What Makes You Free at Good Sam?

by Bill Lacey

Over 25 years ago, my mother was a recently ordained Episcopal priest for the San Diego Diocese. As the son of a priest, so many people were under the impression that I was a largely faithful young man who could do no wrong. You know the story….on one side of the coin, the child of a priest is either really good and saintly, OR the other side of that coin is that everything seems to be downhill for that child. It can be a pressure-packed role, always having to put that joker type smile on your face and always having to say the right thing. I was fortunately a young man at this time and already out on my own, but the pressure was still there, especially in the church that I grew up in. 

Everyone knew my mother throughout the diocese, and I was referred to as Maryanne’s son, rather than my name. I was carrying a label rather than being referred to as an individual, or as a man. “Labels belong on jars, not people.” That saying kept creeping into my head, as I advocate that in my professional vocation. I kept asking myself, “why am I not practicing what I preached?” So after praying for a while, I felt strongly that this parish was not meeting my needs as a Christian. I did not feel particularly close to God or my faith. In fact I felt as though I was becoming more and more distant, and so as a result Clare and I decided to stop attending for awhile. 

During this “layoff” we felt the need to have our faith renewed, but there was a high degree of fear involved as we new we did not want to go back to the old parish, and were unsure of what lay ahead. My biggest fear was finding a place where I could shake the label of being someone’s son, and just be known as Bill, a Christian family man. 

We agreed we would visit a few parishes and see what felt like home for us. Our first visit was to Good Sam and we have not looked back. We immediately felt at home. For the first couple of months I simply introduced myself as “Bill” purposely not stating my last name for the fear of falling back into that label of being Maryanne's son. Of course word got out a little and a few people politely approached me and asked, but by that time, a foundation had been laid, and I was label free FINALLY! It should be stated that this is not designed to be a ‘slighted’ statement towards my mother but rather a quest for her son to find independence in the church of God.  


That is one of the reasons we keep coming to Good Sam, but the main reason is that for the first time in my life, despite being the son of a priest, I have found who I am as a Christian man. I am comfortable within my skin openly worshiping God and his son Jesus. I finally feel free, and this has everything to do with my brothers and sisters at Good Sam!!!!!!! 


What makes you feel free at Good Sam?