It’s Week to Week Recently at a meeting of rectors of old downtown churches, a newer colleague was sharing some of the challenges of his new position. Referring to my longer tenure, he said, “I can’t wait to get to that nice, secure place with my parish like Robert has.” I replied, “Hey, it’s […]
Giving Changes Your Heart “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there […]
Sing the Hymns (or at least read the words) In the fifth grade our class was selected to sing on the radio. Special sound equipment was brought in, along with risers for us to stand on so that we all could see the music director. It was pretty exciting. But when it was time for […]
Wisdom of Job A thoughtful reading of scripture reveals great consistency from the Old Testament to the New Testament. We might think the Old Testament is about an angry and vengeful God and that, somewhere along the way, God changes his mind and decides to be kinder and merciful. The laws of Leviticus do […]
Repentance and Grace One question I always ask couples as they prepare to be married is, “Which one of you usually apologizes first?” It does seem to be true that, in most relationships, one person tends to take the lead in apologizing either from some discomfort with conflict or more of a willingness to […]
Nothing Can Separate Us From the Love of Christ In the 8th Chapter of Romans, Paul reminds his readers that God has already given us the biggest and most effective gift imaginable, his only Son Jesus Christ. And so, Paul says, we can trust that God will also give us everything else we truly […]
Fear and Hope Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham, a good Episcopalian and graduate of Sewanee, has a new book entitled The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels which is well worth reading. In some ways it is a challenging commentary on current politics but it is refreshingly non-partisan and above the […]
Forgiveness Heals “You meant it for evil against me, but God meant it for good….” (Genesis 50.20). Joseph, having been sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, is eventually able to forgive them for what they have done. That forgiveness doesn’t come easily to Joseph but, after a lot of struggle and a lot […]
Inner Voice A few of my favorite teenagers recently asked to meet with me one-on-one before they went off for college. I’m sure all were prompted by their parents but they followed through and made the appointments. In a way they were saying goodbye to me and their church home. I’ve known them all […]
In the year 2000 St. John’s embarked on an ambitious building project which included new construction of 20,000 square feet of office, classroom, and meeting space; renovating 20,000 square feet of old office and meeting space including the parish hall; a new kitchen; a new roof for the church; a completely rebuilt organ; the enclosure […]