Pastor's Bio [email protected]
Paul Frey, born in 1955, has been Rector of Christ Church, Laredo, Texas since October of 2004. He is married to Anne Rooney of Portland, Oregon. They met at Church of the Redeemer, Houston, Texas in 1977. Anne works for the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects at Texas A&M International University. They have two adult children, Colin, and Suzanna.
His college work was done at various places beginning at Red Rocks Community College, the University of Houston, graduating from Loretto Heights College with course sharing assistance from the University of Colorado at Denver and Metro State University. (He highly recommends going to college prior to starting full time work!) Prior to seminary, he worked for six years with homeless people as Assistant Director of St. Francis Center, a day center in Denver, Colorado which still serves 500 to 600 homeless people a day. He has also worked as a construction worker, a contractor, a salesperson, and church based neighborhood social worker. From 1989 to 1992 he studied for his master of divinity degree at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Virginia at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC by Bishop Peter Lee in December of 1992. From 1992 to 1998 he oversaw Christian Education and Youth Ministry at Truro Church, in Fairfax, Virginia. From 1998 to 2004 he was called to serve Church of the Redeemer in Eagle Pass, Texas. In Laredo, Paul served for more than 3 years as president of the board of the Casa Misericordia Domestic Violence Shelter. He is a member of the Laredo Daybreak Rotary Club, and served a term as a voting member of the Laredo Independent School District School Health Advisory Committee. He is active in several other civic associations. In the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas he’s served as Dean and as Chaplain at Camp Capers numerous times, as Mustang Island Chaplain, has been a member of the Executive Board of the Diocese, the Board of Trustees of TMI - The Episcopal School of Texas, the Evangelism Committee, the Standing Committee and served several times as Dean of the Western Convocation in the Diocese of West Texas, and is on the Examining Chaplains Committee. Paul is a history buff, a science fiction fan, a Denver Broncos fan, a San Antonio Spurs fan, a movie buff, fond of dogs and most other animals, and enjoys fishing, paddle boarding, sailing, snorkeling, and almost any activity that gets him outdoors - including mowing the lawn. As a child he spent his formative years in San Jose, Costa Rica, as part of the Iglesia Episcopal, going to school at the Country Day School. His family later moved to Guatemala City, Guatemala. He studied at Colegio Americano de Guatemala. From his missionary parents, he developed a heart for mission work and missionaries. He's been privileged to serve on mission teams to Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, various places in Mexico, as well as domestic short term missions. |
Fr. Paul's comments on Bishop Budde's sermon at the Inauguration of President TrumpMy thoughts about Bishop Marianne Budde’s sermon at the National Cathedral service during the inauguration of President Trump are below.
-------- Leviticus 19:33-34 “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God. (NIV) These are my thoughts about the Bishop of Washington’s sermon last week at the National Cathedral. I have watched the entire sermon twice and read the transcript twice. The Bible celebrates the ministry of a few people who challenged the political leaders of their day. Moses challenged Pharoah, Nathan confronted King David, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, John the Baptist, Jesus, the Apostle Paul all confronted the political powers of their day. Some of them were far more confrontational than the sermon last week. President Trump pardoned hundreds of people who broke several laws, some of whom injured law enforcement officers, destroyed government and personal property, and threatened to injure and kill legislators when they stormed the Capitol 4 years ago. That is an act of presidential mercy. It seems to me that in the light of those pardons asking the President to be merciful or at least respectful to illegal immigrants and the LBTGQ+ community was a perfectly reasonable request. The bishop’s primary point was not just about mercy but about the decline of public discourse. This quote is perhaps the most important part of her speech: “I hope we care because the culture of contempt that has become normalized in this country threatens to destroy us. We are all bombarded daily with messages from what sociologists now call the outrage industrial complex…” Her speech was respectful in tone, but she has since been bombarded with contempt, basically proving her point that the “culture of contempt” is indeed normalized. The bishop of Washington is a Christian, and an Episcopalian. As such she is in good company with famous Episcopalian Christian who wrote some rather important words a few hundred years ago. James Madison, wrote this: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” You can find that quote in a document that too few of us read. It’s the first Amendment in the Bill of Rights, an essential part of the Constitution of the United States of America. In the 1979 Episcopal Prayer book, on page 518 we find one of the vows or promise that persons being ordained Bishop take. A senior bishop asks the person who is about to be made bishop a series of questions which they promise to fulfil. One of questions says this: Bishop: Will you be merciful to all, show compassion to the poor and strangers, and defend those who have no helper? Answer: I will, for the sake of Christ Jesus. So let me ask several questions. Donald Trump pardoned many of the people who broke several laws when they stormed the Capitol 4 years ago. Was that not an act of mercy? The bishop of Washington, D.C. is a Christian. Did she say or imply anything contradictory to the Christian faith and Jesus’ moral teaching to love our neighbors and forgive even our enemies? The bishop is an American. Should she not be allowed to exercise her constitutional rights to practice her religion, to exercise free speech, to petition the government for a redress of grievances? The bishop made promises at her ordination. Should she ignore the promise she made to be faithful to her promise to show compassion to the poor and strangers, and defend those who have no helper? Let me wrap up with the famous quote from the German Pastor Martin Niemöller expressing his regrets after the Holocaust. “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” I challenge anyone reading this or listening to this regardless of whether you are on the right or the left or in the middle to rise above the culture of contempt and cease being part of the “outrage industrial complex”. The Rev. Paul A. Frey Christ Church Episcopal, Laredo, Texas |