Dear Austin Believers, Christ Church Austin family and friends, thank you for your faithfulness in loving the community and your invitation to minister alongside you.

We have some exciting news! God has been on the move, and we have been invited to join the Diocese of the Gulf Atlantic. I will be the Canon for Missions at St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral. My work will include leading the parish in mission work, both domestic and international as well as assisting the diocese in missional activities. As a priest, pastor, teacher and encourager, I will get to live into my calling in the context of this new community. Angel and I will continue to work with Church Army USA (CAUSA) in Tallahassee and across the nation.

We have found the partnership and community of Christ Church Austin to be a place of healing for us and we have made friends that we hope will last a lifetime. The welcome you have extended has set us on a trajectory to be able to love those on the margins with a full heart, as well as encourage others to worship and serve Jesus with everything they have received.  Thank you to all of you who signed up for the Foundation of Evangelism and Outreach class. Thank you for your grace as I fumbled my way through the Eucharist. You laughed when I laughed. You cried when we cried.

We have had the great pleasure of volunteering with the Baptist Community Center Mission in East Austin. They have their finger on the pulse of the needs of the least of these. We have thoroughly enjoyed worshipping at Church under the Bridge, an authentic worship by people with little pretense. We also were blessed in partnering with Mission Possible, both with their youth programming as well as the Pregnancy Resource Center. Angel simply delighted in the opportunity to bless the young mothers at the Pregnancy Resource Center, and I am grateful that I got to be an encouragement at Fuse youth nights. The women’s Bible study from Christ Church graced the Center with so many supplies. We even got to share the gospel and pray with people at SXSW Sunday Service. 

You have an amazing way of helping the least of these and encouraging them to greater health and stability. Your passion for creativity and the beauty that God has created in each of us is laudable. The East Austin Studio Tour, the performing at Tesoros Bellos, singing in the choir, and general revelries were so life giving. This is not goodbye but see you later. We are certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6) Keep getting dirt under your nails, comforting the afflicted, welcoming the ostracized, and being honest about both your lamenting, as well as your rejoicing.