Ordinariate Catholics have a plan to evangelize the Bible Belt in East Tennessee and invite Protestants into full communion with the Catholic Church. Located in Knoxville, the newly formed Ordinariate Members of East Tennessee is building toward meeting the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter’s requirements to petition for canonical recognition as a community-in-formation.
In this interview with the ACS, two of the East Tennessee group’s founding members, Jeff Baker and Travis France, discuss their calling to evangelize the most Protestant area of North America, their own walk with Jesus Christ, and why they believe the Ordinariate prayers and emphasis on Scripture can provide a powerful witness to Protestants for full Catholic communion and evangelize those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
How did the East Tennessee Ordinariate Members community begin?
BAKER: The group began when a former Anglican priest and a number of convert families applied for canonical membership in the Ordinariate.
Our first official meeting of the East Tennessee Ordinariate Members was in January 23, 2022 at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville. There were ten adults present along with several children. It was truly an exciting time. We had dinner together and talked at length about the future. Everyone agreed to be patient and continue to pray and work until the Lord gets us to the “Community in Formation” status. Since that meeting, we have had several more people join and become canonical members of the Ordinariate.
What kind of evangelization or ecumenical outreach do you believe the Ordinariate, and your group, can really excel in East Tennessee?
BAKER: East Tennessee is one of the most Protestant areas in North America. There are also many more non-Christians in the area than there used to be. It is also growing fast in population, with people moving to this place of beauty and freedom from all over the United States. In this moment, God is calling our group to evangelism. The Ordinariate is truly custom made for this area, as it retains the best of so much of our Protestant past, while returning us to the fullness of Catholic faith and worship. We pray daily as a group for help from our Lord and our Lady that they would lead people to our group who desire the Church and the sacraments. Our arms are open as a community to anyone and everyone who is interested in the Catholic faith, and we pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit we can make it as easy as possible for them to come home to the Catholic Church.
It is also our goal to be a place where interested non-Christians may come and learn more about Catholic truth. Our prayer is that all inquirers who visit our group will receive a warm welcome.
The current North American edition of Divine Worship: Daily Office came out in 2021. Do you plan to make it part of your community life?
BAKER: We just ordered 20 more from the Chancery! I have long heard that many Protestant pastors secretly use the Anglican Book of Common Prayer for their private devotions. One can only guess that the reason for that is the beautiful devotional prayers, the Litany and the Psalter, and the heavy use of Holy Scripture in Morning and Evening Prayer. The Divine Worship: Daily Office retains all the good of the old prayer book, and soon everyone in our group will have a copy for daily use.
How could it help you all evangelize your mission field?
BAKER: Morning and Evening Prayer will, I believe, appeal to many of the serious Protestants in our area who may be feeling drawn to the Catholic Church. The majestic prayers remain, as does the Psalter and the heavy use of Holy Scripture in the offices. We will make use of the Daily Office as often as possible.
What is your own walk with Jesus Christ like? What impact do you believe building this community will have on your own discipleship of Jesus Christ?
FRANCE: To borrow some language from our Protestant brothers and sisters, my walk with our Lord is a very personal relationship for me. Everyday I wake up, I try to live my life as if it is a proclamation of the Gospel, to renew my commitment to Him, and to lead those around me toward Him. I’m a former non-believer who became Christian in my very early 20s. I was Protestant for a few years, and the Lord finally brought me home to the Catholic Church. Through that experience, it’s helped me to see and recognize just how loving our God truly is. I don’t think I will ever have enough words nor time to fully express how grateful I am for His love, forgiveness, and for giving Himself to us in the most Blessed Sacrament.
I’m hoping that, through the building of this community, it will make me rely on Him even more. I’m sure you yourself, and all the great folks at the ACS, will agree that this isn’t something we can do by human power alone. Already I’ve been leaning on the Lord and asking for His help with growing this community and drawing people into it. Whatever success we see in the years to come, I know I’ll be able to look at it and say that it was all the Lord’s work; not because of my own abilities.
What are you looking forward to most in 2022?
FRANCE: It would be an understatement for me to say that I am eagerly awaiting to see where our community will be at the end of 2022. The Ordinariate, as Jeff mentioned, is tailor made for heavily Protestant areas like this. We are small at the moment, but East Tennessee is ready for the harvest. I think what our Lord says in the Gospel of St. Matthew applies here: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
I absolutely cannot wait to see where we are a year from now, and I feel extremely blessed that the Lord has allowed me the opportunity to labor in this field.
The Ordinariate Members of East Tennessee are now listed on the ACS Map. Check out the listing to get in contact with the organizers and to learn more.
Peter Jesserer Smith is the vice president of the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society and editor of the St. Peter’s Rambler. He is also a staff writer for EWTN’s National Catholic Register.
Photo: Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, Tennessee / Facebook.