Popular Anglican pastor Thomas McKenzie killed in car crash

Thomas McKenzie, the rector of a prominent Anglican Church in North America congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, and his eldest child, Charlie, were killed in a car crash on August 23.

Thomas was 50. Charlie McKenzie, who had recently changed their legal name, was 22.

The two were headed to Texas, the first stop on a trip to New Mexico, when their car collided with a tractor trailer at about 9:50 a.m., according to a local news report.

Thomas, the longtime pastor of the Church of the Redeemer, was on the first day of a sabbatical from the church.

He was the author of The Anglican Way and several other books and was a frequent commentator about movies and current events on social media.

Author and ACNA priest Tish Harrison Warren said McKenzie played a key role in her family’s life.

McKenzie introduced Warren and her husband to the Anglican tradition. Both are now ordained priests. McKenzie was a vocal supporter of the ordination of women, in a denomination where that practice is disputed, and served as a mentor to Warren in her ordination process.

“His honest and very real love for God carried many of us to Jesus,” Warren said. “He above all witnessed to the grace of God. He focused on the gospel of grace and reminded us of how enormous, shocking, and radical the love of God is.” —Religion News Service