The Anchor of Hope award is presented to a person who exemplifies walking with Jesus. This person brings the word and the light of Jesus, to family, friends, church communities and the people he serves.
At the Eucharist of Diocesan Convention, Bishop Knisely presented this award tonight to Mr. Orville Forbes.
His priest, the Reverend Eddy Lopez has this to say about Orville’s ministry at Church of the Transfiguration:
“Humble, faithful, thoughtful, ready to serve describe Orville Forbes. At the center of Orville’s life is the love of his faith. When asked to be junior warden of Transfiguration, his response was, “I’ll pray about it.” And pray he did. About two months later he finally agreed to accept the position.
Orville is a valued member of his faith community. He was a vestryperson, junior warden, senior warden and currently serves as an usher, crucifer, altar server and is the Director of Buildings and Grounds. Fortunately for Transfiguration he lives two streets away, and on his way to work drives by the church early in the morning and on his way home in the evening just to be sure nothing is amiss. Countless times he has been called upon to deal with a problem, some minor and some major and he always manages to be at the church when needed.
There is no one who would not extend a helping hand if Orville asked for assistance. The way Orville lives his life, with God centering every decision, makes him a true follower of our Lord.”
Orville’s partner in Ministry for Church Beyond the Walls, The Rev. Linda Forsberg has this to add:
“At the recent meeting of the Bishop’s Committee for the Church Beyond the Walls, we talked about Orville’s faithful commitment and strong, steadfast leadership in our CBW community. As CBW celebrates our tenth anniversary this year, we realize that Orville has been part of our ministry from the beginning. Orville is a man of deep faith, and that faith in Jesus Christ is the bedrock of his life. From that strong and solid foundation, Orville is a solid rock for others, a source of strength for those of us who are blessed to know him.
When Governor Raimondo shut down all gatherings at the beginning of Covid, a small crew of us still went out to Burnside Park, to let our community members know they were not forgotten. This was pre-vaccine, when the fear of the unknown was gripping. Afraid as we were of this illness, we still went out, week after week, with our Red Flyer Wagon stuffed full of care packages, and our hearts filled with prayers and assurances for our community members. Orville was one of these faithful few who went out with us during these frightening days, week after week.
Orville is a man of deep prayer, who is steeped in scripture. Many times, in our CBW group texts Orville will share a word of encouragement from a Bible passage, or the fruit of his own daily prayers. Whenever we need to have what we at CBW call “crucial conversations,” meaning difficult but necessary conversations, Orville sacrifices his precious time to share his deep spiritual wisdom. At these critical times, and at all times, Orville truly follows the Way of Jesus and his sacrificial Love.”
Thank you, Orville for being a witness to the world of what the love of God can do. Thank you for being Jesus’s hands and heart to the communities you serve.