Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Easter blessings to all! This blog has been idle since a first posting in November of 2008 - best-laid plans... My hope is to keep it going now, with more regular contributions and links to items of interest.

This Easter season will be a time of new perspective for me. On Maundy Thursday, I received word that my request for transfer into the Province of the Anglican Church of Uganda had been accepted. After 9 years of ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, or TEC as the organization now wishes to be known, I have found a new, if temporary home. Temporary, as I look forward to the establishment of the Anglican Church in North America this June. I was delighted to read of the positive response of the GAFCON Primatial Council yesterday to the developments here in the U.S. as well as in Canada.

I'll attach below the words I sent to the clergy of the Diocese of Iowa on this past Thursday in the Octave of Easter:

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

I've started and stopped this email several times already, so this is
far from a perfect collection of words or thoughts I need to share
with you all. Many of you I have known for decades already, from the
time I came to Iowa City in 1989 for graduate school at the
University. Some of you I have barely had a chance to know, and some
not at all.

I wish to share with you that as of Maundy Thursday, I have been
received into the Province of the Church of Uganda as a priest. My
decision to request a transfer into this sister province of the
Anglican Communion comes at the end of many years of discernment.
This has been a very difficult decision, one that comes with
considerable risk and not a little cost to me personally. I do not
wish to offer a defense of my choice here, except to say that it was a
choice of conscience, borne of what I believe to be an action of the
Holy Spirit.

My recent ministry in the diocese has been perhaps a matter of
controversy - at least a matter of discussion on many levels. I
appreciate those of you who have been direct with me in your counsel
and questions - you have challenged me to a place of integrity, and
for that I am grateful.

To be clear - marcia remains a priest of the Diocese of Iowa, and I
expect you will see me on occasion at events where I accompany her. I
support her completely in her calling to remain in the diocese, as she
supports me in my calling away. This has been a challenging time of
mutual discernment for us, and we have grown both as individuals, as
well as husband and wife together. We continue to pray for God's
guidance as we step forward into the future God has in mind for us.

In this season of the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, I rejoice in the sure knowledge that God will bring joy
out of mourning, and life out of death. I depart your fellowship with
a heavy heart. My hope is that we continue to pray for one another as
men and women seeking to be faithful to God as He has revealed Himself
to us in the person of Jesus Christ. To Him alone be all the glory.

Yours in the Risen Lord,
Darin+


I have received mostly kind and prayerful responses from many of my former colleagues in the Diocese of Iowa. Bishop Alan Scarfe of the diocese has been quite generous in his dealings with me, as well. I thank them all for their manifold graciousness.

In the Risen Lord,
Darin+