Bishop’s Journal
October 2025
1 | Attend Sewanee Board of Trustees meeting, virtually
Conference Call with State Department of Health re: Health Fair
2 | Attend Sewanee Board of Trustees meeting, virtually
Conference call with Vicksburg Chamber of Commerce re: All Saints School property
Becoming Beloved Community
Monthly Zoom Gathering
3 | Attend Sewanee Board of Trustees meeting, virtually
Phone call with Mississippi Department of Archives & History
4 | Many thanks to the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of Mississippi for inviting me to share in their Fall meeting – and many thanks to St. Christopher’s Church, Jackson for hosting! We had a lovely time of fellowship and sharing our stories – and our ECW chapters are about the business of serving our communities!
Travel to Corinth
5 | Grateful to share worship today with the parish family of St. Paul’s Church, Corinth! Beautiful worship! Welcome to our new confirmands! Thank you all for your warmth and hospitality!
Preached, confirmed 4
There were many St. Francis services across the Diocese today. I stayed on in Corinth to join the St. Paul’s family as we asked God’s blessing on our pets and all of creation in the beautiful outdoor chapel dedicated to all creatures! Rhodes College friends: The gentleman seated in the outdoor chapel with his dogs is Professor Bruhwiler! He was at worship today with his wife, Ryland. What a small world!!!
6 | Travel to Columbus
A visit to Columbus – to meet renowned history teacher, Chuck Yarborough. What a wonderful visit to Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science! This school’s competitive enrollment process yields an engaged and highly motivated student body (More than 10% of this year’s graduating class have been named National Merit semifinalists.). Chuck and his students have received accolades for history research: “Tales from the Crypt” (described as “a combination of scholarly research and dramatic performance” allowing students to spend a semester researching and bringing to life a person buried at the Friendship Cemetery in Columbus) has received much acclaim, and students have also contributed to the work on local historic markers. Grateful to have connected with Chuck – and looking forward to learning more about Columbus history!
Travel to Jackson
7 | Province IV Bishops Call
Staff Meeting
Smaller Churches Collaborative meeting
Meetings with Staff Members (5)
8 | Office Day/Correspondence
9 | Meeting with clergyperson
Meeting with aspirant
10 | Meeting with Staff Member
Meeting with Clergyperson
11 | Travel to Leland
12 | This weekend, I was back in the Delta, with visitations at St. John’s Church, Leland and All Saints Church, Inverness. Earlier last week, I’d hoped to swap visitation dates with a church down on the Coast so that I could attend the funeral of one of our long-tenured clergypersons. The swap couldn’t be arranged, and the Delta trip moved forward as scheduled. I couldn’t have known that there would be a mass shooting in Leland – and that I really needed to be exactly where I had been scheduled. But yesterday the nation was awaking to the news that Friday evening high school homecoming events in multiple Mississippi towns had been interrupted by gun violence and death. In Leland, four persons were killed and another twelve were wounded. It’s a lot to process for a town with a population of about 3600 persons. I was grateful to be in Leland after this tragedy – to see where it happened, to offer prayers, and hopefully to speak some word into unity, peace and healing.
Visitation, St. John’s, Leland
Preached
Pop-in visit, St. Stephen’s, Indianola
Visitation, All Saints, Inverness
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So grateful for these worshiping communities. And I pray for the day that we can unite around our need for Jesus and the healing of our incredible divisions that can only come from him.
God of all comfort, our very present help in trouble, we entrust the souls of those whose lives have been lost in violence in our communities to your mercy. Be near to those who grieve and mourn this day; be near to all of us, and help us find our strength and comfort in you. We pray for those who were injured, that they may feel your presence and your healing hand upon them. We pray for witnesses, for police and other emergency responders, and for doctors, nurses and hospital staff who care for the injured, that they may seek and find you in the midst of the horrors they’ve seen, and know your love. We pray for those who harbor hatred or seek to harm others, that they may see your image in all of your children so that their hearts may be turned. Guard and guide us in our going out and our coming in, restore us to health in obedience to you, and lead us into paths of righteousness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
13 | Bishop’s sabbath
14 | Honored and privileged to have been invited to offer prayers at the Mississippi Bar Association’s Memorial Service. Thanks to Tom Fanning for the pic!
Staff Meeting
Meetings with staff members (3)
15 | Meeting with Jr. Achievement leader
16 | Meeting at New Horizon Church, Jackson
17 | Presentation at Rhodes College (virtual)
18 | Today, I was so privileged to be able to join the parish families of Church of the Holy Apostles, Collierville and St George’s Episcopal Church – Germantown, TN, the two churches I served before being called to the Diocese of Mississippi, as two dear ones were laid to rest. Jean M. Newton-Morris was one of the first persons I met at Holy Apostles, as I watched her lead an Altar Guild ministry with such grace and holy precision. She became a forever friend – crafting my chasuble for my ordination to the priesthood, and presenting me with my pectoral cross, a cross that she chose for me (in Wales, of course!), at my ordination last year. She joined me on two pilgrimages to Israel, bringing along her daughter, Gail, and her friend, J.D. and his wife, Lisa for the second time around.
David Olinger served St. George’s Church faithfully and well, alongside his wife of 70 years, Mary Alice. As one of the co-designers of the Columbarium at St. George’s, David remained faithful to that ministry for many years, including during my early tenure at St. George’s. His accolades as a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, pilot and businessman preceded him, as did his deep care for people.
I am reminded yet again of the tremendous privilege of serving these two parish churches – and of loving and being loved by these worshipping communities. I am #forevergrateful.
19 | A great Sunday in North Mississippi! Today’s visitation was with Church of the Epiphany in Tunica! Lovely worship and music – and lots of young people shared the day with our confirmand!
Preached, confirmed 1
After a delicious lunch, I joined the Vestry at Church of the Holy Innocents in Como for a time of visioning, as that church enters a time of transition.
20 | Commission on Ministry
Clergy Conference (St. James’, Jackson)
Spoke
21 | Clergy Conference 2025 in the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi is well underway! Our Pathways to Belonging theme is helping us reevaluate our accessibility to all of God’s people – as we look not only at accessibility for persons having physical disabilities but also how we welcome our beloved who struggle with mental health and substance/ addiction illnesses. We’re grateful for wonderful panel today helping us dig deeply in these issues so that our worshipping communities can become even stronger. #BecomingBelovedCommunity
22 | It’s a wrap on Clergy Conference 2025!! So many thanks: to St. James’ Church, for hosting us, and for such gracious hospitality; to Michael Beattie, Jonathan Trotter and the St. James’ choir, for the beautiful worship music; for all of our clergy who have traveled from across the diocese to be with us; for our outstanding panelists, who enlightened us with practical information for making our worshipping communities more welcoming to all of God’s people; for our diocesan staff, for putting it all together!! Thanks, everyone, for a great Clergy Conference!!
Preached
Standing Committee meeting
23 | Meeting with CPA firm
Trustees meeting
I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Mississippi Center for Justice Champions of Justice Awards – and see Jim Barksdale and Kelly Butler recognized for the Barksdale Reading Institute’s wonderful outcomes in improving children’s literacy in Mississippi. And I had a wonderful chat with Jim Barksdale (We’re both former FedEx’ers!). Grateful for the voices that continue to promote so much growth in our communities! Want to be part of a solution? Please check with your local school district to see if reading coaches are still needed – and give an hour of your week to a couple of students to help them grow as readers!!
24 | Meeting with the Rev. Lecia Diaz Brannon (Seminary of the Southwest)
This evening’s ordination of the Rev. Gabbie Munn, at St. Columb’s Church, Ridgeland! (And, a fabulous sermon by the Rev. Scott Walters!!!)
25 | Back to the Coast this weekend! Time for some enormously productive conversations yesterday and a quick visit to the pumpkin patch at Church of the Redeemer, Biloxi!
Meeting with Warden
Meeting with Clergyperson
26 | Then it was off to Picayune for today’s visitation at St. Paul’s Church! Welcome to our eight confirmands! So grateful to the St. Paul’s parish family for such lovely hospitality today and for your faithful ministry in this community! You continue to inspire me!
Preached, confirmed 8
27 | Bishop’s sabbath
Praying for our neighbors in the path of Hurricane Melissa: Lord, when the storms of life are raging, please continue to stand by us. In the midst of all of the trials that we face, help us always to put our trust in you. We commend to your care, Lord, all of your people who are in the path of Hurricane Melissa. Please surround them with your grace and mercy; be their shelter in the midst of wind and water. In the days to come, please bring healing, comfort and peace to the suffering. Open our arms and hearts to help our neighbors in distress; help us to share readily and generously the resources that we have, and help us to share abundantly our compassion and our love. Lord, help us always be a reflection of your love in our world. Amen.
28 | Travel to Atlanta for CPG meeting
29 | CPG meeting; travel to Jackson
30 | Reference Panel
Meeting with staff members
Meeting with clergyperson
31 | Meeting with clergyperson
Telephone conference re: Honduras Medical Mission
Telephone conference with CPA firm