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The Rt. Rev. Dr. David G. Read, D.D., Bishop of West Texas, sat down to discuss his visionfor the Diocese of West Texas.
Q: Please tell us a little bit about your family starting with your childhood, up to when you joined the Seminary.
A: I had a great childhood. My dad was born in Harlingen and his family moved to San Antonio when he was in elementary school. My mother was born here in San Antonio. Dad was in the Marine Corps, and I was born in North Carolina in 1965, while dad was stationed at Camp LeJeune, the third of three boys. It was a time when the Vietnam War was just getting underway. Dad had orders to go to Vietnam, so we moved back to San Antonio in 1966 because his parents and my mother’s dad lived here. Blessedly, he returned unharmed. Growing up in San Antonio, I went to Northside schools from elementary through high school. We joined St. Francis Episcopal Church when I was in first grade. I played trumpet in the high school band and worked for a local veterinarian as a vet tech. At one point, I thought about pursuing veterinary medicine. I went to college at Texas State University, (formerly Southwest Texas State) in San Marcos and majored in history with a minor in psychology. I was very involved in college ministry, the Canterbury Program at St. Mark’s Church, and that’s where Jacqui and I met and eventually got married.
Q: What were the factors that inspired you to become an Episcopal priest?
A: At St. Francis, I really enjoyed serving as an acolyte with my brothers. We went to church every Sunday. There was no option in our family about whether you got up on Sunday morning and went to church. It’s just what we did. We participated in Youth Group, thanks to parent volunteers, and our family was heavily involved in church. My mother was the church secretary and dad served on the vestry and ushered. When I was about 18 or 19 years old, I began to ask myself, “Do I really believe all these things that I’m saying on Sunday morning or am I just going through the motions?” I wrestled with the question and spent a lot of time in prayer asking God for guidance. Over a couple of months, I concluded that I really do believe and feel that God is real, that Christ has risen, and the Holy Spirit is at work.
Not too long after that, I began to have questions about seminary; “What is a priest? What does a priest do? How do you become one?” I began and continued for six or eight months with this early sense of calling and being called. I didn’t tell anybody. I just prayed, thought, and wondered about it. At this time, our parish had a new curate who didn’t know me or my family at all. I took him to lunch, and I just shared with him that I have this feeling that won’t go away, and I don’t know what to do with it. He said, “Maybe you’re being called, and should really wrestle with that some more.” From there, I had good conversations with our rector and wrestled another six months. I went back to the rector and shared that the feeling wasn’t going away. It was this feeling of if I don’t at least pursue this idea, I’m going to keep wondering whether I should have done it or not. His response was “Well, let’s go visit with the bishop.”
We visited with the Rt. Rev. John McNaughton, D.D., who was the new Bishop of West Texas at the time. I was 21 and didn’t think I would go to seminary, but I spent some time with Bishop McNaughton and he entered me into the formal diocesan discernment process. The way I thought about it was like a long hallway with a series of doors. As I went through the steps in the process, I was knocking on a door and asking God what I should do. If the door opened, I would step through and if it didn’t, I would go on and do something else. After about a year of going through all those steps and two weeks before my college graduation in May of 1988, Bishop McNaughton expressed that he wanted me to go to seminary. I started seminary in Virginia in the Fall of 1988.
Q: You have served in small and large churches within the diocese. Can you walk us through your journey serving in various parishes?
A: While in seminary, I did a pilot program, a year-long, full-time internship at St. John’s Church and School in McAllen. The Rev. Ed Rose was the rector at the time.
At the end of that year, Jacqui and I were married and went back to seminary in Virginia for my senior year. In 1992, I graduated and was ordained a deacon. Bishop McNaughton sent me to St. Paul’s Church in Brady where I became deacon in charge and then rector. At the same time, I was also Vicar of Church of the Good Shepherd in Eden, located about 30 miles west of Brady at the very northern end of our diocese. I would do a service twice a month. The people in Brady were great, great people. I learned so much being the priest in that church. Our daughter Amy was born in Brady and baptized at St. Paul’s. I was ordained to the priesthood there, so it has a lot of spiritual roots and meaning for us.
I served at St. Paul’s for just over three years and then accepted a call to go to St. Francis Church in Victoria, a larger church with 150 people attending each Sunday. Our son Aidan was born while we lived in Victoria, and Jacqui became head of a Presbyterian school. We were really busy with young family and church activities. I’d been there four and a half years when one day out of the blue, Bishop Folts stopped by for tea. He mentioned he was going up to Boerne because their priest retired, and he wanted to put my name on the rector’s search list. We hadn’t really thought about moving and were surprised. After some wrestling, I accepted the bishop’s invitation to be on that list and was eventually called to become Rector of St. Helena’s in 1998 and served as rector for 11 years. When I arrived, there were about 150 parishioners in a beautiful historic church right on Main Street in downtown Boerne. The town was just beginning to take off in terms of growth, and St. Helena’s too began to take off and grow.
In 2009, I accepted a call to be Rector of St. Luke’s Church and School in San Antonio, about a mile from the Bishop Jones Center, our diocesan office. We went and served in that wonderful place with a large, vibrant school. I served there for eight and a half years. Surprisingly, I had the opportunity to return to St. Helena’s in 2017, where I served until I was elected Bishop of West Texas in 2023.
Q: The Diocese of West Texas is celebrating 150 years. What is the significance of that milestone?
A: 150 years of spreading the gospel and planting the Christian faith of The Episcopal Church in the Diocese of West Texas is certainly worthy of marking as a milestone in our diocesan life. Milestones are a great opportunity for people, congregations, and the diocese to do a little reflection to ask, “Where do we see God at work? Where do we see the Holy Spirit on the move and moving? What were the saints and our ancestors who came before us doing and how were they serving the Lord?”
Our sesquicentennial is a great opportunity to look at common themes and ministries that continue into this day. Those early ministries and saints set the DNA of this diocese and we still live with their initiatives and their legacies, and the work that they did continues in our day. I think we live today in a culture that’s not that different than what the early founders of our diocese discovered when they came to the frontier of West Texas. We live in a time where we must once again think of ourselves as missionaries and re-energize ourselves, as well as renew our commitment to sharing the good news and the love of God. So, it’s a great opportunity to look back and think about where God has been active in our lives. At the same time, it’s a chance to say, “Where is God calling us in in the next 150 years or in the next decade?” It’s a great time to ask what new opportunities and new challenges we face today as a diocese, and what might God be calling us do as we begin the next chapter of our life together.
Q: What important changes have you witnessed within The Episcopal Church and the diocese during your time as clergy and Bishop?
A: I’ve seen a lot of change. In my first year of seminary in 1988, I was walking across our campus and on a Saturday morning and the chapel bells were ringing. I walked over to the chapel to see what was going on. There was a group of female students celebrating that for the first time in the Episcopal church, a woman, the Rt. Rev. Barbara Harris, had been elected Bishop. Since that time, I’ve watched the Episcopal Church broaden and become more inclusive. There are now over a third (36 to 38) female bishops in the House of Bishops. The same is true in our diocese, going from being a generally conservative diocese in the 1980’s to being much more diverse and theologically broader. There’s still work to do in that area, but we certainly have come a long way in 30 years.
Our church has also wrestled over the last several decades with the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in the life of the church. I’ve watched debates and challenges happen over time. We have congregations that vary from conservative to progressive and everything in-between. As a diocese, we have learned that we can be diverse. We don’t have to all agree theologically on everything, but we can still be a diocese, and still be a church, and we can still work together to spread the gospel, in this place and in our time.
Over the years, I’ve observed some significant institutional changes happen. I was heavily involved for many years as Chair of the Department of Camps and Conferences and watched through the years as the Mustang Island Conference Center came into existence and began to do ministry, expanding our diocesan camp program into family camps and conferences on the coastal Bend. I watched Duncan Park, our camp in Colorado, be born and begin to do its ministry. I’ve seen almost all the facilities at Camp Capers, since I was a counselor there in 1988, be rebuilt, re-visioned or expanded.
Another institutional change in the diocese I was blessed to witness was Bishop Folts’ leadership in establishing the Episcopal Foundation of West Texas, thinking differently about how to fund ministry and fund capital work in the diocese to create an instrument where congregations, schools, and ministries could invest. I’ve watched that ministry expand and have a big impact.
Finally, I would say I’ve been blessed in my ministry through 30 years to have served under four different bishops, each of whom was an excellent leader and an excellent pastor who led the diocese well. It’s to their credit that we are a healthy diocese today. I learned much from them over the years and they are models for my ministry as Bishop of West Texas today.
Q: You stressed the importance of clergy and congregation bringing Christ to our communities by going beyond the four walls of the church. How is this being put into action? See pages 14-15: When The Church Leaves the Building
A: One of the joys of being bishop is getting to see what’s happening in the congregations around our diocese where many of our congregations are already engaged in this work in really powerful and beautiful and impactful ways. I was down in Port Isabel and saw that their congregation has a block party to introduce their church to the people who live in the neighborhoods around them. They also have a parish hall that is full of people engaged in an English as a Second Language class. They are engaging people in their community through those methods. I was in Blanco for their first responder and veterans blessing and parade followed by a picnic on the front lawn of the church, which was a way for them to engage people in their community. Christ Church, San Antonio does this amazing sidewalk Saturdays Ministry of Outreach, gathering people from their community and blessing them in tangible ways. It’s a beautiful thing to see. St. Andrews in Seguin is feeding college students on the Texas Lutheran University campus every month, and hungry college students are grateful — grateful for the work of that church and for them coming to the campus to spend time together and feed them.
These are just a few examples of ways that congregations in this diocese are beginning to be known in their communities. Somebody once asked the question, “If your congregation ceased to exist, would the people in a neighborhood around you notice?” We have to be congregations that are so engaged in our neighborhoods that people are noticing us and we’re building relations with them.
There are graceful ways for us to invite people to come inside of our walls and engage in ministry with us as we do this work outside the walls of our church and in our neighborhoods.
Q: The Bishop Suffragan election has been announced and will be held October 19. Can you share a little about the role of the Bishop Suffragan?
Go to page 19 for more information on the Bishop Suffragan Election.
A: A bishop suffragan is a full bishop. I think the best sort of parallel model that many of our people are familiar with would be a church that has more than one priest, a rector and an assistant or associate rector. The associate rector is a full priest just like the rector, but they’re hired and called to assist the rector in the ministry of a parish or a parish and school. The same is true with a bishop suffragan, a full bishop who has been elected and ordained to assist the diocesan bishop. The Diocese of West Texas has been blessed with the ministry of suffragan bishops since 1955. I’ve invited our diocese to go through that process of raising up, discerning, and calling a bishop suffragan to assist me in this role in our diocese.
Our diocese is vast geographically and in the number of congregations and ministries. There is plenty of work to be done. The bishop suffragan will join me in visitation of congregations throughout the diocese doing what I do — preaching the gospel, confirming, receiving, reaffirming, teaching, and celebrating the sacraments of the new covenant.
He or she will assist me in engaging leaders in parishes and missions, as well as assisting vestries and clergy who have opportunities or who have challenges and need assistance, guidance, and resources from the diocese. The bishop suffragan will also assist me in being a good shepherd and a pastor to the clergy, the clergy families, and the retired clergy of the diocese.
The Bishop Suffragan of West Texas will have oversight of the Ministry of Christian Education and the development of and expansiveness of Lay Ministry and Lay Ministry Training in our diocese. I will ask the bishop suffragan to serve on the board of Morningside Ministries, which is a retirement and assisted living community in San Antonio and Boerne that’s partly owned by our diocese.
What may be my favorite part of the job description is that he or she will have “other duties as assigned” by the bishop. One of the predictable things about being in the office of the Diocese of West Texas is that many unpredictable things happen. Our next bishop suffragan will have plenty of opportunity to help me with the variety of ministries and opportunities.
Q: As Bishop, you are called to visit churches and have a full travel schedule, as well as to participate in national events such as General Convention and The House of Bishops meetings. How do you maintain your stamina?
A: I give credit to the Holy Spirit for empowering me to do the ministry that I do; empowering clergy and lay leaders in our diocese to do the ministry that they do.
The Holy Spirit is a powerful force. I’m happy to give credit to God for giving me the energy that I have. Secondly, I really do love what I do. As a parish priest for 30 years, I loved my parish ministry. I loved going into the office. I loved serving, I loved preaching and teaching and doing the pastoral work of being a parish priest and just getting to do that kind of work was empowering.
The same is true in the Bishop’s Office. I enjoy the work I do. It is busy and challenging, and the traveling is constant, but it is a wonderful, beautiful, and exciting ministry. I love being in congregations Sunday after Sunday and sometimes midweek as well. I love getting to see what our congregations are doing, and being in the presence of our people and clergy is empowering for me.
As a bishop, I have had to begin to learn new patterns for my physical health and am trying to take care of myself. I’m still attempting to learn some new practices to find time for exercise, my prayer life, and the busyness of my travel schedule. I’ve made changes and that’s helped in having the stamina to respond in doing the work God asks us to do in the Diocese of West Texas.
Q: You have said that your family has been a source of strength for you. How has the transition into the role of bishop been for your family?
A: Jacqui and I have been married for over 30 years, and so we know each other very well. The transition from being a parish priest and spouse into being a diocesan bishop and spouse has been a big one. It really has changed the patterns of our lives. I am blessed that about two thirds of the time when I travel, Jacqui travels with me, which gives us time to talk in the car and spend time together. It gives her a chance to be part of this ministry with me, in congregations and with clergy families, clergy children and spouses. She has her own ministry with the clergy spouses of the diocese, and is stepping into that new role; I would say doing it really, really well. It has been a big change for us, but it’s been an enjoyable change in that we get to do quite a bit of it together.
Both of our children, Amy and Aidan, are adults, and adulting well. Amy is married and lives in San Antonio with her husband, Harley and our three grandchildren, who have no idea what I do, other than marvel that I wear purple all the time, and that it must be my favorite color.
Our son, Aidan is in Austin now. We are blessed that our kids and our grandkids are close by, and we can spend quite a bit of time with them as we travel around the diocese.
Q: What would you like our readers to know and what encouraging words do you have for them as the diocese celebrates their sesquicentennial?
A: I want our readers to know that as we celebrate the 150th birthday, our sesquicentennial, the Diocese of West Texas is a healthy diocese. The ministries that we undertake at both the diocesan level and in our congregations are beautiful, and amazing things are happening.
God is at work among us and in us and through us, and the Holy Spirit is moving mightily among us. There are a lot of days that I wish you could see what I get to see as I travel around the diocese. We’re entering a new chapter of our life and ministry together as we begin this next period in the life of the diocese. It’s an exciting time, and it’s a challenging time. I’m grateful for the support that I hear and see around the diocese.
I reminded people at our recent Council that nothing changes if nothing changes. I encourage them to look around their own congregations and see what the Holy Spirit is doing there and what the Holy Spirit is calling them to do in the church and in the neighborhoods and communities around them. If they’re feeling stuck, to remember that nothing changes if nothing changes. And, if the diocesan office can be a resource to assist in any way as you undertake the ministry of your congregation and neighborhoods, don’t hesitate to call on us because we’re here for you.
