The ordination service was held Saturday, March 24th.
Priests from across the Southeast were in Chipley Saturday morning to welcome Michael Patrick Dickey into their midst as an ordained priest of the Episcopal Church. They joined the members of St. Mattews Episcopal Church in sharing the ordination service with Dickey (shown on the left with Bishop Russell Kendrick and the Rev. Tom Nixon, along with his family members and friends.
Describing his feelings as he gained another milestone in his life, Dickey said, “A whole community of folks made this day possible. I appreciate the patience of my law partners who gave me the room to answer this call. I am grateful for the encouragement and advice of my former parish family at Holy Nativity, and especially for Steve Bates, who designed my curriculum and then kindly leaned on me to finish it. The Sewanee seminary community welcomed and helped educate and form me and the other NDTS misfits, and treated us as their own. Tom Weller and Ed Richards generously designed a CPE program for me and patiently helped me bumble through the rite of passage of weekly verbatims.”
He added, “I appreciate the welcoming love of the St. Matthew’s community, and the blessing of my extended mentorship with Tom Nixon.”
Grateful to his family that supported his decision, Dickey said, “Most of all I am humbled by, and grateful for, the encouragement and love of my family, of our three boys who never really got it but played along, and of Judy, who always hung in there with me and for me.”
Mike Dickey will be serving as the Priest at St. Matthews and invites everyone to attend St. Matthews’ Sunday morning services which begin at 9 a.m.
