Dear People of St. David’s,
I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am writing with an important announcement for our parish.
After prayerful consideration over the past several months, and in conversation with his wife, Amy, and their sons, Frank Allen has discerned that he will be retiring as rector of St. David’s Church. Frank’s final liturgical service will be at Christmas 2023, officially retiring in January of 2024. The bishop and the vestry of St. David’s Church have been informed, and now, as Rector’s Warden, I share this decision with our St. David’s community.
It was a hard decision for Frank to leave his beloved community and he feels very blessed to have shared in the mission and ministry and life of St. David’s for over 25 years. In turn, I believe I speak for all of us when I say how grateful we are to have walked alongside Frank these many years as he has led us and made disciples of an untold number of people who have entered through the doors of St. David’s Church. I thank God that He has called us together.
The process for the calling of the new rector will begin while Frank is still serving as our rector. We will be putting together a profile committee who will survey the entire parish about who we are; who God is calling us to be in the future; and what kind of rector we are asking God to bring to St. David’s. We will also set up a discernment committee to take that profile into the wider church to interview candidates and make a recommendation to the vestry. If you would like to serve on one of these committees, please reach out to me by email at jbdolanjr@gmail.com. We expect that the new rector will follow closely on Frank’s retirement.
This timeline also allows our community to take some opportunities to celebrate our love and express our gratitude to Frank as well as for our shared ministry. In this time, we can all make a renewed commitment to our own lives in God, find ways to renew our participation in worship and ministry, and pray for St. David’s Church and for the calling of our next rector.
Please join me in thanking Frank for his faithful, loving service to grow this church on a mission to know God in Jesus Christ and to make Christ known to others. Pray for Frank and Amy in this time of transition to their next phase of life. May God bless them with a wonderful retirement.
Faithfully yours,
Jim Dolan
Rector’s Warden