In October of the year of our Lord twenty twenty-three, I was approached by a Rector Search Committee looking for a new priest for their parish in West Michigan. Michigan was not on my radar. I have been fortunate enough to travel a lot and visit most of the United States, but for some reason, not Michigan.
Anyone who follows my travels to the US would know my love for the Deep South. The Southern hospitality of Alabama, Texas and Florida. I imagine people would have suspected me to move to one of the Republican states.
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I’ve also got good connections in Arizona, California and Ohio, and I have enjoyed time in Colorado, Tennessee and even Washington D.C., but perhaps, in His plans for my visits, God was saving the best for last.
I visited and fell in love with the people and place of West Michigan. Michigan is a stunningly beautiful state, and Michiganders are kind and friendly—very welcoming.
But we do not get to decide where we serve. God calls us to ministry. Through much prayer and discernment, it became very clear that God is calling me to West Michigan. I will share some of these intimate stories and ‘God moments’ that led me here another time.
I am incredibly thankful for the timing. My parish ministry in London was coming to an end. I had completed my curacy as a deacon and then priest-in-charge at Christ Church Harlesden. At the end of October ‘23, I was sacked from GB News. Sometimes, God permits turbulence in our lives for sanctification and other times, he frees us to head in another direction. When one door closes to us, God opens the right door for us; it is our duty to walk through it.
It took a year of planning, bureaucracy, prayer, discernment, administration, etc. But eventually, we got here. And again, I am thankful for the timing, not just for this new stage in my ministry to begin but for some time away from the United Kingdom. Great Britain is my home, and I love it dearly, but it is lost. I will not spend a lot of time going into the politics of it all; I had a good in-depth discussion with Dan Wootton on Outspoken and Peter Whittle on New Culture Forum about this. Check those videos out for the full low-down. But essentially, I no longer feel called to ministry in London, and I do not see any political or democratic means of Reconquista. There is no fight left in England; it has become broadly apathetic to an invasion on the one hand by Islam and corruption on the other hand by liberalism. So, there is no ministerial or political reason for me to stay. It is time to regroup. We are to follow Christ, and He often stepped away before the authorities could capture him, before the time was right, and St Paul often left a hostile region to return at a later date. With an increasingly anti-Christ and anti-freedom Government, now is the time to shake the dust off our feet…
America, on the other hand, still has plenty of fight left in her. Further than that, I genuinely believe America will be the last stand for the West – for Christendom. If America falls, we all fall. There is a lot riding on this upcoming election. What a time we are living through.
America has protections in its First and Second Amendments. Britons have often shrugged off the importance of having a written Constitution, but recent events (the arresting of people for social media posts/shares, and even for silent prayer in one’s own head) show that they are necessary. This socialist UK Government is proving Americans right.
The reason the evils of liberalism and Islam are gaining so much ground in the West – particularly in the UK and much of Europe – is because Christ has been pushed to the background. In America, people are still willing to boldly and publicly proclaim the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. They believe in freedom, and they believe in Christ. This is why, I believe, they have not been handed over in the same way Europe has (Romans 1:24-27).
And so, my regular trips to the US have been encouraging, and now I am enthusiastic to be joining the fight where it is; to becoming a soldier for Christ among many.
I am incredibly thankful to my new parishioners for inviting me over, and I am looking forward to my full-time parish ministry.
Yesterday, on Ember Friday in September, I was incardinated as the new Priest of St Paul’s Anglican Catholic Church in Grand Rapids. I would like to thank everyone who attended. A special thank you to our Episcopal Visitor, The Right Reverand Patrick Fodor, who began the service by thanking The Right Reverend Roald Flemestad of the Nordic Catholic Church for releasing me to his charge for this ministry.
So, if you find yourself in Michigan, do come along to St Paul’s. We are a high-church Anglo-Catholic parish where you will find orthodox Christian teaching.
Those of you who are used to following my online or television/radio presence may be more familiar with my cultural commentary. Please do not come expecting a live show of the Common Sense Crusade. The Mass is not about me – or you, or anyone else – the Mass is about God. It is a time when we enter Christ’s perpetual sacrifice, where heaven and earth align, and where we truly, really and presently receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, my Sunday sermons are about the Gospel reading assigned for the day. Occasionally, they are about the Epistle reading. I do not need to stand in the pulpit and remind you that Tim Walz does not believe in the Second Amendment or that Kamala Harris supports the killing of unborn babies – you already know that. Come to church to put aside all of those woes for a time and spend a moment in worship, praise and thanksgiving of the living God who gives us hope by offering us eternal salvation if we repent and have faith in Him.
See you at Mass.
God bless.
Fr Calvin Robinson
St Paul’s Anglican Catholic Church, Grand Rapids
2560 Lake Michigan Dr NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49534
