During the Rite of Ordination of Priests, the bishop asks the candidates a number of questions about their resolve to carry out the office of Presbyter (Priest) in accord with the mind of Christ and the Church, under the direction of the Bishop. Notice the resolve or the commitment of a priest is three pronged 1) it reflects Christ, 2) is in union with the Church, and 3) is directed by the bishop. For the final question each candidate kneels before the bishop and places his joined hands between those of the bishop who asks, Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors?

Both gestures, kneeling and the hands of the candidate in the hands of the bishop, signal a connection between the priest and the bishop whomever the bishop is (my successors) throughout all the years of the priests ministry. It is a spiritual connection based on respect and obedience. Respect means the priest recognizes the bishop as a father in Christ; obedience means the priest cooperates with and assists in the ministry of the bishop. Respect and obedience are priestly virtues which enable the bishop to do his ministry of oversight of the diocese and enable the priest to share in the ministry of the bishop.

Having recently transferred 18 pastors and five associate pastors, the issue of respect and obedience is very much on my mind. A transfer is never easy for a priest. I vividly remember my own transfers and the personal emotions that surfaced as I changed each assignment at the request of my bishop. At the same time, the transfer can be challenging, even upsetting for the faithful who lose their priest and have to get accustomed to a new priest.

Some people express their disappointment about a priests transfer by writing to the bishop words of praise about the ministry of the priest. I enjoy those letters. It is always good news to receive a favorable report from the faithful explaining how the ministry of a particular priest positively impacted their lives.

Then there are a very few who write and tell me that I cannot do what I did; that I must reverse the decision; that I am insensitive to the culture of that parish; that they will leave the church if Father X is transferred and never again contribute to the church. I appreciate their passion, but those sentiments indicate that they do not understand the relationship of a bishop in the life and ministry of a priest, nor do they understand the role of the bishop as the overseer of the entire diocesan church, not just one parish. Further, they have no knowledge of the commandment to support the church.

In the case of the transfer of a pastor there is a process that is carefully followed in our diocese; this process is guided by the universal law of the church. The particular law of the church in the United States since 1984 grants a pastor a six-year term of office which is renewable once for six more years. Our priests in Camden are notified when a pastorate is opened and if interested in a particular parish he writes to the Vicar for Clergy stating his reasons to be considered for that pastorate. His letter is shared with the members of the Priest Personnel Board who review the reasons proposed by the priest. The majority of the priests on the board are elected by their peers. I attend those meetings and listen to the reports that are presented about the parish and the opinions of the Board members about the appointment of a priest to a particular parish. Then, I prayerfully consider the deliberations of the Personnel Board, along with my own knowledge of the parish and the priest in order to arrive at an informed decision.

As the bishop, I have a responsibility to consider the needs of the entire diocese, not just one particular parish, and to evaluate the competency of a particular priest for that particular parish. I depend on the counsel of my brother priests on the Priest Personnel Board. After I have reached my decision, I speak individually, face to face, with each priest to propose the transfer and the reasons for it. If they wish, I give them time to pray about my request.

I am so pleased to report that our priests were generous in their positive responses despite the personal hardships the transfer involved for them. Thats where the respect and obedience come into play. Your Camden priests, my brothers, demonstrated profound respect and obedience first, to me their bishop, but also to the people of God, to you, by accepting the transfer in obedience to the needs of the diocese. I am so very proud of them, as you should be.

I have previously written but again repeat that the BIGGEST and most URGENT problem facing the Diocese of Camden is the need for more priests to staff our parishes. Please, HELP. If you know a young man in your parish, or in your family, whom you think would be a fine priest, mention it to him. Contemporary culture makes it extremely difficult for young men to hear and respond to the call of God to the priesthood. There are too many noisy distractions out there which block a young man from hearing the call of the Lord to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Sometimes a word of encouragement from another gets him to seriously consider the priesthood. Pray also for an increase of vocations to the diocesan priesthood and for our seminarians.

Tell your parish priest of your gratitude for his ministry and for his life. Priests need to hear from the faithful your appreciation of them. There is a lot of negativity against priests out there which affects priests who can use and benefit from your words of affirmation. Pray for priests and, while you are at it, for your bishop too.

Finally, on July 15th, seven priests retired from active ministry. I call these men, veterans of the vineyard. They have faithfully run the course, kept the faith and served the church for many years in variety of ministries. Hats off to these brothers of mine, your priests who deserve to retire. They are still priests and they maintain a certain level of ministry. With gratitude from me, their bishop, and from the thousands and thousands of women and men who over the years have benefitted from their priestly service, well done, good and faithful servants.

Father Mark R. Cavagnaro

Msgr. Michael J. Doyle

Father John A. OLeary

Father Michael P. Orsi

Father Joseph A. Perreault

Father Michael P. Rush

Father John J. Vignone

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The spiritual connection between priest and bishop - Catholic Star Herald

By PTI

LUCKNOW: BSP president Mayawati on Friday favouredthat an invitation be extended to Dalit Mahamandelshwar Kanhaiya Prabhunandan Giri for the 'bhoomi pujan' ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying it would have some impact on the Constitutional intention of setting a casteless society.

This comes after reports in the media that Giri was unhappy over not being invited to the event.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the temple is slated for August 5.

In a tweet, the BSP supremo said, "In view of the complaint of Dalit Mahamandelshwar Swami Kanhaiya Prabhunanadan Giri, it would have been better if he was also invited to the bhoomi pujan ceremony in Ayodhya on August 5 along with 200 other saints.

"This could have had some impact on the Constitutional intention of establishing a casteless society in the country."

However, she went on the say that, "Instead of getting into all this,the Dalit samaj, which has been suffering neglect, contempt and injustice, should focus more on their labour and deeds for their salvation and in this case too they need to follow the path shown by Bhimrao Ambedkar."

After a protracted legal tussle, the Supreme Court had on November 9 last year paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a Trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.

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Ram temple ceremony: Mayawati bats for invitation to Dalit spiritual leader - The New Indian Express

The Revd Professor Alister McGrath writes:

J. I. (JIM) PACKER was one of the most significant Evangelical theologians of the late 20th century, with a passion both for theological education and the importance of a theologically informed spirituality. Packer spent most of his career teaching at Regent College, Vancouver, an institution that he joined in 1979, shortly after its founding, and which he helped propel to international recognition. He is best known for his Knowing God (1973), which became an international bestseller on its publication, and is widely regarded as a landmark work of Evangelical spirituality.

Yet, although Packer achieved fame in North America, his intellectual and spiritual passions were nourished in England. Packer was born in 1926 in Gloucester, the son of a Great Western Railway administrator. He won a scholarship to study classics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in 1944. During his first term, Packer was converted through hearing an evangelistic address at St Aldates Church. As a student, he developed a love for Puritan writers, finding their spirituality to be both realistic and effective. This led him to establish, with Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the Puritan Studies Conference, which over time became of strategic importance for many Evangelicals in the Church of England and the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches.

After training for ministry in the Church of England at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, Packer secured funding for doctoral research on the Puritan theologian Richard Baxter, before taking up parish ministry at St Johns, Harborne, in the diocese of Birmingham. He married Kit Mullett, a nurse, in 1954.

Packer then entered the world of theological education, initially at Tyndale Hall, Bristol. While his students at Tyndale appreciated his teaching, Packers concise and perspicuous prose, evident in his early publications such as Fundamentalism and the Word of God (1958), secured him a growing international readership. After a period spent as Warden of Latimer House, an Evangelical Anglican think tank in Oxford, Packer returned to Bristol as Principal of Tyndale Hall. He played a significant part in the merger of three institutions of theological education (including Tyndale Hall) to create Trinity College, Bristol.

Along with John R. Stott, Rector of All Souls, Langham Place, Packer played a leading part in convening the National Evangelical Anglican Congress at the University of Keele in 1967. This event, now seen as a landmark in the history of Evangelicalism in the Church of England, led to many Evangelicals moving away from their more traditional isolationism, and becoming more active in and committed to the structures and ethos of the Church of England. This realignment was not without its difficulties, creating some ambiguity about what it meant to be Anglican and be Evangelical. At a more personal level, it led to a painful alienation between Packer and Lloyd-Jones.

Packers signature work, Knowing God (1973), was written during his Bristol period, and originally took the form of a series of magazine articles. Knowing God displayed the explicit interfolding of theology and spirituality which became a hallmark of Packers teaching at Regent College, Vancouver. There is an emerging consensus that Packers chief legacy lies in this book, and the style of spirituality which it commends and embodies.

Knowing God catalysed Packers rise to fame in North America, and led to multiple speaking invitations at seminaries, churches, and conventions. Packers popularity as a speaker reflected many factors including his emphasis on the biblical grounding of theology, his explicit agenda of fostering a theologically informed spirituality, his tendency to personal self-effacement, and his soft Gloucestershire accent.

Although many realised that Packers future now lay in theological education in North America, his decision to accept a chair of theology at Regent College in 1979 surprised many. Packer, however, believed that it was the right place for him, partly because of the new colleges focus on providing theological education for the laity, with a strong emphasis on the importance of spirituality. He regularly returned to England, speaking at large churches and conventions.

During the 1990s, Packer became involved in the Evangelicals and Catholics Together movement, which campaigned for closer collaboration between Catholics and Evangelicals, without demanding resolution of their outstanding theological differences. This led to some controversy, and some considered that Packer had reneged on his Evangelical commitments. Yet it also led to his forging some new friendships, especially with Cardinal Avery Dulles.

Packer became a member of the large Anglican congregation of St Johns, Shaughnessy, in Vancouver, where he preached regularly, seeing this as his spiritual home. Packer remained a member of this congregation for the rest of his life, and shared in its pain as tensions grew with the Anglican diocese of New Westminster, and eventually led the 700-strong congregation to leave their original building and enter into a shared-use arrangement with Oakridge Adventist Church near by.

Packer finally retired as Regent Colleges first Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology in the summer of 1996. His retirement did not end his relationship with Regent College. He was appointed to a Board of Governors Professorship of Theology, and continued to be involved in the colleges teaching ministry for two further decades, particularly through its summer schools. In his retirement, Packer served as general editor of the English Standard Version, a new translation of the Bible published in 2001, and developed a new interest in catechesis. Regent College honoured Packer in 2006 by establishing the J. I. Packer Chair in Theology, with the aim of continuing his legacy.

Packers health began to deteriorate in 2016, when macular degeneration made him unable to read, write, or travel. He died peacefully in UBC Hospital, Vancouver, across the street from Regent College, on 17 July 2020, aged 93. Kit was with him at his death, on their 66th wedding anniversary. When seen alongside the deaths of John Stott in 2011 and Michael Green in 2019, Packers may well mark the end of an important era in Evangelical Anglicanism. It remains to be seen where it goes next.

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Obituary: The Revd Professor JI Packer - Church Times

Today is the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and deviser of the Ignatian Exercises.

Ignatian spirituality, particularly the Exercises, and their ability to take us deeper into Scripture and into our relationship with God, and with our own true selves, is a topic I think beneficial for any Christian.

Ignatius, like many saints, started his life in the secular pursuit of fame and fortune, in his case as a soldier. But, it was the pain and suffering of recovery, after a cannon ball smashed his leg, in which Ignatius found the peace of Christ. He became devout, but soon again, as is the case with many saints entered a period of dryness, when the initial passion of faith had worn off, and the true work of the cross began. St. John of the Cross wrote extensively of this spiritual dryness in his 16th century classic, Dark Night of the Soul, and Saint (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta suffered more than four decades of this dryness in the middle of her ministry.

In the midst of that spiritual suffering, in which prayer, the Sacraments and penance no longer brought peace to Ignatius, he devised his Exercises.

I first learned of the Ignatian Exercises during a study of Gary Neal Hansens survey of prayer methods, Kneeling With Giants (highly recommended). The Exercises are a daily practice of lectio divina of divine reading in which you read, reread and meditate over a short passage of Scripture. The point is to go beyond an academic understanding of the text, and spiritually enter into it to delve into the emotions and the deeper truth of the Word, and thus draw closer to Christ.

St. Paul points to the purpose of the Ignatian Exercises in 2 Corinthians 4: Christ lives in us earthen vessels as a precious treasure, revealing to us the glory of God from within. Christ lives within us, and it is our purpose in the Exercises to go within, to silence the outside world for a period, to draw closer to Christ and to unmask that within us that would separate us from Christ.

Christian author Annie Dillard, in a preface to the Exercises, beautifully explains in the need to go in and down into the deep within ourselves.

Why must we go in and down? she asks. Because as we do so, we will meet the darkness that we carry within ourselves the ultimate source of the shadows that we project onto other people. If we do not understand that the enemy is within, we will find a thousand ways of making someone out there into the enemy and we will oppress rather than liberate others.

Getting to the bottom of what we hide within ourselves, or as Dillard puts it, riding the monsters all the way down, is essential to de-cluttering our inner space, and making more room for the light and love of Christ, who dwells within us. And, while Ignatian spirituality is generally viewed as a Catholic pursuit, I think that is a noble and necessary goal for any in the Body of Christ.

Authoritative instructions on undertaking the Exercises are available from Loyola Press at IgnatianSpirituality.com. To gain the full benefit of the Exercises, which originally were spread over 30 days of solitude and prayer, you will want a spiritual director familiar with Ignatian spirituality, but you also can gain a great deal by following along with one of the many online programs.

Detailed daily instructions and readings are available at the Sacred Space website, https://www.sacredspace.ie. Readings for the Exercises can come from any of the provided daily reading lists, from the Catholic lectionary, the Revised Common Lectionary or any other daily lectionary or the YouVersion Bible app.

The Exercises may not lead you to life in a monastery, but if they lead you to a deeper love and understanding of Scripture, and a more intimate relationship with Christ, they will be well worth the time invested. God bless you all.

Neal is a News & Eagle columnist and staff writer. He can be reached at jneal@enidnews.com and online at emmauspath.church.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

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COLUMN: Get ready to exercise with St. Ignatius - Enid News & Eagle

Dr. Nate Smith, who had accompanied Gov. Asa Hutchinson for the state's daily coronavirus briefings since March, was doing so for the last time July 17 when the governor said he had received a text regarding Arkansas' outgoing health secretary.

"I just had a text from someone that asked to issue an executive order countermanding [Smith's] employment at [the] CDC and have him stay here, but I don't think my executive authority goes that far," Hutchinson said during the briefing.

Smith, who joined the Department of Health in 2004, has served as its secretary since 2013 but will leave the department next month to take a role as a deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Smith said he has felt a sense of commitment to the department's mission to protect and improve the health and well-being of all Arkansans in his work in public health, but his core values and faith also have helped him serve the spiritual well-being of others.

[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]

Smith has served as an ordained deacon of the Anglican Mission in America since 2014, and over the past year he has followed a calling that led to his consecration to the priesthood July 15 at St. Andrew's Church in Little Rock.

"The work of loving people well -- and that includes public service -- includes encouragement, includes directing people to their source of strength spiritually as well as otherwise," Smith said. "For me, it's that integration of ... what I do that people see on TV and what I do when no one's watching, and the role I play in trying to build up my colleagues in the health department as well as my parishioners at St. Andrew's.

"They all come from the same substance."

MEDICAL MISSIONARY

Smith, who grew up with an interest in science, applied to medical school with the goal of becoming a medical missionary after having a "transformational experience" during college that conveyed an "understanding [of] all that God had done through me, done for me through Jesus Christ and how he had ... shown his love for us.

"That was something that I've never fully gotten over," Smith said of the experience. "I hope I never do."

The four months he spent at a small mission hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo helped Smith channel his love of science into an interest in medicine. A year into medical school at Baylor College of Medicine -- where he met his wife, Kim, who is originally from Vietnam -- he took a leave of absence to study at Dallas Theological Seminary, eventually attaining a master's degree in theology.

After medical school the couple spent seven of the next eight years as medical missionaries in Kenya -- Nate treating infectious diseases and Kim as an OB/GYN -- with a year in Arkansas between trips. During that time Smith began a career at the health department, and Kim has continued her practice at Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton.

When Nate joined the department, they were the parents of three toddlers adopted from Kenya, and would eventually adopt a fourth child from the country. Three are now adults, with their youngest starting ninth grade in the fall.

"We have a lot of history together as a team, and we've worked overseas doing pretty much the same thing -- a mix between medicine and faith together," Kim Smith said. "As we look to give people hope, both physically and emotionally, it's really important that medicine has both physical elements of healing and also spiritual or emotional healing as well."

"In my sense of calling and career, there would be these two very strong strands. ... They had been expressed in terms of my missionary work, but also in terms of serving as a teacher or leadership at my local church." Smith said. "As a missionary, it was pretty clear how my faith and my practice of medicine connected, but it felt less in my role at the Health Department, and I think that pride pushed me to ask, 'What next?'"

ATTENDED SEMINARY

Deacons are ordained in the Anglican Mission in America and Smith, having attended seminary school, already had the foundations of a priest. Rev. Robert Cook, rector of St. Andrew's Church, said he wasn't surprised when Smith approached him about becoming a priest.

"Nate was already living out that [calling to be a priest], in a sense, in the life of the church," Cook said. "He is a servant, he is a man of great humility, he's a man of great authenticity."

Cook said in addition to other duties as a deacon at St. Andrew's, for years Smith has taught and preached regularly in the church's "Growing in Grace" ministry, which is devoted to helping people dealing with addiction.

"There's so many things Nate has done that you would not know, but he is a humble servant," Cook said. "He's had a tremendous impact not only on the life of St. Andrew's but in this community and then around the world."

Nate Smith was ordained into the priesthood by the Rt. Rev. Philip Jones, the Anglican Mission in America lead bishop.

Jones, the senior pastor of All Saints Dallas, was the senior pastor from 2005-10 at St. Andrew's, where he first met the Smiths.

"We have a phrase in our tradition: Once a deacon, always a deacon," Jones said. "Even if you're a priest or a bishop, you're still always a deacon, still serving the people."

Jones said consecrating Smith as a priest during a pandemic was "a remarkable event for the ordination of a remarkable person."

NO LAYING ON OF HANDS

Several modifications to the consecration made the event possible, Cook said. The 100 or so attendees work masks and remained socially distanced. There was no laying on of hands by all the other priests, as would normally take place during an ordination. During Communion, Smith removed his mask and stood alone at the altar, rather than serving Cook and Jones at the altar. Those in attendance also were given Communion elements upon entering the church for the ceremony.

Cook anticipates Smith will in time go on to continue to serve alongside other ministers at a church in the Atlanta area, much as he has in Little Rock before and after his consecration to the priesthood.

"The title of being ordained as a priest is one thing, but Nate just lives it out, so he will still live out what he believes as he goes to work at the CDC in Atlanta when he and his family get connected with the church there," Cook said. "He'll be able to serve in ways that come alongside the other ministers on staff at that church. ... He brings a lot of gifts, not just to the community but to the church as well."

Kim said in the past months she and her husband have watched online services broadcast by Anglican churches in the Atlanta area

The Smiths have been together in the business of pointing others in the right direction physically and spiritually, Kim said. Life has no guarantees, she added, and people must make the most of their lives by following God's example.

"Life as we know it is not in our control, ever. It's always in God's hands," Kim said. "He knows the day that you were born and the day that you will die, and whatever [is] in between, you just kind of follow his lead and do the best you can, and help others along the journey."

Dr. Nate Smith, kneeling, is consecrated as an Anglican priest by Bishop Phillip Jones as the Rev. Seth Richardson (left) and the Rev. Dustin Freeman (right) pray over him.(Special to the Democrat-Gazette)

The Rt. Rev. Phillip Jones, lead bishop in the Anglican Mission in America (right), exhorts Dr. Nate Smith in the responsibilities of Anglican priesthood. Smith was ordained as a priest in the faith July 15 at St. Andrews Church in Little Rock.(Special to the Democrat-Gazette)

Dr. Nate Smith invites those gathered at St. Andrews to sing the Doxology at Smiths ordination service July 15.(Special to the Democrat-Gazette)

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A medical and spiritual connection - Arkansas Online