Parishioners of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church learned last week the Rev. Kenneth Malcolm, who has been their rector for 2½ years, will be leaving in January.
Malcolm has been named canon missioner for leadership development and formation for Colorado by Bishop Rob O’Neill.
A year ago, the diocese began a faith-formation visioning process, which resulted in a strategic plan for Christian learning and growth of faith for Episcopal churches in the state, O’Neill said.
Malcolm, who will live in the Denver area, will be responsible for supervising the formation programs in Colorado and for leading program development and operations at Cathedral Ridge, a diocesan facility in Woodland Park.
He’s no stranger to these kinds of responsibilities.
“Ken brings with him a wealth of experience from his previous work,” O’Neill said, “both in the Diocese of Virginia, where he developed all diocesan programming, and at St. David’s in Austin, Texas, where he was in charge of Christian formation. He also developed an outdoor education program in Oklahoma. He has all the skills we were looking for, which is key to this Christian priority in the Episcopal Church in Colorado.”
Malcolm’s last day will be Jan. 11. He told his congregation it was a tough decision.
“After several weeks of prayer and discussions with Beth (his wife), I have accepted his offer,” Malcolm told them in his announcement. “As sad as my family is to leave St. Mark’s, I feel strongly that this call is a movement of the Spirit and part of my vocation to serve the church.”
The Rev. Susan Blue will help with pastoral duties, Malcolm said. Blue retired to Durango from the Washington, D.C., area and volunteers her time at the church.
“We’re incredibly proud of him and happy for him,” said Sr. Warden Jessica Cox, the church’s lay leader, “and sad for ourselves. But we understand the bishop needs him.”
Malcolm will also be missed at Manna Soup Kitchen, where he’s on the board, and at the Durango Food Bank, where he volunteers, she said.
“As soon as they moved here, both he and Beth jumped into the community and made Durango their home,” Cox said. “I’m sure St. Columba School, where Beth teaches Spanish, will miss her, too.”
Cox and the Vestry Committee already have begun meeting to prepare for an interim rector and to begin the search for a new one.
“Father Ken’s been with us for far too short a period,” Cox said, “just since June 2012. So it’s not that far back since we went through this process. There are things we’ve already done, like write a church profile, that we just have to tune up. It took us 18 months after Andrew Cooley left, but he had been here for 17 years.”
During his time here, Malcolm and St. Mark’s parishioners collaborated with Christ the King Lutheran Church and First Presbyterian Church of Durango to found the Red Door, a youth group that none of the churches were large enough to sustain by themselves, but could together.
“The church is growing, with lots of young families coming, and that’s what he brought to us with his experience in youth leadership,” Cox said. “In fact, within a year after he came, we’d seen such growth in membership we had to change the times of our two services.”
She was particularly impressed with Malcolm’s interaction with young people.
“Kids just light up when he’s around,” she said.
abutler@durangoherald.com
