From Father Reggie: 

Hello St. James’,

I pray that the presence of God is apparent in your lives as we move closer to the celebration of the day that God chose to walk among us as Jesus Christ. I would first like to take this opportunity to thank the search committee and vestry for extending an invitation to me and my family to join you as part of this amazing community. It is truly an honor to be part of a community that demonstrates, through its words and actions, that everyone has access to God’s love. I believe that the message of complete access to God’s love is at the core of Jesus’ teachings. I also know that it is a challenging way to live in community, but I believe it is the way God intended for us to live. If it is the way God wants us to live, then we can rest assured that God is with us as we continue to meet the challenges of living out our faith.

As you may or may not know, I had the good fortune of growing up in a military family and from ages three to ten I lived in Spain. While I see it as good fortune for several reasons, one of the most important and poignant
is that this experience allowed me to grow up, for the first ten years, in an environment that did not include a message that I was inferior to others because of my skin color or race. At the time, I obviously had no idea of the gift I have been given or how it would shape my life. When I arrived back in America - Valdosta, Georgia to be exact - the messages that I received did not match up with my experience in Spain. And so began the journey of trying to reconcile what I experienced as a child in Spain with what I have been told in America ever since. I have since realized that not only have many people had a similar experience for various reasons, but many of them did not receive the gift that I did. My gift was that I knew there was another way to treat people, a different way to live. St. James’ is a place that I believe God has challenged to show a different way of treating one another and a better way to live.

St. James’ has a well established presence in the Austin community that I pray by God’s will and with my leadership will simply continue to thrive and grow. We have a remarkable opportunity to transform Austin and the diocese if we continue to seek God’s counsel as we navigate through our community with the message that all are welcome and everyone has complete access to the love of God. I have already heard so many wonderful stories of why several of you have made St. James’ part of your family. Part of our ministry is to share with others why St. James’ is so important to us and can be important to them. We also need everyone to talk to God, evaluate our gifts and determine if we are using our gifts of time, talent, and money to support and grow our ministry to the community in the way that God has called us to do. We cannot do this ministry alone. St. James’ success has come and will continue to come because faithful people have responded to Jesus’ teachings together as a community. I am excited to join St. James’ as it continues to answer the call of Jesus.

With all of the important things that St. James’ family does together, I believe the most essential is worship. With much excitement and anticipation, I look forward to the spirit-filled worship I have heard so much about. It is our time together in worship that will restore, nourish, inspire and guide us in all that God would have us do. Our worship should always leave room for the Holy Spirit to inspire and transform us and our community beyond where we thought possible.

I invite and call every member of St. James’ to come out, to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and to be a part of my first worship experience at St. James’. Please bring someone you love and let us see what the Holy Spirit has in store for us. My wife, Elena, and my two daughters, Maya (8 years) and Talia (5 years) will not be with us on Christmas Eve. They will be in Fresno, California celebrating Christmas with my brother-in-law, his wife and their new baby boy at my father-in-law and mother-in-law’s house. They regret missing the celebration, but look forward to meeting all of you on my first Sunday, January 3rd. My in-laws, Gordon and LeAnna Wiens will be joining us on that day as well. We are beginning what I pray will be a long journey together, full of the hope that Christ walks among us and continues to guide us in how to be an inclusive and multicultural community of faith. I cannot wait to meet all of you and officially begin this journey!

May God be with you,