Curate Update | Mother Joy accepts call as Rector at St. Christopher’s in Killeen, Texas

Dear St. Mark's -

It is with great delight that I now tell you of a significant change in my life. After much prayer, reflection, and discernment, I have accepted the call of Rector at St. Christopher’s in Killeen, Texas. I am excited about this new chapter in ministry. However, it is not without mixed feelings. I am saddened to leave this fantastic community and deeply grateful for the formation I have received as your Curate.

During my time here, I have been privileged to serve and learn with you. We have shared many joys and triumphs while grieving some significant losses. We have grown spiritually: deepening our faith and forging bonds of friendship and love. Your dedication to Christ, the Church, and commitment to the formation of new clergy has been a constant source of inspiration. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been part of this remarkable community, and I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for your unwavering support and love. 

Leaving St. Mark’s is not easy for me. I will miss our worship, our fellowship, and all of the ministries we shared. However, I am comforted by the knowledge that this is the way curate programs are designed to work. I am also aware that you will continue to have Father James and Deacon Tracie here with you week by week. It is with a grateful heart and significant personal affection that I move to the next step, deeply formed by both of these leaders.

My last Sunday at St. Mark’s will be May 26, 2024. As I embark on this new journey, I ask for your prayers for me and the congregation of St. Christophers. Please know that I will always carry a piece of St. Mark’s in my heart and cherish the memories we have created together. 

Once again, thank you for your love, support, and care. May God continue to bless St. Mark’s.

Your Curate (for a little longer) with a heartfelt gratitude and so much LOVE,

Mother Joy

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Dear St. Mark’s Family,

I know you join with me in excitement to learn of Mother Joy’s new call to be the next rector at St. Christopher’s, Killeen. Witnessing her ministry among us these almost two years, I know she will do a fabulous job in this new call, and it will be wonderful to still be in the same diocese!

While we rejoice in a new call, it is appropriate to grieve the change in relationship. Mother Joy has faithfully served among us and has been called to serve a new congregation. While bittersweet, this kind of change is not new to St. Mark’s. Our parish has a long and rich history of welcoming new clergy into our community for a season and then helping to launch them into further ministry. We are witnessing the curacy program working as it should. Mother Joy has ministered here, and it is now time for her to serve the wider church.

There will be time over these next few weeks to celebrate together. Mother Joy’s last Sunday to serve at St. Mark’s will be May 26. She will preach on that day, and we will have a reception for her after our 10:30 service on that day. It is a custom with a clergy person’s leave-taking for the parish to collect a financial purse for the departing clergy. If you would like to make a financial gift to Mother Joy, please bring it to the celebration on May 26 or drop it off in the office before then. If you write a check, please make it out directly to Mother Joy and not to St. Mark’s as there is not a tax benefit to this kind of gift. Everything collected before and on May 26 will be given to Mother Joy at the reception.

I am so thankful for the ways in which Mother Joy has opened her heart to St. Mark’s and how St. Mark’s has opened it’s to Mother Joy. Take time over these next days to express your gratitude to Mother Joy and share your well wishes in this next chapter of her ministry.

In-love,

Fr. James