Labor Day 2023
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in Christ. I hope you all have had a chance to catch your breath this summer and found a little shade from sweltering Dallas! This letter is, as usual, something of a potpourri.
I want to commend Deacon Katie and her team for three great weeks of camping for children. We are now reviewing to see how we can improve for Summer 2024, as well as adjusting to no longer being in charge of the camp. ‘Camp All Saints’ continues to be the name of our program. It is worth noting that the Diocese of Central Florida just closed their camp and conference center.
‘We Are Threaded’, a Christian program of racial conversation and awareness, will take place this fall. We are grateful to Marcus Lloyd for helping us with this. I plan to sit in sessions in the different convocations. Click here to view the schedule.
On the subject of racial reconciliation, Champions Academy, a program we support, had a great summer program in the midst of our heat wave. We continue our collaboration with Victory Outreach and Our Savior, reaching out to the neighborhood in Pleasant Grove. The Greater Dallas Coalition, of which Stephanie is a board member, continues to draw together churches throughout the greater Dallas area. In all of this Carrie Headington has been the catalyst and encourager; if you are looking to get involved, contact her at
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On the Spiritual Theology front: our programs in the Stanton Center and Benedictine retreats, led by Bishop Michael Smith, are well attended. If you’d like to get your parish involved, be in touch with him at
This fall we will have a Global South bishop on sabbatical and in residence. If you would like to have Bishop Felix Annancy of Koforidua, Ghana, visit on a Sunday, get in touch with Haley at
The supply fee will help with his ordinary expenses.
If you know of young people drawn to the question of vocation, or with a nascent interest in theology, direct them to RADVO this September 21 - 23 at Incarnation. Bishop Todd McGregor, retired of Madagascar, who is attending, is game to preach on Sunday, September 23 after the conference. Let Haley know if you are interested.
Our taskforce of encouragement in stewardship and renewal (‘Revive-all’) is open for business if you’d like advice or help. Get in touch with…you got it…Haley.
Thanks to all who offered hospitality to the Boldts, our missionaries in Cairo. If you want to connect your parish with them – Haley. Click here to see the full list of mission relationships in the Global South we are encouraging and praying for.
The Church Planting and Real Estate Commissions are working together to identify places and planters. We are focusing on growing towns north of the city. Our goal is to launch one such effort in 2024, and, I hope, another in 2025.
We had a successful ordination Discernment Retreat on August 6-8 at the Prothro Center in Texoma. We had more discerners who were female, more originating from our own parishes, and more looking at the diaconate – all of which was encouraging.
Please remind spouses about the day together at the Dallas Arboretum on Saturday, October 21. See Haley’s email to RSVP or at www.bit.ly/arbRSVP by September 30. Please do so for the sake of planning.
Some parish updates: Annunciation and Epiphany are getting closer to calls. We are doing some needed repairs at Holy Family, McKinney, which is also home to Santa Natividad. San Bernabé has almost completed its renovation of its parish hall, having already completed a magnificent new worship space. The Cathedral is on target for an opening of the diocesan offices in Garrett Hall by Advent.
Some random notes: If you are interested in contributing in support of the churches and people of Maui, click here or send a check to:
The Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii
229 Queen Emma Square
Honolulu, HI 96813
Also, the priest from the Diocese of South Nyanza in Kenya is studying in Fort Worth, and his bishop has asked him to handle the contribution of cassocks and surplices for his clergy. If you have something to offer, be in touch with us.
There is a crisis in the Church in Pakistan due to the persecution of Christians. Churches have been burned, homes destroyed, and more than a thousand families are without food or shelter. I have this news from their Archdeacon. I would like to send $20,000 as a gift from the diocese at our Convention. Please invite parishioners to contribute. Here are some pertinent dates:
Convention Leadership Day, Friday, November 3 at Epiphany, Richardson, with Professor Paul Wheatly (on Mark) and Bishop Graham Tomlin (on theology and culture).
Diocesan Convention, Saturday, November 4 at The Episcopal School of Dallas. ‘Africa in Dallas, Dallas in Africa,’ the preacher will be Bishop Joseph Wandera of Mumias, Kenya, celebrant Bishop Felix Annancy, and a newly commissioned hymn from the Diocese of Tarime, Tanzania. (If you are interested in a global mission partner, Bishop Wandera is one of those recommended on the enclosed list.)
Diocesan Parish Leadership Day, Saturday, January 27, 2024 at St. Matthew’s Cathedral. Keynote Speaker: The Rev. Dr. Cheryl Minor, National Director of the Center for the Theology of Childhood, the publishing arm of Godly Play.
Clergy Conference, April 15-17, 2024 at Camp Allen. Speaker: Professor Justin Stratis, Wycliffe College. Preacher: The Reverend Tish Warren.
Diocesan Mission Day, May 4, 2024 at St. Nicholas, Flower Mound. Keynotes: Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge, authors of The Great Dechurching. On a personal note, my friend Ephraim Radner and I are working on a Global Anglican Catechism project involving younger global male and female scholars. We are meeting in Cairo in early December.
Peace,
The Rt. Rev. Dr. George R. Sumner, Bishop of Dallas