News from your Missioner 

This is the letter Patrick Hall sent to Autry House congregants – announcing his answering the call from Church of the Epiphany.

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Dear Autry House, 

It has been my pleasure to partner with you in building a gifted, kind, quirky Christian community over the course of seven wonderful years. But the time has come for me to move onto the next adventure in my vocational journey. On January 6′”, the feast of the Epiphany, I accepted a call to become the next rector of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, in southwest Houston. Epiphany is a jubilant community of Episcopalians, whose determined fellowship in the face of adversity, and across all the fault lines that bisect our culture is an irresistible witness to me. I feel called, duty-bound, and excited to put my gifts as pastor and priest to work growing, strengthening, and expanding that witness. 

But my heart is also melancholy, perhaps in equal measure to my excitement. I will always cherish the memory of ministry in the midst of so many brilliant minds, and so many kind souls. We have built something wonderful at Autry House: a community that fills hearts and stomachs but not google calendars, where there are no attendance requirements or class ranks, just forgiveness and friendship. We have made Autry House into a place where the grace of God in Jesus Christ is truly sovereign, over all the estrangements and anxieties that plague the Rice community. For all of this I can only say, thank you. 

My last Sunday at Autry House will be in six weeks, on February 24“. We are currently putting together a plan for the rest of the Spring semester after my departure, and there will be more information forthcoming about that. This coming Sunday Jason Evans, my supervisor at the Diocese of Texas, will be with us for church and dinner at 6:30PM. I hope that you will come to meet him, and come with any questions you have about the next season of ministry at Autry 

House. The next six weeks will be about celebrating all that we have done together, preparing for the future, and of course saying good bye. There will be laughter and probably some crying, and I am looking forward to all of it. 

Yours in Christ, 

Patrick Hall