Father Jim Eichner

Welcome to the rector’s page.  My name is Jim Eichner.  I’m 46 years old.   Kim and I have been married 18 years and we have three children ages 9, 11, and 16.  I grew up in Cedarburg, Wisconsin; Kim grew up in Ketchikan, Alaska.  Our life is a journey—literally. We have lived in Alaska, Florida, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.  We have attended a number of Episcopal Churches:  St. Boniface Mequon, WI, St. John Ketchikan, AK, St. Matthew Fairbanks, AK, St. Andrew Ft. Pierce, FL, Church of the Savior, Ambridge, PA, Holy Comforter Sumter, SC, St. Mary Lakewood, WA.  In 2002, Holy Cross Church called me to be the Rector.  It's a relief to live in one place for more than three years!

If you’ll indulge me for a few minutes, I’ll tell you what I love about Holy Cross Church.  I love the people.  Many churches say that they are friendly, and Holy Cross truly is.  You can expect to make good friends in this church when you invest yourself in the community. I love that we are a smaller church, about 200 families, and in time, you can know a great many people well.

In a region that the census calls the “none” zone with respect to religion, I love that Holy Cross is a place where people’s faith grows.  I love that in worship, in Sunday Schools, in Jr. and Sr. High weekends, adult studies, prayer groups, Cursillo and Kairos retreat weekends we are vigorously engaged in faith development.  Even in death we are ever changing from glory to glory, which we celebrate in our Memorial Garden.

I love that Holy Cross is a playful congregation.  Home Dinner Groups, Holy Cross Day picnic, St. Francis Day blessing of the animals, Pumpkin Carving night, The Green Elephant Plant Swap, St. Nicholas Day, Christmas Pageant, Mardi Gras, Vacation Bible School, and Camp Casey Weekend, and Seniors' Outings are some ways we play.

I love that Holy Cross reaches out to the world.  Many individuals in the parish serve as volunteers in the community.  We build houses in Juarez, Mexico, build locally with Habitat for Humanity Coalition for Hope, we send our young people on pilgrimages, and our principal outreach is, Best Beginnings Preschool, which has a sterling reputation and serves 200 children on the parish property.

Contact info

e-mail: Rector@HolyCrossRedmond.org
Phone: 425-885-5822 

Letters from Fr. Jim