A cathedral dean rarely chooses to return to a former parish as priest-in-charge, but for the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III that transition was an answer to prayer. Lloyd, dean of Washington National Cathedral since 2005, will return in October to Trinity Church, Boston, where he was rector from 1993 to 2005.
“My fundamental calling is as a priest ”” a preacher and teacher and pastor,” he said. “And the decision for me was to let go of this large, complex, exciting place” and to focus on a pastoral ministry. While he said that returning to his former parish “was a surprise” and “not part of the plan,” the possibility began to emerge as he thought about and prayed about his perceived calling to return to parish ministry.
“I’m not in this business to step up,” he said. “Every step has been to ask what with my gifts I’m being called to do.”
“Lloyd said the cathedral has hosted an inaugural prayer service for President Obama, intercessory services for earthquake victims in Haiti and Japan and “big, important public conversations†on issues such as global poverty and the empowerment of women in the developing world”.
Hasn’t it also hosted “ordinations” for the Metropolitan Community Church?
Where does one start to comment on such enlightened self-discernment? “This is a very difficult choice for me; I have loved my time here,†he said. “I’m giving up a great deal that I love here.†Wow! What a great man and humble servant he must be.