I once joked to a priest friend, “You say you took Holy Orders as a celibate. As a married man I have to take holy orders everyday. My wife orders me to do this and orders me to do that…’

By God’s grace I was ordained deacon yesterday in the Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Charleston. Nice touch… to be ordained in a Baptist cathedral here in the homeland of the Southern Baptists.

The main picture is myself with Bishop Robert Baker. The second pictures me and Bishop Baker with Fr James Parker, the first former Episcopal married priest to be ordained under the pastoral provision back in the late 70s. He happens to be a priest of our Diocese of Charleston.

As I face ordination to the priesthood two weeks from today, my reflections have been recorded in a piece to be published in the National Catholic Register next week. You might want to check it out. Amy Welborn has picked up on this and comments.