Glen Ellyn church helps immigrant fulfill his calling

From Chicago-

When the Rev. Miguel Briones took a job as a sexton at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn 13 years ago, he didn’t know he would go from doing maintenance work to fulfilling a childhood calling to become a priest.

“It was God,” said Briones who will become the first native Mexican to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago early next year.

Briones credits members of St. Mark’s with encouraging him along the way.

“I was working here and I was part of the congregation,” Briones said. “I was a different kind of sexton.”

Briones didn’t just maintain the church property. He befriended members of the congregation and supported the church’s activities, said the Rev. George Smith, who as rector has led St. Mark’s for five years.

“His gifts for worship and leadership in the church were clear early on,” Smith said. “Worship was important to him, something he loved.”

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http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20111102/news/711029787/