Meeting with my COM liaison

I don't know if this is standard practice everywhere, but in my diocese the Commission on Ministry appoints a liaison to check in with the aspirant once a month or so. I had my first meeting with him on Friday. He's the rector of a small parish about an hour away from here. I'll call him Fr Steve.

When I met with the COM, I didn't know who was ordained and who wasn't. Somehow Fr Steve struck me as a layman; he certainly struck me as gay. So when I returned his phone message to set up our meeting, I was surprised when the secretary answered "Saint Dunstan's Church." I was still more surprised when I looked up the Saint Dunstan's website and saw a picture of Fr Steve and his wife.

It turns out that my intuitions were in decent working order after all. Although Fr Steve is indeed a priest of long standing, he turned away from the church early on and returned to ministry only a few years ago. And he volunteered the information that he is in fact gay; his wife has known it all along. It was clearly a relief for him to be able to talk to another gay man. No one in this diocese knows about his situation, except for the Bishop. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in his shoes -- or hers, for that matter.

In any event, our meeting was quite enjoyable. We talked for a couple of hours about his history, my history, the challenges of parish ministry in different contexts, and suchlike topics. He invited me to come to his parish and preach if I would like. I think I'll take him up on that invitation if I can find a Sunday that I'm in town and not otherwise committed.