To My New Friends at The Church of the Nativity:
What a joy it was to be with you this past Sunday! As I explained on Sunday, I was previously Vicar at Nativity 1985-86 during my early years at St. Peter’s. That was a lifetime ago, and the energy and excitement within this newly re-established congregation today is considerably different today than it was 37 years ago!
I want to use this, my first written communication with you, as a way to briefly give you a little background information on me. I do so, not because it is terribly interesting, but because it is what has shaped and formed me to be the priest and person that you have called as your vicar.
First, I am a native Mississippian- at least sixth generation, as best I can tell. I am a product of all the good, the bad and the ugly of this “my little postage stamp of native soil”, as Mr. Faulkner described it. I have lived in and through so much of our conflicted and tortured past, and have experienced the grace and hope that has been birthed out of our history in this unique place. I intentionally chose to raise my family here, a decision that many of my college friends could never understand.
I came of age in Mississippi in the turbulent 1950’s and 1960’s when my father, as a parish priest in three different churches, stepped into the dramatic cultural changes taking place as an instrument of prophetic witness and healing grace. More than anyone else, Dad shaped my understanding of what it means to be a Christian, a husband and father, and a priest of the Church.
You know of my tenure as Bishop of this diocese. Though I was reluctant to take the position as bishop, I do believe that I was called to that ministry in a particular time for a particular place ( l could never have been a bishop anywhere else). I believe that I did what I was called to do, but I missed the parish ministry every day of my fifteen years as bishop!
I have served congregations and schools in Greenville, MS; New Orleans, Memphis and Oxford prior to my election as bishop in 2000. After retirement in 2015 we returned o New Orleans where I assisted in a parish, and then returned to Oxford in 2017 to help out in a part time role at St. Peter’s. When Bishop Seage asked me to take on the role as Vicar of Nativity I was delighted!
Kathy, my wife, was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.. She and I met while I was in Seminary and working in her parish church. We have been married almost 48 years. Duncan IV, our first child who many of you know, was born in New Orleans and now works for the Oxford School District. He and his wife, Amber, have three children. You will be seeing them from time to time at Nativity. Peter, our second son who was born in Memphis, is the University Chaplain at Sewanee. He and his wife, Giulianna, also a priest, have two children.
In 2005 Kathy and I brought into our home a young war orphan from Sudan, Tabitha Agany, as a foster child. She is now our daughter and lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, John, and three children.
This is a very brief overview, a bare skeleton of my life. Over the years, as we get to know each other better, flesh and blood will be added to these bones. I will be asking you about your life, as well. I will do so, not to be nosy, but to get to know you in ever deepening ways. I do think that our life together in a faith community is enriched by such sharing.
I so look forward to this new adventure. See you Sunday!
Peace,
Duncan
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