I learned when I arrived at work this morning that Fr. Peter E. Gillquist, Sr. fell asleep in the Lord last night after a long battle with melanoma. He was until his retirement the priest of
All Saints Orthodox Church in Bloomington, Indiana. Fr. Peter was part of Campus Crusade for Christ back in the '70s and '80s until he and a group of ministers began a serious search for authentic first century Christianity, and discovered that it still existed to this day, in the Orthodox Church. In 1987 he and several thousand people in the United States all came home to Orthodoxy together, and ever since, Fr Peter was a tireless evangelist for the Faith. I met Fr. Peter personally several times since my own journey to Orthodoxy. He spoke several times at the Saint Stephens Course in Orthodox Theology, held at the Antiochian Village Camp & Conference Center. He also came to our parish and spoke to a gathering of Orthodox Christians from around the area about evangelism. Some friends of mine in our parish first visited because of Fr. Peter. One time when we were speaking, I asked him what kind of music he enjoyed listening to, and he introduced me to the 1950's vocal jazz group The Four Freshmen. I've enjoyed the 4F ever since.
Fr. Peter was attended by family and friends, and went to be with the Lord he loved in peace. May his memory be eternal!
A video of Fr. Peter talking about Finding the New Testament Church.
No comments:
Post a Comment