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A LETTER FROM OUR RECTOR-ELECT
This is a word to say how much Anna, Caroline, Peter, and I are looking
forward to joining you this fall and to thank all of you who have had a
hand in our call to Dallas. We have been conscious of being
upheld by your prayers since our first contact with the Church of the Incarnation in
the fall, and have been overwhelmed by the warmth, generosity and
thoughtfulness of those of you we have already met.
We are excited by the prospect of meeting the rest of you. Incarnation is a parish with an outstanding reputation for its
commitment to the centrality of worship and, powered by that engine,
its proclamation of God’s love in evangelism, mission, outreach,
teaching and pastoral care. It is a friendly ‘can-do’ parish that
has its head on straight and gets things done.
Even from where I sit in Northern Saskatchewan, it is obvious how much is going well at Incarnation. The parish enjoys a long and stable tradition of worship and service. Today it enjoys more gifted leaders than you can shake a stick at. Those ministries that are flourishing need continued encouragement and support. At the same time opportunities abound. The parish has already put its finger on the need to expand and refine our ministries that help hurting people; to reach new people for Christ and effectively incorporate them into the life of the Church; and to renew the way we do stewardship and adult education. Surely that is just the beginning. I am confident that the Lord has great things in store for us. The energy in the parish to move forward is palpable, even to a newcomer like me. We have a Gospel to proclaim and it is deeper, more interesting, and more fulfilling than many people have ever imagined. Because Incarnation has cheerfully upheld the Anglican spiritual tradition when so many churches have lost sight of it, it is peculiarly poised to enrich the lives a whole new generation as we reach down even further into our spiritual treasury and rediscover what are, to our generation at least, fresh insights to the Scriptures and so the world around us. After all, we are in the memory business. “Do this in memory of me,” said Jesus, and his insistence on recollection was itself ‘traditional’. His instruction to remember followed God’s long insistence on recollection as the basis of Israel’s faithfulness. The Psalms, for example, are largely a tradition of recalling in song what God had done for his people in history. Christian memory has nothing to do with nostalgia. It is the means by which we perceive the sacramental reality underneath the surface of things today, underneath even the surface of ourselves. I love the way George Herbert put it, Only thy grace, which with these elements comes, Knoweth the ready way, And hath the privy key, Op’ning the souls most subtle rooms; While those to spirits refin’d, at door attend Dispatches from their friend.
(“Holy Communion” vs. 4)
I am grateful for all your prayers and ask that you continue to
remember us in the next few months as we finish up our ministry here,
pack up, head off to the Lambeth Conference, return to say our final
good-byes, and move to Dallas.
See you in September. With every good wish and blessing, + Anthony J. Burton
Bishop Burton Bio and Photos (click here)
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