From Alabama-Spiritually and professionally, Malcolm Marler’s transition from Baptist preacher to Episcopal priest was neither easy nor quick.
It’s taken time to adjust to everything from saying formed prayers and making the sign of the Cross to wearing a collar and being called “father” by some lay people.
“This has not been a sudden turn-around,” said Marler, 58, a chaplain and director of pastoral care at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Hospital.
But the switch may have struck some people as sudden, he said, after news reports detailing his Jan. 15 ordination at the hospital as an Episcopal minister.
However the rite followed about six years of sometimes difficult self-examination. And sometimes it’s still tough.
“I’m in Alabama, and there are times when I get different kinds of reactions,” he said. “We’re strongly in the Bible Belt and of course they say 60 percent of people in Alabama are Baptist — and some of them make certain assumptions.”
More here-
http://www.abpnews.com/ministry/people/item/28283-from-baptist-preacher-to-episcopal-priest#.UupG6v2zkr8
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