Becoming a Parish

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At the Diocese of West Texas's 113th Diocesan Council Trinity by the Sea became a Parish! That link will take you to a video of our resolution and procession into council as a parish.

We were well represented with Ukulele's strumming, banners waving, and songs lifted up in thanksgiving to God for this historic moment. I wanted to share my address to Council and what Suzanna Reeder said to Bishop Lillibridge when she presented him with his surf board. Both are below. Blessings to all, and thanks to Johnie Swenson and Mark Admire for coordinating the party Sunday--what a weekend!

Thank you to our Bishops and to Joann Saylors for walking us through this process in the
final stages; to Johnie Swenson who stewarded the process, and to Walt Kleine our treasurer, Sarah Jane Wise our archivist, and our Bishop’s Committee and congregation for going through this Mission to Parish process through which we reflected on where we are in our life as a congregation and discerned that it really is the right time to take this step. And thanks to Nancy Stinson for...all of this...
It has been a journey which began years before I arrived in Port Aransas, and we’ve been the beneficiaries of the work of generations of Episcopalians in Port Aransas, North Padre, and really all around the diocese going all the way back to our genesis in 1958 when The Rev. David Rose (later the Rt. Rev. Rose) celebrated the first Holy Communion at the Carter Chapel in the Dunes. From then we met at the Tarpon Inn and in homes, we were supported by vacationing priests. Then after the church was built and dedicated in 1964 we depended on clergy from our council hosts, the Church of the Good Shepherd, toward whom we still feel gratitude. Thank to this mission minded diocese for being courageous enough to start and support that church plant in a little island town so many years ago.


Since those early days we have always enjoyed a mixed community of locals, part-timers like our Winter-Texans, and vacationers; we welcome people in and bless them on their way like the ebb and flow of the tide. Today we are known in and around Port Aransas as the church you can to go to if you don’t have a church. We are known as a welcoming community involved in the life of our island communities, and we welcome home any stranger or familiar face that wanders in our doors.


My wife Laura, our son Eli, and I received that warm welcome over four years ago, when we arrived to this amazing community, and I am thrilled to have been called as their first rector...thanks be to God.  The longer we are in Port Aransas, the more we love it. We’re all a bunch of characters thrown together on that island, and as a church family, we are on a mission to spread God’s love by being a spiritual and charitable resource in our community; through our resale shop, through our day school, by hosting community groups, and by learning to be disciples and apostles of Jesus, we are fulfilling our mission. After this milestone, we are going to regroup for Lent, but then we are planning to start a capital campaign so our facilities can keep up with our mission.


I’m so proud of this church, and so grateful to be part of it that I could go on, but I won’t, not right now. For now we just want to say thank you and celebrate this big step in our nearly 60 year history as a mission of this diocese, and we will continue in our mission as a parish church of this great Diocese of West Texas….and now I’d like to introduce our first Sr. Warden, Suzanna Reeder has a special presentation to make.


Upon presenting the Bishop's Board, Suzanna said, "Bishop Lillibridge, we are grateful for all the support and leadership you’ve given to our diocese and especially to Trinity by the Sea as we completed our journey to become a parish. In honor of your ministry and on the occasion of our becoming a parish, we have commissioned this surf board, painted by Wade Koniakowski. ...We would like to offer to keep it for you at Trinity by the Sea in our parish hall for you to visit whenever you come to the beach...."

 We had such a wonderful celebration Sunday. I'll be posting photos and videos in the near future!

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