Ailing priest loses disability status

The Rev. Jerry Kramer, the Episcopal priest and recovery activist whose illnesses forced him to resign his Broadmoor pulpit last month, apparently is caught in a bureaucratic snarl with a church insurer that has left him without regular income.

However, his employer, the Episcopal diocese of Louisiana, is providing economic support until the red tape can be untangled, Bishop Charles Jenkins said.

"The church is not going to allow this family to be hung out to dry," Jenkins said.

Kramer, a driven and innovative priest who transformed the Free Church of the Annunciation into a recovery center for its Broadmoor neighborhood, surprised his congregation last month with the news that, sick and exhausted, he had sought medical disability from the denomination's national insurer. He said it had been granted, and its terms required his immediate resignation.

But Kramer said this week the disability status has been revoked, at least temporarily, while more medical records are sought. He and Jenkins said the diocese is working to restore the disability income.

Kramer said the snafu complicates plans for him, his wife and two children to attend a missionary school in Colorado for training to work among Muslims in Africa. The family did missionary work in Africa before coming to New Orleans.

Leaders in Broadmoor's recovery have praised Kramer for the way he and his church put off their short-term recovery and devoted themselves instead to becoming an asset for the neighborhood's storm recovery.

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Bruce Nolan can be reached at bnolan@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3344.