Farewell My Friend: The Rev. Kent Higgins
My sisters and brothers, life is short, and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those with whom we travel. So be swift to love; make haste to be kind; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and those you love, this day and always. Amen.
Reading Facebook posts and speaking with people at St. John’s, and across the deanery and diocese, it is clear that Kent was our beloved and he loved us fiercely in return. Not in big, overt ways, but steadfastly dropping a thank you here, a blessing there, listening, and with pure deadpan delivery, offering an observation to help lighten the load - or at least poke a hole in it.
Kent and I went through Equipping the Saints together, along with others from across the diocese. We talked about ministry, Rules of Life, roadblocks, discoveries, disappointments, and successes on our journeys. I recall Kent speaking about his call to ordained ministry as a supply priest because he felt his pastoral care skills weren’t sufficient to care for a congregation over time. He actually possessed mad pastoral skills and over the years I witnessed him being swift to love and with all haste being kind, applying both in that delicate balance as supply clergy. Knowing when to step in, offering a corrective word or cautionary tale, and with equal measure knowing when to step aside.
Every last one of us basked in the light of his priesthood, with equal measure love and that comment or two keeping us bedded in reality, gladdening the hearts of those with whom he traveled. And it wasn’t just me or you or St. John’s, but all of us benefiting from Kent’s steady, loving, balanced heart.
Kent recently sent me a thank-you email for work I had undertaken around the halls of St. John’s while we were in between priests. In part, it read, “…at a time when life was complex…you stepped up and did the hard work of finding supply clergy, coordinating schedules and schedule changes, communicating within the staff and congregation…trying to insure that [correct] information was going where it needed to go and coming from the right source…and perhaps hearing “Who does she think she is”…so, from me if from no one else, thank you!”
And thank you, my brother, Kent. For being my friend. For being my pastor during times when my faith was so very low. For helping me exercise my spiritual chops. For your dry wit delivered at exactly the right moment. For making me feel as though I’d made it, when several years ago after being added to the preaching rota at St. John’s, you said, “Great sermon but you need more jokes.” We all need more jokes. And I suspect people all over the diocese are nodding and smiling, having had these same or similar experiences as me.
So Kent, farewell for now. You fed us with the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And that blessing is upon you and those you love, this day and always. Amen.
A Requiem Eucharist honoring the Rev. Kent Higgins will be held at St. Johns, Friday, April 14 at 1:00 p.m.
