On the Feast of St. Kevin of Glendalough, twenty years ago, June 3, 2006, I was consecrated to the episcopacy and made a bishop within the Free Catholic tradition. It was a day marked by equal measures of challenge and grace, shadow and blessing.
The truth is, the day itself was not wrapped in unbroken joy. It was full of hard work, frustration, and the kind of disappointment that only becomes clear in hindsight. Looking back now, I can see in it a foreshadowing of what was to come: the complexities, the heartbreaks, the holy struggles that would shape my years in the Independent Sacramental Movement. But that is not the whole story. What unfolded that day was also a profound gift.
Consecration was not something I went searching for. In fact, I had turned it down several times before. I was wary, and rightly so. In those days, bishops had a habit of appearing with agendas tucked beneath their vestments, eager to pass on lineage, influence, or ego more than responsibility. If truth be told, I’m not convinced the office was seeking me out either. More than once, I managed to slip out from beneath an episcopal hand just before the “magic words” were spoken, which, depending on your sense of humor, spared me from being turned into a bishop, or perhaps something far less dignified. Between the two, I might have preferred being turned into a frog. Frogs at least retain their authenticity and, as a bonus, are not required to wear a silly pointed hat.
But on that particular feast day, something different happened. I was not simply consecrated; I was commissioned. I was entrusted with forming the Ecumenical Free Catholic Communion, an independent and ecumenical confederation of autocephalous jurisdictions within the Independent Sacramental Movement, shaped by the Free Catholic tradition. It was a charge I did not seek but one I received with sincerity, reverence, and a deep sense of responsibility.
And while there were, undeniably, agendas at play, some sincere, some misguided, the moment itself transcended them. The call placed upon me that day became, in time, a source of immense blessing. It set in motion the spiritual lineage that would eventually grow into the Sacramental Community of the Coworkers of Christ. It opened doors I did not know I needed to walk through. It pushed me toward the contemplative and prophetic ministry that has come to define my life. But the story did not end there.
A little more than a year later, on September 9, 2007, the Feast of St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, I was consecrated sub-conditionally by Archbishop Karl Prüter of blessed memory, the Presiding Archbishop of Christ Catholic Church. That consecration took place at the Cathedral of the Prince of Peace in Highlandville, Missouri, and it drew me into a deeper relationship with Christ Catholic Church and with the ministry, vision, and legacy of Archbishop Karl. That moment, too, has only become clearer with time.
Archbishop Prüter was not merely handing on orders. He was entrusting me with a living tradition. Christ Catholic Church was never just another jurisdictional name in the long and tangled genealogy of the Independent Sacramental Movement. At its best, it was a humble, stubborn, grace-haunted attempt to preserve a Catholic faith that was sacramental, interdependent, pastoral, and Christ centered, following the Prince of Peace. It was imperfect, as all church bodies are imperfect, but it carried within it a genuine charism. It bore the fingerprints of those who believed that the Church could be both ancient and modern, both sacramental and and congregational.
In time, I would become Archbishop Karl’s successor and lead Christ Catholic Church for many years. Those years were not easy. Leadership in the Church rarely is. There were blessings and wounds, friendships and fractures, holy labors and human failures. I made decisions I still stand by, and I made others I have had to carry with repentance and humility. That is the cost of real ministry. Not the imaginary kind dressed up in purple shirts and polished titles, but the real kind, where people are complicated, promises matter, and grace has to get its hands dirty.
Eventually, I stepped away from active leadership in Christ Catholic Church, though never from Christ Catholic Church itself. I was being called toward a quieter and more contemplative path, one that required me to relinquish the burdens of office without abandoning the church that had helped shape my life and ministry. Though I left the chair of leadership, I never left the jurisdiction. Christ Catholic Church remained my ecclesiastical home, carried with me in memory, affection, prayer, and promise. The office passed, but the sacred trust remained. I carried it then, and I carry it still.
Over time, the Ecumenical Free Catholic Communion and the Rule of the Order of the Shepherd’s Heart, the monastic path to which I had bound myself by life vows, gradually grew toward one another. What began as two distinct, though intertwined, expressions of vocation eventually blended and became one. From their convergence emerged the Sacramental Community of the Coworkers of Christ, a continuing monastic community seeking to unite sacramental life, contemplative practice, pastoral ministry, and intentional discipleship in a way rooted in mercy, justice, generous orthodoxy, and the lifelong journey of becoming more fully conformed to Christ.
Twenty years into my journey, I feel myself being called back toward the Christ Catholic tradition that helped shape me and toward the unfinished responsibilities of the vocation I received there. Not a call to nostalgia. Not a call to restore old structures merely for the sake of preservation. Not a call to polish monuments or re-fight old battles. Rather, I feel called to keep a promise: to help preserve the historic ministry of Archbishop Karl Prüter, to tend what remains of what was worthy, authentic, and life-giving in Christ Catholic Church, and to keep alive a small but meaningful stream of Christ Catholic Church within the broader Independent Sacramental Movement. My promise to Father Karl matters, as does the continuing charism of Christ Catholic Church.
We live in a time when too much is discarded too quickly. Traditions are abandoned when they become inconvenient. Histories are forgotten when they become complicated. People inherit ministries and then treat them like personal property rather than sacred trusts. I don’t want to do that nor do I wish to see others do that. Whatever else I have failed to do, I want to be faithful to the trust that was placed in my hands.
So yes, June 3, 2006 was complicated. It bore the weight of politics, personality, and human frailty. But it also bore the unmistakable imprint of grace. It was a day that gave me both wounds and wisdom. A day that taught me to walk more humbly and love more deeply. A day that set my feet on a road I did not fully understand.
And September 9, 2007 deepened that road. Through Archbishop Karl Prüter and Christ Catholic Church, I received not only a further sacramental affirmation, but a heritage, a responsibility, and a promise.
I did not seek the episcopacy. Some days, truth be told, I still wonder why it found me. But I have found grace in it. Strange grace. Costly grace. Grace that wounds before it heals, and humbles before it blesses. And that, too, is worth remembering, on this anniversary of my episcopal consecration.
May God have mercy upon my soul.