Released POW to Study for Priesthood
Diocesan Press Service. May 10, 1973 [73135]
BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. -- A captain in the U.S. Air Force, recently released from a prisoner of war camp in Hanoi, North Vietnam, has been accepted as a postulant to study for holy orders in the Episcopal Church and expects to enter a theological seminary this fall.
Capt. Robert G. Certain, assigned to the USAF base here, was released by the North Vietnamese on March 29, 1973, and has been accepted by Bishop Harold Gosnell of the Diocese of West Texas as a postulant and he expects to enter the School of Theology at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., this fall.
Capt. Certain said that he "has been in a struggle with the Holy Spirit" since 1963 about "whether to enter the ministry." During this struggle, he said, every "worldly project" he attempted "ended suddenly and, sometimes, tragically."
"I tried to be a pilot," he said, "but could not land airplanes; I entered the Air Force, and my first day on duty ended in a serious automobile accident; I became a navigator and was literally shot out of the sky."
But the summer of 1972, he said, he "gave up the fight to avoid the ministry" and submitted his resignation to the Air Force, hoping to be discharged by the summer of 1973. But unknown to him, his resignation was refused on December 15 -- and three days later, he said, "I found myself a prisoner of war, having ejected from my burning B-52 on a combat mission over Hanoi, North Vietnam."
During the three and a half months of his imprisonment, he said, he gave a great deal of thought to seeking holy orders. "The Holy Spirit sustained all of us who were prisoners of war and led me to organize regular weekly services using the Book of Common Prayer, a copy of which was received in a package from home," he said.
Capt. Certain said that during his imprisonment he decided to enter the military chaplaincy after his release and training. "The outcome must truly have been directed by the Holy Spirit, " he said.
The Air Force has decided to send him to seminary as part of its masters degree program -- the first time the Air Force has ever sent anyone to seminary as an active duty assignment.
The Rt. Rev. Clarence E. Hobgood, the Episcopal Church's Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces, has given his blessing, and Bishop Gosnell has accepted him as a postulant without meeting him in person.
"With so many formerly blocked doors suddenly standing wide open," he said, " I must place myself in the care of the Holy Spirit and step through them."