Scars or Birthmarks?: What Defines a Family?

The real identity of a wandering bishop...

Who Am I?

I identify most with people who were marginalized. I grew up learning about this Jesus who went into the most scandalous of places to reach the people most rejected by society. This was the picture of the divine Savior that the Church painted and yet any contemporary person who did the same things was cast out of the Church. I never understood this hypocrisy.

I instinctively ventured into the places that I was most surely going to be criticized for entering. When I ministered to the “gay community” I found a family. When I experienced the poorest communities, I found a home. When I experienced those communities rejected by the mainstream denominations, I found a Church. When I found a real family, a real home, and a real Church, I found a real God who created all these with his very real Love.

I am a man who has made mistakes and hurt the people I love. I am a man who has suffered and tried my best to heal. I am a man who has loved women and men and I am not ashamed of either. I am a man who has lived through addiction and abuse and learned the most important life lessons in the process. I am a man who is a son of God and a bishop of the Church and I don’t need anyone other than God to certify that reality. I am not a perfect man, but I am a redeemed man.

Of all the mysteries I have tried so hard to understand, the mystery of who I am no longer confounds me. I may never understand why God chose to give me life but as long as I live I will try my best to be a good son to the God who loves me enough to forgive me. For the rest of my time I will try my best to bring God’s forgiveness to all who need it.

Who am I?

I am a person who loves you without condition, because that is who God is for me. I am the result of God's love and mercy. I am loved...and so are you.