Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has called the Rev. Kevin Sparrow to serve as the second rector of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Conway. Though he was raised in Georgia, Father Sparrow will be moving to South Carolina from Montpelier, Vermont, where he has served since September 2021 as the priest-in-charge of Christ Episcopal Church. His start date with St. Anne’s is still being finalized but will be announced soon.

The bishop expressed her great joy about this call to St. Anne’s. “Through the perseverance, clarity, and patience of the strong leaders of St Anne’s, the Holy Spirit has worked to bring together this courageous community with a gifted priest,” said Bishop Woodliff-Stanley. “The Rev. Kevin Sparrow is a seasoned priest, a scholar, and a joyful pastoral leader; it was clear to all that this is a wonderful match. I am delighted to welcome him, along with his spouse, Andrew, to St Anne’s and to our diocese.”
 
Ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Diocese of California in 2012, Father Sparrow served congregations California and Massachusetts in a variety of roles before being called to Christ Church in Vermont in 2021, where he was successful in increasing average attendance and pledges and maintained a thriving program for youth and family ministries. Over the course of his career, he has served in the Peace Corps, and taken on various roles in administration, Christian formation, children’s ministries, and chaplaincy.

Leadership of St. Anne’s, Conway, joyfully announced the news on Wednesday, February 21. Father Sparrow is looking forward to becoming a part of the St. Anne’s community. “I am both humbled and thrilled to have been called as the next rector of St. Anne's,” said Sparrow. “I can't wait to begin ministry with the congregation and get to know the local community. It is truly a special place."

Father Sparrow graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from The University of the South (Sewanee) in 1996 with double major in history and art history (Phi Beta Kappa). He earned his MDiv from Harvard Divinity School in 2000, and a certificate of Anglican Studies from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (Berkeley, CA) in 2010. He is currently pursuing a doctorate of ministry in liturgy from The University of the South. Father Kevin and his spouse, Andrew Lane, look forward to moving to Conway soon, along with their dog, Nino.
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While the origins of St. Anne’s date back to living room gatherings in 2012, the congregation officially organized in 2013, and was recognized as a mission church of our diocese in 2014 and as a parish in 2018. After worshipping for most of their time in Lackey Chapel on the campus of Coastal Carolina University, St. Anne’s purchased a building in 2020, and following extensive renovations, the new church building was dedicated and consecrated by Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley in December 2021.

The Diocese hosted Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Mr. Noor A’Wad of the organization Roots/Shorashim/Judur for an event called “Two Truths in One Heart, Two Peoples in One Land,” on their American speaking tour last Thursday, February 22, at Grace Church Cathedral in Charleston.
 
The organization describes itself as “an Israeli-Palestinian grassroots initiative for understanding, nonviolence and transformation based in Judea & Samaria/the West Bank, and a unique network of local Palestinians and Israelis who have come to see each other as the
partners we both need to make changes to end our conflict. Based on mutual recognition of each People's national identity and connection to the Land, we are challenging the assumptions our communities hold about each other, building trust and creating a new
discourse around the conflict in our respective societies.”
 
Roots operates the only join Israeli-Palestinian community center in the West Bank, where Israeli Jews and Palestinians come together for social, religious, and educational activities, including a youth summer camp, women’s group, and dialogue meetings in times of stability and times of crisis.
 
Members of the Diocese heard Rabbi Schlesinger, a Jewish settler in the West Bank, and Mr. A’Wad, the son of a politically prominent Palestinian family, discuss stories from their own lives and from their organization. While Jews and Palestinians live in close quarters in the West Bank, members of one community can live for decades without a meaningful encounter with the other. Roots provides a space for nurturing cross-cultural and cross-religious relationships. They have shared their message abroad through the American Friends of Roots organization, and they work closely with other agencies in Israel and Palestine to foster peace and understanding. The Rev. Dr. Adam Shoemaker introduced the speakers and reflected briefly on his own Jewish-Christian-Muslim heritage and his recent sabbatical experience in the Middle East. Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley welcomed our guests and remembered her own family’s visit to Roots during their time in the Holy Land last August. Attendees of the event took part in a Q&A session with the speakers, and afterwards a small group joined the speakers for dinner and more conversation.
 
The event was livestreamed and recorded, and it is available to be watched at the following link: https://youtube.com/live/pLIuE1UzwJA. View an album of photos from the event on Facebook at this link. Learn more about this important organization on their website at: www.friendsofroots.net.