The Rev. Nathan Humphrey Accepts Call to St. John's in Newport

On Wednesday, St. John's Episcopal Church in Newport announced that Fr. Nathan Humphrey has accepted a call to serve as their full time Vicar, and that Bishop Knisely has also assigned Deacon Buck Close to join him. This is indeed great news.

Earlier this year St. John's realized "business as usual" would no longer work and began to do a radical restart of their ministry. The parish decided to become a mission, with Bishop Knisely serving as Rector, and that mission status has opened them up to aid and funds that are not available to parishes.

Bishop Knisely has been clear that his office is committed to seeing St. John's thrive, and he worked closely with St. John's to find the right candidate for Vicar. "The Diocese's common life is well served by having a congregation in the southern part of the state that maintains traditional anglo-catholic liturgy, theology, and spiritual practices" he says.

Bishop Knisely also says "It is my hope and prayer that with two talented clergy working together with the lay leadership of the congregation, we will be entering a season of growth that will enrich the full catholic expression of the Episcopal Church in Rhode Island"

To introduce you to Fr. Humphrey, here is a letter he sent to St. John's on Wednesday June 26th:

Dear Members and Friends of St. John’s, 

It is with great joy that I have accepted Bp. Knisely’s call to serve as your full-time Vicar.  I am particularly pleased that he has assigned Deacon Buck Close on a part-time basis to assist me in serving you, and in spearheading the service and outreach efforts we as a congregation will be undertaking as we minister to our community and the world in Jesus’ name. 

A few words of introduction are in order. I am a graduate of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. I have been ordained since 2001, and have served two Episcopal schools and two parishes. I will turn forty in just under a month. Anne Stone and I married in 2004, and a year later I began a second curacy at St. Paul’s, K Street in Washington, DC, a large urban Anglo-catholic parish with strong local outreach to the homeless and a world-renowned music program. During my tenure at St. Paul’s, I was promoted to Vicar and then Priest-in-Charge during the Rector’s sabbatical and again following his retirement. When I’m not engaged in work in the church, I enjoy story time with my children, playing croquet, card games, ballroom dancing, and going to the occasional movie. My favorite author is Fyodor Dostoevsky, which would not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with my alma mater, St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, known for its Great Books Program. Though I lived in Annapolis for a total of six years, I have never learned to sail, and hope to remedy that deficiency by taking lessons with the children once we get settled in Newport. 

My wife, Anne, is a Yankee born and bred, having been reared in Newburyport, Massachusetts and educated at Groton before moving further south for college at Bryn Mawr and graduate school at Johns Hopkins, with a year working in France in between. Anne is a communications professional, formerly a senior editor at National Geographic. For the past five years she has served as full-time Director of Communications at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, the largest parish in the diocese. Most dioceses do not have communications operations on the scale of St. Columba’s, and I am very proud of her award-winning work. Upon relocation to Newport, she will undertake work as a freelance communications consultant for various clients.

We have two small children, ages 6 ½ and 4, whom we are looking forward to introducing to the church community and to Newport. We are particularly pleased that we will be living only ninety minutes away from Anne’s parents on Cape Cod. We are looking forward to transitioning to life with the people of St. John’s, and covet your prayers as we adjust to our new community. 

In closing, a few words on my immediate priorities are in order. First of all, I want to assure everyone that I remain steadfastly committed to the time-tested liturgical and doctrinal expression of the catholic faith as it has been transmitted to us through the Anglican tradition within the Episcopal Church. This is a great treasure, to be shared with joy and celebrated with solemnity. 

It will be a top priority, therefore, to infuse our liturgical celebrations with what at St. Paul’s I have termed “serious fun”—that is, worship with the purpose of glorifying God and edifying each other, so that we may be reconciled to God and each other in Christ.
It will be a top priority to attend to the ongoing pastoral care of the faithful of this congregation. I am already well aware of your steadfast dedication to St. John’s, your hospitality and your fellowship. I look forward to entering into that common life and accompanying you on your journey, wherever your pilgrimage may take you, in your joys and in your sorrows. 

It will be a top priority to identify resources that will make it possible to sustain an excellent music program, with the goal of recruiting and funding a Director of Music no later than early 2014. We cannot grow a thriving congregation in the Anglo-catholic tradition without such a program. This goal, along with a robust stewardship program, will, I believe, set us on the right track to growth and new life. 

It will be a top priority to develop further the culture of hospitality that is already alive and well at St. John’s through being intentional about welcoming families and children, college students, the military community, and anyone seeking a spiritual home in the Point neighborhood of Newport. 

It will be a top priority to provide current and new members with meaningful Christian formation opportunities for youth and adults, with plans already in the works, for instance, for Lent, 2014. 

Finally, it will be a top priority to discern with you what your own top priorities are! Any of the above-mentioned priorities will only be possible insofar as they are blessed with God’s grace and embraced whole-heartedly by you, the congregation. It is my intention in all of the above to work in partnership with you, as we enter into the future God has in store for us together. 

I look forward to seeing you upon our arrival in Newport, and I hope that if you are in town on Thursday, August 15^th, you will make it a top priority to celebrate the great feast of St. Mary the Virgin at St. John’s. 

Yours in Christ’s service,
Nathan J.A. Humphrey+
Vicar-designate

Scott Avedisian, Mayor of Warwick, Gives Speech on Episcopalians and the American Revolution at Gaspee Days

The following speech was given by the Honorable Scott Avedisian, Mayor of Warwick and President of our Diocesan Standing Committee, at the Gaspee Days Ecumenical Service Saturday June 8th at Trinity, Pawtuxet Village.  Scott will preach it again at Trinity July 7th

On June 8, I had the opportunity to deliver remarks to those who gathered in the interior of Trinity Episcopal Church to celebrate the 241st anniversary of the first bloodshed of the American Revolution.  I asked those present to think about that for a moment – that the American version of the Church of England would host an ecumenical service to celebrate the war that would gain American independence from King George III and the British Crown.

In the church, right above the lectern where I stood, the Royal Naval ensign flies along with the flag of our country and the flag of the Pawtuxet Rangers. 

 

It is difficult, maybe, to determine how we should feel about that. It becomes more uncomfortable when one considers that, if things had turned out differently, during Sunday Services parishioners of Trinity Episcopal Church, Pawtuxet, might actually be saying the Litany in our church.   

In doing so we would pray as follows:

             That it may please thee to keep and strengthen in the true worshipping of thee, in righteousness and holiness of life, thy Servant Elizabeth, our most gracious Queen and Governor; 

 

            We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 

 

            That it may please thee to rule her heart in thy faith, fear, and love, and that she may evermore have affiance in thee, and ever seek thy honour and glory; 

 

            We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

             That it may please thee to be her defender and keeper, giving her the victory over all her enemies; 

             We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

             That it may please thee to bless and preserve Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Charles, Prince of Wales, and all the Royal Family; 

 

            We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

 And while I have often joked that Episcopalians are probably the only group that still vouchsafe, beseech, and acknowledge manifold sins and wickedness, it is an interesting point to ponder.

 

How does one stay loyal to the tenets of faith if that faith is deeply rooted in the Crown?

 

Take, for example, the four colonial parishes right here in Rhode Island – Trinity Church, Newport, St. Paul’s in Wickford, St. Michael’s, Bristol, and King’s Church (Later renamed as the Cathedral of St. John the Divine) in Providence. Because bishops were seen as allies of the crown, Anglicans – whether patriot or not – faced accusations that they were disloyal to the cause, and there was considerable distrust in general. Many in fact did support the Revolution and were leading players in the formation of the new nation.  About three quarters of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Episcopalians.  

 

Samuel Seabury, the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and the first Bishop of Connecticut, was consecrated in Scotland so that he did not have to pledge allegiance to the Crown.

 

The war had a devastating effect on our parishes. There was conflict between parishioners, who felt prayers for the king and royal family should be removed from Sunday services, and clergy, who refused to omit them. St. Paul’s and King’s Church closed as a result. Trinity survived, but as a smaller and deeply divided parish. The British, mistaking St. Michael’s for a Congregational Church, destroyed it. Sentiment against the rector at King’s Church – renamed St. John’s after the war – remained so strong that he was not able to return to his ministry. Often, lay leaders came together to lead worship themselves with prayers that omitted reference to the King.

 

And yet, the Episcopal Church and its people persevered in their quest for freedom and autonomy. In 1775, Patrick Henry looked out at a congregation at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia, and delivered his famous “give me liberty or give me death speech.” That rousing call to action, given before a congregation that included Washington and Jefferson, was delivered from the church – not the Capitol in Williamsburg – to avoid interference from Lt. Governor Dunmore and his Royal Marines, and helped to fan the flames of Revolution that were burning more brightly each day.

 

The enduring fame of the Old North Church in Boston began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when the church sexton, Robert Newman, climbed the steeple and held high two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were advancing to Lexington and Concord by sea and not by land.  Pretty amazing for an Episcopal parish.

 

One must also consider that George Washington attended the Episcopal Church in Philadelphia and Thomas Jefferson advocated for a strong and rigid separation of church and state while still being an Episcopalian.

 

As we recall the burning of the Gaspee during its 241st anniversary year, we must give thanks to all who have gone before us and those who founded this nation free and independent from the English Crown. We should reflect on the many people who started the first spark for freedom from the Crown and stand in awe of their bravery and vision.

 

We must remember that it must have been extraordinarily difficult, for people of a faith so steeped in tradition, to sever ties with a monarchy that was so tightly interwoven with their religious beliefs, customs, and identity – but that they did so with the ability to respect and abide even when they did not agree.  Perhaps in the divisive world that we live in, all of us can learn from their ability to disagree and aid in revolution while finding a place within their faith to do so.

 

As we gather each week for services in Trinity Church in Pawtuxet Village – both of which are also so steeped in tradition – let us continue to remember the brave patriots who founded our country. Let us honor those who – despite the many difficulties it caused them – found the strength to stand up against the Crown, even as they ensured that the tradition of faith and service to God and country – the same values we celebrate each year during Gaspee Days – prevailed.