An Announcement from Fr. Andrew McLarty

Dear Friends, 

With trust in the Risen Christ and with a good measure of both excitement and sadness, I am writing to let you know that I have accepted the call to be the next rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Columbus, Mississippi. My discernment with St Paul's has been careful and prayerful. This season of discernment has led my family and me to be confident that God has called me to this new ministry.

While this new call brings us a sense of expectant joy, it would be false for me to ignore the feelings of sadness and grief that are likewise present. Redeemer has been our home for the last three-and-a-half years. We’ve celebrated baptisms and confirmations. We’ve mourned as we’ve buried our departed loved ones. We’ve shared so many moments of community together. We’ve welcomed new staff. We’ve grown our membership, in spite of a global pandemic. We’ve had difficult conversations. We’ve loved God and one another the best way broken humans can: imperfectly—but faithfully—in the midst of it all. 

Today, I mostly want to offer my profound gratitude to you. Thank you for all that you have meant to me, my family, my life, and my ministry. I thank you for the part you have played in giving me that gift. Thank you for the incredible kindness you have shown to me in so many ways. Thank you for allowing me to serve you as a pastor, priest, and teacher. Thank you for encouraging me as I have led and for being there to pick me up when I have stumbled. You have been such an incredible source of God’s grace in my life, and I pray that I have been so in yours. 

My final Sunday with you will be October 29. The Rev. Canon Brian Ponder, our diocesan Canon to the Ordinary, will soon meet with the Vestry and begin to look forward to the exciting future God has planned for Redeemer.  

In the meantime, I hope we all have time to connect, to share a word and maybe a coffee, and to give thanks for the time God has given us together. I ask that you keep my family and me in your prayers as we begin the process of moving. I can assure you that you will remain in my prayers daily as you continue to follow Jesus on all the good paths in which he leads you.

God Bless,

Fr. Andrew McLarty+