Nguyen Ordained First Viet Anglican Priest
Episcopal News Service. August 9, 1984 [84162]
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (DPS, Aug. 9) -- "Robert, Bishop in the Church of God, on behalf of the clergy and people of the Diocese of Los Angeles, we present to you Dr. Duc Xuan Nguyen to be ordained a priest in Christ's Holy Catholic Church."
The familiar service had an unusual aspect on July 7 at St. Anselm's Church here when the Rt. Rev. Robert C. Rusack, Bishop of Los Angeles, ordained Nguyen the first Vietnamese priest in the Anglican Communion.
Formerly a Methodist minister, since 1979 Nguyen has been chaplain at St. Anselm's Refugee Center, where hundreds of Indochinese have found help adjusting to their new life in the United States.
Thirty-seven of the Center's refugees were baptized in January at St. Anselm's and will form the core of a new mission congregation, of which Nguyen will be vicar.
The Rev. Fletcher Davis, former rector of St. Anselm's and president of the Refugee Center's board of directors, preached at the ordination service. "Many hands are laid on your head today, and many hopes will be laid at your feet," he told the ordinand, adding that Nguyen has already given long service to the refugee community, helping them make the difficult transition from the "world of the lotus," with its slower pace and agricultural setting, to the "concrete cloverleaf" freeway interchanges which represent California's urban lifestyle.
Nguyen studied at London Bible College for two and one half years, receiving a Diploma of Theology. In 1969 he attended Golden Gate Seminary, a Southern Baptist college in San Francisco, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. Nguyen also has masters degrees in Theology and Library Science from City University in New York, and a Ph.D. in Theology from the Methodist Church's Drew University, Madison, N.J.
Nguyen immigrated to the U.S. in 1974 as a permanent resident. He attained U.S. citizenship in 1983.
Three days after his ordination, Nguyen presided at the opening Eucharist of the Episcopal Asiamerican Strategy Task Force (EAST) national meeting in Seattle, Wash.
Nguyen and his wife Thuan have two young children, Daniel, age four, and Samuel, age two.