Former rector of [US] largest Episcopal church becomes a Catholic

[Dale_M]

The Rev. Larry Gipson was dean of the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham from 1982-94 and rector at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, where his parishioners included former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, from 1994-2008.

Last month, Gipson was accepted as a Catholic into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, a structure set up by Pope Benedict XVI to accept former Anglicans into the Catholic Church.

“The nature of authority in the Catholic Church is what attracted me to it,” Gipson said. “After I retired, I was concerned and had been for many years about the Episcopal Church’s authority structure.”

Gipson will be among 69 candidates for Catholic priesthood attending a formation retreat this weekend in Houston at the ordinariate’s headquarters.

washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/former-rector-of-nations-largest-episcopal-church-becomes-a-catholic/2012/11/30/22e6e180-3b11-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html

 

[Lucky7]

Yep, it all goes back to the issue of authority.

 

[Tigg]

The Lord will raise up men to perpetuate His sacrifice any way He chooses!

 

[CB_Catholic]

Oh…he is not/was not a priest, right? He was a “dean” and then a “rector”?

He was an Anglican priest. In church usage, a rector is a priest. In the Catholic Church a rector is usually a priest in charge of a parish without a pastor. There are other offices also where the term is used, such as the heads of a university, etc. You hear the term more in Protestantism, but yes, he was a priest. Think about the rectory–the place where the priests live. That will help associate the term.

 

[_Abyssinia]

 

[Prague]

Good news for once.

 

[twf]

He was an Anglican priest. In church usage, a rector is a priest. In the Catholic Church a rector is usually a priest in charge of a parish without a pastor. There are other offices also where the term is used, such as the heads of a university, etc. You hear the term more in Protestantism, but yes, he was a priest. Think about the rectory–the place where the priests live. That will help associate the term.

In Canada, the priest in charge of a cathedral is given the title “rector” - he is essentially the acting pastor of the cathedral parish, but as the bishop is technically its pastor, the priest he delegates to run the parish is called the rector. Is that not the case in the States?

 

[CMatt25]

The priest at my local Episcopal church was a Roman Catholic priest prior to becoming an Episcopal priest. Another Episcopal priest in a nearby city was Roman Catholic. As was the United Church of Christ pastor in my town.

 

[Dale_M]

In Canada, the priest in charge of a cathedral is given the title “rector” - he is essentially the acting pastor of the cathedral parish, but as the bishop is technically its pastor, the priest he delegates to run the parish is called the rector. Is that not the case in the States?

Yes, although perhaps most of us have little contact with the person who oversees the cathedral parish and the job title he is given.

But here are a couple examples

smcaustin.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=154

isthmuscatholic.org/about/staff

 

[anp1215]

 

[aragonjohn1]

Cool

Shalom
God bless