Becoming Franciscan

You might not know it by looking at them. They don’t wear the hooded brown robe. But Lynne and Bill Quackenbush of Halifax County were professed to the Secular Franciscan Order Sunday, April 10 in a service outside Greensboro after three years of study, prayer and preparation. Then they returned to their active lives among us here in Halifax County.

You don’t have to be single or celibate to join the Secular Franciscan Order, nor do you live in a monastery. Secular Franciscans include married people as well as unmarried, women and men. They live in their homes with their families and go about their work in the world, hence “secular.”

What, then, distinguishes Secular Franciscans from average people in the pews? Members of an official order of the Catholic Church, Secular Franciscans make a lifelong commitment to live the Gospel. They profess a Rule of life which guides their group’s values and principles. Members meet in their local fraternity regularly for ongoing formation. They draw inspiration from St. Francis– “the closest imitator of Christ that I know,” said Bill– and from St. Clare.

Their Story

Lynne and Bill Quackenbush came to Halifax County in 2005. They thought they’d retire to the Shenandoah Valley, but the rolling hills of Halifax won out since one of their daughters, Tracy Q. Martin, lives locally (two other adult children Bill and Jennifer live on the west coast).

While each is originally from New York, Lynne and Bill met in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Lynne’s sister worked with Bill at American Airlines. Once the introduction was made, “We just knew,” said Lynne, a career nurse who served in a hospital emergency room and at a wound care center. Meanwhile, Bill’s work with American Airlines (in sales, management and relating to government and military) took the couple to Utah and Texas.

They weren’t always churchgoers. Bill was Read more