Leadership
The Most Rev. Dr. Ray R. Sutton
Bishop Ray 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.
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 sacramental theology in an associated research program at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University 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. In 1999 he was consecrated a bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Mid America. He served as a Bishop Suffragan, assisting the Most Rev. Royal U. Grote. Later he was elected bishop co-adjutor until he became the Ordinary of the Diocese 2016, upon Bishop Grote’s passing. In 2017 he was elected the Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal church.
Bishop Sutton is married to Susan Jean, and they have seven children and seven grandchildren. The Suttons live in Dallas where the Cathedral Church of the Holy Communion is located, the Diocesan See of the Diocese of Mid America.
The Barkalow Family
Fr. Jesse serves as the vicar at Holy Cross. He was raised in Colorado Springs where he spent all of his childhood and the majority of his adult life. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Classics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and spent four years teaching Latin at a local classical school. He earned his Master of Divinity Degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in the Spring of 2020, and was ordained into the priesthood in November of the same year. Jesse and Christine were married in 2014. They have three children, Verona, Amos, and Sophia.