About Holy Cross:

For over 40 years, Holy Cross has served traditional Christians in the Big Bend region of West Texas. We believe the Holy Scriptures are infallible and inerrant - the standard for all faith and doctrine. This faith and belief is distilled in the Apostles and Nicene Creeds.

We are committed to traditional worship in the Anglican Way through the use of the Book of Common Prayer. Our worship is formed by the historic practice of Daily Prayer (Morning and Evening), weekly Holy Communion and personal discipleship through individual devotion within the framework of the historic Christian calendar. This approach to discipleship has shaped generations of believers.

Our commitment is to traditional worship - being fed with the inspired Word of God and with the Holy Communion in which Jesus promises to be really present. The fellowship in Word and Sacrament is the basis of living in the broader community within the Church. We share our common life together through worship and times of food and fun as well.

“Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim,
Till all the world adore His sacred name.

Led on their way by this triumphant sign,
The hosts of God in conquering ranks combine.”

CLERGY:

Rector: Rev. Wyatt Boutwell

Fr. Wyatt was born in southwest Alabama to parents who love the Lord and taught him from an early age to be a follower of Jesus. In his early teenage years, he became a committed Christian. He spent his college years doing missions work and developed a love for the global church.

After college, Fr. Wyatt went to Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida where he was introduced both to his wife, Renee, and to Anglican worship. The Boutwells were confirmed at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (ACNA) in 2004. After practicing law for a time in Georgia, in 2012 Fr. Wyatt and his family then moved to northern Virginia where Fr. Wyatt worked in regulatory advocacy work and where they joined Holy Trinity REC.

Soon after, Fr. Wyatt began to meet with his parish priest, the Rev. Charlie Camlin (now Bishop Camlin) about his growing desire to pursue ordination. In 2014, Wyatt was made a deacon by the Bishop of the REC Diocese of the Central States. Fr Wyatt then served numerous Anglican parishes in Oklahoma and Texas before being made a presbyter/priest in February 2020.

Fr. Wyatt and his family moved to Alpine TX where he was installed as Rector (lead pastor) of Holy Cross Anglican Church in March 2020.

The Boutwells find far West Texas enchanting and are so very thankful for the opportunity to live in such a tight-knit community. The three Boutwell boys love the climate and their mixed breed dog, Vesper. When Fr. Wyatt isn’t formally engaged at the parish, he enjoys, among other things, reading, smoking meat, and sitting on the porch while enjoying a good conversation over a cigar and beverage.

“One canon reduced to writing by God himself, two testaments, three creeds, four general councils, five centuries, and the series of Fathers in that period – the centuries that is, before Constantine, and two after, determine the boundary of our faith.”

-Lancelot Andrewes

The Most Rev. Ray R. Sutton

The Most Rev. Ray R. Sutton serves as the Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) and the Ordinary of the Diocese of Mid America. He is also the Dean of the Province and Ecumenical Affairs of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), of which the Reformed Episcopal Church is a founding member and special jurisdiction. Bishop Sutton often lectures at ACNA and Reformed Episcopal Seminaries, and is a popular retreat speaker.

A native of Kentucky and a Dallas resident since he was 13, Bishop Sutton received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University and his Masters of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. From 1976 to 1991, he served as a parish minister. Following this, he pursued doctoral studies in an associated research program at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford with Coventry University, from which he received his Ph.D.

He became the Dean and Professor of New Testament at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Philadelphia, and continues as an adjunct professor today. Later, Bishop Sutton functioned as Dean and Professor of Theology at Cranmer Theological House, where he continues to teach. He has also authored four books on theology, his most recent being Signed, Sealed and Delivered: A Study of Holy Baptism.

Bishop Sutton is married to Susan Jean Schaerdel of Dallas, a fellow graduate of Southern Methodist University. The Suttons have seven children and four grandchildren. The Suttons live in Dallas where Bishop Sutton’s residential offices are at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Communion.

Have a question or need a priest?

Please do not hesitate to get in contact with Rev. Wyatt

“Faithful cross, above all other:
one and only noble tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit thy peer may be:
sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
sweetest weight is hung on thee.”

— Hymn written c. 590 A. D.

What Is ANGLICANISM?

The Anglican Church represents Christianity as it was established in England in the early centuries following Christ. It was significantly transformed by the English Reformation, which corrected errant Catholic practices, and it has also been revitalized through Evangelical and Catholic Revivals and other spiritual movements. The Anglican Church has grown into the third largest Christian body on earth (after the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church) with 77 million members worshiping in over 160 countries.

If you have any questions about the Christian faith expressed in the Anglican way, please do not hesitate to reach out to Fr. Wyatt. He delights in answering these questions, striving diligently for “the faith one delivered unto the saints.”