The Reverend Robert Anthony was recently called by St. Peter’s Vestry to be our Interim Rector.
Father Bob has been an Episcopal priest for forty three years, serving parishes in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, most recently as interim vicar of St. Ann’s-By-the-Sea on Block Island, where his term ended in mid-August.
He is involved in Diocesan work in Rhode Island and currently a chaplain of the C.O.M.M. fire department. Personal interests include sailing, tennis, golf, music (he’s a member of the Chatham Chorale), creative writing, and model railroading. He lives with his wife Mary Ann in Centerville. They have two sons and four lovely grandchildren.
Rev. Russell Allen, Associate
The important fact about Russell Allen personally is that his greatest joy is to walk along an ocean beach or watch the sunset across Cape Cod Bay with Louisa, his wife of 38 years and a Hospice nurse, talking about music, sports, ideas and issues; or what we have recently read, with his son, Joshua, 34, who with his wife Rebecca and newborn son, Luke, lives and works in Boston, or spending a day with his married daughter, Dr. Erica Gelven, 36, her husband, Marc, a Trooper in the Connecticut State Police and their two daughters, Rachel, 4 and Sara who is 18 months old. A warm afternoon spent on the beach, a winter day on cross country skis, a new science fiction movie or a novel or humor collection by one of his eclectic group of favorite authors, all number among his renewing activities.
Academically, Russ is a graduate of Bard College (1965) and the General Theological Seminary (1968) and received his MA in History from Northern Michigan University (1990). More recently, he participated in courses on intellectual history of the Christian Church's involvement with society and its issues, and more recently, the religious aspects of the American Civil War and of Abraham Lincoln and other people involved in that period. He has written several book reviews and conducted research on an article examining Episcopal clergy who were spies during the Civil War. He is also interested in Mark Twain (and his pastor/friend, Joseph Twitchell) and the writing of fiction, especially short stories.
Russ is rooted spiritually in the Episcopal Church as that has changed over the past half-century. He was raised in the Episcopal Church and found support for his educational and personal development in his local congregation. From this experience, came a sense of gratitude with an awareness of living in the presence of God. Traditionally rooted yet often reexamined, his spiritual journey to an unknown destination has contained many stops, each one of which he has sought to experience fully before moving on. He manifests his Christian vocation as a person, husband, father, priest, student and member of the human community.
Professionally, Russ has retired having led mission and parish congregations in rural, suburban and urban areas in New England and the Mid-West and after serving in academic ministries in Connecticut, West Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin. He has also participated in the oversight of ecumenical and judicatory ministry in higher education and served as the Chaplin of the Clinton Police and Volunteer Departments. He now assists at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Osterville, MA, having relocated to Harwich on Cape Cod, where both he and Louisa will continue their current careers and explore new activities before finally officially retiring.
Rev. Doctor Eugene Goetchius, Associate
Dr.Goetchius taught Greek at Episcopal Divinity School for many years. He earned two PhDs, two Masters Degrees and two Bachelor's Degrees. He is the author of many books and is now coordinating the adult education curriculum.
Rev. Paul Thompson, Interim Associate
Born in Spartanburg, S.C., Paul and his mother were active members of the Presbyterian church there until they moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and were both attracted to the Episcopal Church. Attending Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., Paul felt drawn to the ordained ministry and after graduation in 1958 attended the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, MA., where he graduated with an M. Div. in 1962.
In his final year at ETS he met “Bunny” (Sallie) McClenahan, who was working as a medical secretary at Massachusetts General Hospital. After their marriage in 1963, Bunny joined him in Mississippi where Paul had begun his ministry. In the next several years he served congregations in the Mississippi Delta, where he and Bunny shared the challenges and excitement of the Civil Rights movement.
After a year of study at Oxford University, Paul became vicar of a small mission congregation in Bowie, Maryland, in the Diocese of Washington. Located in a “mixed” neighborhood, St. James had a strong social ministry to its surroundings, as well as a positive Eucharistic attraction within the wider community. During the “Bowie years”, Sallie and Ian were adopted and Paul and Bunny entered the joyful role of parenthood. Sallie was 5 years old and Ian a year old when Paul was called to become rector of St. Michael’s, Brattleboro, VT in 1974.
The 70’s were years of great challenge and change for the Episcopal Church - ordination of women, new Prayer Book, new Hymnal etc. – but with great spirit and faith St. Michael’s thrived as a congregation. Paul and Bunny shared the joys and travail of walking with Sallie and Ian on their journey of change and growth into young adulthood.
When their children were old enough, Bunny went back to work in her chosen medical secretary field. She worked at Eden Park Nursing Home in Brattleboro for 19 years.
Over the years, Paul was deeply involved both in the life of his community and in the life of the Diocese. Local highlights were: The Brattleboro Hockey Association, the Brattleboro Union High School Board, the Alana Community Action Organization and the Brattleboro Area Clergy Association. Diocesan highlights include: involvement with Diocesan Council, the Bishop Booth Conference Center, Brookhaven Home for Boys, the Clergy Compensation and Communications Committees, the clergy and laity of the S.E. Deanery and the Vermont Episcopal Cursillo. He and Bunny especially enjoyed working together on Cursillo weekends and participating in the annual Province I Conferences at the Mont Marie Center in Holyoke, MA.
After 24 years as Rector of St. Michael’s, Paul retired and they moved to their home in Cummaquid in 1998. It didn’t take long for Bunny to plug back into the work force as a part-time medical secretary and Paul found part time ministry in several Cape parishes, finally being called to be the “junior” associate at St. Peter’s, Osterville.
Paul continues to find nurture in gardening, reading, cooking, Celtic studies and involvement with things Scottish. Other interests include participating in the Osterville Men’s Club, the Highland Light Scottish Society and working with Bunny on the Board of Opera New England of Cape Cod. He and Bunny delight in their Scottie, “MacTavish” and white cat “Sophie”, as well as in their family and friends and in their church relationships old and new.
Rogation
Last Sunday was properly called ROGATION SUNDAY. Christ’s promise in the Gospel is that whatsoever we shall ask in his name the Father will give us, thus making “Rogation” from the Latin “rogare” to ask or beseech, appropriate. The three days following Rogation Sunday, including today, are called Rogation Days, which are set aside by the Church for prayer for growing crops. Processions were led through the cornfields and across crop areas with litanies sung. It was a time when fences were mended and barns restored with seeds and all manner of animals were blessed. A spirit of gratitude for our Provident God and the blessings of the earth was celebrated throughout the community. All this was a Christianized version of ancient pagan practices, of course. Rogation was adopted in England in the eighth century but was suppressed in 1547. However, under Elizabeth I, the royal injunction of 1559 ordered the “perambulation of parishes” and the use of the Litany in the Book of Common Prayer.
A Homily for Rogation Week, written in 1562 and preserved, explains the matter very clearly:
WE BE NOW ASSEMBLED TOGETHER, GOOD CHRISTIAN PEOPLE, MOST PRINCIPALLY TO LAUD AND THANK ALMIGHTLY GOD FOR THIS GREAT BENEFITS, BY BEHOLDING THE FIELDS REPLENISHED WITH ALL MANNER OF FRUIT, TO THE MAINTENANCE OF OUR CORPORAL NECESSITIES, FOR OUR FOOD AND SUSTENANCE; AND PARTLY ALSO TO MAKE OUR HUMBLE…PRAYERS TO THIS FATHERLY PROVIDENCE, TO CONSERVE THE SAME FRUITS IN SENDING US SEASONABLE WEATHER, WHEREBY WE MAY GATHER IN THE SAID FIELDS, TO THE END FOR WHICH HIS MERCIFUL GOODNESS HATH PROVIDED THEM.”
