Where Are They Now? The Reverend Brian E. Fidler P'05

What keeps you busy now?

For the last seven years, I've been the chaplain at The Bishop's School in La Jolla, California (no sympathy, I know!).

 

Among the many joys of this continued busy life is the opportunity to work with Aimeclaire Roche (head of school at Bishop's and former assistant head at Groton) and my former student/now history teacher, John Nagler '03.

What memorable highlight(s) would you like to share from your years since leaving Groton?

There are so many: seeing our sons, Reeve and Corson '05 launched in fulfilling lives and careers; officiating at a handful of weddings of former students from the four schools I have served, along with a few baptisms of their children; developing a thriving, student-led chapel program at The Bishop's School; and becoming involved in mentoring Episcopal school chaplains nationwide.

Does one aspect of working at Groton stand out to you now?  Why?

Of course, as a teacher you either love boarding school or you don't; so, there are a great many fond memories of teaching, of coaching, of hilarious times on duty in a dorm common room. But when you're the chaplain and you get to spend every day navigating the rich worship life of St. John's Chapel—it doesn't get any better than that! We are all always in a formative stage in our spiritual lives, in the life of faith, and in addition to a healthy skepticism and even doubt about all of that, there are wonderful moments of insight and growth in which I was privileged to share.

Please share a favorite funny or memorable story from your time at Groton.

Many will remember—with a smile or a groan—my pattern of beginning weekday chapel services with a period of extended silence while everyone was still seated.

 

One day, a student (who shall remain nameless!) commandeered a handheld microphone in the sacristy and, unseen, broadcast to the assembled school, "Brian...this is God...it's time to stand up now!" When I stood up along with the rest of the school, I stepped to the lectern microphone to pray, but before I did, I replied, "I know God's voice...and that wasn't HER!" The chapel erupted with cheers, applause, and laughter. It's always wise to let God have the final word.

Is there one lesson learned while at Groton that you’d like to share?

We talked a lot about lifelong learning; I think most schools do. And that is one of the truest lessons I began to appreciate while at Groton. We often don't know, or appreciate, what we've experienced until we have the perspective to look back on it from some distance. I will always remember graduates coming back to visit, more fully formed than when they had graduated, each of them proving the point that our education —growing into the person we are most intended to become—is a lifelong process of which school is just one chapter. And that means we need to be patient, with one another and with ourselves!