My Favorite Reason to be a Pistol Packin' Priest
My Favorite Web Sites
Sixgunner with links to EARP
John Taffin's Sixguns plus the BEST message group
Entrance into the mystical land of the Episcopal church
The way we do church down Texas way
I am an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Texas. I serve a parish in East Texas known as Christ Church in Tyler, Texas. I also serve as the Bishop of Texas' Canon for the East Texas region, which means I oversee the work of a number of parishes and missions here. I am a professor of pastoral theology at our seminary in Austin, generally teaching in the Fall, as it coincides with football season. I also am chairing the committee on theological education for our national church. But the most fun I have is working right here in Texas with our graduating students called "interns". As these folks have finished three years of educational training, I meet with them as they work through the transition from seminary to the frontlines of the parish. I absolutely love this work in that I have a chance to really make a difference in the lives of these developing priests.
I grew up hunting, taught by my retired cop grandfather as to how to move in the woods of Georgia. Since coming to Texas nine years ago, I have fallen in love with the diversity of the landscape of this great state. I particularly enjoy the Hill Country, but have my hunting lease here on the southern shores of Lake Palestine. I love duck, quail, pheasant...any kind of wingshooting. I have three dogs: Rob, a Springer field champion that is his latter days; Maggie, an almost worthless black Lab female who I love; and Boogie, my Springer pup that is in the bullpen waiting for Rob to retire.
I have recently entered the fray of Cowboy Action Shooting. My alias is Ranger Dave McBrayer #7234. While I have been shooting 45 Colt, I have found myself the owner of a Colt 32.20 as well as a Uberti clone of the same caliber. I am looking to complete the set with a lever rifle of the same caliber. The Texas Peacemakers, out of Tyler, is a wonderful group of folks to shoot with. We shoot on the first Saturday and third Sunday of the month. Pecos Bill is my guru, teaching me much about the cowboy way as well as the art of reloading. I have learned an awful lot on the internet about cowboy guns, notably from the Earp group and Sixgunner. I can be found usually at the Campfire message board with some of the nicest folks around.
Churchwise, I have been in ministry for almost 25 years (a child evangelist, just kidding). While I started out enamored by the role of pastor as a counselor, actually opening my practice as a marriage and family therapist in Atlanta, I now do very little counseling or therapy. I have focussed my work in the development of the church as a healthy community of faith, which demands full time! I am currently teaching from one of the best books I have ever encountered: The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard. In it, Willard offers an indictment of evangelical and liberal churches in that we have not been intentional about our main job which is to make and train disciples, or as he puts it, apprenctices in the Christ life. He urges passionately that churches should set about the task of building curriculums to train people to do life as Jesus called us to do it: loving the neighbor as self, forgiving enemies, praying for persecutors, going the extra mile. I have found the book challenging and my parishioners have responded with great enthusiasm.
In a nutshell, I am convinced that indeed God love THIS world so much that He sent His Son to show us how to live life abundantly. The Incarnation of God in Christ is the starting point for Christian faith and is intended by God for our fulfillment and joy. Indeed, Jesus who is the Christ is the key for living faithfully in this world. I try to train my heart to wake with praise each day for another opportunity at this wonderful thing we know as life.
Blessings on each one of you,
David A. Galloway
