Fr. Cam Walker celebrating at St. John's - Rector's Rambling for July 20, 2025

     Today we have the great blessing of Fr. Cam Walker as our guest celebrant and preacher at St. John’s!  Although Fr. Cam has preached here many times -  while he was a layman on staff at St. John’s, while a seminarian at Nashotah House, and while a deacon -  today will be the first time he will celebrate the Holy Communion here since being ordained a priest last fall.

A native of Fenton, Michigan, Fr. Cam discovered The Episcopal Church and the glories of Anglicanism while in college.  Moving to Detroit to attend law school, it became clear pretty quickly that his vocation was not to practice law but to be a priest in the Church.  We are grateful to have had the opportunity be a part of his discernment process, and to support him while he was studying at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin.  He currently serves as the curate (a position generally for a newly ordained priest to learn and do parish ministry) at the Cathedral Church of the Incarnation in Garden City, Long Island.   Welcome back Fr. Cam!

Next week we have our Founders Day Sunday.  We will be celebrating the Holy Communion on that Sunday from the original prayer book used in the Episcopal Church, which was in use when St. John’s opened her doors for worship on November 17, 1859.   Remarkably, the liturgy will be very recognizable since the basic form and theology of prayer book worship changed little from the then until now, even though the 1928 Book of Common Prayer is the 3rd edition in the Episcopal Church in the USA.  An Ice Cream Social will follow in the parish garden.

 In August we will have another guest preacher and celebrant, God willing, Fr. Bob Hennagin, Rector of Holy Trinity Church in Midland, Texas, will be with us.  Fr. Hennagin grew up at St. John’s, and credits our late rector Fr. Tom Frisby with the inspiration to discern a vocation to the priesthood.  A graduate of Highland Park High School, he is in town for his 50th reunion.  He has never had the opportunity to celebrate the Holy Communion at our altar so we look forward to welcoming him on August 10th.