There are so many things I want to tell you about Fr. Chris - he is warm, friendly, humble and caring. He has a passion for music and its power in our worship of God. Children and youth are important to him, as well as outreach and mission. His leadership style is informal, and he "values an atmosphere where all feel welcome to worship and to express their opinions . .".

We expect that Fr. Chris will be here at Christ Church as our rector as of August 1, 2008. Because of his school age children, he has requested that they be allowed to complete the school year before moving to Westerly. He plans to keep in touch with all of us during these next months, and we'll keep you informed on a regular basis.

We're all grateful for the dedicated work of the Self-Study Committee and the Search Committee who led us on this journey for the past year and a half. To Fr. Marshall Rice: thank you so very much for your patient and skillful counseling during this whole process. Many, many thanks to Fr. Fred for his caring guidance and leadership of our parishioners. We couldn't have done it without you, Fr. Fred!

I know you're all as excited as I am about this good news. Hallelujah and Thanks be to God!

God bless you all,

Ginnie Bonk
Senior Warden

February 27, 2008
Christ Church Episcopal Church
7 Elm Street
Westerly, RI 02897-2198

Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ:
Words alone cannot fully convey the joy that I feel in being called to be your Rector. There is no other place that I would rather be than at Christ Church! Your parish is filled with so many loving, hard working people who are being disciples and proclaiming God's Kingdom far and wide. My family and I are thrilled that we will be joining you and becoming part of your parish family. We cannot wait until we are able to meet the rest of you!

Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to read about your parish, to speak to people regarding it and finally to visit and to meet the people of your search committee and vestry and more. At each step of the way I was struck by the tremendous potential, enthusiasm and spirit of your parish. You have so much to be thankful for, as God has truly blessed your parish richly. I also told the search committee that if I weren't applying to be Rector, that I would still like to belong to this parish.
We come to you from sunny and cold Alberta where we have lived these past five years, about 9 hours north of western Montana. We are in an area where the prairie merges with the boreal forest, about four hours east of the Rocky Mountains. It is a big farming area, mostly wheat and other grains along with beef and some dairy and horses. It is also located on the periphery of an oil and natural gas producing area and the world's largest oil sands mining. Oil and beef are king here in Alberta and the largest customer is in the United States. Another big export is the "Alberta Clipper," a mass of frigid air that you sometimes hear about in a New England winter. Winters are sunny, dry and cold with temperatures often dropping to below -40 C (-40 F, and dry or not it's darn cold). Summers are warm and dry with over 18 hours of daylight/ day as we are pretty far north. As Archdeacon I am responsible for an area that is ~ 5 hours wide and 2 hours deep traveling at 120 kmh (~75 mph). Needless to say, I will not have any trouble making the drive to Providence or even Boston or New Hampshire on a regular basis.

Although I have come to love the beauty of the West, I am originally from the Northeastern U.S., born in New Jersey a first generation Greek-American and spending most of my life in CT and other New England states. I most recently lived in Durham, CT where I had also spent much of my youth. I majored in Biology at Trinity College in Hartford and received a Ph.D. from the University of CT in Biomedical Sciences: Neuroscience (I am a big UCONN Huskies fan) and a M.Div. from Yale Divinity school with a Diploma in Anglican Studies from Berkeley Divinity School. My wife Elisabeth is a native of Alberta, a practicing Family Physician and also an Anglican Priest whom I first met at seminary. We have four children, 3 girls and 1 boy as well as a fairly large and solid cat named Pumpkin and, as of this letter, a Border Collie puppy yet to be named. The two older children (Iliana & Aleta) were born in CT and the younger two (Aeneas & Tasia) in Alberta with the puppy and cat also native Albertans.
We are currently in the midst of trying to wrap up our activities here and search for a home in Westerly while the children finish school (ending June 28). We will then spend 2 weeks at Sorrento, British Columbia at an Anglican Church camp and then move to Westerly in July. Over the next few months I will make at least two trips down to Westerly to look for housing and to take care of any other matters that are necessary. I will try and meet with as many of you as possible during those visits, but don't worry if we don't connect then as we'll have plenty of time to meet after August 1st.
I want to say again how ecstatic we are about joining your parish family and assure you that we are counting down the days until we are there. I want to thank those on the Self-study Committee, Search Committee and Vestry, as well as all of you who lifted them up in prayer, for helping to bring this call to a fruition. I look forward to meeting and getting to know each and everyone of you and journeying together with you as witnesses to the Good News of God in Jesus Christ. My prayers continue with you as you journey with our Lord through this Lenten period of reflection and penitence.

Blessings,
Father Chris+