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Becoming Catholic

Alvin F. Kimel, Jr.
1 June 2005

I was born on 30 January 1952 in Washington, D.C., and baptized sometime that year at Mount Olivet Methodist Church in Arlington, Virginia.

I was raised as a nominal Methodist. In high school I became an atheist, and this atheism continued through the first three years of college. During my senior year a friend introduced me to the writings of C. S. Lewis. After a period of several months I found myself actually believing in the Christian faith.

When I returned home to Arlington, friends introduced me to the Anglo-Catholic congregation, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, K Street, in Washington, D.C. I immediately fell in love with the Holy Eucharist and the sacramental and catholic vision taught by the rector, Fr James Daughtry. I began nine-month inquirer’s classes and was confirmed by the Bishop of Washington. A sense of vocation also grew in my heart, and with the support of my rector I entered the diocesan process for postulancy. In 1977 I began my first year at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin.

But I jump ahead of myself. I married the lovely Christine in 1976. We now have four children: Alvin (28), Aaron (25), Bredon (21) , and Taryn (18).

I was ordained to the Diaconate in June 1980 and the Priesthood in December 1980. My first two and a half years were spent as curate of St. Philip’s Church in Coral Gables, Florida. In January 1983 I was called to be rector of a small congregation in rural Maryland, St. Mark’s Church in Highland. I served as their rector for thirteen years.

During those times I also found myself drawn to write on various theological topics. My articles and essays have been published in the Anglican Theological Review, Sewanee Theological Review, Interpretation, Scottish Journal of Theology, Faith and Philosophy, First Things, and Worship. More recently my essay “Eating Christ: Recovering the Language of Real Identification,” of which I am particularly proud, was published in Pro Ecclesia (Winter 2004). I have also edited two books: Speaking the Christian God (1992) and This is My Name Forever (2001).

In 1995 I became rector of the Church of the Holy Communion in Charleston, South Carolina. I served there for six years. In 2001 we moved back north, and I became rector of St. Mark’s Church in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. I resigned as rector on 1 June 2005 in order to enter the Catholic Church.

During the past fifteen years, I have felt increasingly uncomfortable ministering and worshipping in the Episcopal Church. I have watched my church embrace an ideology and religion antithetical to the faith once delivered to the saints. My concerns about the Episcopal Church have been comprehensive: the rejection of biblical authority and tradition, the denial of the unique salvific and divine identity of Jesus Christ, the uncritical acceptance of feminist language for God, and the rejection of the inherited moral tradition, with specific reference to the approval of abortion and the blessing of same-sex unions.

The actions of the 2003 General Convention were the final straw. I knew then that I could not long continue as an Episcopal priest. I was a priest without authority. In a church dedicated to radical inclusivity, the catholic faith is simply one option among other acceptable options and thus ultimately not acceptable at all. I thus began exploring seriously the two catholic traditions before me—Orthodoxy and Catholicism.

I have a couple of close clergy friends who had converted to Orthodoxy during the 90s and I had assumed that Orthodoxy would be my choice. I love the Byzantine liturgy and feel a real attraction to the integration of theology and spirituality that one finds in writers such as Alexander Schmemann and Georges Florovsky.

Yet the question of authority would not go away and I immersed myself in the writings of John Henry Newman. To my surprise I have found Newman’s arguments compelling and decisive. Ultimately, my choice is between atheism and Catholicism. I choose Catholicism. But of course, God’s grace always runs before us, so perhaps it is more accurate to say, Catholicism has chosen me. While at the time of this writing, I have not yet been received into full communion with the Catholic Church, I hope very soon that I will be so received. I gladly and freely submit my heart, mind, and soul to her authority and grace.

I offer myself to the Catholic Church as a possible candidate for ordination. For the past twenty-five years I have served our Lord as a priest and pastor. I have failed him more times than I can count, yet he has also used me to proclaim his gospel and to bring others to faith.

It is difficult to imagine my life away from the altar and the Blessed Sacrament, which has been the center of my spiritual life; but I know I have no claim upon the Church. All I can do is to offer my life and energies, with all of my faults, weaknesses, and sins, and trust the discernment and wisdom of the Church as to how I may best serve her.