and
Sidon. And there he meets a
Canaanite woman. Here his
teaching about purity in the
verses preceding our text is
about to be put to the test.
The language that Matthew
uses to illustrate this scene
– Tyre, Sidon, Canaanite –
is slightly nuanced, slightly
specific, if compared with the
way Mark records it. Matthew,
as he often does, is deliberate-
ly pointing us back to the Old
Testament – Matthew really
expects his readers to know
their Old Testament. Partic-
ularly here, Mathew points us
to the old enemies of the Is-
raelites, the Canaanites. The
Canaanites were those peo-
ple who inhabited the land of
which Moses, Joshua, Caleb,
and the host of Israelites were
supposed to take hold. You
may have read about them
in the paper recently? A new
genetic study has shown that
descendants of the Canaanites
telling
live dispersed among the peo-
ple of the Near and Middle
East. There was much discus-
sion as some papers errone-
ously reported that the Bible
recorded the annihilation of
the Canaanites. This passage,
as well as many others, shows
that the Bible teaches no such
thing. This genetic study con-
firms exactly what the Bible
would lead us to expect to
find.
Why does Matthew want
us to think about Israel’s
ancient enemies here?
I think Matthew is helping
us see the grand picture of
God’s plan – a grand plan that
was hinted at in the Old Tes-
tament: “my house shall be
called a house of prayer for
all peoples.” (Isaiah 56:7) All
peoples – all nation groups,
all ethnicities. Can this mean
even the Canaanites? Surely
not!
Let’s continue to walk through
spring 2019 47
connecting

the passage as Matthew tells it. nel once more. Eerily, soldiers
It is remarkable that this wom- reported hearing the sound of
an who is made known to us distant drums whilst waiting
in terms of her ‘otherness’ (the on the beaches of Dunkirk.
fact she was a Canaanite) cries
out to Jesus with a deeply Jew-This is one of many stories
ish prayer: “Have mercy on from around the world, a sort
me, Lord, Son of David”. Da- of trope, a cliché, something
vid, of course being the great that is familiar to us all. I
king of Israelite history, who think these stories speak to us
waged war against the other so deeply because they echo,
occupiers of the land. David albeit in a distorted way, the
was held in such a regard as one true story: That God is
is quite uncommon now. His coming to be with his people,
regard was almost of mythic from which time peace and
proportions, as if he was the justice will reign. For many
“once and future king” in the of the Jews of Jesus’ day, the
way that we might think of line of King David was central
King Arthur. to that hope. Of course, they
were right: It is in Jesus that
I’m from the West Country, all those promises, all that
Somerset in England, and one hope, comes together. And
of the many folk-tales that as Matthew tells us at the be-
we have concerns Admiral ginning of the Gospel, Jesus is
Drake and his drum, which David’s heir.
is housed at Buckland Abbey
in Devon. It is said that that We have heard, then, that
when Britain is endangered, Matthew is pointing us to
the drum will beat, sound the historic enemies of God’s
out, and call Drake and his people and, at the same time,
fleet down the Severn Chan- pointing us towards the fulfil-
48 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

ment of Jewish hope. What is unlock the passage, and God’s

going on? promises for us. What is hap-
pening in this dialogue be-
Matthew is holding in ten- tween the Canaanite woman
sion two things that seem to and Jesus, then? We get to see
fight against each other, and it clearly who the children of Is-
seems for a time that we can- rael truly are. That is what this
not make sense of it. On the passage is about.
one hand, we have the prom-
ise of God to all peoples, all Jesus comes, explicitly, for the
nations, a universal God – a lost sheep of the house of Isra-
God over all. On the other el – and we are right to begin
hand, we have the particular- by thinking that this means
ity of the Old Testment – the the Jews. But we must not lin-
calling of a particular man, to ger on this thought, because
make a particular family. The as we see time and time again
Particular promises, the law in Matthew’s Gospel, the heirs
and the purity. of Abraham are those who be-
lieve. Wherever faith is found,
How do we make sense of we know that it is a gift of
this? God, not the will of man, that
Matthew makes sense of it by makes it so.
recalling for us this story of
how it is grace, not place, that This passage should give us
makes us believers. hope, then. Ryle’s summary
of it continues: “It is grace not
The way that Matthew teaches place that makes people be-
us this is by giving us the very lievers… it is possible to dwell
dialogue between Jesus and in the coasts of Tyre and Sidon
the Canaanite woman. This and sit down in the kingdom
conversation holds the key to of God.”

spring 2020 49
connecting
We remember, then, that
wherever we are from, the
gates of heaven are open to us
who believe. Whether we are
from Jerusalem, Tyre, Sidon,
or even Macclesfield, it is
grace, not place, that makes
us believers.
ANGLERS’ GNOSIS
AND FISHY
FUNDRAISING:
THE MIRACLE OF
THE COIN IN
THE FISH’S MOUTH
(Matthew 17:24-27)
The Rev. John A. Thorpe
Episcopal Diocese of Dallas
I am a terrible fisherman,
but it is not for want of skill.
I know how to use a fishing
pole. I can tie a hook, bait it,
and cast effectively. I can be
patient and watchful. I can
spin a highly entertaining
adventure story only thin-
ly connected to actual con-
ditions, the details of which
50 anglicandigest.org
grow with every telling. There
is only one difference, in fact,
between me and an effective
fisherman: The real fisher-
man knows fish. He knows
their lives and habits and dai-
ly schedule, such that it is no
mystery to him where and
when the fish can be found. I
do not have this magical facil-
ity, this mystical affinity with
aquatic life, this secretive fish-
ermen’s gnosis1. My children
long ago gave up fishing with
daddy after quickly realizing
that, despite my pretentions
of knowledge, I clearly had
never been initiated by the
masters of the sport into the
deepest mysteries thereof.
In Matthew 17:24-27, Jesus
tells Peter to go fishing, and
he describes ahead of time
in great detail the process by
which Peter will obtain the
money from a fish’s mouth
with which to pay the temple
tax. While much may be said
of the connections between
Jesus’ teaching here, and both
gathering
Roman and Jewish systems
of taxation, or of the political
and theological implications
of the tax, or of the story’s
connection to other events
in Jesus’ life, all of this is sup-
porting material to the mir-
acle itself. The miracle of the
coin in the fish’s mouth was a
one-on-one miracle: Only Je-
sus and Peter were involved.
And Peter was a fisherman
par excellence. Peter pos-
sessed the fisherman’s gnosis
– he knew fish, where they
lived, what they ate, how they
moved, when they slept, when
to catch them, and how to eat,
preserve, and sell them. Fish
were Peter’s livelihood, and
likely that of his family going
back several generations.
Like many of Jesus’ teach-
ings, this one is expertly tai-
lored to his audience of one.
With women, Jesus speaks of
women’s work (in their cul-
ture); with farmers, he speaks
of crops and seeds; with ser-
vants, he tells parables of
telling
masters and obedience; and
with fishermen – this mas-
ter fisherman – he speaks of
water, casting, hooks, and
fish. For Jesus to announce
in such clear detail and with
obvious prescience the pro-
cess by which the fish would
be found and taken, and the
coin found therein – and then
for the miracle to play out just
as Jesus said it would, like a
fish-story in reverse – must
have impressed Peter deeply.
John Piper, in a sermon on
Palm Sunday in 2000, de-
scribes it this way:
This miracle involves di-
vine power and wisdom
and knowledge. Someone
had to be sure that a shek-
el (precisely worth four
drachmas – two for Jesus
and two for Peter) was
dropped in the sea. Some-
one had to be sure that the
fish scooped it up, but did
not swallow it all the way.
Someone had to be sure
spring 2020 51
connecting
that the fish that scooped
up the coin would be near
where Peter drops his hook
in the water. And Someone
would have to be sure that
the fish bites Peter’s hook,
without swallowing the
coin, and stays hooked till
he gets the coin.2
If divine action can be quanti-
fied by mathematics, the sheer
impossibility of all these coin-
cidences qualifies this event
as one of Jesus’ great mira-
cles. Furthermore, the coin
that Peter was to find in the
fish’s mouth was not a Jewish
coin, but a Greek stetor, so
Jesus shows that he not only
manipulates time and ani-
mals, but also global systems
of monetary exchange and
the tricky Jew/Gentile racial
boundary which will prove so
difficult for Peter himself just
a few short years later (Acts
10). Jesus also lays an explic-
it claim to divinity by identi-
fying himself with the priv-
ileged family of the Roman
52 anglicandigest.org
emperor (the ‘kings of the
earth’) and claiming the same
relation between himself and
the God of the Jewish Temple.
The constellation of implica-
tions from these claims and
this miracle could not have
been lost on Peter. Peter pos-
sessed the fisherman’s gnosis,
but Jesus possessed divine
knowledge and mastery over
so much more. Here was the
master of water and fish; here
was the Lord of money and
economics; here was the God
over temple and tax; here was
king of kings; here was the
tamer of time and coinci-
dence, the One who was and
is and is to come. Here was, in
Peter’s own confession, “the
Christ, the Son of the Living
God” (Matthew 16:16).
Peter’s gnosis as a fisherman
represented his life’s store (to
that point) of experience and
expertise – but, bounded as it
was between village, family,
boat, and water, it was proba-
gathering
bly not a large sum of knowl-
edge by today’s measure. Yet
Jesus is capable of under-
standing Peter’s limited life-
store of wisdom and using it
to communicate the vast ex-
tent of his divinity, illuminat-
ing Peter in a way that both
depends on and transcends
Peter’s own wisdom. The di-
vine Logos inhabits Peter’s
world and expands it.
My own life-store of knowl-
edge does not include an an-
gler’s gnosis or fishy fundrais-
ing, but it does include other
skills and wisdom. Each per-
son has a different range of
expertise, some wider than
others. But each person is
capable of receiving the pres-
ence and the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, of having their world
inhabited and expanded by
Jesus. Peter’s vocation as a
“fisher of men” (Matthew 4:9)
required an entirely new ap-
plication of his former skills
to help him communicate as
his Lord had done, to catch
telling
fish by the power and grace of
God. Following his example,
the Church still today baits its
hook with the foolishness of
preaching and casts it out in
obedience to the Lord’s com-
mand, expecting in faith that
it will find a miracle being
done in each soul.
_____________
In the early centuries after Christ, some peo-
1
ple thought the truth about God was passed
down in secret initiation ceremonies from
the apostles only to those who were spiritu-
al enough to understand the mysteries. The
secret mystical knowledge was called gnosis.
2
From the archives of Piper’s blog Desiring
God: https://www.desiringgod.org/messag
es/the-sons-are-free
QQQ
“He who says ‘God’ says ‘mir-
acle’.”
– Karl Barth,
The Epistle to the Romans
QQQ
“The Aage of Miracles is for-
ever here!”
– Thomas Carlyle,
Heroes and Hero-Worship
spring 2020 53
 PLANNED GIVING
While you’re considering your 2020 income tax savings, we suggest
discussing long-term tax savings with your attorney and gift planner – and
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gathering telling

NECROLOGY
The Rt. Rev. Robert Whit- in Atlanta and Athens, GA,
ridge Estill, 92, in Raleigh, and Anniston, AL.
NC. He served in the United
States Navy during the Sec- The Rev. Alice Elizabeth
ond World War, before grad- Duffy Babin, 82, in Salem,
uating from the University of VA. A graduate of Stephens
Kentucky and The Episcopal College, Seabury-Western
Divinity School. He served Theological Seminary, and
parishes in Middlesboro, Lex- Duke University, she was the
ington, and Louisville, KY; first woman to be ordained
Washington, DC; and Dal- to the priesthood in the Di-
las, TX; he also served on ocese of Chicago. She served
the faculty of Virginia Theo- congregations and schools in
logical Seminary. In 1979, he Kealakekua and Honolulu,
was elected the ninth Bishop HI; Mount Savage, MD; and
of North Carolina, in which Durham, NC.
position he served until his
retirement 14 years later. He The Rev. Patricia Bush,
published two books and il- 77, in San Diego, CA. A gradu-
lustrated eight others. ate of San Diego State Univer-
sity and the Claremont School
The Rev. Eddie Jackson of Theology, she was ordained
Ard, 63, in Rome, GA. A to the priesthood in 1984.
graduate of Presbyterian Col-
lege and Virginia Theological The Rev. Laddie B. Fields,
Seminary, he served parishes 94, in Hedersonville, NC.

spring 2020 55
connecting
His studies at the University
of Oklahoma, Norman, were
interrupted by the Second
World War; he was drafted,
served in the United States
Army Air Corps, was wound-
ed on his 28th mission as a
B-17 tail gunner, and was
awarded the Purple Heart. Af-
ter completing his degree, he
initially pursued a career in
the petroleum industry; how-
ever, he later graduated from
the Seminary of the South-
west and was ordained to the
priesthood in the early 1980s.
He served parishes in Hous-
ton, TX, and Edneyville, NC.
The Rev. John Monteith
Flanigen, 94, in Rome, GA.
He served in the United States
Army Air Corps on Saipan
and graduated from Ogletho-
rpe University and Seabury-
Western Theological Semi-
nary. Following his ordination
to the priesthood in 1958,
he served parishes in King-
stree and Moncks Corner, SC;
Rome and Clarkesville, GA;
56 anglicandigest.org
Hailey, ID; and Knoxville, TN.
The Rev. Dr. Ayyoub-
Awaga Bashara “Oja” Ga-
four, 74, in Denver, CO. Born
in Sudan, he received his BA
from the University of Sas-
katchewan, Saskatoon, Can-
ada; his MDiv from the Uni-
versity of Emmanuel College,
Saskatoon; his Masters from
University of Toronto, On-
tario; and his PhD from the
University of Wales, Lam-
peter, Wales, UK. He was or-
dained to the priesthood in
2010, and ministered to the
Sudanese community at St.
John’s Cathedral in Denver.
The Rev. Edgar Wilson
Hopper, Jr., 90, in New York,
NY. A graduate of Howard
University, he initially built
a successful career in adver-
tising and marketing before,
in retirement, discerning a
call to ministry. He studied
at The General Theological
Seminary, and was ordained
to the diaconate in 2000. He
gathering telling

served at St. Augustine of priesthood, he served schools

Hippo Episcopal Church, and in Honolulu, HI, and Cha-
was the director of St. Augus- tham and Richmond, VA; he
tine’s Slave Gallery Project. also served in supply and in-
Following the 9/11 attacks, he terim positions at numerous
also spent months at Trinity parishes.
Church Wall Street, St. Paul’s
Chapel, ministering to rescue The Very Rev. William
workers and blessing human Owen Stewart, Jr., 71, in Al-
remains. bany, GA. He was a graduate
of Valdosta State College and
The Very Rev. Richard the School of Theology at The
Peter Pocalyko, 72, in Atlan- University of the South.
ta, GA. A graduate of Lehigh
University and Virginia Theo- The Rev. Mark Edward
logical Seminary, he also stud- Waldo, Sr., 92, in Montgom-
ied at Princeton Theological ery, AL. A graduate of The
Seminary and Fuller Theo- College of William and Mary
logical Seminary. He was was and Virginia Theological
ordained to the priesthood in Seminary, he was ordained
1972, and served parishes in to the priesthood in 1951. He
College Park, MD; Atlanta, served parishes in Douglas
GA; and Pittsburgh, PA. and Fitzgerald, GA; Houston,
TX; and Montgomery, Car-
The Rev. William Reeves, lowville, and Lowndesboro,
Jr., 85, in Richmond, VA. A AL. He was a member of the
graduate of Yale University, Third Order of St. Francis, and
Harvard University, and The was active in the Cursillo re-
Episcopal Divinity School, he newal movement and Kairos
was a lifelong educator. Fol- prison ministries.
lowing his ordination to the
spring 2020 57
connecting

The Rev. Richard Still- of Wicomico Parish Church,

well Corry, 100, in Quincy, and spent the past four years
FL. A graduate of The Univer- serving St. George’s Episcopal
sity of the South, the School Church in Pine Grove.
of Theology at The University
of the South, and Boston Uni- The Rev. William Burton
versity, he was ordained to the Easter, 93, in Rio Rancho,
priesthood in 1944. He served NM. He served in the United
parishes in Panama City, Port States Navy in the Pacific The-
St. Joe, and Jacksonville, FL; ater during the Second World
Honolulu, HI; Providence, RI; War as well as the Korean War.
Boston, MA; and Fairfax and He was ordained to the priest-
Miller’s Tavern, VA. He also hood in 1959, and served par-
spent a number of years work- ishes in Texas, Illinois, and
ing as a social worker in mul- New Mexico.
tiple capacities in Massachu- The Rev. David Edward
setts and North Carolina while Eylers, 79, in Harwinton, CT.
also serving as a supply priest.
A graduate of Marietta Col-
In retirement, he continued to lege and the General Theo-
do supply work in Florida. logical Seminary, he was or-
dained to the priesthood in
The Rev. Dr. Walter Scott 1965. He was the rector of St.
Dillard, 80, in Luray, VA. A Luke’s Episcopal Church in
graduate of West Point Mili- Beacon, NY, for 25 years.
tary Academy, he went on to
become a tenured Professor The Rev. Holly Blair
of History there. He served in Hutchens, 77, in Chanute, KS.
the Vietnam War, and retired A graduate of the University
from the United States Army of Michigan, the University of
as a colonel after 26 years. Chicago, and Seabury-West-
He was the longtime rector ern Theological Seminary, she
58 anglicandigest.org
gathering
was ordained to the priest-
hood in 1988. She served par-
ishes in Illinois, Kansas, Mis-
souri, and Scotland. She also
taught Art History at Cedar-
crest College and at Southwest
Missouri State University.
The Rev. Robert Baldwin
“B” Lloyd, 93, in Blacksburg,
VA. Born in Japan to mission-
ary parents, he was a veter-
an of the Second World War,
during which he served as
a 1st Lieutenant in the Mil-
itary Intelligence Service of
the United States Army as a
Japanese language officer. A
graduate of the University of
Virginia and Virginia Theo-
logical Seminary, he was or-
dained to the priesthood in
1954; his grandfather, father,
three brothers, and one sister
were also Episcopal priests.
He served parishes in Louisa,
Mineral, and Blacksburg, VA,
as well as serving as a College
Chaplain at Virginia Tech,
working with the Appalachian
People’s Service Organization,
telling
and, in retirement, spending
twenty years serving St. Paul’s
Episcopal Mission of the Mo-
nacan Indian Nation of Bear
Mountain, Virginia.
The Rev. James Cook
Newsom, 65, in Memphis,
TN. A graduate of Memphis
State University, Memphis
Theological Seminary, and
the School of Theology at The
University of the South, he
first embarked upon a career
with his family’s insurance
agency. He was ordained to
the priesthood in 2008, and
served St. Matthew’s Episco-
pal Church in Covington, TN,
before becoming Chaplain
at St. George’s Independent
School Memphis Campus.
The Very Rev. Robert
George Preston, 95, in Hal-
landale Beach, FL. After serv-
ing in the Royal Canadian Air
Force, he graduated from Car-
roll College, then Nashotah
House Theological Seminary.
He was ordained to the priest-
hood in 1953, and served
spring 2020 59
connecting

parishes in Vancouver, Can- A graduate of the State Uni-

ada; Chicago and Peoria, IL; versity of New York at Cort-
and Jacksonville, Hallandale land and New York Univer-
Beach, and Hollywood, FL. sity, he served in the United
He served as the dean of the States Navy Medical Service
Cathedral in Peoria, and also Corps during the Korean War,
as principal of an Episcopal taught as an adjunct profes-
school in Jacksonville. sor in colleges and universi-
ties, and worked as a Quality
The Rev. Samuel Lester Assurance Engineer. In re-
Ralph, 88, in Reading, MA. A tirement, he was ordained to
graduate of Boston Universi- the priesthood in 2007, and
ty and Virginia Theological served parishes in Augusta,
Seminary, he was not only an Thomson, and Harlem, GA.
Episcopal priest – serving as
the rector of Christ Church The Rev. Carl Asa Rus-
for many years – but also a sell, Jr., 83, in Cumberland
four-term reforming mayor of Foreside, ME. A graduate of
Somerville in an age of corrup- Bowdoin College and The
tion. He revitalized the city of General Theological Semi-
Somerville, building schools nary, he was ordained to the
and fire stations, transform- priesthood in 1961. He served
ing public parks, renovating parishes in Winn, Millinock-
libraries, and expanding and et, and Portland, ME; Fitch-
improving public transporta- burg, MA; and Darien, CT.
tion – and, after retiring from
politics, he maintained a law The Rev. Elmer L. Sulli-
practice. van, 89, in Ewing, NJ. A grad-
uate of Dartmouth College
The Rev. Kenneth George and The General Theological
Rowland, 88, in Appling, GA. Seminary, he was ordained

60 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

to the priesthood in 1955. He Haw River and Reidsville, NC;

served parishes in Prospect Covington VA; Norristown
Heights, Elizabeth, and Tren- and Philadelphia, PA; Ells-
ton, NJ. worth KS; and Miami, Home-
stead, and Palmetto Bay, FL.
The Rev. Fred David
Titus, 77, in Sioux City, IA. The Rev. Alice Moore
A graduate of The Episcopal Bassett-Jellema, 62, in Balti-
Seminary in Lexington, KY, more, MD. A graduate of Col-
he was ordained to the priest- by College and the General
hood in 1979. He served par- Theological Seminary, she was
ishes in Des Moines, Clear ordained to the priesthood in
Lake, Sioux City, and Le Mars, 1992. She served parishes in
IA, and Garden City, KS. Hampton, VA and the Balti-
more, MD, area, including 22
The Rev. Samuel Ruther- years as vicar of the Church of
ford Todd, Jr., 79, in Hous- the Guardian Angel in Rem-
ton, TX. A graduate of Har- ington.
vard University and Union
Theological Seminary, he was The Rev. Thomas Kimball
ordained to the priesthood ‘Kim’ Cannon, 85, in Oak
in 1966. He served parishes Park, IL. In more than 50
in New York City, NY; Cuer- years of ordained ministry,
navaca and Zapopan, Mexico; he served multiple parishes
and Austin, San Antonio, and in the greater Chicago area,
Houston, TX. including more than 35 years
at St. Andrews Church in Chi-
The Rev. Gary Archer cago.
Verell, 86, in Cutler Bay, FL.
Ordained to the priesthood May they rest in peace
in 1959, he served parishes in and rise in glory.

spring 2020 61
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