Rest In Peace Fr. Skip! May you find rest in the green pasture beside the still water before returning to work in the vineyard of the LORD. Thank you!

It is with great sorrow that I write this morning.

The News Sentinel has confirmed reports that Most Reverend Father Earl Paul Brian Carsten, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Orthodox-Catholic Church in America has crossed into eternal pastures this past Friday at the age of 65 due to a childhood defect of his heart that had recently surfaced and caused the stroke which caused him to fall into a coma and pass from his mortal flesh with friends and colleagues surrounding him in prayer and praise to GOD our almighty Father, ABBA!. Archbishop Carsten is survived by his mother, Isabelle, of Auburn.

Funeral Services and Divine Liturgy of Commendation (aka Mass of Christian Burial) will be celebrated by Archbishop Alfred L. Lankenau on Friday the 3rd of April at 4P with calling from 1-4P. The Divine Liturgy and Commendation will be hosted with graciousness at Fairview Missionary Church 525 East 200 North in (MAP) Angola, Indiana.

DIRECTIONS: You may arrive at Fairview Missionary Church via Interstate 69 by taking the Crooked Lake interchange number 150 @ County Road 200 West turning left if from Fort Wayne or right if from Michigan and proceed (north) approximately a half mile, turning right (or East) onto West County Road 200 North and then proceed 2.5 miles down the road and the Church will be on your right hand side. If you intersect with State Road 827 North you are sitting right next to it. Please look behind you before you back into somebody when trying to turn around.

There is more sorrow in this untimely loss of Fr. Skip's boisterous at times but contemplative presence, which was compounded by the horrendously inaccurate article written by Aaron Organ and published in the News Sentinel, that both defamed the character of this humble Servant Shepherd and the Orthodox-Catholic Church in America [website], which he guided for the last nine years with great respect and responsible stewardship.

I can only reflect the albeit massive loss and tears shed that the members of the three congregation local Community of the Cross and my fellow clergy and friends in the OCCA are feeling at this moment in their 100 year plus history. This is also a time of joy and peace knowing that it will be alright and that he can do a lot more from where he is now. This following link MY ARCHBISHOP is a commentary by Father Roger Vaughn whom knew him better than I did and much longer. Please enjoin this sharing of a man, a mission, and the mysteries celebrated by workers in the LORD's vineyard that joined all together, even me, for the last many years under Fr. Skip's leadership (2nd from left in purple @ St. Mary Magdalene Chapel, Crosswood Centre, Auburn)

Now if y'all don't mind the Western Rite within me from bubbling up, allow me to say this simple prayer for all of you: "May all of us and many others whom loved Father Skip and those whom he loved, find the Holy Ghost as their Comforter; and the Holy Mother of God, their Consolation! As we all struggle on our path to live that Indwelling presence, that he so diligently taught us to look for, may we find that peace that is GOD with us! AMEN!" Father Skip, thank you for the fellowship and challenging me to find new ways to live my commissioning as a Servant Shepherd also!

Bona Pascha! Feast Well At The Banquet Table!

Fr. "Fozy Bear" Jude Thaddeuss of Prompt Succor
MRev. Kenneth R. M. White, Jnr., Bishop, OIRCC