A BIOGRAPHICAL BRIEF OF VAUGHN A. TRECO

Born and raised in the Bahamas, I was raised in the Plymouth Brethren
movement by godly parents who loved Jesus and the Scriptures.

During college I became exposed to Church history and began the journey away
from Plymouth Brethrenism to the ancient faith (At the time I was certain
that Roman Catholicism was NOT it!).

Just prior to entering seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (now
a part of Trinity International University), Deerfield, IL, I was confirmed
by the Episcopal Bishop of Chicago, Bishop Montgomery. Due to the obvious
moral disarray that was present within the ECUSA, I could not bring myself
to submit to ordination within that ecclesial community.

After seminary, I served a two-year "thank you" term with my Grace Gospel
Chapel (The PB church that I had grown up in.). Then, in a last ditch effort
to avoid having to more fully enter an apostolic community, I co-founded an
independent church which saught to create a "church with a creedal
theological base and a Willow Creek-styled seeker driven structure."

The marriage never took. I resigned three years later, leaving behind a
thriving Willow Creek-styled church - sans the hoped-for creedal theological
base.

In 1995, I committed myself to entering an apostolic community - either
Anglicanism (which was even more corrupt by this time) or Orthodoxy (of
which I had almost no personal experience).

In the summer of 1995 I discovered the Charismatic Episcopal Church. It was
apparently apostolic, with an Anglican flavor and devoid of any obvious
moral confusion. After a series of meetings with Archbishop Randolph Sly (in
early 1996), I felt compelled to enter the CEC.

In the summer of 1996, I moved my family to Kansas for the purpose of
entering the CEC. I was ordained a deacon in November 1996, then elevated to
the priesthood the following May (1997).

From September 1996 until my resignation in September 1999, I was the
director and principle instructor at the satelite campus of the CEC's
seminary that was under Abp Sly's authority.

In October 1997, I was appointed as Archbishop Sly's Canon Theologian. I
believe that this appointment was made in recognition of the research work
that I hade performed regarding the CEC's apostolic succession.

This work had two facets:

First, I conducted research and provided the CEC House of Bishops with an
analysis of the CEC's apostolic credentials (or the absence thereof).

Second, the offering of the recommendation which eventually led to five CEC
bishops' reconsecration by His Beatitude Luis Fernando Castillo-Mendez of
the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasiliera (The Catholic Apostolic Church of
Brazil).

Just about the time of these consecrations (November 1997) I was encouraged
to listen to Scot Hahn's "Answering Common Objections" tape series. These
tapes created a crisis for me. Having laid bare (albeit in an introductory
fashion) the biblical foundations for the most objectionable Roman
doctrines, I found myself without a sufficient rationale for NOT being Roman
Catholic.

After almost two years of consistently intensive work and reflection, I
could NOT discover a sufficient justification for remaining within the CEC
and/or for delaying my entry the Church. As a result, I resigned from the
CEC on September 17, 1999.

My wife and I entered the Church during the Easter Vigil the following year.

We are currently members of Saint Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, Great
Falls, VA (in the Catholic Diocese of Arlington). Since January 24, 2001, I
have been employed by the diocese as the Program Director for Marriage
Preparation and Enrichment (a post that provides for considerably more
pastoral - if not priestly - ministry than I ever dreamed would be possible
in such a short time).

Come visit the CHResources website. Here you will find an awesome online catalog for Catholic books, videos, audio tapes, and much more. CHR is the publishing division of The Coming Home Network International.