On January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany in the Anglican Church, my dear friend, sometimes spiritual advisor, and the Bishop who ordained me, The Rt. Rev. Charles Jenkins, 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana retired from his Episcopate. Before being consecreted Bishop, Charles was the rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge, LA. This is where I met him in the late 1980's during a particularly rough patch of time in my own life. Charles welcomed me warmly to St. Luke's and he provided an atmosphere of prayerful contemplation and spiritual direction which led me to believe that I was called to ordained ministry in the Church. By the time I had worked my way through the "process" and was ready for ordination, Charles had become Bishop of the diocese and I was the first Vocational Deacon whom he ordained in his Episcopal ministry.
I saw Charles and his wife Louise recently at a reception in his honor in Baton Rouge. Although he looked a little older (don't we all?), the good things about this man which drew me to him initially were still there and it made my heart feel good to chat with him again. I wish him and Louise all the best in their new house and home they are building up in the St. Francisville area. I asked Louise if they were going to have a phone installed, and she said "yes", but with a very private number.
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