Saturday, November 22, 1997

Ordained as a priest at age 79 in the Anglican Church

By TOM KISKEN

Scripps Howard News Service

VENTURA, Calif. - Considering his father remarried when he was 92, maybe Reg Hammond isn't that old after all.

On Oct. 18, the retired educator donned a cassock, stood before 125 relatives and friends and became, at the age of 79, the oldest person to be ordained into the priesthood in the Anglican Orthodox Church.

But the biggest surprise in Hammond's pastoral plunge is that those closest to him aren't the least bit surprised.

"I think you young people don't realize how much energy old people have, particularly Hammond," said Margerie Hammond, the new minister's wife of 56 years.

She pointed out that not only did her father-in-law marry at 92, after his first wife died at the age of 87, but he lived for six more years. And Reg Hammond's brother, Murray, a retired Episcopal priest, said he knows a man who was ordained at age 94.

"Compared to that, Reg is a kid," he said.

What Reg Hammond is, as of last Saturday, is a priest. As Bishop Samuel Scheibler spoke at the ordination ceremony about accepting God's call and being a shepherd for a congregation, Hammond was welcomed into the clergy with hugs and prayers.

He is at the geriatric edge of a trend toward older priests. A national report showed that in 1995, nearly six of 10 students at some 230 U.S. and Canadian seminaries were 35 and over - a rate that had grown 13 percent in four years.

But Hammond is hardly in danger of being commonplace. A representative of the Anglican Orthodox Church in Statesville, N.C., confirmed he is the oldest priest to be ordained in the United States, most likely in the world since the church broke off from Episcopal sects 34 years ago.

He will serve in St. George's Anglican Church, which meets at the Seventh-day Adventist chapel in Ventura. He founded the church four years ago and now becomes its first priest.

That, he says, is God's plan. "I think he really wants St. George's to prosper and the only way we can do that is with an ordained priest," said Hammond, who already delivers Sunday sermons as a lay minister.

To be honest, Hammond looks 79. Once 5 feet 7 inches tall, he's shrunk an inch or two over the years. His hair, combed straight back, barely covers his scalp. His face is not a maze of wrinkles but there are the beginnings of a road map.

Thing is, Hammond doesn't fit people's perception of 79.

"You think at 79, you're an old person, ready to retire and enjoy life," said David Pressey, leader at St. George's Angelica church. "But this man is going as fast and hard as he probably was when he was 40."

Hammond is in excellent health. Drop a pen on the driveway at his ranch and he bends as easily as rubber to retrieve it. If he sees a cluster of ripe oranges in his 31-row orchard, he'll scurry up a ladder and return with an armload of Valencias.

Hammond wears faded jeans and Adidas tennis shoes. In his garage, next to a 1955 Desoto is a 10-speed bike. It is Hammond's of course, though he rarely rides. In his den sits a computer equipped with Windows 95. Hammond uses his e-mail daily and wades into the Internet every now and then.

Age, he says, is a matter of perception. "I don't mind what other people think I should or shouldn't do," he said. "but if I buy into it, that's bad."

Becoming ordained is not a new idea for Hammond. His father, Stephen Hammond, was a priest for 20 years at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Ventura. All four of his brothers also are in the clergy.

Hammond chose a different path, opening his own grocery store. Then, he signed up for the Army in World War II, earning five battle stars and the Bronze Star.

After the war, he became a teacher, then a principal and finally an assistant superintendent.

Hammond has always been active in the church. He started his ordination studies twice, only to see his plans interrupted first by a move and then by an already overloaded plate at work.

Upon retiring in 1980, Hammond thought long and hard about finally taking the plunge.

"In a way I rejected it because I was too old," he said with a slight smile.

It was different then. Hammond's parish, Trinity Episcopal Church in Fillmore, already had an active priest. But St. George's is not as fortunate. Hammond currently arranges for a retired Episcopal priest to visit his parish once a month and deliver Communion.

That's a stopgap solution.

Since the number of new seminary graduates interested in taking over a newly formed church with a small congregation is limited at best, Hammond began thinking once more about ordination.

The age issue has weighed on Hammond's mind. He even discussed it with the national leader of the Anglican Orthodox Church, Bishop Robert J. Godfrey. They decided age was irrelevant.

"At my age, it seems sort of foolish to start something like this, but really it's just expanding what I'm already doing," Hammond said.

Congregation members are happy to have a priest, even happier that Hammond is the man at the helm.

"In my opinion, Dr. Hammond is already a priest. We already see him that way," said Fran Henry before the ordination ceremony. "To see him accomplish this, at this age, is truly wonderful."

(Tom Kisken writes for the Ventura County Star in California.)