Our Story

My wife Holly and I followed God’s leading into ministry straight out of college at the University of Georgia. I was on staff with Young Life and became interested in the Great Tradition of Christianity while earning a Masters of Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. I joined the staff of Christ Church in Plano, TX and was ordained in 2009. 

From the beginning of my ministry, I was involved with church planting as the first Executive Director of Anglican 1000 - an initiative of the Anglican Church in North America. I spent three years equipping leaders, organizing strategic events, and casting the vision to make church planting normal and expected for Anglicans. After my time with Anglican 1000, I served on the staff of Christ Church Plano as Vicar responsible for all day to day operations of a large, multi-staff Anglican parish under the leadership and guidance of the Rev. Canon David Roseberry. 

In 2015, Holly and I found that we were being called back to North Georgia in order to be close to our families and to plant a new Anglican church in the strategic city of Athens. We were thrilled to discover that others have been praying that God would call someone to plant an Anglican church in this diverse, university environment as we explored this call. We moved back and began the work in 2016 as a “parachute” church plant beginning with our family of four. In 2018 we held a “grand opening” and began Sunday morning services.

We have been overwhelmed by the prayers, support, and progress of this work. We have grown from a mission into a member parish of the Anglican Diocese of the South. Now we are a young, growing church that still has a heart for church planting - for seeing new people reached, new churches started, and raising up new leaders for this work. It is clear that God is at work orchestrating a Gospel movement in the heart of Athens.

— The Rev. Daniel Adkinson

St. Thomas Anglican Church

4 Week Sermon Series focused on our Core Values and Commitments. (Audio)

Over the last few years, we have taken time to connect with our community in Athens, build a team, and launch as an Anglican Church for our community. We are grateful for the work God has done so far in and through this young church. We are also incredibly excited for our future together! 2020 and 2021 were challenging, but we are so grateful for God’s ongoing work in our lives together! We actually spent ~ 70 Sundays online and outdoors for worship before resuming services at the Day Chapel in the Fall of 2021. 2022 was a year of expansion and growth for us. In 2023 we discerned some key next steps and moved to a new Sunday morning location in March 2024. Check out our Advent 2024 Mission Update to learn more about how the Lord has been at work in our midst during a year filled with major transitions and growth for our young parish.

We would love for you to visit and explore whether God is calling you to be part of this growing parish family on mission together!

 

Quick summary of our overall approach to ministry

Brief update on our mission progress in 2024

 

The Anglican Church?

9 week class going over the basics of the Anglican Church and walking through the Book of Common Prayer. (Video)

Of course, maybe you haven’t even heard of the Anglican Church. Here’s how we describe it:

The Anglican Church is a biblically based church with ancient roots that helps us grow as followers of Jesus and serve Him as Christians in the world.

Anglican Churches are connected churches. As a parish, we are connected locally with a group of churches in a diocese, the Anglican Diocese of the South. Our diocese is connected with other dioceses in a province. And our province, the Anglican Church in North America, is connected with other Anglicans all over the globe. As an Anglican Church our theological beliefs and commitments are in line with our diocese and province. We embrace and are held accountable to the theological statement of the Anglican Church in North America.