Narrative of Priorities for 2025
St. David’s is a church on a mission to know God in Jesus Christ and make Christ known to others.
I love this mission statement—and specifically I love it because it serves as a prism through which we can evaluate all our ministries, and because it can be the starting point of any future endeavors.
Does this thing we’re doing help us know Christ? Does it help us make Christ known?
If so—great—let’s do it. If not—it’s time to move on and find something else.
I’ve only been here for a few months, and I’m getting the lay of the land around here. I’m still learning things about St. David’s every single day. I have to say, the things I’m learning about St. David’s are remarkable. This is an extraordinary parish with extraordinary people doing extraordinary ministry.
And, we are a parish that is still in transition. Your previous Rector, The Rev. Frank Allen, has only just enjoyed his first year of retirement. I’m only in my fourth month—still using GPS to get around Wayne!
But, that doesn’t mean that I’m not seeing opportunities for St. David’s to know Christ, and to make Christ known.
First, hopefully you’ve already heard that I’m inviting the whole parish to read the Bible cover to cover in 2025. I really hope that you will join us in this endeavor. The more of us that do it, the better. There are few tools that our ancient faith has that help us know God in Christ quite like reading the Scriptures. And, to do this together as a great parish-wide group project is incredibly exciting to me. Only God knows what surprises await us as we read the Bible together—but I’m excited to see what the Holy Spirit has in store. We are producing a weekly podcast to accompany this project—and hopefully you’ve already found it and are finding it useful.
Second, this year, I’d like to find ways to draw on the remarkable successes of the Family Service. This one service—9:30 a.m. in Allen Hall—is larger than the average Episcopal parish church. If you’ve ever joined in on that service, you would have seen what an incredible celebration of joy and wonder it is. It really is remarkable. Honestly—and I mean this—I think it could be one of the most exciting things happening in The Episcopal Church. I’d like to grow it, invest in it, and make sure that while it’s larger than the average Episcopal parish, that it is firmly planted within the St. David’s family. Because, the Family Service is a place where Christ is being known, and I think it could make Christ known to more households with small children in our surrounding communities.
Third, I want to find some creative ways to communicate the remarkable successes of our outreach ministries. I want to see us really tell the stories of our work at St. John’s, St. Gabriel’s, St. Mary’s, St. James School, and in Guatemala, Uganda, and with our other ministry partners. I can’t tell you how many times in the past few months I’ve heard people express surprise when they’ve heard about a particular outreach project—people who go to St. David’s regularly, that have no idea what we’re even doing! I want to make sure that the people of St. David’s know what we’re doing so that they might know that their church is making a difference in the lives of real people—and maybe they’d like to join us in that work. I also want to make sure that these stories reach the wider community, so that our neighbors know that this truly is a church that is reaching out in love—and making Christ known in real, tangible ways.
Fourth, I want to continue to look for the places around St. David’s where there is remarkable energy and excitement and find ways to invest in those areas even more, all the while looking for the places that might need to be restructured or completely rethought. I am not looking at making large changes in my first year here. This is a very healthy and vital congregation which doesn’t need drastic change. But, there are openings to find efficiencies and opportunities—and I want to make sure that we take them when they come our way.
This IS a church on a mission. And, I’m truly excited to be a part of it.
The Rev. Rick Morley
Rector
Published January 2, 2025