News
Getting to Know Kay-Part 3
July 15th, 2010
My friends,
To be a priest was not in my plans. All I ever wanted was to be a park ranger. I accepted the job at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada, planning to be there about 5 years before moving on to be a park superintendent. God had other ideas!
Alex and I joined the St. Christopher’s “family” in Boulder City. Alex was the youngest member and had a Sunday school class to himself. I played the organ on Sundays, and was elected to the vestry. The diocese of Nevada is similar to Wyoming as it covers the entire state. There are two major population centers, Reno/Carson City in the north, Las Vegas in the south, and lots of little old mining communities scattered along the 2 main north/south highways and one east/west highway. There are Episcopal churches in the 2 metro areas and in most of the little towns. Total Ministry (Nevada model of Ministry of all the baptized) is deeply imbedded in the diocese and has been for nearly 40 years. It was especially life-giving in the tiny towns where they have very active ministries which, if their doors closed, it would be greatly missed.
I was surprised to find such an active, forward looking church in the deserts of Nevada. In Total Ministry the ministries needed by the congregation to be church can be found within the community – including priests and deacons. After education and much prayer a congregation begins a discernment process to identify not only priests and deacons, but the other ministries that congregation needs to be able to do the work they are called to do in the world. St. Christopher’s began the discernment process to identify a priest for the congregation during our second year. After a period of education to understand the role of a priest and identify the qualities needed to be a priest in the Episcopal Church, time was given for prayers of discernment. Pentecost Sunday in 1991 was set as the day of discernment when names would be offered to the Bishop, who would determine if there was a “call”.
A couple weeks later the phone rang one evening. It was Bishop Zabriski who said “ Kay, St. Christopher’s has identified you to be a priest.” My heart leapt, and after a long silence, with “what about my job” shouting in my head, I responded “Who, me? I don’t know!” His response – “Prayer would be a good thing, Kay.”
You know my answer, but that was only the beginning of the journey…
Peace to you all, Kay
