CENTERVILLE—The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Centerville has a new vicar after being without one for some time. The congregation welcomed Rev. Charles Robinson who will lead the church part-time. 

“I retired from full-time ministry in 2021,” said Robinson. “I swore I’d never, never, go back into church work. I was toast. I wanted to try and be useful though like maybe as a teaching aide then I found that the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection needed a part-time pastor and that’s how it happened.”

The Episcopal church was born out of the church of England, Robinson. “We are the American branch.”

Anglicanism started with the 16th century reformation, he said. “The Protestants were killing Catholics and the Catholics were killing the Protestants. Depending on who sat on the throne they’d persecute the other. The madness went on for a long time.”

When Elizabeth I took the throne in England she said “this has got to stop,” said Robinson. “‘There will be one church of England where everybody will worship all together with a common book of prayer all would use.’That’s the DNA of our church. Episcopal is Greek for Bishop.”

Robinson said the church is built on tolerance. “We don’t demand that people believe the same, they are free to think for themselves. We accept all.”

His approach is to offer the congregation a modern interpretation of the Bible stories, said Robinson. “I avoid the supernaturalism of Moses, etc. I assume the story is written by humans for humans. That wisdom is helpful as the community strives to build a better world.”

Robinson said he wants to work with the congregation to figure out what lights them up. “We met for five hours last week and listened to each other and shared our experiences. We need a clear sense of direction so that we can touch and minister to the lives of the greater community in Centerville.”

There are 38 members of the church, he said. “Before COVID there were 65-70. I want to see if we can rebuild that and be clear about who we are and what our purpose is with a clear flow out of that purpose.”

Robinson said he knows about 95 percent of the community is LDS. “That leaves a lot that are not LDS that are looking for something. Maybe they can find what they are looking for with us.”