Dear saints,
It is one of the great privileges of serving as rector in a church as lively as All Saints' that I get to minister alongside so many talented and committed clergy. This Sunday, we will welcome back home Naomi Tutu who returns to us from a several month stay in her beloved South Africa where she has been with her family. It will be wonderful to have her back among us.
As Naomi makes her way back to the block, I share here that another of our clergy, Katie Presley, is soon to transition to a new parish in South Carolina where she will begin her years of ministry as a priest. You have supported Katie all the way from ordination discernment, seminary studies, service on our staff, to her priestly ordination this June. She truly is a minister of the gospel whom we have raised up for the work of the wider church. Katie's final Sunday with us will be May 14th. Here is her note to the parish in gratitude for her years spent among us,
“As I begin to close my chapter here at All Saints’ Atlanta I am full of gratitude for the ways this community has lifted me up, encouraged me, and championed my call to the priesthood. Each of you have had a lasting impact on my life and it has been an honor to serve with you in ministry and to be formed in my vocation alongside the people of this parish. Though I am headed to a different All Saints, I will be forever grateful that this is the All Saints’ I can call home. Thank you for the ways you have supported me over the years and know that I carry you with me as I become the Associate Rector at All Saints Episcopal Church in Hilton Head, SC.”
I will miss seeing you all this Sunday as I will be with the sixth grade singers alongside Karol Kimmell and Co. on Cumberland Island, GA. As the psalmist says, God will watch our going out and our coming in, a promise that in the ebb and flow of our lives we will always have a holy companion. Blessings for all your journeying.
Simon+
