ER: What is your Name? What is your nickname? Do you have a childhood nickname?
RLD: Ronald Lee Davis. I go by Lee, my middle name, because my father and I have the same name.
My childhood nickname was Gatsby! Some of my friends started calling me Gatsby after we read the book, “The Great Gatsby” It just sort of stuck.

ER: How old are you?
RLD: 52

ER: What is your favorite saying or quote?
RLD: Work so you can live, don’t live so you can work. Huge difference. In American culture you see people live to work. In doing so they miss out on most of life. Whether it be family, friends, experiences. I travel a lot, especially in Italy where they have a very different attitude. People work so they can live and enjoy life. I try to do that myself.
We should identify ourselves not by our work, but identify ourselves by our friends, families, relationships.

ER: Where were you born? Where did you grow up? Where do you call home?
RLD: I was born in a small town in the mountains of Virginia called Abingdon. A really lovely jewel in the mountains of Virginia. Very old historic town that was founded by artists. A lot of wealthy people lived there in the early 1700’s. The State Theatre of Virginia is there. A really neat town to grow up in.
Abingdon is in the far western part of the state very near the border of Tennessee and North Carolina.

During high school, I lived in New Canaan, CT. In Fairfield County. Very different experience. Neat town with neat people. Very focused on image and money.

My grandparents raised me. My grandfather worked for The Pittston Corporation (now it is called Brinks.) A big conglomerate. Home security and also owned coal mines, gold mines, air express company, all sorts of things. They moved their corporate headquarters to Greenwich CT. We had to move as well.

Moving to new Canaan with a southern accent was quite interesting. You were treated like you were somehow “dumb.” Which is probably why I lost my accent. If I go home to the Virginia area it starts coming out. It takes a few days to get back to normal.

ER: Where are your parents/grandparents from? How did they influence you today? (big question)
RLD: Grandparents were originally from the eastern part of Kentucky. Not too far from Abingdon VA. My dad was born in West Virginia. He lives in the New England area today. My grandparents moved back to Abingdon VA after they retired. That is where they call home. My mother’s parents were also from Abingdon.

My grandparents raised me. I am a lot like my grandfather Davis. And a little like my grandfather Holbrook. My ancestors were Scots who fled to Wales where they took the name Davis. From Wales they migrated to the US. In the 1700s.

My grandfather taught me about kindness. He was probably one of the kindest people I have ever known. He taught me fairness and justice. He taught me that no one was above anyone else. We were all equals. He taught me by his actions and by stories. And stories that other people told me about him.

An example. Back in the 50’s when most women had to work as secretaries. Secretaries were expected go make the coffee and serve it in the morning. He had been promoted. He would go in the morning before the secretaries and make the coffee for them. And serve them their coffee. He tried to make sure that women were paid as equal as possible. He was like that his entire life.

He made sure to give me an education so I could talk to anyone. Whether a coal miner or a company president. I really value all the life lessons he taught me.

My other grandfather was like this too. They had been friends for years before my parents were born.

I went to high school in New Canaan CT and college in San Antonio TX.
Started out with a business degree and the military.

ER: What is your heritage (ethnicity)?
RLD: Scottish American

ER: Why do you live here? How did you get here?
RLD: I moved here during a dark place in my life. Florida is full of sunshine. Needed a change. I fell in love with Florida. I consider it my home.

Once I was ordained I went to the Washington DC area in Maryland. Served a congregation there for 8 1/2 years. Still missed here. I took the opportunity to come back when it presented itself.

ER: Do you speak another language?
RLD: I speak Frantalian, a little bit of French, Spanish, and Italian. Enough when I speak Spanish it has a slight Italian accent with a touch of French.

I love to travel. I love to experience the different cultures. I prefer to go somewhere, not hit all the tourist spots. I find a cafe and sit and watch the people, talk with them. As a result we have friends all over the world. A lot of friends in Italy. That is where Dan and I have travelled the most. Now we are going to visit friends. Enjoy life. To me that is what it is all about.

I think every youth should have a gap year. They should travel the world. I think it changes perspectives. It has changed my view. I see how things can be improved in our country as a result of travelling. Learning to work so I can live.

A lesson from travelling. All people want the same things. They want to enjoy life.

ER: What is your favorite color?
RLD: Blue

ER: What is / was your profession? Is this profession what you were meant to do? Why?
RLD: I went to college when I was 16. College was interrupted by the military.
I was too young when I went to college. I went from a small town to the big city of San Antonio. I had a bit too much fun in college. And I realized that I had no clue what I wanted to do.

I went into the Navy. Went through a couple of years of training. I programmed Tomahawk Missiles. I served for 4 years. I was nuclear qualified. Deployed during the first Gulf War, I served off the coast of Iraq. We were the command ship and saw a lot of action. We were the first ship over there and one of the last ships to leave. Worked in a very dark room in the center of the ship. Lots of computer screens. We were surrounded by a lot of steel armour.

I had a chance to go to the Naval Academy. At that point I made the decision that I did not want a career in the Navy.

About becoming a Rector:
My grandparents were religious but I really wasn’t. Not that I didn’t believe, I guess I just didn’t have interest. I had to come back to my faith.

The seed was planted in the Navy during the first Gulf War. The chaplain on the Navy ship was an Episcopal priest. He had a eucharist service on the deck of the ship about a week before the war started. I stumbled upon the service and felt a peaceful presence come over me. That got catalogued in my brain.

When I got out of the military my first partner was killed in a car accident. I was 23-24. Times were different. It wasn’t possible to be open with my family or friends about who I was. I didn’t have a true way to grieve. I also found that when people thought they understood they really didn’t. They looked at it as “different.” That we really couldn’t be in love. It lead me into a dark place. It was 1993.

I didn’t have anyone to grieve with. I had to do that on my own. It lead me into a dark place. Somehow in that darkness I kept thinking of the Eucharist on the ship. I have no idea why. I now say, “It’s a God thing.”That seed was sort of planted.

I also thought about my prayerful grandfather Davis. I woke up one day and said, “maybe there is something to this God thing.” I’ll try to pray. I didn’t know how to do it. Well, they always get down on their knees in the movies. By your bed at night. I remember getting down on my knees and putting my hands together and – well not really paying attention. Looking around noticing lint and stuff.
It came into my mind to just say, “help me!”

At that point I had moved down to Florida. 1996. Low and behold I decided to check out the church thing too. That was an Episcopal priest so I guess I’ll find an Episcopal church. I started at St. Martins in Pompano Beach.

I got involved in the church and the community. I went on mission trips to the Dominican Republic working with youth. People started asking me when I was going to become a priest. I looked at them like ,” You’re insane!.” People kept asking me. Then I asked myself, “why not become a priest?” Talked to the priest there and the Bishop – Leo Frade about it.

So first I had to finish college. I worked during the day and went to classes at night for a year and a half. I got my degree in business. Then the discernment committee evaluated whether I had the calling to be a priest. They had to decide if I truly had the calling. That was a 2 year process.
The church guides you during the discernment process because most of what you do as a priest can be done by a lay person. We are all called to ministry in our baptismal covenant. They want to make sure you have a priestly calling. Same thing for a Deacon.

I spent time praying about it. I entered the official process with the church in 2003. I went on a 3 week hiking trip in Scotland. I hiked the outer Hebrides and to many places you can only get to by boat. It was beautiful. I did a week program on the Isle of Iona to open my heart and my mind. I asked God if he was calling me to be a priest. Came away from it with a definitive answer – YES!

That’s how I ended up getting into the priesthood. I truly believe I am where I am supposed to be. I LOVE being a priest.

ER: What do you do that might change the world? Why?
RLD: What I am doing helps change the world every day. Whether it be through my actions or helping other people transform their lives which helps them make changes in the world.

ER: What makes you feel like part of a community? Why?
RLD: We are all learning about each other. Being part of a community is facing joys and struggles together. Communities face all those things together. That is what makes me feel like a true part of a community. It allows us to grow together.

I feel like I am part of a community when I grow because of shared experiences – whether they be good or bad. Opportunities to serve together. That is what community is to me. I can’t imagine not being a part of a community.

I used to not be part of a community – in that sense. I wouldn’t want to go back to that. I have no regrets about the time that I was not a part of a community because it shaped who I am.

ER: What is your greatest accomplishment?
RLD: Living into the person that God has created and meant for me to be. Not everyone gets there. It is a never ending journey but at this point in my life I am exactly where God intends me to be. I believe that because I find so much joy in my life. Joy in my relationships, what I am doing, my friendships, and in my travels. And everything that flows from that. I believe that unless you are living the life you were meant to be living you cannot truly be helpful to other people. Or not in a way that helps bring you more life.

I wish more people had the opportunity to live into their creation. I think some people are fearful of it. I think our culture makes it hard for some. The great thing about being part of a community is that you are surrounded by others who can help you become who you were meant to be. You have to be open to search for it and make the changes to reach for it – knowing it could be scary but at the same time freeing.

ER: What are your regrets?
RLD: I am not proud of everything I have done in my life (teenager?) but I have no regrets. Would I choose to go through some experiences again – NO! But I don’t regret them.

ER: What are your struggles?
RLD: Balance. Because I enjoy what I do so much I struggle to keep a good balance of different aspects of my life. Because I enjoy what I do I could easily do more and more.

ER: What are your greatest adventures?
RLD: My greatest adventure is yet to come! There is always a possibility of a new adventure. It could be with someone I just meet on the street.

I want to cruise around the world when I retire. It takes about 188 days. I have to wait so I don’t have to report in to work. I want to do it on a ship. There are places I want to see that I don’t want to plan a single trip for. If it is a single stop and I love it I might plan another trip.

We discussed the development of faith in young people. Teaching people how to pray.

RLD: Not having faith explains a lot of things that go wrong in the world. Not that faith/religion doesn’t sometimes cause problems. It does. Having a belief in something higher than yourself helps temper how selfish we are as humans sometimes.

It is harder to make ethical decisions when you have no faith. You have no one to hold you accountable for the decisions you make. Broken people trying to do some thing holy. We are going to make mistakes along the way.