Greetings from Spain. We hope you have had a good summer. We would like to share some exciting news with you.
As we mentioned in our last Newsletter (Dec 2023), since the beginning of this year we have been exploring new ministry opportunities locally and abroad. Earlier in the summer we reconnected with friends from the Edinburgh Diocese, and in July Dani felt called to apply for a parish role in the diocese. On the 17th of August, he was interviewed for the position of Priest-in-Charge of St Peter’s Episcopal Church in Musselburgh, and a week later the bishop of Edinburgh formally offered Dani the post, which he accepted. During the interview process both of us were made very welcome by the Vestry (church council) members and Bishop John.
The Scottish Episcopal Church was one of the first Anglican Communion provinces to become fully inclusive of LGBT+ folk and to offer same-gender marriages in their churches. St Peter’s Musselburgh are a warm, welcoming and inclusive congregation, with a real desire to go grow spiritually and a big heart for their wider community. The church itself is on the High Street and is an iconic visual reference in this beautiful coastal town on the edge of Edinburgh. We are both thrilled to be joining St Peter's for this new stage of our shared journey.
In our visit to Scotland we also enjoyed hospitality from our Los Olivos friends, Dean and William, serving as clergy in Edinburgh, and had a fun evening at the Fringe Festival with our friend John Bell watching “Afrique en Cirque”, a fantastic “cirque du soleil” style show from Guinea.
We are very excited about this new opportunity God has opened before us, and also a bit overwhelmed by all the preparation work of the coming weeks (including the application process of a work visa for Dani, planning a house move, and moving to a new country). We are hoping to move to Scotland at the end of October to start work in the church in November. There will be a licensing/institution service in late November and you would be most welcome to attend in person if you are in the area. Just let us know if you plan to do so.
How will this affect Los Olivos?
We will continue to share our Los Olivos online retreat resources with you all on our website for the foreseeable future. We are also hoping to create a “Homilies Podcast” section on our website to share selected teaching talks by Daniel at St Peter’s Church as part of the Sunday services. We may also be able to offer live streams of our Sunday worship via social media for anyone interested.
As ever, we are grateful for your friendship, prayers and support over the years, and especially in this new chapter of our lives and ministry.
Comments