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ST ANDREW'S EASTON, Maryland, Sunday Service Bulletin 8/19/01 c. JMJ

By the Rt. Rev'd Fr. Joel Marcus Johnson,

Bishop of the Chesapeake

+Joel is a most remarkable Independent Anglo-Catholic Bishop with his own parishes and missions on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Fr. Joel and many of his priests are close friends of +Robert Samuel Loiselle and Canon R.T. Tregenza+. However, they are not part of the AIC but we are brothers in the Lord Jesus and the Blessed Trinity. They worship in an Anglo-Catholic, pre Vatican 2 ceremonial use in English, Spanish and Latin.

Peter A. Compton-Caputo, Bishop, and Rector of St. Charles the Martyr Church in

Crownsville, passed to his eternal rest. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through

the tender mercies of God, rest in peace, and light perpetual shine upon them!

I loved Peter.

As there are some children our mothers did not want us to play with, so was Peter

regarded by some as a bishop too much a renegade for the dignity and gravity of other

bishops. But the truth is that the stedfastness of his faith and practice brought him

acceptance and admiration, as witnessed by his inclusion among the bishops of Forward

in Faith/North America, at the celebration of the Mass during that organization's recent

event in suburban Washington.

Renegade? If a life of isolation and devotion to paper over

people is the essence of the episcopate, then Peter's rejection of that life

would make him a renegade. If a manner of separation and condescencion toward

the faithful is the mark of a bishop, then Peter's rejection of that manner

would make him a scoundrel.

Indeed, Peter Caputo scandalized the ill-repute of the office

of bishop by declining to be trapped into behaviours to which we have become

accustomed in recent centuries. Rather, he chose to become Christ-like.

Peter chose to be among Christ's people, and among those who

received him as Christ. My favorite tale is from 1985 when, having arrived in

Annapolis in a car laden with luggage, no friends and no place to stay, the

Jewish owner of a local deli in the center of the city put him up for a time. In

fact, the deli became a center for Peter's pastoral care to the city.

The deli owner's Christ-like comportment was repeated in late

1991 when a priest arrived on the Eastern Shore from Ohio, only to be

disenfranchised by the bishop who had called him here. There was a period of a

few weeks when the priest had no food for his family --- but that Peter

collected food on his behalf. My family ate well in those weeks!

Peter always thought of himself as a deacon, occasionally donning the deacon's dalmatic in

place of cope and mitre. He lived the lesson that though we may be ordained priests and

consecrated bishops, we never lose the indelible character of the diaconate, which is that of

servanthood. He reminded us that God in Christ spoke of himself as one who came to

serve.

All of this is not to say that Peter was never in trouble. If

he had one flaw of character, it was the fatalism of his generosity; and he

would agree to my writing this, I am sure. He frequently placed great trust and

authority in others, which often proved fruitful, but which sometimes came back

to haunt him in the form of the ambition and greed of some of those whom he

helped

. It is a sad fact that in the Church we have some who would vie for

titles and positions. It is ironic that to Peter, who placed little importance

in titles and positions, those who sought those prizes rode rough shod over his

gentle character.

Peter was fun and exciting to be with, his peals of laughter

echoing through restaurants, awakening those sleeping over breakfast. It was on

the close of those occasions that he spoke also of his ill health. He knew the

limitations of his body, and that the inevitable would catch-up with him. So

through tireless training and ordinations, he prepared his diocese for the day

when it would have to do without him. And that day has come.

Finally, I recall the Mass of my own consecration as a bishop,

as Peter was among the four consecrating bishops. I had asked him to be the

gospeler in that event because, even though he claimed to be a low churchman,

his training had been in the Catholic Tradition of Anglicanism, and I knew that

he would know how to chant the text. Of the hundreds there, all were deeply

moved by the eloquence of his singing.

Oh, but it was the eloquence of the text, obviously moving the

congregation with the deep belief of the man singing it, of the Christ within

him shining forth, his testimony before the world. For in it we heard of Jesus

thrice asking Peter, "Lovest thou me more than these," and the stedfastness of

Peter's reply, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.

Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep." If the Lord may grant me to become half the

renegade that Peter was, then I may have success in my ministry.

Peter, may you rest in peace.

+Joel Marcus Johnson