The Rev. Colin Belton new rector at Trinity

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October 31, 2008

Deck

By ROBIN CAUDELL The Press Republican Fri Oct 31, 2008, 01:00 AM EDT

PLATTSBURGH -- The Rev. Colin Belton and his family -- wife, Penny, and daughter Rebecca -- are acclimating to their new life at Trinity Episcopal Church and Plattsburgh.

He was chosen new rector after an in-person and two phone interviews.

"The interview process is a two-way street," he said. "The parish interviews the applicant, and the applicant interviews the parish to make sure this is where I want to be or if this would be a good fit or not."

His vision for the parish is a growth of faith among parishioners and for them to live out that faith in their daily lives. His role is that of guide or facilitator for the church leaders and the church in general.

WELCOMING PARISH

Trinity was in search of leadership.

"They would like to see growth in numbers," Belton said. "If you ask any parish that, that's the standard answer."

Trinity offers four services on Wednesday and Saturday evenings and two on Sundays.

"We have up to 100 at the 10 o'clock family service. Part of the vision is to enable the parish to be very welcoming, which it is already. It's a very welcoming parish, and we want to encourage more families, more people, to come."

His family relocated to Plattsburgh Aug. 28 from Edson, Alberta, which is halfway between Edmonton and Jasper National Park. He finds Trinity a lovely church and the recently renovated rectory, beautiful.

"The situation is rather nice here."

He also likes the landscape.

"I love mountain scenery, and that's close by. When we lived in our old house at Edson, on a very clear day we could see the Rockies 80 kilometers away. This is a very different beauty than the beauty we're used to, but it's still beautiful."

The Beltons' old house sold very quickly, a blessing in Edson considering the economic downturn that was already apparent there.

"Edson is a resource town -- natural gas, lumber and coal. Whatever happened with the downturn in the housing markets in the States affected the lumber industry in Edson. The housing market was following suit."

CLOSER TO FAMILY

Besides the appeal of the post at Trinity, the Beltons desired to be closer to Penny's mother in Fort Erie, Ontario. Now, they are a six-hour drive away as opposed to a 10-hour flight-and-driving commute with long waits in airports.

Their son, Andrew, is in his second year at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Penny is originally from Newfoundland. Belton, the second of three sons, was born near Birmingham, England, and raised at Sutton Coldfield. He was educated in England and moved to Alberta in 1977 when he took a teaching position at a boy's residential school, St. John's School of Alberta. He taught there 25 years.

He was called to the ordained ministry of the Anglican Church of Canada. In 2002, he attended seminary at the College of Emmanuel and St. Chad in Saskatoon. He did two years there and one year in Edmonton.

UNION JACK

Raised a Methodist, he hails from a maternal line of Methodist ministers and missionaries. His parents had no problem with his decision to become an Episcopalian rector.

"My mother is very pluralistic. My father was very ecumenical. Being a Methodist, Anglican or Presbyterian wouldn't make any difference. If it was something outrageous, they would probably say, Are you kidding?'"

He was ordained as a deacon in April 2005 and as a priest in November 2005. His first charge was a three-point parish, St. Catherine's Anglican Church, St. Patrick Whitecourt and St. Columba in Alberta. He was there three years before answering Trinity's appeal.

"The rest, as they say, is history."

The Beltons arrived in their new home just before the Battle of Plattsburgh Commemoration this year. In England, Belton had heard of the battle but didn't know the details. He toured the events with his parishioners and met some fellow Brits, who attended the festivities.

"I put a Union Jack flag outside the rectory," Belton said. "It caused quite a few comments, most of them positive."

rcaudell@pressrepublican.com