News and Information

Canterbury Episcopal School:
Witness to a watching world
by Lyn Baker, head of school

day in the life of Canterbury starts as the sun just begins to illuminate the campus. Rabbits and roadrunners are foraging for breakfast beside a road that leads past three campus buildings, quiet playing fields, gardens full of native plants — rosemary, yellow lantana, climbing roses, sweet smelling herbs — and a landscape dotted with native limestone and stands of live oak and pecan trees. Soft dew coats the lawns. It is quiet.

As the sun rises, the campus comes alive with young people and teachers as they go about their business — teaching and learning, laughing and working together. The school’s goal is to build a bright future for the students who come here looking for a classic, college-preparatory education that honors and worships God.

Throughout the day, students participate in small, tutorial-sized classes that invite discussion, encourage questions, and stimulate independent thinking. Canterbury’s teachers know each student’s learning style, strengths, and weaknesses, and they are eager to help each child succeed. A necessary counterpoint to the business of the day is a time for reflection about spiritual things during chapel and the weekly Eucharist service.

Late in the day, the early morning quiet gives way to boisterous shouts as coaches direct youthful dynamism into sports, such as soccer, volleyball, rugby, and baseball. Other teachers channel those energies into the visual arts, a model UN, or theater.

Canterbury graduates attest to its excellent training and remarkable experiment in diversity. Within the structure of beautiful Anglican liturgy and practice are many varieties of religious understandings, ethnic backgrounds, and financial means. A focus on a loving God, who has made each one of his children uniquely in his own image, connects us all. Canterbury is building a special community as a witness to a watching world.

Canterbury’s campus is tucked away off the busy intersection of Cockrell Hill Rd. and I-67 in DeSoto. Grades K – 12 currently enroll 305 students. One hundred percent of Canterbury graduates enter competitive colleges, such as Baylor, Columbia, Duke, Emory, Northwestern, Tufts, and others. Eighteen graduates from the class of 2008 received in excess of $900,000 in scholarship offers. In addition to academics, Canterbury has award-winning athletic and fine arts programs.

For more information, contact Michelle Burks
(972-572-7200 x145).

by the Rev. Bill Lovell, rector, Trinity Hillcrest, Dallas

ack in the spring of 2003, several of us at Trinity Hillcrest were praying for our church to grow. Our average Sunday attendance had been stuck for a while (around 100), and we believed that we needed to do something to be more effective in our gospel mission.
 
To be honest, what we probably had in mind for the church was a Dallas Cowboy and a couple of CEOs who believed in tithing. But instead, the Lord gave us a Kenyan named Jacob Muiruri, an Anglican priest and scholar and an evangelical Christian with a degree from Moore College, Sydney, and a vision for reaching the thousands of Kenyan immigrants and their families who live in Dallas.

With Trinity’s support, Jacob began meeting in a living room with a handful of people who shared his vision. With faithful Bible teaching and loving pastoral care, the congregation grew. At first, Jacob’s family was still back in Kenya, but in time, Trinity was able to sponsor his wife and three kids to join him.

Today, five years later, Jacob’s ministry has grown to over 200 people — the largest gathering at Trinity on the Lord’s Day. Their giving is substantial, but even more wonderfully, their passion for Christ is a joy and an inspiration to us all.

However, the Lord wasn’t finished with this unusual pattern of growth at Trinity. A group of Messianic Jews came next, followed by other groups of Argentineans, Ghanans, Tanzanians, and most recently, Eritreans. Counting the new Coram Deo Academy, Trinity currently has seven “partner ministries” (some Anglican, some not) who share space, expenses, and a commitment to the gospel.

While language differences make it beneficial for us to meet separately most Sundays, we cherish opportunities to meet together whenever we can. Some have noted that weekends at Trinity look a little like the United Nations General Assembly! I prefer the description of heaven in Rev. 7:9, “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of
the Lamb.”

Admittedly, we live out this heavenly vision in an imperfect way. There are occasional stresses and strains — cultural, linguistic, and even theological — but, through it all, God has used the partner ministry model to bless all of us at Trinity with a deepening sense of his awesome heart of love for the nations.

Could it be that God is calling your parish to open its doors to other congregations — maybe to people of a different ethnic background or language? If so, do it! And please let us know if we can help in any way. For more information, contact Trinity (972- 991-3601).

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