St. John’s has been my home for almost eighteen years now. I have gone from Sunday morning daycare as a baby all the way up to EYC (Episcopal Youth Community) as a senior in high school and I have loved every second of it. St. John’s, and the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama as a whole, […]
Dear Friends and Parishioners of St John’s, As your Junior Warden, I cannot tell you how excited and energized I am regarding this year’s Stewardship Campaign. We all truly have been and are in “unchartered waters” in all aspects of our daily lives due to the Covid-Sars pandemic. Every day routine tasks including worshipping and […]
Dear St. John’s, In July, I announced that I’d be leaving in October to become an Air Force chaplain. That time has arrived and this Sunday will be my last as one of your priests. I want to thank you as I end my time here as an associate rector. Thank you for your support […]
A dear friend died last week back in Memphis. We shared a deep and abiding passion for Mississippi State no matter if the team deserved that loyalty or not. We also shared several painful experiences centered around the deaths of family members, including his wife. She died suddenly and unexpectedly as a result of an […]
Do not be afraid “One of St. John’s many strengths is its ability to couple a reverence for this rich history with an excitement for the events to come and a desire to assure a vibrant future of worshipping God and making disciples for Jesus Christ.” St. John’s Parish Profile, 2019 This sentence from the […]
During the Rector’s Forum on Sunday night, I was asked what influenced me to accept a call at a downtown parish? My response included my belief that God was indeed calling me to the particulars of ministry in a downtown Episcopal church, in part, because places like St. John’s have a responsibility to proclaim the […]
Dear Friends, As Sunday approaches, I am filled with joy and anticipation for the beginning of our ministry together in the context of resuming in person worship at St. John’s. Based on a consensus of public health and medical advice, and under the direction of the Bishop, we have made decisions that will minimize the […]
It’s been said that “The only constant in life is change.” But is that true? Everything does seem to be in a process of change, but is change really the only constant? Isn’t there something even more constant than change? Another question: Why is change so hard? I think one of the main reasons is […]
I had something curious happen to me this past week, and it’s made me pay attention and wonder how the events of this past year are affecting not only me, but all of us. The services of prayer known as the Daily Office in the Book of Common Prayer were invaluable to me when I […]
Top Ten List – Mary Ward Quotes As we all celebrate the call of John Leach to be our next rector and Mary Ward and I now take our leave after loving this place for 25 years, I wanted to give a shout out of sorts to Mary Ward for what she has done […]