the The Newsletter for Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church
July 2015
The Home Stretch
the
North Dallas Shared Ministries Collection Month
3
Church Offices Closed 4th of July Holiday
4
4th of July No Farmers Market
5 11 14 28
Youth Sunday Funday
Ordination of The Rev. Hunter Ruffin
Vestry Meeting
North Dallas Shared Ministries Family Field Trip
During the summer it happens at the beach house we’ve always called “Old Weird Harold’s Place.” It’s a sprawling and somewhat tired 1920s coastal clapboard haunt that sits near the end of a long walk my family takes on “our” beach south of St. Augustine, Florida. As we pass by Harold’s place it signals to us that we have about 200 yards to go. It’s the home stretch, the last little bit of what has been about four miles. It’s when I’m almost there that I hear the voice of Coach Orr, my baseball mentor, yell: “When you round third you need to ‘dig big’ and be ready to slide well.” Whether it is walking or playing ball or completing a project in the yard or “rectoring” a big church, I learned at an early age that a good ending makes a big difference. It’s motivated by my parents’ ScotchWelsh-Scandanavian heritage (actually, it’s probably just pure American puritan, guilt-ridden work ethic), I suppose, the kind that makes me cut every blade of grass, clean the plate at every meal, and care that each prayer book and hymnal is upright and in its place after every worship service. In the midst of any home stretch are the inevitable questions: What is a healthy ending to this walk, journey, project, chapter: and, where is all of this going after we’ve passed the finish line. These questions are particularly apropos during the coming months of my departure as your Rector, and the transition you will be entering -- ending with the calling of my successor. At least part of the goodbye coming in September is to consider how God has been touching and
Volume 25, No. 11 Volume 27, No. 7
cont. on page 19
The Rt. Rev. Michael Curry Elected Presiding Bishop Bishop Michael Curry has been elected Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church at the 78th General Convention in Salt Lake City. He will be the first African-American to lead the church. The Right Rev. Curry, Bishop of North Carolina won the election in the House of Bishops by a landslide, earning 121 votes. The decision was affirmed on a vote of 800-12 by the House of Deputies, the voting body of clergy and lay participants at the meeting. Bishop Curry, 62, will succeed Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori when he takes office on November 1. He has been Bishop of North Carolina since 2000, leading a diocese of 48,000 church members, 112 congregations and a network of ministries. He will now lead the 1.9 million-member church known for its history as the faith home of many of the nation’s Founding Fathers and presidents. He is a Chicago native, and he and his wife, Sharon, have two daughters. Bishop Curry is known for his emphasis on evangelism, public service, and social cont. on page 3 justice.
Celebrate America, Pie, and Fellowship page 8