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The Rev. Guy Blair reflects on past five years at St. John | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press Gazette
Tuesday marks the last day that the Rev. Guy Blair will serve as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Green Bay.
Blair, whose work with the homeless and the hearing impaired has garnered respect from his parishioners and the greater Green Bay community, has been called by his order to be pastor of St. James Parish in Chamberlain, S.D. , beginning next summer.
On Wednesday, Blair shared some of his thoughts about his time in Green Bay.
Q. What are your reflections on your time here, now that you are preparing for your move to South Dakota?
A.I can't believe that five years just passed by. I can hardly account for them. They've been five wonderful years of community interaction and five years of real growth for me as a person, as a human being, with the deaf community and the homeless shelter particularly. It's been a wonderful experience seeing St. John's church grow in terms of its membership and outreach programs. It's been sort of magic that the deaf and the hearing intersected and we built this bicultural, bilingual bridge. And it was so successful. Even at this point the … parish council is chaired by a deaf woman. That's probably unique in all of North America that a deaf woman is running a … hearing (church) committee.
I leave with some sadness. It's difficult to say goodbye to people that have really become my family. But I recognize that all of life is about surrendering. The more we learn to surrender, the more I do, then it's not quite as painful, because that's a main experience in life. It's one of the great teachers in life — surrendering.
Q.Some people have said that you were forced out by the Diocese of Green Bay. Do you think that's true?
A.No, I don't think that's true. I think I may have been a little more forthright about things, but not forced out. It was my (religious) community (the Priests of the Sacred Heart) that decided to move me at the end of a six-year contract, and that would have been in 2011. The bishop here had already named a new pastor for this church. It really didn't make sense for me to be transferred down to Combined Locks for one year. So my new pastorage doesn't begin until July of 2011. In the meantime I've got a wonderful sabbatical program and time to visit with my family on the East Coast.
Q.What do you mean when you say, "Jesus is the cure for religion?"
A.When you really meet Jesus, he takes you down a few notches and brings you up a few miles in terms of inspiration. I have a whole new perspective about homeless people as well — how deeply spiritual many of them are despite their circumstances. And some of the most spiritual people I have met here in Green Bay have been the guests at the homeless shelter, and some of the volunteers and staff at the shelter. They may profess no particular religion, but are deeply spiritual and deeply trusting in God, more so than I even could say of myself. That has deeply, deeply touched my soul. I will miss working at the shelter. I will miss the guests at the shelter, even though they are in very uncertain and sad times in their life. They've taught me about trust. So I'm actually taking one last look at things and memorizing some events as the days come to a close.
Q.How are you spending your final days in Green Bay?
A.My final days are very hectic because I am working as I am packing, taking phone calls and visiting people and saying goodbye to people. My last homily will be about surrender. And being grateful and letting God open doors and close doors. I deeply trust that God is part of all of this. While I would like to stay, I am not the master of my own universe … I will be letting people know how grateful I am that we worked together to create something that will endure, and that will be the presence of the deaf community and the homeless shelter. I think we, together, more and more realize that the church is the people.
Tuesday marks the last day that the Rev. Guy Blair will serve as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Green Bay.
Blair, whose work with the homeless and the hearing impaired has garnered respect from his parishioners and the greater Green Bay community, has been called by his order to be pastor of St. James Parish in Chamberlain, S.D. , beginning next summer.
On Wednesday, Blair shared some of his thoughts about his time in Green Bay.
Q. What are your reflections on your time here, now that you are preparing for your move to South Dakota?
A.I can't believe that five years just passed by. I can hardly account for them. They've been five wonderful years of community interaction and five years of real growth for me as a person, as a human being, with the deaf community and the homeless shelter particularly. It's been a wonderful experience seeing St. John's church grow in terms of its membership and outreach programs. It's been sort of magic that the deaf and the hearing intersected and we built this bicultural, bilingual bridge. And it was so successful. Even at this point the … parish council is chaired by a deaf woman. That's probably unique in all of North America that a deaf woman is running a … hearing (church) committee.
I leave with some sadness. It's difficult to say goodbye to people that have really become my family. But I recognize that all of life is about surrendering. The more we learn to surrender, the more I do, then it's not quite as painful, because that's a main experience in life. It's one of the great teachers in life — surrendering.
Q.Some people have said that you were forced out by the Diocese of Green Bay. Do you think that's true?
A.No, I don't think that's true. I think I may have been a little more forthright about things, but not forced out. It was my (religious) community (the Priests of the Sacred Heart) that decided to move me at the end of a six-year contract, and that would have been in 2011. The bishop here had already named a new pastor for this church. It really didn't make sense for me to be transferred down to Combined Locks for one year. So my new pastorage doesn't begin until July of 2011. In the meantime I've got a wonderful sabbatical program and time to visit with my family on the East Coast.
Q.What do you mean when you say, "Jesus is the cure for religion?"
A.When you really meet Jesus, he takes you down a few notches and brings you up a few miles in terms of inspiration. I have a whole new perspective about homeless people as well — how deeply spiritual many of them are despite their circumstances. And some of the most spiritual people I have met here in Green Bay have been the guests at the homeless shelter, and some of the volunteers and staff at the shelter. They may profess no particular religion, but are deeply spiritual and deeply trusting in God, more so than I even could say of myself. That has deeply, deeply touched my soul. I will miss working at the shelter. I will miss the guests at the shelter, even though they are in very uncertain and sad times in their life. They've taught me about trust. So I'm actually taking one last look at things and memorizing some events as the days come to a close.
Q.How are you spending your final days in Green Bay?
A.My final days are very hectic because I am working as I am packing, taking phone calls and visiting people and saying goodbye to people. My last homily will be about surrender. And being grateful and letting God open doors and close doors. I deeply trust that God is part of all of this. While I would like to stay, I am not the master of my own universe … I will be letting people know how grateful I am that we worked together to create something that will endure, and that will be the presence of the deaf community and the homeless shelter. I think we, together, more and more realize that the church is the people.