Man of many hats seeking clerical collar
When CBC was laying off staff, Howard Thornton asked to be one of them.
By Debra Fieguth ChristianWeek staff
REGINA–During the last five years, Howard Thornton has worked as a crane operator, a storm sewer cleaner, a surgeon, an RCMP sergeant major, a chef, a pilot, a symphony conductor and, oh yes, a weatherman.
It’s not that he can’t keep a job. But once a week, the CBC Regina weatherman has donned another hat–a hard hat, or a chef’s hat, for instance–to find out what it’s like to be someone else. The popular "In Your Shoes" segment of the suppertime TV news has put Thornton in touch with the people of Saskatchewan in a unique way.
"There’s a connection people make when they see someone who could be their neighbor," he explains. On one occasion, he was a singer, which he enjoyed "because I’m not a singer. I learned about myself and what it takes to stand up in front of people." Another time, he parachuted out of a plane, and "flew a Tudor jet and landed it."
But after 22 years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Thornton, 45, is looking forward to another role: he plans to become an Anglican priest.
The tug towards ministry began about 15 years ago, he says. At first he dismissed it. He was already pretty happy in his work, which took him from anchoring the news to reporting on arts and entertainment and current affairs. The idea kept resurfacing, however, and about five years ago he realized he had to think seriously about it.
"I struggled with it for about six months." Finally he sat down with his wife, Carol, to talk about his growing conviction, unsure of what her response would be. "She said, ‘I’ve thought that for the last three years.’ She’s spiritually tuned in a lot of times in a way that I’m not."
Abandoned religion
Although he was brought up in a Christian home, Thornton abandoned religion as a teenager, believing that science and education could solve all the problems of the world. But when he and Carol were about to get married, he figured he should believe in God if he was getting married in a church. He asked lots of questions of the priest, who "was very patient with me."
The priest was honest when he didn’t have an answer. And by that time Thornton knew science didn’t have all the answers either. So he took a step. "That was my start back into faith in Jesus. It became like a relational kind of a thing."
Carol, whom he always thought was much closer to God than he was, worried for a while that he was going a little overboard. "I actually went to church on week nights!"
Thornton got busy with his career, moving from anchoring to current affairs to arts to weather and "In Your Shoes." As a public personality, he was called upon to host a lot of events.
Meanwhile, five children were added to the family. Jordan, 24, is going to school in the U.S., but Christopher, 21, Adam, 16, Katie, 6, and David, 3, keep home life busy. Added to that is the challenge of going to school. When Thornton completes the two courses he’s taking this term at Canadian Theological Seminary, he will have finished his first year.
"It’s hard to balance," Thornton admits. "I don’t think God calls you to sacrifice your family." He sees his relationship with his family as a model of ministry to others. "If my example of how I love them is to ignore them, that says a lot to people around me."
Last year, when the CBC was laying off staff, Thornton made an unusual request to his news director. "I said, ‘pick me, because I want to go.’" His request was granted in December, but the station asked him to stay another three months.
During his last week of work, Thornton spent three days riding his bicycle from Regina to Saskatoon, raising several thousand dollars and much awareness for the province’s 10 food banks. It was his way of saying goodbye.
Because he is Anglican–the family attends Holy Trinity in Regina–Thornton will eventually need to study at an Anglican seminary. That might take him to England, but the future isn’t quite decided yet.
Carol Thornton has willingly gone along with her husband’s antics and adventures, even though there have been some tense moments. The day he went skydiving, she says, "he was supposed to be home by noon." At 2 p.m. he still hadn’t arrived. "At 5:00 I had the funeral planned." There had been a delay, and he had been unable to call her.
But, she reflects in considering the future, "I’ve always seen life kind of as an adventure. I try not to get too stuck in a rut."
Apart from the unknown, Carol Thornton is looking forward to seeing her husband at mealtimes. Except for during Olympics and hockey playoffs, she said on March 31, "yesterday was the first time he was home for supper in 20 years."
