When I was pastor of The Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Augusta, Georgia (1991-2004) I wanted to hire a “pastoral assistant” to coordinate various ministries of the parish around 1993-94 or so.
I advertised widely for the position. I received one application from an Episcopal Priest, Rev. Fletcher Bingham, a pastor at a small Episcopal Church in Augusta and the other from an Evangelical minister in Florida, Paul Thigpen!
I thought to myself, self, don’t these applicants know that I am the pastor of a traditionally minded Roman Catholic parish? Why are they applying!
I spoke to both on the phone and eventually hired the Episcopal priest! Yes! You read that correctly!
I received he, his wife and two of his three children into the Church after I had hired him, a couple of weeks later. Eventually one of his sons became a Dominican priest in the western province.
Dr.Paul Thigpen moved to Augusta and joined my parish and was active there until he moved to Savannah.
He died on Tuesday, February 25th. God rest his soul and may God comfort his wife and family!
You can read about him from ETWN News. Press the title:
Paul Thigpen, theologian who explored ‘wondrous’ question of extraterrestrial life, dies at 71
A convert to Catholicism, Thigpen wrote prolifically on saints, the Blessed Mother, and the possibility of intelligent alien life, among other topics.
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