Welcome to episode 103, in this episode I have the honor of interviewing Bishop Rick Saint.
Originally from the southern United States, Bishop Rick Saint is currently based in Thailand. The son of a protestant pastor, he grew up in church. Feeling a call to ministry as a teen, he attended Southeastern University for his undergraduate degree before pursuing a Master’s of Church Ministries from Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. While doing his studies, Bishop Rick served on the ministry team of Carpenter’s Home, a 10,000-seat church located in Lakeland, Florida. He hosted a 6-hour inspirational radio program, “The Rick Saint Show” each Sunday on church’s radio station, as well as 15-minute and 30-minute daily spots teaching on the Jewish roots of Christianity.
During this time, he felt God calling him into the historic churches and began to pursue holy orders with the Old Catholic Church of North America. While continuing at Carpenter’s Home, he also served as a deacon on the altar of the Pro-Cathedral of Jesus of Nazareth, part of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church) in Tampa, Florida.
After completing a Master’s of Divinity from St. Michael’s College, Bishop Rick was ordained a priest in 2004. As a bi-vocational priest, he pioneered St. Thomas More Old Catholic Mission which quickly grew from 3 to 25 adult members plus children while he also taught public school. Unable to find Old Catholic catechism materials for his parish, he published A Short Catechism of the Old Catholic Church. During this time, Bishop Rick was the featured speaker at conferences in various churches teaching on the Jewish roots of Christianity and the arts in worship, as well as training clergy and lay leaders in the areas of healing and deliverance.
In 2007, Bishop Rick took a position as the Director of Continuing Education at Walters State Community College in Tennessee and turned the pastorate of St. Thomas More over to one of the clergies he had trained. After 2 years at Walters State, he resigned and relocated to Asia, where he has worked in international education as a teacher, head of school, and academic officer in Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar. While he was in Asia, the Old Catholic Church of North America reorganized as the Old Catholic Communion of North America, leaving him without a spiritual “home.”
Although he worked with different churches over the years, as these countries are primarily Buddhist, Bishop Rick found there were very few open and affirming churches in Asia and only one church that was part of the Independent Sacramental Movement in any of the countries in which he lived. Bishop Rick began Resurrection Fellowship in Thailand, which he currently pastors. As people were coming to (then Father) Rick to be confirmed, there was a demand for episcopal oversight. In searching for such, Bishop Rick developed a fraternal relationship with Bishop Regen Luna of the Philippines, who was seeking to develop an independent sacramental jurisdiction in Asia. Out of their friendship/cooperation, Christ Communion was born, and they elevated Bishop Rick to the episcopacy to do the work of a missionary bishop in Thailand. Only a year old, Christ Communion already has parishes and ministries growing in the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, and the United States.
Focusing on the overwhelming grace of God, Bishop Rick continues to preach and teach “how Jesus of Nazareth, anointed by the Holy Spirit, went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.”
Links:
Sacramental Whine: Chronicling the Independent Sacramental Movement, Vol. 1
Sacramental Whine: Chronicling the Independent Sacramental Movement, Vol. 2
This podcast is hosted by Bishop David Oliver Kling, and produced by the Community of Saint George (the Young Rite).
