Thanks so much, Bishop Taylor.
I’ve been a fan of George’s since his anti-Vietnam War days and known him since I went to seminary around the same time. After a number of church jobs and graduate school, I joined the staff of All Saints, Pasadena, in 1990 and worked for George in his last five years as rector there.
There are a number of George’s former clergy colleagues here tonight—Bill Rankin, Tim Safford, Margaret Cunningham, all of whom could share how George affected their ministries. We all left All Saints after a time and went on to do other things. They would have their own stories to tell. Since I’m a preacher, and preachers often have three points, here are three deep learnings I took away from my experience with George.
First: George is the only leader I know who manages to do two seemingly contradictory things at once: he has an eye for the big vision and a close watch on the details. George thinks both strategically and microscopically. He can tell you about the one or two big trends we need attend to and then remind you to check on the coffee setup in the seminar room. I never quite understood how he pulled these two opposing things off, taking big issue stands on war, peace, sexuality, homelessness and AIDS while at the same time managing the daily details of parish life. But I do know that for George everything was vital. Prophetic witness and daily details. That is George.
The second thing I learned, somewhat to my surprise, is that every public position George ever took on an issue was preceded by deep reading and thinking, always involving scripture, theology, and contemporary thinking and research. When George left All Saints they carted 97 boxes of books away from his study. His critics used to claim that Regas and his crew were simply knee-jerk liberals who followed the culture more than they did the Bible. They seemed to forget (or not know) that George had studied New Testament at Cambridge with John A.T. Robinson. It was precisely in thoughtful and critical reading of the scriptures that George developed his passionate prophetic commitments. George wears his learning lightly. But he is the most thoughtful prophet I know.
And the third thing came from observing George closely on a day to day basis over five years. Holding on to the vision and the details, grounding his work in scripture and theology, George went to work every day—usually for 12 to 16 hours of that day, as Mary can attest--living out the conviction that everything we do on a daily basis somehow advances God’s redemptive and liberating work. George enjoyed both victories and setbacks in his ministry, but part of what kept him going with such energy and hope was this deep faith that what he did and what we all do matters. Even the small stuff, the work you’d just as soon not do, is important because it is God’s work, and therefore our work.
I left All Saints in the early 2000s and went on to do some other things. I stayed in touch with George and Mary over those years, and I was always pleased with the way George’s advocacy post-All Saints took on the issues of immigration and income inequality in addition to his lifelong work for racial justice. Kathy and I invited them to come to DC and for George to preach when I was installed as dean of Washington National Cathedral. In preparation for the sermon he peppered me with all kinds of questions about the cathedral’s ministry, history, finances, and priorities. And I had to tell him that I was a bit uncomfortable with the cathedral’s then-reliance on the sponsorship of defense contractors. In his charge that morning he called on the cathedral and its new dean to oppose militarism in all its forms. Only Martin Luther King, Jr. had been brave enough to raise that issue in that pulpit before. Some people applauded. Several got up and left. Only George Regas could preach a new ministry sermon—they’re usually homiletical greeting cards--that prompted a couple of dozen people to walk out. I was never prouder of George than I was in that moment. And I have been grateful for his witness, example, and friendship every day of my life.
I could talk at equal length about Mary, but I would have to use too many superlatives to be credible. So I’ll hand things over to my longtime friend and colleague, Diane Bruce, Bishop Suffragan, who has her own story to tell.
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