Sunday, May 31, 2015, will be the last day at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, La Porte, for the priest in charge, Rev. S. Thomas Kincaid III.
In 2012 Fr. Thomas and his wife, Elisabeth, were living in Dallas, Texas. Fr. Thomas approached the bishop of Northern Indiana, Rt. Rev. Edward Little, because his wife wanted to attend the University of Notre Dame to attend the University of Notre Dame for doctoral studies in moral theology.
St. Paul's previous rector had retired. The parish was no longer able to pay a full-time rector, so Fr. Thomas was hired to serve St. Paul's and St. Francis Episcopal Church in Chesterton.
Since he came to the parish almost three years ago, Fr. Thomas has reinvigorated the parish and it is now the fastest-growing parish in the Diocese of Northern Indiana.
"Almost three years ago, Fr. Thomas Kincaid came to St.Paul's, a declining, but Christian Community, Senior Warden Jan Winters said. " He has helped us grow and become what we always knew we could be, but didn't know how to get there. He and Elisabeth have been such a blessing to us that we will continue to grow and reach out the the community. We will certainly miss them, but look forward to a new chapter in St. Paul's life."
Junior Warden Robert Burns said, "In just a few years Fr. Thomas has refocused our vision as members of St. Paul's from a struggling and slowly shrinking parish to to one of growth, optimism, and faith. We now have a positive sense of what our mission and place in our community can be. We will miss Father Thomas and Elisabeth, but we also look forward to the next phase of our growth as we work toward fulfilling God's purposes in our church, our lives, our community."
Fr. Thomas said he had not been looking to leave La Porte, but an approach was made from the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, where he had previously served as a curate and briefly as assistant rector, to become vice rector. Since both their families live in Dallas, and the Kincaids knew they were going to adopt a daughter, Mary Clare, born earlier in May, they made the decision to leave.
But not without mixed feelings.
"We've come to love La Porte," said Fr. Thomas. "The parish has been very supportive and La Porte is a great small town."
As well as increasing membership of the parish, Fr. Thomas's final gift to St. Paul's was the 20/20 initiative. In just over two weeks, he encouraged parishioners to pledge an extra $75,000 to ensure St. Paul's could call a full-time rector. The amazing result was more than $100,000 pledged. The vestry is now looking to call a full-time rector.
Parishioners will say farewell to the Kincaid family at a breakfast in the parish house after the 9 a.m. Mass Sunday.