William Billow - Hatch, Match, and Dispatch: The Life and Times of The Almost Reverend William Billow

Hatch, Match, and Dispatch

Hatch, Match, and Dispatch

The Life and Times of the Almost Reverend William Billow

Rev. William Billow

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

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Copyright 2018 William Billow

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

ISBN 978-1-4930-3701-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4930-3842-8 (e-book)

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

For Mom

Contents

Acknowledgments

I wish to express my thanks to the following people: Ann Selinger, my dear friend and assistant for many years, who agreed to take on the daunting task of initial edits. Michael Duffy, a friend and St. Albans dad who early on said, Youve got a book. Jean Becker, chief of staff for President George H. W. Bush. Eric Bryant of Unboxed Productions for his patience and technical expertise. My sisters, Sally Wallace and Kim Armondo, for their memories and brothers-in-law, Larry and Sam, who put up with all the reminiscing. The Reverend Bill Hague, the Reverend Billy Shand, and Nell and Merv Hampton, friends and fellow seminary survivors. Anona Fowler, Sheila Lindveit, Karen Fitzgerald, and Louise Lusignan, the combined heart of St. Columbas. My retirees group from St. AlbansBryan Leithauser, Paul Barrett, Paul Piazza, Mary Hardman, Linda DeBord, and Sheila Murawskiwho listened to stories and encouraged me. Ann Owens, Greg Parker, Joyce Murphy, Lee Sturtevant, Molly Meinhart, Joan Roshkosh, Mark Wilkerson, Robin Boswell, Pam Grant, and, of course, Vance Wilson, who were helpful about all things St. Albans. Walter Thorne, former student and now a chaplain himself, for his sense of humor and his patience. Stephanie Scott, my kind and patient editor at Lyons Press. Production editor Meredith Dias, copy editor Elissa Curcio, cover designer Diana Nuhn, and layout artist Jason Rock. Flossie Fowlkes, LC, for her love and encouragement. And finally for the communion of saints who gave me the material.

Foreword

I am not sure when I met the good Reverend William BillowI hope he forgives me if I call him Will henceforth. At age ninety-three (likely ninety-four by the time you read this), I really cant remember when I met anyone anymore, except of course for Barbara. But I do know that Will is one of those special people who have drifted in and out of our lives for a very long time. And thankfully so.

Over the years, through his pastorship at various churches attended by the Bush clan, he has brought us great comfort, inspiration, and more than a few smiles. Like all of our pastors, hes played an important part of our spiritual journey.

But its his journey, not mine, that you will take through the pages of this delightful book. When at age four he stole the Baby Jesus from the church Nativity scene, you might say he knew he had a calling. It took him a few more years to figure out exactly what that calling was, but lucky for those of us whose paths crossed with his, he did.

I must say I learned a lot from this book, including some incidents involving me. I didnt know, for example, the Secret Service momentarily feared one Christmas Eve that Mary and Joseph might be terrorists. Or that one of my relatives drove into an open grave on the day of Uncle Lous funeral.

But enough of revealing what is in the pages ahead. I will leave to you the joy of reading the ups and downs of the story of one very special priest.

One last note to our friend Will: Ive had the privilege of writing numerous forewords over the years. The title of this book is, with very little competition, my favorite. You will have fun figuring out what it means.

George H. W. Bush

Introduction

I was talked into writing this book by its publisher, Jed Lyons. He is a great friend. His sons were my students at St. Albans, and he and his wife, Blythe, have probably sat through as many of my homilies at weddings, baptisms, and funerals as anyone. Hence Hatch, Match, and Dispatch . It is an expression I once heard that describes the job of being a minister or priest or whatever you want to call what I am. Jed told me this book would be a labor of love, and that it has been.

For those of you who might not know, the Episcopal Church is big on titles. The late, great Bishop of Washington, John Thomas Walker, once said he thought I would one day be a bishop. Bishops are known as right reverends, cathedral deans as very reverends, and archbishops as most reverends. People are always asking me about the proper way to refer to me. I actually just prefer Will. I never made it to the exalted position of bishop, but if we have to ascribe a title, I think The Almost Reverend suits me just fine.

I Know My Own and My Own Know Me

If I am to think of a Bible passage that would sum up my ministry, I hope it would be the passage above from the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John. It is the passage where Jesus is describing the Good Shepherds relationship to the sheep. Being a priest is likened to being a shepherd. People do, from time to time, need a poke here or a prod there. But mostly, they need to know someone is watching out for them.

Since ordination to the priesthood, I must confess I have never been much interested in books that talk about the study and practice of ministry. The most effective advice for me was just do it . Just show up. Just be there. Just listen. Some theologian coined it the ministry of presence.

I remember a professor and advisor in seminary who taught pastoral theology. Mostly, he talked about creating boundaries. He was confrontational. He actually had all of us scared to call him about anything. Youre never to just drop in. Always make appointments. Not exactly the way you want your parishioners, particularly students, to feel about you. I did not follow his advice. My office at St. Albans operated like a drop-in center.

That particular professor had a lousy relationship with the students. Later, I heard he actually went into parish ministry and I wondered about those poor parishioners.

I have to confess creating boundaries has never been my strong suitmy parishioners, colleagues, and students have become my friends . I, of course, have grown to understand boundaries and appropriate behavior because I had sage advice from my mentors along the way. But friendship goes both ways. My students and parishioners befriended me in spite of my shortcomings. For example, I recently read back over some of my sermons and thought, Oh no, those poor people actually had to listen to that!

A little later in the fifteenth chapter of Johns Gospel, Jesus actually says, But I have called you friends. Though for me, being a friend has meant many missed dinners, phone calls in the middle of the night, and interrupted vacations; more importantly, it has meant the privilege of being with people I love during the most meaningful moments of their lives.