Fr. Clay Lein Called to Houston

Adapted from a parish announcement

The search committee of the Church of St. John the Divine, Houston, has called the Rev. Clay Alan Lein as the parish’s fifth rector. Fr. Lein was the unanimous choice of the search committee and his call was issued on the unanimous vote of the vestry.

In 2002, Fr. Lein (pronounced Lee-in) was called to start a new church in Frisco, a growing suburb of Dallas. Clay has been the rector of St. Philip’s Church since then, ministering to a congregation that has grown from its founding members to its current size of nearly 1,400 baptized members and more than 700 in average Sunday attendance. It is the third-largest church in the Diocese of Dallas.

Fr. Lein previously served as executive pastor at Christ Church, Plano, and associate pastor at All Saints Church, Pawleys Island, South Carolina. He is the author of Ordinary Faith, published in 2008, about “finding real faith in ordinary life.”

“We’ve been amazed and blessed by the prayerfulness of SJD,” he said. “Thank you for that. It has become clear to us that God has laid a strong foundation of faith here and that St. John the Divine is poised for a real movement of God’s Spirit. I believe that the best really is yet to be, and I’m grateful that Jill and I get to be part of it.”

Fr. Lein is married to Jill Elizabeth Lein, whom he says “loved me to faith.” They have three grown children: Jennifer, who soon will be moving to Portland to pursue a post-graduate certification in horticultural therapy, and John and Joshua, who are each completing their undergraduate degrees at the University of North Texas.

Read the rest.

Greeting From the Fifth Rector of St. John the Divine from The Church of St John the Divine on Vimeo.

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