Friar Don Pratt was born in 1962 on Long Island, New York, and is the youngest of five children. He is the son of an aerospace engineer father and homemaker mother and was raised Presbyterian.    His home church – Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church -- was a house church located in the middle of a suburban neighborhood and was one of the oldest in the USA.   His parents had active roles in the church, taking turns with different church positions in service and leadership, including serving as ruling elders in the church session, Clerk of Session (father), and Director of the Church School (mother).

Friar Don has always had a strong spiritual connection to God through Jesus Christ and was introduced to Catholicism as a boy when he found his mom's Catholic missal (his mom was formerly Roman Catholic). He became attracted to the liturgy and would secretly read the missal, pretending to be a priest saying Mass. However, he became disenchanted with some of the Roman Catholic Church's politics and dogma later in life. Nevertheless, Don remained active in the Presbyterian Church through his teenage – young adult years.

Friar Don studied at Suffolk County Community College and the School of Social Welfare at Stony Brook. He worked in human services:  becoming the director of a county school-based suicide prevention program, executive director of an HIV/AIDS service agency and led a housing program for people living with AIDS through Catholic Charities.

Friar Don was introduced to the Independent Catholic Movement through a woman he was dating. She invited him to attend a catholic mass led by a woman priest, who also happened to be married to a woman. This experience affected Friar Don to discern a conversion to Catholicism. As a result, he participated in an RCIA class, adopted the name 'Francis' as his confirmation name, and was confirmed by Bishop Tony Hash.

Friar Don has been active in the United American Catholic Church almost since its formation. He was ordained into the diaconate on December 1, 2007, and the priesthood on August 10, 2013. In addition, he made his lifelong solemn profession of vows to the Order of Sts. Francis and Clare on the same weekend of his ordination. He was a founding member and later Pastor of the Emmaus Catholic Community on Long Island, NY, is now Minister General of the Order of Sts. Francis & Clare is a supply priest in the Charlotte, NC metro area and is currently discerning a new ministry in Salisbury, NC. In addition, he has an active wedding ministry in the Piedmont Region (North & South Carolina). He was the UACC Director of Vocations from 2016 through 2017 and then was appointed UACC Chancellor. On March 6, 2021, he was consecrated to the Episcopacy and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the UACC – joining the College of Bishops.   He is humbled and honored by his consecration as Bishop, and by the Grace of God, he will work hard to assist in the growth of the UACC.
 

I have lived a rather interesting life, if I do say so myself! I was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to an American mother and a Lithuanian father. I grew up and had my first birthday in a three-generation household in Washington, DC. I stayed in DC except for two European Adventures.
I speak eight well and do accept being called a polyglot!! I was somewhat linguistically impoverished as my aunt spoke 23 languages plus dialects. She had a hobby of learning one language a year, and I lived with her in Germany from 1958 to 1959. Just one of my many European Adventures.

From a religious standpoint, I was baptized in the Swedish Lutheran Church, a part of the Anglican Communion. My mother divorced and married a devout Roman Catholic, and we were received into the Roman Catholic branch of Christianity. I went to Roman Catholic schools
through elementary school, high school, and three years of seminary college. In the second semester of my Junior year at St Mary's Seminary and University, I developed duodenal ulcers and spent my last two weeks of seminary in a hospital bed! At that point, I took a leave of absence from the education portion of my seminary training. I moved back to
Washington and rented an efficiency apartment next to Walter Reed Hospital, where I did chaplaincy work and served in the parish. The pastor was thrilled to have a "freeby" deacon equivalent.

During these next few years, I became the "father" of a 14-year-old supposedly mentally deficient young man. Fatherhood became a full-time commitment, and I could no longer consider returning to seminary.

I eventually raised six boys and one girl as a single foster parent.
The ensuing years saw me attend many colleges and universities, but I kept running out of money! The State of Maryland finally employed me under the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. I completed my Bachelor's degree and went on to social work.
I also took a break from the Catholic Church and spent 12 years as a Buddhist. I learned how to stop blaming God and accept responsibility for my life and decisions. I also started understanding all the interconnections and intersections in my life and came to what I believed
was and is my calling and place in this amazing world God has put me in.

In 1991 I was ordained a deacon, six months later a priest, and two years after that, I was elected bishop. In 1998, I met the love of my life, Mark. For our 15th anniversary, we legally married and spent eight years together in married bliss. Mark entered Wider Life on March 18, 2021.

Before Mark's death, I had to decide about my morbid obesity. I used to weigh 460 pounds with a 72" waist. Decision made, I got rid of almost 300 pounds and now weigh 183 pounds and have a 34" waist. I am a cancer survivor and continue doing multiple strength training and Zumba sessions weekly. I am a licensed Zumba and Zumba Gold instructor - and even acquired the name "the Dancing Bishop!"

My Episcopal motto says, "I come to serve, not to be served!" So I am here to walk with you, to be with you, and to help you in whatever way I can, especially to bring you to meet God face to face. Peace!

Bishop Carl serves as the Bishop's Representative on the Leadership Council, is the Abbot of the Contemporary Benedictines of Peace, the UACC representative of the International Council of Community Churches, and assists the Presiding Bishop with the Vocations Office.