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 The
Rev. Jim Reynolds was born in a small West Virginia town along the
Ohio River on 18 May 1949. His father was in the Army so for the
first eighteen years of his life he moved every two to three years
to a new military installation with his parents. Growing up Jim
lived in most of the states east of the Mississippi and south of
the Canadian border as well as spending six years in Germany. After
graduating from Key West High School in Florida in 1967 and not
wanting to go to college, he joined the Army himself and entered
the field of Helicopter maintenance. This is a field that he would
be a part of both in the military and his civilian life for the
next thirty-two years. While he was stationed at Yuma Proving Grounds,
Arizona in 1969 he met Linda his wife to be. They were married ninety
days later. During the nine years he spent in the active Army Jim
was stationed at numerous duty stations on both coasts, did a combat
tour in Viet Nam in 1971, taught basic aviation at the Army Transportation
School at Fort Eustis, Virginia and spent the last thirty eight
months of his tour stationed with the 101st Airborne Division at
Fort Campbell, Kentucky. It was while he was on active duty that
Jim and Linda's two daughters Michelle and Sherry were born. Both
were born at McDonald Army Hospital at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Michelle
was born in November 1970 thirty days before Jim left for his tour
in Viet Nam and Sherry was born shortly after his return in February
1972.
In February 1976 after
separation from the active army the family packed up and moved to
the Dallas/Fort Worth area. For the next six years Jim worked as
a full time helicopter mechanic for the Texas Army National Guard
at Dallas Naval Air Station. In February 1982 Jim left full time
National Guard employment and went to work for Aerospatiale Helicopter
Corporation in Grand Prairie. He did remain in the Army National
Guard until December of 1989 when he retired. At Aerospatiale, which
later became American Eurocopter Corporation, Jim worked in numerous
projects. He worked as a technical instructor in maintenance specializing
in the Dauphine series of helicopters marketed by AEC until he was
transferred to the Government Training Department where he was involved
in the training of the United States Coast Guard mechanics for the
fleet of ninety-six Dauphine helicopters that went into service
in the 1980's. He then became Supervisor of Maintenance Training
until he was selected to become the program manager for the Coast
Guard fleet of helicopters which later expanded to include the Government
of Israel's fleet of Dauphine helicopters as well. During his time
with AEC Jim made frequent trips to France and Germany to visit
the Corporations home offices and manufacturing facilities as well
as to Israel in support of their fleet of helicopters. He also traveled
frequently to Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington D.C. and to
all of the nineteen Coast Guard Air Stations that operated the dauphine
helicopter. Jim worked at AEC until July of 1999 when he left to
attend Seminary.
It was during this time
that Jim through the encouragement of Linda began to attend church.
Linda had become a confirmed Episcopalian just prior to their marriage
but they had not attended church during the time prior to coming
to the metroplex. Jim had grown up unchurched and as a consequence
had never been baptized. Ten months after they first attended St.
Andrew's Episcopal Church in Grand Prairie Jim was baptized. He
was confirmed shortly afterwards and began serving at the altar.
He has been there ever since. He has served on the vestry on every
church they have attended since his confirmation and Jim has been
both senior and junior warden in many of the parishes. In 1995 He
first began to feel the beginning of a call to ordained ministry.
Entering the discernment process in the Diocese of Fort Worth in
August of 1995 working with Bishop Iker and the Commission on Ministry
He became a Postulant in October of 1997. After a years delay Jim
, Linda, their youngest daughter Sherry and Linda's mother Rachel
relocated to Nashotah, Wisconsin where he entered Nashotah House
Seminary to begin his formal education in preparation for the priesthood.
Graduating in May of 2002 Jim returned to the metroplex where he
was ordained deacon on 8 June in their home parish of St. Joseph's
in Grand Prairie and on the 15th of June came to St. Martin-in-the-Fields
as their new curate. On 21 December 2002 He was priested by Bishop
Iker at St. Martins and began his ministry as a priest.
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St. Martin In-The-Fields