9th Bishop

On Saturday, the Diocese of Washington elected our Ninth Bishop, The Reverend Dr. Mariann Edgar Budde. She is the first female diocesan Bishop in the Diocese of Washington. She nearly won on the first ballot, lacking only 6 lay votes. She will be installed on November 12 pending the consents from Standing Committees and Bishops throughout The Episcopal Church. What an exciting day and exciting future for the Diocese!

Time Flies When You're Doing What You Love!

Two years ago, on June 13, I was ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons. On July 1, 2009 I joined the ministry team at Church of the Ascension in Gaithersburg, MD. These two years have flown by and I am having a wonderful time serving as a priest and pastor among the people at Ascension. We are a very diverse community who are faithful to the Gospel in upper Montgomery County. As I look at the congregation from the altar on Sundays I am continually amazed at this Kingdom of God on the corner of Summit and Frederick Avenues in Gaithersburg!

My ministry areas include Christian Formation for Children which encompasses Godly Play - which we started last year, Vacation Bible School - ReNew in 2010 and PandaMania in 2011, the Epiphany Pageant and other children's activities, and Pastoral Care which includes our Pastoral Partners ministry and other pastoral care. A talented and committed corps of lay people dedicate countless hours to Christian Formation for Children and Pastoral Care. I'm fortunate to help recruit, train and lead these amazing people.

I love what I do and I can't believe it's been two years since my last post! Hopefully I'll be posting more often. It's great to be back.