Former All Saints priest begins new Anglican church in Vista

Three months after resigning from his post at All Saints Episcopal Church in Vista, the Rev. Joe Rees is returning to the city to hold services in a new location this Sunday.

The new church is called Holy Family Anglican, and while Rees said he is far from having an actual chapel, he does have a congregation, which will meet at 10 a.m. Sunday in the lecture hall of Rancho Buena Vista High School.

"We're hoping to generate the spirit of family, and that's why we're calling ourselves Holy Family," Rees said. "We hope to be a family of God for the community."

In that spirit, services will include a 9:45 a.m. Bible-themed puppet show for children as a way to keep families together Sunday mornings.

"Moms and dads don't have a lot of time with their children these days," Rees said. "On Sunday mornings, they don't want to park them in a school someplace. It's my hope to keep us all together as a family in a relaxed service that worships God."

Rees' resignation from All Saints Episcopal Church on July 30 was just one sign of a nationwide schism that has split conservative and progressive congregations.

Besides All Saints, other North County churches affected this year are St. Anne's in Oceanside and St. John's in Fallbrook, which changed their affiliations from Episcopal to Anglican. Most recently, the Rev. Eric Menees left Grace Episcopal Church in San Marcos last September to start a new church aligned with the Anglican Community.

The Episcopal Church of the United States is one of 38 autonomous arms, called provinces, within the global Anglican Communion. Some churches that have broken away from the Episcopal Church, such as St. Anne's and St. John's, have aligned with Anglican dioceses in other nations.

Rees said Holy Family will be aligned with Bishop Frank Lyons of the Diocese of Bolivia, the same diocese over St. Anne's Anglican Church.

"We're moving forward without any acrimony from the past," Rees said, speaking about Holy Family as a new beginning for the Vista congregation he said is about 100 strong.

After leaving All Saints, Rees was hired as executive pastor at St. Anne's, where he shares duties with the Rev. Tony Baron. Rees said about 100 members of All Saints followed him to St. Anne's and have been attending service there, but he had always intended to plant a new Anglican church in Vista.

For the past several weeks, Rees has led afternoon Sunday services at a consignment store in Vista. Those services attracted only about 30 congregants, however, and Rees expects more for the Sunday morning services.

Not all of the members of the new Holy Family congregation will be former members of All Saints, Rees said. Some members of his old Vista congregation have come to feel at home with the Oceanside church, while some longtime members of St. Anne's are eager to be a part of the new Vista congregation, Rees said.

Rancho Buena Vista High School is at 1601 Longhorn Drive on the corner of Melrose Avenue in Vista.

Here is his interview from AnglicanTV and Ann Coletta

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