by Charles A. Collins, Jr.
(N.B., this ordinarily would have been posted here a month or more ago but since it was prepared for publication in the Carolina Compass I waited until that was published as a courtesy. -- DC)
When Earl Fain IV, better known to
most who knew him as “Baron,” died suddenly on July 31 it was a
loss to many. His lovely wife Courtenay and fine son Tradd lost a
devoted husband and loving father, many – myself included – lost
a close and trusted friend, a host of fraternal, historical, and
social organizations lost an enthusiastic member and active
participant, and the Ben Silver Corporation – and I don't write
this lightly – lost a great talent who was able to take his
interest in heraldry, vexillology, and history and combine it with a
keen eye and creative imagination to design items representing a host
of schools, societies, and other organizations (on more than one
occasion I complimented Baron on being able to take his interest in
those fairly esoteric subjects and actually make a career out of
working with them).
My aim here, however, is not to
examine Baron Fain as a husband, father, son, friend, etc., but
rather to consider the relationship out of which all of those other
relationships sprang, namely, his relationship with God through Jesus
Christ.
One thing that Baron and I had in
common was the fact that we were raised Presbyterians and made a
mature decisions to become Anglicans in our 20s, similarly attracted
by the Reformed Catholicism of the Anglican way as well as the
soundness and beauty of the classical Book of Common Prayer. I knew
Baron only as a friend and never as a parishioner – he was never a
member of a parish that I served –but would've counted it a
pleasure to because he took his Christian faith seriously and had
bothered to not only figure out what he believed but to know why he
believed what he believed.
I remember discussing the weekly
Bible Study that he led with considerable enthusiasm. Baron enjoyed
the opportunity to open up God's Word and discuss it with other men.
When the ESV Study Bible came out I remember telling Baron about it
and showing him my copy as well as the fact that purchase of it
included electronic access and him being enthusiastic both at the
quality of the tools provided but also with the possibilities to
incorporate it into his teaching.
Baron also took advantage of the
opportunity to learn more about his faith and to take a stand for
Christian orthodoxy. When changes were introducing themselves into
The Episcopal Church in the early 2000s he drove out to Plano in
early 2004 to attend the conference that would lay the groundwork for
what would later become the Anglican Communion Network and finally
the Anglican Church in North America. Baron was a frequent attendee
at the conferences first known as SEAD, and later known as Mere
Anglicanism and also enjoyed and participated in the conferences
sponsored by the Prayer Book Society at St. John's Church, Savannah.
And speaking of the Prayer Book
Society, of which Baron was a longtime supporter and for which –
not surprisingly – he designed a very handsome tie, my friend was
an enthusiastic supporter of the classical Book of Common Prayer,
most prominently represented in this country by the 1928 Edition ofthe Protestant Episcopal Church. Baron was a leader in the
establishment of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer Morning Prayer
service at St. Philip's Church – sometimes called the “Miserable
Offenders” noting a theologically significant clause in the Prayer
of General Confession that is sadly either omitted or watered down in
later revisions –each Wednesday morning and would also regularly
attend the 1928 Prayer Book Holy Communion service at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul at noon on Thursdays while that was
still held; he sincerely wanted to support any offerings of 1928
Prayer Book worship that he could. When he and Courtenay were married
it was out of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, when Tradd was baptized
it was out of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and when Baron was laid
to rest in August it was out of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.
Baron would be the first to tell you,
though, that his preference for the 1928 Book of Common Prayer was
not primarily aesthetic. Although he would freely admit that the
attractiveness of that Liturgy was a tremendous drawing card for him
the chief attraction remained its soundness and fidelity to earlier
versions of the Book of Common Prayer. Baron counted it a joy to
carry on that legacy.
In Deuteronomy we read:
"Hear, O Israel: The
LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And
these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You
shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them
when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when
you lie down, and when you rise” – Deuteronomy 6: 4-7 ESV
When
Baron and Courtenay were blessed with a child of the covenant they
took their responsibilities to raise Tradd up in the fear and
admonition of the Lord seriously. He was baptized by his grandfather,
the Rev'd Haden McCormick, and regularly brought to church to hear
and and learn about God's Word but he was also instructed in what the
Rev'd Dr. Jay Adams has called the milleu,
taking advantage of everyday opportunities to train their son in the
faith. In addition, every morning he was able from a very early age
Baron would read Morning Prayer with his son,kneeling at a prie-dieu
borrowed from his grandfather, thus imparting a spiritual discipline
and love of God and his Word from a very early age in that young
man's life.
Baron
Fain is gone – it still seems hard to believe. Nearly every day
since then something has happened that I wanted to share with my
friend or some point has come up about which I wanted to seek his
counsel because he'd usually have the correct answer. While my email
in-box continues to fill up there haven't been any of the regular
reminders to fly this or that flag in commemoration of an oft
little-known historical event (I used to reguarly tell him that he
should publish Fain's
Calendar of Obscure Observances),but
his legacy will live on in a variety of ways: friendships formed,
organizations participated in and in many cases founded, neckties
designed, but most importantly in the faith implanted in his son
which will bear fruit for many years to come. We must not grieve
“...as others do, who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so, God, through Jesus, will bring with him
those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13b-14 ESV). I
give thanks for the life, faithful friendship, and lasting testimony
of my friend.
The Rev'd Charles A. Collins, Jr., is an Anglican priest who serves as Chaplain for an area hospice. He may be contacted at drew.collins@gmail.com
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