Welcome to the Land of the Ultra Rev

According to Google Analytics, my blog traffic has grown substantially in the past few months, and even more so in the past week averaging nearly 80 visitors a day. Thank you for stopping by. Here's a little information about me ... I've been married to my fantastic wife for 17 years. We have 5 brilliant, beautiful, wonderful kids that we home school who can't keep their rooms clean. I love being a husband and dad, and going to Little League. I attend Catalyst Church, a new church plant in Syracuse, NY that meets at Nottingham High School. Mike Mazzye is our pastor. I currently work as a Festival Director, arranging large evangelistic events for an evangelistic association. I am ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church having served First Covenant Church in Willoughby Hills, OH; however, most recently I served as an associate pastor at an Episcopal Church in Watertown, NY. I live in Liverpool, NY, having moved here from Black River, NY. This blog consists of my various ramblings about theology, culture, my family & life and sometimes wine. Whilst I am mostly evangelical in theology, evangelical culture drives me crazy sometimes and so I often like to poke fun at it. I am extremely concerned about the state of the church in the United States. I also blog about the current Anglican crisis and the nonsensical organization called the Episcopal Church. I like to blog about God at work in my life. I have offended people on occasion and have been known to delete or change entries when the offended asks. I'm passionate about marriage and family ministries, evangelism, giving away the Bible, church planting, upstate New York State, the Evangelical Covenant Church, the Anglican Communion, good coffee, fantasy baseball and football, my friends and family. I'm a huge fan of the Anglican Mission in America. I own a lot of Macintosh computers ... about 20. My very favorite is my PowerBook Duo 270c with docking station. ( Thank you DRH.) But also I like my 6 iMac's, my eMac, my iBook and my PowerBook WallStreet Edition that I accidentally ran over. On the side bars of this blog you'll find various ministries I'm passionate about, some blogger friends, a list of the places I've been over the past few years, links to my outdated .Mac site and my YouTube site and my other interests like OpenSource software and self help sites, as my life generally needs a lot of help. You'll also see some of my favorite artwork by William Bouguereau. Why "theultrarev"? Here's the deal ... In the Anglican Church, they have various titles for varying callings within the church. If you are a Deacon, you are called "Deacon ..." or "The Rev. ..." If you are an Archdeacon, you are called "The Venerable ..." If you are a Priest you are called "The Rev." If you are a Dean of a cathedral or district, you are "The Very Rev." If you are a Bishop, you are "The Right Rev." If you are the Presiding Bishop, you are "The Most Rev." and you can also be called a "Primate" or "Archbishop" I just didn't want to be out done. When I was a pastor in Ohio I used to irreverently refer to myself as The Most Rev. Then one kind man in my church, whom I love and miss dearly, Ed Palmer, started sending me mail addressed to "The Ultra Rev. ..." and it stuck. So now I am the Bishop of My Desk, which is a relatively small diocese that I have a great deal of difficulty managing with one cantankerous clergyman. I am considering a promotion to The Supreme Rev. Thanks for visiting The Land of the Ultra Rev. Comments are encouraged.