From the Editor

My son Charlie is three years old. 3. Trois. El gran niño de tres años. Hurricane Charlie. He blows a consistent category 3 or 4 on a normal day with gusts up to a Category 20 on extreme days.... He has changed the way I view the world. My outlook on the whole of life has shifted with this little dude in my life. He has shown me that life can have many different faces in a very short time—that being able to adapt to those changes is a powerful thing. Did I mention he's only three?

THE YEAR WAS 1945, and the Right Reverend Harry Tunis Moore, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, pursued his war-delayed dream of establishing a new Episcopal parish for the growing area then referred to as North Dallas. A small group of people were ready to form this new mission, and met for their first worship service on a hot August Sunday in 1945—in a Boy Scout hut located on the grounds of the University Park YMCA.

ALSO DURING THIS TIME, The United States Tenth Army took control of Okinawa, the main island of the Ryukyus, 362 miles from the Japanese home islands; the USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese Submarine, the war in Europe ended may 7th (V-E Day); Adolf Hitler and his wife of one day, Eva Braun, committed suicide; Harry S. Truman became the 33rd President of the United States following the death of President Roosevelt, (effects of polio); Robert Oppenheimer's Little Boy and Fat Man nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing Emperor Hirohito to announce Japan's surrender on the radio, August 14th (V-J Day); German concentration camps were liberated and Das Vaterland became divided between Allied occupation forces; 50 nations signed the United Nations Charter creating the United Nations, and the United States Marines stormed Iwo Jima...and Henry Winkler, Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Steve Martin and Rod Stewart were born.

It was during this—on the Feast Day of Saint Michael and All Angels—the group, which by then had become several hundred persons, executed the charter and formed Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church.

I do not think it a stretch to state that our parish was born during the triumphant overcoming of globally and truly challenging times...Hello 2020....

Isolation, tragedy, and great obstacles have been seen by this parish before. But we are born of tough, determined stuff—and have found a way not only to survive when others did not, but to thrive throughout our blessed-by-God 75 years of mission and ministry to the neighborhood, the city of Dallas, and those beyond and across the sea. For 75 years we have ambitiously adapted to the work and ministry needed here and abroad. In only three tiny years, my son has taken me on a journey of growth—it is hard to estimate the faithfulness of God through all the changing faces of 75 years!

I challenge you to consider our current milieu: a world ravaged by disease, fractured by struggles: economic, political, and racial. Ponder the heartfelt sharing of Vice Rector Ken Brannon on page 8, in asking, what goodness can we glean from this time?, and take solace in Rector Chris Girata's words on page 2, reminding us that, despite our current griefs, we, are not alone when we travel the Way of Love together.

As our parish forebears overcame the hardships of their days, so shall we, when we band together as a loving church—a living organism—and trust in the care of our Lord, be swift to love, and make haste to be kind. THIS is what the world needs.

Steve Haal, Director of Communications