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May 2007
The grace of the
Lord Jesus be with you.
My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen
Dear All Saints' Family,
St. Paul ended most of his letters with the
above words. It was his desire that the grace and love of God be with
the people he loved and cared for while he was away. As Janet and I
prepare for our sabbatical, we have the same prayer for you. The thought
of being away from our extended family here at All Saints' for three and
a half months is strange in that it will be a new experience for us all.
In my nine plus years as Rector, we have never been separated for more
than two weeks at a time. Even with our separation anxiety in mind,
Janet and I are looking forward to our time of fulfilling our
dreams of seeing Africa first hand as well as visiting places we have
only imagined.
We will leave Reisterstown on May 15 and fly to
Zurich to be with our family for a week. We then travel to Kampala,
Uganda to begin what will be a life changing experience of living and
working with the various ministries that care for widows, orphans, the
poor, and needy in East Africa. While in Mityana, Uganda we will
establish a companion relationship with St. Andrew's Cathedral that will
open up ministry opportunities for us and them for years to come. We
also are excited that our son, Jonathan will join us for our final two
weeks in Uganda.
From Africa we will return to Zurich and stay
with Sarah, Dejan, Emma, and Helena, using their home as a base for
further exploration. I've always wanted to visit Wittenberg where Luther
nailed his 95 Theses to the door. We will spend two weeks in England
seeing London for the first time as well as visiting Bath where Janet's
parents were married during WWII. Our plans are then to see Michael,
Janepher and George Lubowa at Redcliffe, Bishop David Evans and Dorothy,
Hilary Lutwyche's parents, and finally spend time with the Flicos famiy.
We will conclude our sabbatical with a trip to Croatia. We can only
imagine what it will all be like, and we will have plenty of stories,
photos, and experiences to share when we return.
We will keep in touch by e-mail during our time
away and intend to keep everyone up to date via the Bell Tower.
Or contact person at All Saints' will be Clay Lawson who, as Senior
Warden, will be intimately in charge of the congregation with the final
word on all decisions and actions. Fr. Dan will be in charge of the day
to day operation of the church and will be assisted by Fr. Anthony.
Thanks be to God All Saints' will be in good hands in the months ahead.
Until September we leave you with the words of
St. Paul, "the grace of God be with you, our love to all of you in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
Fr. David+
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