| Harry Samuel Seamans | |
|---|---|
| Bishop | |
| Church | Anglican |
| In Office | 2009 - present |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 10 January 2009 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Morgan City, Louisiana |
The Rt. Rev. Sam Seamans is an American Anglican bishop. He is assisting Bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church and of the Anglican Church in North America[1][2]. He is also Rector of St. Thomas' Anglican Church of Mountain Home, Arkansas;[3][4][5][6][7] a licensed pilot, Emergency Medical Technician, and is conversant in the Czech language.
Seamans holds a masters degree from Trinity Theological Seminary, and is currently engaged in further study at Cranmer Theological House, a seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church.
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Bishop Seamans was born in Morgan City, Louisiana.
He was baptized a Southern Baptist at the age of 11. In 1985, at the age of 18, he was licensed to preach in the Southern Baptist church and began his ministry there, working as a summer missionary on the rural Louisiana coast. He attended college at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette and graduated in May 1990 with a Bachelors degree in Liberal Arts (then known as General Studies).
During college he became employed as a police officer and completed the police academy in 1987. After graduation he moved to Mountain Home, Arkansas and went to work with the Mountain Home Police department where he stayed long enough to be ranked [lieutenant]], and after retiring, was rehired, as a part-time code enforcement officer.[8] Seamans states he felt a growing desire to fulfill a vacuum in his spiritual life and in 1997 he began to study Church history and liturgy. Then, he states, he found true Christian identity in charity, sympathy, compassion, reverence and humility in the orthodox Christian way.[9]
He began to study classical Anglicanism, including Thomas Cranmer and Richard Hooker. He states that at this time he fell in love with the Anglican Church.
At the age of 30, he became an Episcopalian, albeit a traditional one, joining Christ's One Holy and Catholic Apostolic Church. Then he entered the Deacon Formation School in the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas and was ordained a deacon in November 2001.
Seamans then served under Arkansas Episcopal Bishop Larry Maze, but left the Episcopal church three years later because of its social and theological liberalism, as well as what he describes as "its departure from the norms that Holy Scripture lays out for the Christian life and ministry."[10]
Seamans founded St. Thomas Anglican Church in Mountain Home, Arkansas in 2004. He was ordained a priest in March 2005 by Bishop Stephen Reber. The parish was affiliated with the United Episcopal Church of North America.
The church recently moved into a new building located behind Lowe's in Mountain Home, Arkansas, where during his police employment, he spent his "paid" hours going to the church during it's building process.
Seamans was elected as a Suffragan Bishop at the 9th Triennial Synod of the United Episcopal Church of North America on October 28, 2008, held in Coshocton, Ohio. His consecration took place on January 10, 2009 in St. Louis, Missouri. Bishop Seamans was consecrated by Archbishop Stephen C. Reber, Presiding Bishop of the UECNA, Bishop Presley Hutchens of the Anglican Catholic Church and Bishop William Wiygul of the Anglican Province of Christ the King.
On April 19, 2009, St. Thomas Anglican Church's Vestry and congregation voted to align with the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in North America. Bishop Seamans was received by the REC and continues to serve as Rector of his church in Mountain Home.
In November 2009 Seamans gained international notice by exposing an All Saints Day liturgy used by an Episcopal priest in Harrison, Arkansas.[11] The liturgy "Praises Mohammed, Vishnu, Buddha, Confucius..." with the Celebrant stating: "All you Hindu saints; we praise you for holy are you...All you Buddhist saints, we praise you for holy are you..." even calling on "All you Incas of Peru, holy Mayans and Aztecs of Mexico, all you Native children of the sun and stars..."[11] The Episcopal bishop of Arkansas (TEC) supported the liturgy under the guise of "inter-faith dialogue". The news story can be found at www.virtueonline.org
On December 11, 2009 Seamans was welcomed, along with several other Bishops, into the Anglican Church in North America's College of Bishops during the First Annual Provincial Council in Toronto, Canada.[1]
In addition to his Bachelors, Seamans holds a Master of Ministry degree from Trinity Theological Seminary, and he is currently continuing further study at Cranmer Theological House, a seminary in the Reformed Episcopal Church. He is a certified Hospice Chaplain and serves as Chaplain for the Fraternal Order of Police and the Mountain Home Police Department. He is also a Certified Training Officer and Law Enforcement Instructor in the state of Arkansas.
Seamans is conversant in the Czech language, is a licensed pilot for single engine aircraft and is a certified emergency medical technician. Bishop Seamans is also a long distance cyclist and is very proud of his "Giant FCR 1 Flatbar Road Bike". Seamans says, "I get most of my praying done while riding. I find it a very contemplative exercise which easily gives itself to prayer and meditation."
Bishop Seamans is also a student of Hapkido, a Korean Martial Art that specializes in self-defense through joint locks, kicks, punches, blocks, and ground fighting.
Seamans is a part time Code Enforcement Officer [8] in the Mountain Home Police Department. He is married to a native of the Czech Republic and has two children.
Bishop Seamans also has a special ministry to people with Anxiety Disorders, having overcome an Anxiety Disorder himself while in his 20's. In this ministry he highlights the biblical references to anxiety and depression, and examines many of the great Saints of the Faith that had such issues in their life, but yet were mightily used by God for the good of the Kingdom.