Dear members and friends of the Diocese,

I want to share with you that the Rev. Tim Howe has accepted a position as Rector at St. Michael’s Anglican Church in Nokesville, VA and will be leaving his role in the Diocesan offices. Tim has served across multiple areas of ministry – he has assisted me and my predecessor with administrating the Great Commission Committee and our church planting work, our prayer and intercessors ministry, and more recently, he has taken on management of clergy background renewals and child safety training.

When I arrived in my role at the Diocese four years ago, I was a very green Anglican and going through my own transitions into the Anglican tradition and the work of our Diocese. One of Tim’s unique gifts is the ability to assimilate and hold the history of our work in church planting. In addition to managing the ordinary work as my assistant, I have personally leaned into Tim to better understand and grasp the history behind our efforts in this important area of mission. He is a wealth of institutional knowledge and is deeply committed to our mission in the area of church planting – we will miss his presence!

I am deeply thankful for his service to me and the diocese and wish him every blessing as he takes up his vocation as Priest among the parish of St. Michael’s. When you see Tim, please take a moment to offer him your thanks and your prayers!

Blessings,

Tuck+

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

In answer to many a heartfelt prayer, in 2016, the Diocese hired me to come onboard as the Executive Assistant to the Canon for Church Planting. This enabled me to leave a job loading trucks every morning at UPS. The Lord and I had had many an early morning prayer meeting as I ran in and out of the trucks, mostly consisting of me asking Him, “Why am I still here?” Looking back, I can see now that the timing wasn’t right for me to come onboard at the Diocese.

What I said in my interview with Tom Herrick, our first canon for church planting, when he asked me why I was interested in the position still holds true today. I told Tom, “I love Jesus Christ and His church, and I want to serve the church so that it succeeds.” That is still my heart today.

In 2013, several years before joining the Diocesan staff, Bishop Guernsey called me up one afternoon and asked me to take on the task of developing an intercessory prayer ministry to support the Great Commission Committee in its efforts to plant new churches, raise up new leaders, and support some of our struggling churches. It has been a privilege to do so these last twelve years, the last nine while serving on staff. Our Diocesan family is larger today and more people have met Jesus because our intercessory teams have prayed to the Lord of the harvest to send out the laborers and gather in the flocks. One of the words the Lord gave our teams right at the start was “perseverance.” That has been one of our hallmarks ever since. For instance, we prayed for nearly twelve years for the Lord to raise up a church planter and a church in Frederick, MD. After several fits and starts over the years, St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Fredrick, has been making steady progress under the leadership of Seth Zimmerman and a dedicated team of laity who have sacrificed, prayed and worked to bring the church into existence.

I could tell many other similar stories of new churches in the Diocese that were called into existence, supported, and helped because God’s faithful people committed to pray and continued to pray even when no answer was on the horizon.

So, I extend my heartfelt thanks to the many of you (over 200 over the years!) who have committed to pray faithfully for our efforts to plant new churches and expand Christ’s Kingdom in the Mid-Atlantic. It is my prayer that this ministry will continue and flourish in its next season under new leadership.

I would also like to thank Truro Church, Fairfax, and their rector Jamie Brown, for giving me the opportunity to teach their adult Sunday School for the last two years. Little did I know when that started that it would lead directly back into parish ministry! It has been a good preparation for this new ministry.

It has been a delight to work with my fellow Diocesan staff members over the years. I wish I could take all of them with me to St. Michael’s to help in this new ministry!

So, if you find yourself out in the Nokesville, VA, area, St. Michael’s meets at 10:30. Love to see you there!

Let me close by asking for your prayers in the coming days. I can think of nothing better to ask prayer for than Ephesians 6:18-20:

“praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Thank you, Canon Tuck and Bishop Chris, for allowing me to serve this wonderful Diocese. May the Lord richly bless you all as you continue to seek and serve Him.

Tim Howe+

Rector elect, St. Michael’s Anglican Church

Nokesville, VA

Just a few photos of Tim+ serving, praying, worshipping at Diocese events. (And a few fun photos, as well!)