We are blessed
with growth and renewal

Dear Friends in Christ: 

I am looking forward to the ordination of Andrew Petta to the sacred order of deacons at St. Andrew’s Church in downtown Fort Worth at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20. Following his graduation from Nashotah House in May, Andrew will be assigned to serve as diocesan curate at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford. Also graduating will be Andy Bartus and Samuel Keyes, but we have not yet set any dates for their ordinations.

It is a pleasure to notify you that three new mission stations have been recognized and placed under my pastoral oversight since our Diocesan Convention in November. They are King of Glory in Waco, under Fr. Chris Culpepper, Cross of Christ in Glen Rose, served by Fr. Bill Estes, and St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Midland, where Fr. Mark Cannaday is the priest. We welcome these new congregations to our diocese. This brings the total number of diocesan churches to 56 at this time.

Canon Hough has been granted a three-month sabbatical, beginning March 1st. He will have study and reflection time at Our Lady of Walsingham Shrine in England, where he will spend Holy Week and Easter, and at Nashotah House seminary in Wisconsin. He will also have some time away in London and in New Mexico. He will return to the office on June 1. His last sabbatical was in 2001.

Congratulations to Fr. Jason Miller, who has been called to become the next rector of St. George’s Church, Macomb, Illinois, in the Diocese of Quincy. He has been serving as the curate at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and will take up his new responsibilities in late March. Please pray for him and his family during this time of transition. He succeeds Fr. Ron Drummond, who now serves at St. Stephen’s in Hurst.

Lent is just a few days away. Please do give some thoughts to a Lenten Rule of Life as we look forward to Ash Wednesday on Feb. 17.

Best wishes, and may God bless you and your ministry!

The Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker
Third Bishop of Fort Worth
Feb. 2, 2010

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