PAST in the PRESENT
Mount Clemens priest takes an ‘Old’ path toward new ministry
The Rev. Jeffrey Harris never questioned the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as a boy growing up in North Carolina.
His father was a southern Baptist. But his mother was the one who set the table and traditions the family followed on Sunday mornings.
“She was Catholic,” Harris says, and passionate about it. “She loved the Mass and the rituality and pageantry of the church. It provided a strong connection to God and her faith.”
Yet, it was that which she loved that spurned her.
“She was turned away from taking Communion by a deacon at her church,” Harris says, his tone reflecting disdain. “She had been divorced from my dad for years and got remarried without getting an annulment.”
Unless divorced Catholics receive annulment — a church decree invalidating the marriage — the church views a second marriage as equal to adultery, therefore they may not receive Communion. Some priests overlook the rule, but this deacon felt a need to follow it. Harris understood that. But instead of pulling her aside, the deacon shunned Harris’ mother in front of the parish, her friends, her neighbors and all who knew her to be devout.
That was the last straw for Harris, who has dedicated much of his life to the Roman Catholic Church.
As a young man, Harris had a passion for Catholicism similar to his mother’s. He loved the Mass. But it was not until he attended an event where Franciscan priests talked about their religious order and how it aims to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ that he considered becoming a priest.
“I was just enamored with the religious life,” Harris says.
Not long after, members of the Roman Catholic congregation the Legionaries of Christ, who were on the path to priesthood, visited the college where Harris was studying theology. “I went to a meet-and-greet, and they sounded like a great group of people,” Harris says.
He admired the Franciscans and their mission to follow the path of Jesus. But everyone who enters the Legionaries of Christ order becomes a priest, and being able to administer the sacraments was his goal as a seminarian. So he followed them back to Connecticut and soon was ordained with the Legionaries of Christ.
It was during this time that he received a letter from his mother, detailing what happened at church. She was devastated.
He was heartbroken.
“To deny the sacrament of Holy Communion to someone based on who they love and their marital status is just wrong,” Harris says. “I love the Roman Catholic Church, but obviously it needs to come into the 21st century.”
His mother’s experience was one example. The church’s refusal to allow priests to be married or to ordain women as priests are other policies Harris feels are outdated. For a while it appeared the Pope would not oppose same-sex marriage, but the Vatican has active political campaigns against it. It also opposes same-sex civil unions, although some priests and bishops have offered blessings for same-sex couples or spoken in favor of priests being able to bless them.
To top it off, his mother was sick. She had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis years earlier, and it appeared to be getting worse. So, he decided to return to North Carolina to take care of her, and left his religious order behind.
“I didn’t think about religious life until 18 years later,” Harris says.
When he finally did, it was not his spiritual needs that he sought to fulfill but the needs of those who have been turned away by the Roman Catholic Church. That led him to start a new church.
Building a new house of worship
At Saint Sara Old Catholic Church in Mount Clemens, all are welcome. It has no brick and mortar building — yet.
Harris finalized paperwork on the church just before COVID-19 and has been looking for a location ever since. Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Roseville looked ideal, but it was sold.
Still, there’s excitement surrounding Saint Sara, whose parish is staffed and serviced by priests, deacons and religious brothers and sisters of the Old Catholic Order of The Most Holy Redeemer, a religious order within the North American Old Catholic Church.
Unlike Roman Catholicism, the Old Catholic Church allows clergy (men and women priests) to marry, and does not exclude members of the LGBT community from ordination to the priesthood. It also does not require annulment to be remarried in the church and does not see the pope as infallible. “He is a man, the bishop of Rome, but still a man who can make mistakes just as anyone can,” Harris says.
Also, in the church Harris built, all baptized Christians may receive Communion.
“No one should ever be denied the sacraments of the church,” he says. “As a priest and soon-to-be bishop I am called to serve the body and blood of Christ, not sit in judgement, and I hope and pray that our church will become a beacon of light for all those who have been denied the sacraments and are seeking a relationship with Christ.”
Among the people who have supported Harris’ journey is Sister Karen Amato of Troy, who will soon be ordained a deacon. “Jeff has vision,” Amato says. “I’m the kind of person who likes to jump on board when I see an opportunity for me to help my community and I saw this as an opportunity to do that.”
Anyone looking to reach the order may email oldcatholicredemptorist@ gmail.com or follow the church on Facebook at Saint Sara Old Catholic Church. For more information about the church, email saintsaraocc@ gmail.com