Late vocation clergy seem to be increasingly common.
 These are men and women who have followed a career for several
years – such as being a teacher, lawyer, accountant, etc. – and
then felt called to enter the ordained ministry. They give up jobs
and returned to school, sometimes making personal or family-related
sacrifices.
Late vocation clergy seem to be increasingly common. These are men and women who have followed a career for several years – such as being a teacher, lawyer, accountant, etc. – and then felt called to enter the ordained ministry. They give up jobs and returned to school, sometimes making personal or family-related sacrifices.
This phenomenon has taken a different turn recently because of an unusual event: A convict serving 15 years to life in a California prison was ordained to the ministry, freed on parole and became an assistant pastor at a Bay Area church.
In 1985, James Tramel was a 17-year-old student at Northwestern Preparatory School in Santa Barbara. After some classmates were attacked by a local street gang, Tramel and some friends went looking for the attackers. They found an innocent homeless man who they suspected committed the crime, and Tramel was there when his friend, David Kurtzman, stabbed the victim to death, making Tramel an accessory to the crime.
By all accounts, Tramel’s life was changed spiritually through this experience. While incarcerated at the California Medical Facility, Tramel, who was raised a Baptist, became aware of Anglican/Episcopal prayer and worship.Â
He was introduced to the “Book of Common Prayer” while assisting in the prison’s Pastoral Care service. In 1993, while praying with a prisoner who was dying of stomach cancer, Tramel experienced forgiveness and reconciliation, and went on to specialize in hospice work at the prison.Â
Meanwhile, he embarked on extensive study and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Thomas Edison University, as well as a master’s degree in theology from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, the Episcopal seminary in Berkeley. The prisoner completed most of his seminary classes by listening to lectures on tape and meeting with his teachers via conference calls.
Under normal circumstances, ordination in the Episcopal Church (and most other major denominations) is a long and complex process with many steps. Usually it involves time undergoing “discernment” with a priest and committee of lay people to discover if the call to ministry is valid. Then there is a period of “postulancy” when the person is assigned as an intern to serve in some type of ministry. Psychological testing is always required. Course work in a seminary must include biblical studies, theology, ethics, preaching, etc., adding up to three years of college credits. The bishop must approve advancement to “candidate” status, and the candidate must pass a seven-part national General Ordination Exam.
Completing all these steps, Tramel was ordained a deacon – the first of the three traditional “holy orders” of ministry authorized by the Episcopal Church – in Solano State Prison by the Rt. Rev. William Swing, Bishop of the Diocese of California, in July of 2004. The following March, despite the recommendation of the State Board of Prison Terms, he was denied parole by Gov. Schwarzenegger.
Overcoming this setback, Tramel did not lose hope or faith. He continued a ministry within the prison walls, celebrating Mass, hearing confessions and counseling prisoners while preaching by speaker phone on a regular basis to the congregation of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Berkeley. In June of 2005, he was ordained priest by Bishop Swing, making him the first person ordained to the Episcopal priesthood while incarcerated. In October the Parole Board again voted to release Tramel; this time the governor did not intervene, and he was granted parole.
On March 12, Father Tramel, now 38, reported to his first “outside” job, assistant pastor of the Berkeley parish, which had supported his efforts for the past several years. He was received warmly as he undertook his new duties.
Speaking about his redemption, Tramel told the Episcopal News Service: “No matter where you are in life or in the world, God loves you and is calling you … You can serve God if you’ll answer the call and respond to it.”
