Dear People of St. James’,
Every six years or so, clergy in the Diocese of Texas have an opportunity to take a sabbatical for refreshment and learning. This summer, I will be celebrating 10 years since my ordination to the diaconate, and I will be taking my first ever sabbatical from April 16-July 15.
While I am away, everything keeps going! There will be some great guest preachers during this time, supporting our own clergy. Vestry, staff, and other volunteers will be picking up responsibilities here and there. Our Associate Rector, The Rev. George Porter, will be the point person for pastoral care and the emergency pastoral care line, but he will share these responsibilities with those who have long-standing pastoral relationships. Your senior warden, Simone Talma Flowers, your junior warden, Jill LaCour, are here for you; and you will see Vestry people making announcements and available for you during Coffee Hour and time in the narthex. Your office staff, Aimee Estep and Diana Espinosa, will continue to keep you informed and keep us moving. We will be preparing for a strategic planning process that will lead into a Master Plan process during the fall, and, by the way, we will be the first congregation in the Diocese of Texas to do this work in a way that is intentional about lifting up the voices of our multicultural, multilingual, multigenerational church community.
I will be back in the office on July 15, and I am already looking forward to what lies ahead for us over the coming years! That being said, I am so grateful for this opportunity to relax, spend time with family on the east coast whom I rarely get to see, travel a bit with Connor, and do some writing with a mentor and friend in ministry.
See you Sunday,
Rev. Eileen
