'Welcoming the Stranger' part of bishop's past

'Welcoming the Stranger' part of bishop's past

By JORDAN MCMORROUGH

Bishop Robert J. Baker, besides bringing to the Diocese of Charleston experiences of working in campus ministry, pastoring parishes, high school teaching and seminary instruction, also can list among his accomplishments that of published author and editor.

Bishop Baker was co-editor of Welcome the Stranger: Contemporary Ministry in the Church of Florida (1983) and Historic Catholic Sites of St. Augustine (1988). He also contributed articles to the Encyclopedia of Religion in the South, Mercer University Press (1984) to be republished in an updated edition.

In his introductory interview to the Charleston Diocese, published in the July 22 edition of The Miscellany, Bishop Baker said, "I did have the opportunity to be part of a venture called the Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. I did several articles in that encyclopedia, which was geared toward the specific character of religion in the South. This area of the South is not the area of my roots. I'm from Ohio, and there is a need for me to become much more educated about the specific character of Charleston. As I was involved in helping people in Florida welcome the stranger, you're involved in welcoming this new stranger in your midst."

While Bishop Baker was serving at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach, Fla., in the fall of 1982, the school hosted a lecture series featuring prominent speakers. Following the series, talks from the presenters, all experts in different fields, were compiled into book form, with Bishop Baker leading the editing process.

In his introduction for Welcome the Stranger, the bishop wrote, "The Church of Florida is at the forefront of some creative ventures in ministry, largely the result of the positive leadership that has emerged here. ...

It has not slumbered in the face of its challenges, but has tried to turn obstacles into opportunities."

He continued by saying that what the stories in the book tell "has universal application and interest wherever Christians may venture to spread the Gospel — the Good News. ... The Church of Florida gladly shares these stories of ministry with other communities throughout the United States in hopes that the experiences of Church ministry here may be reflected upon, critiqued, and broadened.

"There is no corner on ministry anywhere," Bishop Baker added, "but we can all benefit from one another's experience of it.

"In these days of deepened sensitivity to the Church's role as evangelizer and its need to be attuned to the peoples and culture it serves, Florida's experience of ministry may serve as an aid to others and, perhaps occasionally, as a model."

Welcome the Stranger was separated into five sections: Identification of Region, Ecumenical Climate, Ministry, Migrations, and Evangelization.

Included were articles on The Church Coming of Age in Florida: the '40s and '50s; The Challenge of the '80s; Religion in the South; Ecumenism: Listening to One Another; Priesthood; Adapting to the Diversity of a Parish Ministry in Florida; The Permanent Diaconate: Ten Years of Search and Discovery; Welcoming the Immigrant; Ministry to the Migrant; Evangelization and Culture; Single Young Adult Ministry; The Catechumenate and Parish Renewal in Florida; A Parish Ministry — Of the Retired — To the Retired; Ministering with Persons with Disabilities; The Church's Mission to the Prisons; Capital Punishment: A Christian Response; and A View of Popular Piety in South Florida.

Some of the authors of the different segments were Archbishop Thomas J. McDonough, Bishop W. Thomas Larkin, Bishop Thomas J. Grady, Bishop John J. Snyder, Bishop Rene H. Gracida, Auxiliary Bishop Augustin A. Roman, and Father Mario B. Vizcaino.

Jane Quinn, who worked for The Florida Catholic newspaper for 55 years, was asked by Bishop Baker to join in the editing process for Welcome the Stranger. She was sent the texts of the talks to proofread, as well as being responsible for editing the biographies of the authors.

Quinn now volunteers one day at week to assist in the archives of the Diocese of Orlando. The editor said working on the book "was a really wonderful experience. Welcome the Stranger was a breeze."

She said that one particular portion of the book "was a real coup." Retired Archbishop Thomas J. McDonough of Louisville, Ken., who was a former Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine, Fla., had been approached by several publishers to write a history of the St. Augustine Diocese. He had previously rejected all offers. However, when asked to speak at the lecture series at the seminary, the archbishop accepted, and his essay from the event, "The Church Coming of Age in Florida: the '40s and '50s," was published in Welcome the Stranger.

In discussing her collaboration with Bishop Baker on the project, Quinn said he was "a wonderful person to know. Bishop Baker is a wonderful priest, and you are going to have a wonderful bishop there. He is very knowledgable. I'm not surprised he was named a bishop. He's a very popular person, and very earnest."

She said that, although Welcome the Stranger was published in 1983, "the value of the book is timeless. It hasn't changed much. The book doesn't get stale."

Published Sept. 30, 1999