I am a bit like Saint Dunstan’s Church. We both are uncomfortable with notoriety. We don’t like it too much when people fuss over us or tell us how wonderful we are. As a result, we don’t tell many people the kinds of things we do to improve the lives of folks in this community. Personally, I feel uncomfortable by the personality cults that are built around church leaders. I once belonged to a church where the priest was rumored to walk on water, speak to Jesus face to face at least twice a week, and heal the leprous at the Sunday evening service. Soon, I realized that the congregation was divided into two groups: those who thought the priest was of divine origins and those who came to church hoping to witness a miracle. For the first group there was nothing the priest could do or say to make them change their minds. He was a God-like hero of the faith, and they felt blessed to breathe the same air he was breathing. Some of the second group eventually drank the cool-aide and joined the rector’s fan-club. The rest soon tired out of waiting for a miracle and moved on to the next religious experience. I think about that congregation often and as much as I admire their army-general, turned hero-of-the-faith priest, I pray people will continue to come to Saint Dunstan’s to see Jesus and not to see me. It is Jesus who is the Savior of the world, not I. I am nothing but a broken sinner trying hard to be as faithful as I can be.

I say Saint Dunstan’s is uncomfortable when people fuss over us for the following reasons: Many of you give us money for various causes with the condition that we tell no one where the money came from. We send many of our kids to various camps every year and subsidize Camp Allen scholarships. Various parishioners funded all our needs for our Sunday school curricula anonymously. We fundraised to help three families recovering from the effects of Hurricane Ida. We have helped Hope Center Houston and Lord of the Streets, in addition to NAM. We are funding a restorative justice program in Cali, Colombia, and it is heartwarming to see the pictures of the various activities and programs our money subsidizes. Many of our parishioners contribute thousands of dollars to many causes dear to them every year. We have supported Seminary of the Southwest since last year and our money is used to fund scholarships for at-need students. And we remain a welcome source of mentorship and friendship for the kids of Eiland Elementary School. These are just a few examples of the type of people we are.

Now, why am I putting all of this on paper when most of us would rather continue helping others in secret? The reason is very simple. I want to commend you for your generosity. The church itself benefitted from your love this last September when we raised $372,000 for major maintenance in less than three weeks. We are both an in-reaching and out-reaching congregation. We take care of our needs, while at the same time alleviating much need in our communities. This missional outlook goes beyond writing checks. We have been to mission in South Dakota and Dominican Republic a number of times, and we can’t wait until we can go back again in the near future. We also provide valuable volunteer hours to Hope Center Houston, Lord of the Streets, and NAM. This is what a congregation can accomplish when the Gospel of Jesus Christ is lived out to the fullest.

So there, I broke the rules!  I told the whole world some of the things we have done to clothe, feed, educate, visit, befriend and evangelize many in the name of Jesus.

Of course, I have said nothing about the many people whose electricity, emergency food, transportation needs... have been paid through the Rector’s Discretionary Fund. I don’t want to give you too many specific details about these folks for confidentiality reasons. But, please know that your contributions are changing lives.  

Thank you all for your great generosity. May our Lord continue to bless you during this time when our In His Steps campaign will reach out to you to ask for your prayers and financial support. Please let us know what our support of you looks like. We want to be there for you as we journey together in this spiritual path that will lead us to God’s own presence one day.

Blessings to you,

Fr. Roman+