I’m the Reverend Canon Leyla King (“Mother Leyla” to some, “Mom” to three, but mostly just “Leyla”), an Episcopal priest and proud Palestinian-Irish-Croation American. Currently, I’m lucky enough to be the Canon for Mission in Small Congregations in the awesome Diocese of West Texas. Before that, for thirteen and a half blissful years, I served as Rector of Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, which made me into the priest I am today and is the source of my identity as the Thankful Priest. As a founding member of the Small Churches Big Impact Collective (smallchurchesbigimpact.org) I’ve worked with friends and colleagues nationwide to identify and amplify the beauty and grace of small congregations. In addition to serving small churches, I have vocations as a writer, an educator and a mother and a particular calling to provide a voice for Palestinian Christians in The Episcopal Church and beyond.  After many years away, my journey brought me eventually back to my birth-state of Texas where I now live with my wonderfully British husband and my three beloved kiddos.