Sean David Duncan had the party of a lifetime in March when he was ordained to the priesthood, especially after learning that Bishop Greg Brewer would travel 900 miles to preach and celebrate the occasion.
Duncan was of three people to recently be ordained into the priesthood by Bishop Brewer, joining Gregory Emanuel Favazza on March 18, and Tom Morgan Phillips on March 25. However, Duncan’s ordination on March 10 was held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Shreveport, Louisiana – the only one outside of the Diocese of Central Florida.
A former part-time worker at Canterbury Retreat & Conference Center in Oviedo, Duncan was confirmed in the Episcopal Church (TEC) by Bishop Brewer in 2016 and entered the discernment process in the Diocese of Central Florida working toward possible ordination in the TEC. Duncan did additional work in Anglican Studies through Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Jacksonville and completed all of TEC’s canonical requirements for ordination.
“My ordination was wonderful!” said Duncan, who earned his Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree from Covenant Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian seminary, in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2015. “The people of St. Paul’s really know how to put on a party. Having Bishop Brewer come such a long way for it was a real honor for both myself and St. Paul’s. I could not have asked for a better ordination.”
A huge crowd of 200 people turned out for the ordination, rivaling Phillips’ ordination at Canterbury. Phillips is the former Executive Director of Emmaus Ministries, which moved its base from North Carolina to Oviedo a few years ago.
For Duncan, it was a move from Presbyterian to Episcopalian that caused him to reflect on ministry and realize his true calling. “I first heard the call to the priesthood when I was still in seminary at a Presbyterian school,” he said. “After I graduated, I began to talk with some Episcopalians and realized that my misconceptions about full-time ministry were unfounded. I was admitted to the discernment process in Central Florida in 2016. From there, it was a time of many transitions and difficulties, but by the end of the process, I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that God’s call was there. All that was left was the ordination!”
Duncan’s current assignment is at St. Paul’s in Shreveport and he is ready for the challenge. “My goal is to be a faithful steward of the people and gifts God has entrusted to me,” he said. “This will work itself out in a number of different ways I think, but the overall aim and desire is the same.”
– Marilyn Lang contributed to this story.