I am the Reverend James Stockton (affectionately known as Fr. Jim) and I serve the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Austin, Texas. I came to ECR in 2001. My wife, Lee Elena, and I and our three daughters Valerie, Emily, and Melanie arrived here at the end of October 2001, and I began celebrating here on the All Saints Sunday. I attended a Lutheran elementary school and I credit my early education in a Christian environment as formative of my faith in God. It was there and then that I began to sense a vocation from God to Holy Orders.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, I worked variously as a self-defense instructor (earning a black belt in Chinese Kenpo), as a carpenter building custom homes, then as a laborer and/or department supervisor at a variety of manufacturing companies. It was at a local congregation that I was blessed to meet Lee Elena Mathis, my wife-to-be. Together we headed off to Abilene, Texas where I attended Abilene Christian University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies with an emphasis in biblical Greek. Upon graduation, we moved to Boston, Massachusetts where Lee Elena resumed graduate work in Nursing Education at the University of Massachusetts and I earned a Master's of Divinity degree at Harvard University. Shortly thereafter, my family and I moved here to Austin, where I attended the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest for a year in preparations for Holy Orders. In 1999 I was ordained a deacon in the Church; and in August of 2000, I was made a priest. I served as Assistant Rector at St. Stephen’s, Houston for two years.
Since coming here I've been blessed to help ECR grow in its diversity over the years of his ministry here. I've helped helped ECR to respond to God’s call and to the desire of this congregation to be more deeply involved in the needs and fellowship of the wider community around us. In addition, I am a member of Integrity, Austin and serve as Chair of the Advocacy Committee for the local chapter, and convener-elect. I love the Episcopal Church for our protestant suspicion of autocracy, our invitation to intellectual curiosity and credibility, and our appreciation of tradition and mystery.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, I worked variously as a self-defense instructor (earning a black belt in Chinese Kenpo), as a carpenter building custom homes, then as a laborer and/or department supervisor at a variety of manufacturing companies. It was at a local congregation that I was blessed to meet Lee Elena Mathis, my wife-to-be. Together we headed off to Abilene, Texas where I attended Abilene Christian University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies with an emphasis in biblical Greek. Upon graduation, we moved to Boston, Massachusetts where Lee Elena resumed graduate work in Nursing Education at the University of Massachusetts and I earned a Master's of Divinity degree at Harvard University. Shortly thereafter, my family and I moved here to Austin, where I attended the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest for a year in preparations for Holy Orders. In 1999 I was ordained a deacon in the Church; and in August of 2000, I was made a priest. I served as Assistant Rector at St. Stephen’s, Houston for two years.
Since coming here I've been blessed to help ECR grow in its diversity over the years of his ministry here. I've helped helped ECR to respond to God’s call and to the desire of this congregation to be more deeply involved in the needs and fellowship of the wider community around us. In addition, I am a member of Integrity, Austin and serve as Chair of the Advocacy Committee for the local chapter, and convener-elect. I love the Episcopal Church for our protestant suspicion of autocracy, our invitation to intellectual curiosity and credibility, and our appreciation of tradition and mystery.
