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the next rector of christ church by david roseberry subscribe sign in the next rector of christ church letting go and trusting forward david roseberry jun 03 2025 27 4 1 share a quick note to all readers we are nearing the end of the christ church stories i will have one more post and then we will move on at the anglican what a ride i thank god for all he did for fran me my family and the people of christ church thank you for reading along i d be honored to have your participation in the anglican we have some great things planned for the summer free subscribers are always welcome paid subscribers bring their own kind of greatness to this substack and patrons they receive our combined admiration and my everlasting thanks upgrade your membership today upgrade your subscription and now here s the episode today a church in its prime in 2014 and 2015 christ church was by all accounts at the height of its life we had a remarkable staff the vestry was strong and spiritually mature worship was vibrant and the church s reach was growing our mission efforts in peru were bearing extraordinary fruit years earlier we had tithed 800 000 from one of our capital campaigns to gift a three story conference center for the diocese of peru our people didn t stop there they built schools supported churches and stood faithfully behind bishop bill and judith godfrey as our 30th anniversary approached i wanted the congregation to feel what i felt a sense of gratitude and awe so we gathered for one service asked everyone to wear green why green i still don t know and had a photographer capture the moment the people the building the movement of god we had paid off every debt when we left the diocese of dallas we took our financial burden with us 8 million this played no small part in their willingness to let us go but we paid it off early christ church became fully debt free with healthy reserves in the bank we had been a church planting machine some of our plants ran into challenges so we re evaluated we shifted our strategy instead of sending people we sent money offering 50 000 to 75 000 to help new works in austin georgia and a few more in our diocese take root and grow however the purpose of a church is not to build buildings and raise money the written definition of a church is a congregation of people where the pure word of god is preached and the sacraments of new life are duly administered the few years hovering around our 30th anniversary were marvelous but something in me began to stir the whisper of change i didn t know what to do next i had always been a builder driven by vision pushing forward leading from the front but with the buildings complete the mission strong and the people content i began to feel a strange question rising in me now what that s when the financial gifts started arriving unsolicited unusual large after a good business year one man gave 100 000 designated for anglican issues another longtime friend who had come to faith at christ church gave 130 000 for the same purpose i had good uses for the money in mind and they all involved clergy training think tanks or conferences we even hired an event coordinator and sponsored men s women s clergy and provincial meetings then came dinner with a couple i d known for 31 years original members they had a stewardship story that started with him as a reluctant tither he stubbornly tried to prove malachi 3 obsolete but after decades of year after year increases in salary bonuses and personal wealth he became a believer not only in christ but in the tithe that night he and his wife sat across from us at a restaurant table and asked david what are you going to do to help this anglican church become what it s meant to be i shrugged i hadn t planned on leaving christ church i thought i d coast a little but he pressed me what would it take to get out there and help churches raise leaders and build for the future was he serious i gave him a number uncertainly 100 000 maybe 200 000 i don t remember much from that pivotal evening except that he said christ church is great it s strong you could stay until you retire and no one would complain but the acna needs what you can bring to it that night he wrote a check for 100 000 on the spot and said there s more where that came from we believe in you on the drive home i told fran i feel like i ve just been released from christ church but i don t want to go in my mind i would be leaving the best position in the anglican church i had a secure future in a healthy loving church where i was a respected leader subscribe i was afraid she replied as she often did honey you will never need to worry the support will follow if you write consult and help the church people believe in you i wasn t sure i was worried about our material future i d grown up poor i was afraid but something in me knew she was right vancouver b c a few months later fran and i attended a church conference in vancouver the event was tightly organized and overseen by a young canadian priest he directed bishops like a conductor laughing at his own jokes and managing a hundred moving parts with confidence and ease his name was paul donison i watched him for a while then leaned over to fran and whispered who is this guy he reminds me of me she smiled i kept watching the following day after the final session paul came into the dining hall with his tray looking for a seat i waved him over he joined us we chatted about texas canada hockey and ministry easy conversation smart warm engaging as we walked out of the room i turned to fran and said that s the next rector of christ church she will vouch for this story she looked at me startled what are you talking about i said i don t know how and i don t know when but i just met my successor i didn t tell anyone not the staff not the vestry not even paul but something in me shifted that day a holy weight began to lift i brought paul down to plano later that year to consider a role as a vicar but nothing clicked he was gracious and gifted but the chemistry wasn t there it didn t feel right so i moved on a voice in the car and then one summer morning in 2015 driving to christ church i heard it deep in my soul your time is over i couldn t believe it but i knew it was true i didn t have a plan only a deep conviction that younger legs were needed to carry christ church the next stretch of the journey and that i had work to do that july i called a special vestry meeting with a trembling voice i told them it s time i had just turned 60 i never thought i d say those words so soon but god had made it clear my calling was shifting a new trajectory was beginning the unexpected joy of letting go i wrote to the congregation the next day the following sunday the sanctuary was packed i stood to speak not with a polished vision just the truth i told them i had thrown my hat over the wall and was stepping away there were some immigration hurdles to clear paul was a canadian citizen and in those months of delay i was asked to stay and preach that season became one of the most unexpected gifts of my life i preached with a freedom i hadn t felt in years not as the leader carrying the full weight of the church but as a man set free i wrote about it in anglican compass i am preaching with one aim in mind the communication of the gospel as a fully vested rector i always did try to have that in mind always but other things crowd into the mind of a busy rector and thus the pulpit where am i leading the church why is that usher checking his facebook feed right now why is attendance a bit off today how long is that announcement about the picnic going to take what time is kick off noon or 12 15 the list sadly is endless but in these days when i am counting down the days the list is reduced to only one question is there someone here who doesn t quite get the gospel yet i quoted w griffith thomas think yourself empty read yourself full write yourself clear pray yourself keen then enter the pulpit and let yourself go and i did every sunday richard baxter once said i preached as never sure to preach again and that s what i did i preached as if each sermon might be my last because in a way it was the installation was still ahead paul had applied and remarkably had been selected uncoached unprompted unconnected to me when the vestry called to tell me i laughed i told them what i d seen over eggs and coffee in vancouver how god had shown me a year earlier it was never my job to name my successor only to make room for him a runway for the future in writing the christ church stories i ve seen things i never saw before patterns i had missed providences i had overlooked i now see that the financial strength of christ church and the donors who gave to what we simply called anglican issues were not just generosity they were god building a runway getting things ready for something else to take off and he did i stepped aside paul stepped in the church kept going and i let go the final episode in the final episode of the christ church stories i ll reflect on what happened next what happened to christ church to me and to the calling that came after the calling the story isn t over but the next chapter begins grace and peace david roseberry the anglican the anglican is a reader supported publication if you have enjoyed this series please consider joining as a paid subscriber be a blessing subscribe the anglican is the substack newsletter for leaderworks where i share insights encouragement and practical tools for clergy and lay christians i m also an author of over a dozen books available on amazon if you are a paid subscriber thank you thank you for supporting the anglican and the ministry of leaderworks if you are not a subscriber please consider becoming one today 27 4 1 share previous next discussion about this post comments restacks alan balthrop jun 3 2025 edited liked by david roseberry the lord be with you father might i ask to you share one more story i understand the chapel wasn t always planned to be there but something happened to make its creation possible could you tell that story the simplicity of the early morning service and the smaller space have become an anchor for me i was always glad to call you my rector christ church is my home please forgive me if i ever caused you trouble or hurt you in any way you reaching out privately when miles died was a kindness i have not forgotten please also forgive my not acknowledging that in more than a quick way that i did i was very distracted at the time reply share 1 reply by david roseberry barbi mcswain jun 3 2025 liked by david roseberry it s so nice to relive these moments with you i ve been at christ church plano since 2005 and i remember the 30th anniversary picture trying to find green to wear was a challenge it s so refreshing and reassuring to read how we retired that debt and went on to some impressive projects around the community and world especially when other less governed churches have fallen into financial insecurity for whatever reasons it s a comfort to know that then and now with bishop paul our church is a good steward of what our lord has blessed us with and lives are being changed reply share 1 reply by david roseberry 2 more comments top latest discussions no posts ready for more subscribe 2026 david roseberry privacy terms collection notice start your substack get the app substack is the home for great culture this site requires javascript to run correctly please turn on javascript or unblock scripts