#61 Larry in the Silicon

I was referring to Bush’s father, GHW Bush.

Bush 41 has always been an active Episcopal layman. He was on the vestry of St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Kennebunkport and presently serves on the vestry of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston. A friend of mine who graduated from Bowdoin says that the Bushes are regular churchgoers; they aren’t just nominal members.

He did address the General Convention of the Episcopal Church while he was vice president but I can’t find an online link to that address. Here is a link to Bush 41′s remarks at a meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1992:

http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=4019&year=1992&month=3

I think the reason why Bush 41′s faith was less obvious to the public is that Episcopalians tend to be relatively reserved about expressing their piety in public (my dad’s side of the family was Episcopalian, so I have some experience with that kind of reticence). Bush 43 became a Methodist when he married Laura and adopted the more open style of expression of that tradition.

As for Freemasonry, some Protestant groups have no problems with members being Masons. The only group I know of that objects (other than the Roman Catholic Church) is the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.