Former Episcopal Priests in Houston to Be Ordained Catholic Priests
May 2, 2013
Former Episcopal Priests in Houston to Be Ordained Catholic Priests
Four years after retiring as rector of the largest Episcopal parish in the United States, St. Timothy’s in Houston, Rev. Laurence Gipson became Catholic. Now, six months later, he is being ordained a Catholic priest alongside Scott Blick, who served for 35 years in Episcopal ministry, including 16 years in Houston.
His Eminence, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, will ordain the men:
Tuesday, May 7
11 a.m.
Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church
7809 Shadyvilla Lane, Houston, TX 77055
Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson, who heads the Houston-based Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, will concelebrate the Mass.
Gipson and Blick will belong to the ordinariate (www.usordinariate.org). This new national structure was established in 2012 by Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, for former Anglican groups and clergy seeking to become Catholic. The ordinariate is similar to a diocese, but national in scope. Its communities retain many aspects of Anglican heritage and traditions, particularly in liturgy.
The Ordinariate currently has 32 priests (34 as of May 7), more than 1,630 people and 37 communities across the United States and Canada. Two additional ordinariates are located in the United Kingdom (Our Lady of Walsingham) and Australia (Our Lady of the Southern Cross).
After ordination, Rev. Gipson will serve as the ordinariate’s vicar for finance and assist at Our Lady of Walsingham. Rev. Blick’s duties will include service as a hospital chaplain in the Houston area. Additional biographical information is below.
Online:
Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter: www.usordinariate.org and on Facebook: www.facebook/CSPOrdinariate.
Our Lady of Walsingham: www.walsingham-church.org.
Biographical information:
Laurence Gipson, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, served in ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church for 42 years. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1970 and the priesthood in 1971.
On October 28, 2012, he and his wife of 48 years, Mary Frances, were received into the Catholic Church through the ordinariate at Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church in Houston.
He is a graduate of the University of Memphis, earned an M.Div. degree from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale (1970) and an M.A. in Catholic theology from the University of St. Thomas, Houston, T (2012). He has been awarded Doctor of Divinity degrees by Berkeley at Yale (1987) and Nashotah House Theological Seminary (2006).
Gipson served as rector of the Church of the Ascension in Knoxville, TN, from 1973-1982, and saw the parish expand from 750 to 1,500 communicants. From 1982-1984, he was dean of the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, AL. The parish grew from 1,700 to 3,400 baptized members during his tenure.
He served for nearly 14 years as rector from St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Houston, retiring in February 2008. During his tenure, parish membership grew from 4,900 to more than 8,000 baptized members, making St. Martin’s the largest Episcopal parish in the United States. Its parishioners include Former President and Mrs. George W. and Barbara Bush.
The Gipsons have two adult children and two grandchildren. Special permission has been given on a case-by-case basis for married Anglican priests to be ordained Catholic priests for the ordinariate.
Scott Blick served in ordained ministry for the Episcopal Church for 35 years. He was ordained an Episcopal deacon in 1977 and a priest in 1978. He became Catholic through the Ordinariate at Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church in February 2012.
He served in several Episcopal parishes in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas between 1977 and 2005. He was canon at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Oklahoma City, OK from 1977-1980 and at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Shreveport, LA from 1980-1985. In 1999, he moved to Houston and served as interim rector of St. James Episcopal Church (1999-2000), canon for stewardship education and development (2000-2002) and associate rector of Holy Spirit Episcopal Church (2002-2005).
He is a 1974 graduate of Phillips University in Enid, OK and earned a M.Div. degree in 1977 from The University of the South and a D.Min. from The Graduate Theological Foundation, Notre Dame in 1986.
He and his wife, Kathleen, have been married for 14 years and have two children.