Ind-Movement.org: The Lawsuit: Short Bio on This Defendant

Ind-Movement.org
The Lawsuit: Short Bio on This Defendant

The Very Rev. Tony Begonja

I, Fr. Tony Begonja, 43, live in the Garland area of Texas, near Dallas. I am married to The Rev. Fran L. Begonja, 40. The Lord has not yet blessed us with children, although we do have a few dachsunds (who act like children).

I work full-time as an Assistant Vice President for a very large bank. I serve as system manager and system programmer for a large enterprise computing system that runs thousands of ATMs.

My real vocation, though, is that of an "Independent Catholic" presbyter-priest. I am a currently a registered clergy member of The International Council of Community Churches (ICCC). I also belong to The Garland Area Ministerial Alliance (GAMA).

I was ordained a transitional deacon for an autocephalous Christian church in the apostolic succession in June 1992, and as a presbyter-priest, for another such church (The Apostolic Catholic Church in America), in June 1996.

Prior to entering the autocephalic church movement, I was a very active life-long Roman Catholic who, over the years, has served as lector, eucharistic minister, baker of eucharistic breads, liturgy committee member, music minister, parish music director, composer, workshop-giver and NPM-chapter director.

My current ministry as a prebyter-priest-pastor is four-fold:

I serve as a pastor for an itty-bitty house church, Fullness of Life Community Church / Saint Oscar Romero Ministries, in the Dallas area. We meet every Sunday in Dallas-area homes (sometimes mine, sometimes another home) to worship and celebrate Eucharist. Even though it's small, our fledgling faith community is a registered member church of the ICCC. At some point, our little community will rent some store-front space and hold services there -- not everyone, it seems, is comfortable visiting a house church.

I also serve as a long-distance pastor for a house-church back in New Jersey.

I serve as Chaplain for a very large Boy Scout troop. I decline to identify the troop or the council here at this time, 'cause the minute I do, CJ3 will start attacking them. I've served in this registered-adult-member role for four years now. I myself am an Eagle Scout and an Ordeal member of The Order of the Arrow. And I've previously served as an Assistant Scoutmaster and Catholic Lay Committee member in other BSA troops in other councils.

Finally, the least of my ministries: Researcher in the field of autocephalic Christian churches and clergy in the apostolic succession, and webmaster for Ind-Movement.Org.

Previously, I have served as webmaster for a number of Roman Catholic ministries, such as Franciscan Peacemakers and The Institute for Christian Ministries (ICM). I believe I'm probably one of the few Christian webmasters who has coded HTML while bullets were ricocheting off the building's outer wall a few feet in front of him.

I am a published author. My first book, in the field of liturgy, Eucharistic Bread-Baking As Ministry, was published by a mainstream Roman-Catholic publisher in 1991.

I went to school at Carleton College, Northfield, MN (yes, "the city of cows, colleges and contentment"), and Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, NJ. I earned an A.A.S. in Computer Science from Brookdale in 1983. I lots of credits left over and look forward to not only completing my B.S. degree, but also eventually earning an M.Div. from a regionally-accredited school. I wish I could brag that I have an M.Div. right now, but I can't. And I will not purchase one from a diploma mill.

However, I did study pastoral care for two years, part time, at The Institute for Christian Ministries in the Seattle area.

If you want to read a little bit more about me, you can visit my personal web site or you can see my entry on Ind-Movement.Org.

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