LOOKING OUT MY WINDOW (Who we are...)

On February 15, 2002, I arrived in Atlee and began moving in to the little white cape cod on US 301 just above Hanover High School. We were what is called an apostolic church plant, a new church start with no one sponsoring congregation. I knew only a few of the clergy and almost no laity. Now, five years later, Atlee has become my home and the All Souls community a beloved and treasured reality in my life.

Each day as I drive about, I’m calling the names of parishioners whose homes I pass and whose subdivisions come into view and whispering prayers for your well being. Now, memories of dinners, taste and see events, painful moments shared, losses suffered ride with me everywhere I go. Your faces, your desires, your struggles, and your expressions of love keep constant company with me.

I eagerly anticipate each Sunday, because I anticipate seeing you and sharing in worship with you. I find deep joy in being in your homes. And I feel grateful and honored to be trusted with your struggles in moments of darkness and your suffering in times of loss and illness.

We have become pastor and people. I have felt called to and loved pastoral ministry all of my adult life. I’ve felt comfortable with the challenge of evangelism—of inviting people into conscious contact with God through faith in Christ. The thought of being the start up priest for a new church felt quite strange and daunting when Bishop Frank Allen first suggested it in Atlanta in 1999. But, that suggestion proved to be part of a call from the community and from God to do just that.

We still are a community in formation; what we desire to be and do in God’s grace and guidance continues to emerge. And, we still are individuals in formation. The longer we walk together, the more we will be aware of one another’s beauty in Christ and of one another’s foibles and frailties. I can think of no more beautiful expression of God’s love than being in a community where we treasure each other and welcome all of each other into the life of the community.

These five years have been among the most fulfilling of my journey in ministry. And your loving faithfulness and friendship have been at the center of that experience.

God’s peace,

David Perkins, Vicar