Some are married; some are older. A tiny Orthodox Catholic congregation lets people answer a calling without answering to the pope.
By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published May 10, 2003
CLEARWATER -- They have no church to call their own.
So they hold services in a nun's living room in a house overlooking a small pond on Wednesday evenings. On the weekends, they say Mass in a rented Presbyterian church sanctuary to a congregation of about two dozen people.
Although St. Ann's Holy Orthodox Catholic Church in Clearwater lacks numbers, money and power, it offers congregants something they can't get in the faiths they left: an opportunity to become priests and nuns even if they are married, have children, are considered too old, have full-time jobs or don't want to spend years at a seminary.
If Archbishop Ronald Pace, the leader of the order, believes they have received the Holy Spirit, they can be ordained in a week.
"People who come are interested in becoming priests or sisters," said Pace. "As a result, we have very few congregation members."
Sister Mary Murray, a nun in the order, is quick to point out "we don't take people off the street" and ordain them.
"They all have a liturgical background," she said.
Pace said that all the priests and nuns have college degrees and have served in a church.
"They've had what we call basic training," said Pace. "Each man and woman has testimony and had a call in their heart and didn't realize it until we start talking about the possibility of becoming a priest or nun."
The Holy Orthodox Church does not operate under papal rule as the Roman Catholic Church does. Instead, each church operates independently. Pace reports to no one.
His church's full name is Ukrainian Autocephalous National Orthodox Catholic Church of America and Europe.
"But it was confusing to people," said Pace. "What we did was Americanize the church. Our birthright is Eastern Orthodox, but in our church, everything is in English."
Pace, 67, a former chaplain with the Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, started the church two years ago and said Mass in funeral homes. Eventually the group settled into a 5-acre private property on Highland Avenue.
But because of financial difficulties, the group left and decided to rent the sanctuary at Faith Presbyterian Church in Dunedin for $350 a month until they can buy their own, "a rustic church with pews, not a storefront," said Pace.
The priests meet for Holy Eucharist and cake at Sister Murray's house on Wednesdays.
The Rev. Bill Nelson, a former Lutheran who said he worked on a Christian TV show in Chicago, has been with the church since December.
He said it offers a little bit of everything.
"It's liturgical yet full-gospel, which means it's charismatic," Nelson said. "It's also evangelical."
The Rev. William B. Cass, 68, was there learning to say Mass. He was a brigadier general who was a national commander for the Civil Air Patrol at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala.
"I was an Episcopalian for years," said Cass. "I wanted to become a deacon, but they said I was too old. I met Ron and he said, "You're not too old for us.' "
The Rev. Walter Paul, a lifelong Methodist, was ordained at St. Ann's at 53.
"At 5, I was in the hospital for polio," he said. "I was lying in bed one evening and there was a Bible in my room. I put my hand on a page showing Jesus. I felt a warm feeling in my hand. I felt calm."
He also felt called to the priesthood but had repressed the memory until talking to Pace one day.
Paul, who still uses crutches to get around, said he now enjoys saying Mass.
