Men of good will always seek the truth, no matter where it may lead them.
I agree with your statement…
The following is from the Diocese of Bethlehem (Episcopal Church) on June 11, 2008
RC priests received as priests of the Episcopal Church
Bishop Paul V. Marshall received two former Roman Catholic priests as priests of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Bethlehem on June 10 at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem.
The Rev. Bruce Baker and the Rev. Michael Metro brought to 13 the number of former Roman Catholic priests serving in or associated with the Diocese of Bethlehem. At least seven others served in the 14-county northeastern Pennsylvania diocese at some point over the past three decades.
[Click on photo to enlarge. L-R, Bishop Jack Croneberger, Father Bruce Baker, Bishop Paul Marshall, Father Michael Metro]
“The movement of clergy between our churches is not new,” said Diocese of Bethlehem communication minister Canon Bill Lewellis. “I was a Roman Catholic priest for 18 years and became an Episcopalian in 1982. Over those 26 years, I have known some 20 former Roman Catholic priests, now Episcopal priests, including our former bishop, who have served in the Diocese of Bethlehem. During those same years, only one local Episcopal priest has become a Roman Catholic priest. The movement to the Episcopal Church has become so common that it is usually not accompanied by the fanfare given to the “man bites dog” story when one moves in the other direction.”
Contrary to the practice of the Roman Catholic Church requiring Episcopal priests to be re-ordained, the Episcopal Church recognizes the ordination of Roman Catholic priests and receives them into its community with a service titled “The Reception of Priestly Orders.”
Metro, a native of Lansford, served as a priest in the Diocese of Allentown from 1996 to 2001. He earned a B.A. and an M.Div. from St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook. He has been a parishioner and vestry member at St. Stephen’s Church, Whitehall, since 2001. He and his wife, Jennifer Talianek, reside in Neffs. He is employed as a United States Postal Service carrier in the Lehigh Valley, and had been employed also as a chaplain at Manor Care, Easton.
Baker, a native of New Orleans, was raised there as an Episcopalian. Two of his uncles and a cousin were Episcopal priests. He became a Roman Catholic after marrying his late wife, Patricia, who died in 1990. They had eight children. He was ordained a married deacon in the Roman Catholic Church in 1982. His diaconal ministry included eleven years of parish ministry in a parish community of 4,000 families.
He directed TV commercials and industrial films in Dallas, Texas and worked as a filmmaker and businessman in Los Angeles. From 1965 to 1973, he worked as senior filmmaker for religious, educational and documentary films at the Franciscan Communication Center in Los Angeles.
Three years after his wife’s death, when his youngest daughter reached 18 years of age, he entered the Carmelite Order and began his formation and studies for the Roman Catholic priesthood. He was ordained a priest of the Carmelite Order in 1999 and served for the next seven years as director of the Mt. Carmel Spiritual Centre, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. He was co-founder of the Spiritual Director Training Program there. He has worked as a spiritual director/therapist, retreat/workshop presenter, and certified Imago Couples Therapist.
He earned a B.A. (Baylor, 1963) and M.A. (Loyola-Marymount University, Los Angeles, 1975) in communications and an M.A. in theology and pastoral studies (Washington Theological Union, Washington, D.C., 1999).
Baker moved to the Reading, Pennsylvania, area in 2006, became an Episcopalian at St. Alban’s Church, Sinking Spring, and a resident chaplain at Reading Hospital. He married Susan Bowers in 2007.
diobeth.typepad.com/diobeth_newspin/2008/06/rc-priests-rece.html
One of my favorite websites is Intentional Living whose welcome messages states the following-
Ephesians 5:10 says, "Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it. "
That’s living the intentional life…discovering what pleases the Lord and doing it!
