The Church of the Messiah

Fr. Scott & Lizz Looker with their children, Easter of 2015.

This past Sunday, June 28th, Fr. Scott Looker was selected to be the next rector of Church of the Messiah following the retirement of Fr. David Paysinger this August.  Bishop Simpson notified Fr. Looker and Fr. Paysinger of the decision prior to Sunday service that morning and Fr. Paysinger made the announcement to the congregation following the Holy Eucharist and before the final blessing and dismissal.

Fr. Looker began attending Church of the Messiah during Christmas of 1994, six months before graduating high school.  Although he left Jacksonville to attend college and seminary, he always returned home and attended Church of the Messiah while on vacations and summer breaks.  Fr. Looker graduated Loyola University of New Orleans in 1999 and Nashotah House Theological Seminary in 2002.  In November of 2001, while still in seminary he was ordained to the Diaconate.  Following his graduation from seminary, he was assigned to Church of the Messiah as a Parish Deacon.  In November of 2003, Fr. Looker was ordained to the Priesthood and began serving as one of the priests-in-residence and members of the Rector’s Council.  In his years with Church of the Messiah, Fr. Looker has overseen a variety of ministries from Nursery to Youth Group, Men’s Ministry to Altar Guild, and all sorts of ministries in between.  He has been involved with local and national pro-life outreach movements and marches.  Fr. Looker is an instructor for St. Michael’s Seminary, the on-line seminary for the CEC, and is responsible for clergy development for the Diocese of Florida, conducting a continuing education presentation at the annual Diocesan Clericus.

In 2004, Fr. Scott married his wife Lizz, who also had been attending Church of the Messiah since 1994.  They have five children together.  Lizz is currently the head of the Nursery and Youth Group and in the past has served as parish secretary.  In 2007, Lizz was instrumental in convincing Emergency Pregnancy Services to open their Arlington branch through her extensive counseling work in the area.  In the Fall, Lizz will be home-schooling three of their five children.

A Service of Installation of Fr. Looker as the next rector of Church of the Messiah will take place on Thursday evening, August 27th, beginning at 7 pm.  Frs. Paysinger and Looker are already working together to begin a smooth transition and will continue doing so throughout the next several weeks.  Church of the Messiah covets your prayers for both the Paysinger family as they transition into a new time of their ministry and the Looker family as they begin to take on a new role of leadership in the Church.