Posts

Easter 6 Year A 2026: Acts 17:22-31

Every Memorial Day, it is a tradition in my family to go to the graves of our loved ones. We go as far back as my mother’s great great grandmother who died in 1934. Sometimes as a shorthand we’ll talk about how we’re “visiting” them. Like “let’s start with Aid and Clydia, then go by Grammy Owen and then Howard, etc.” It sounds like in high school when you’re planning your graduation party circuit. The day that Lincoln Memorial got rid of the water spigot that was our landmark to find Grammy Owen was a family crisis. We talk like we’re visiting living people; going to see them. We plan when we’re going to go to Waverly “for Grandpa Hennecke”. But we know they don’t live there. What does live there are our memories. And those names on the stones cause the memories to come back to life. They give us opportunities to talk about the people we still love although we don’t get to see them anymore. About the time my brother played tag in the back yard with our great grandmother who was in her ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Easter 5 Year A 2026: John 14:1-14

In 1993 the Christian band Audio Adrenaline released perhaps the most 90s song with their interpretation of John 14:2. The song’s called “Big House” - does anyone know it? It was a huge Contemporary Christian Music hit - it reached #1 on Christian Radio and was named song of the decade by CCM Magazine . The chorus goes, “it’s a big big house / with lots and lots of room / a big big table / with lots and lots of food / a big big yard / where we can play football / a big big house / it’s my Father’s house”. I don’t know how I feel about that song. It somehow seems to do some great 90s youth group exegesis while simultaneously minimizing Jesus’ comforting words about his return by hearing in those words a promise about playing football on the lawn. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t watch the music video this week and enjoy every second of it and have the song stuck in my head for several days. Because not everything has to be high art. If you weren’t here last week, to recap, Jesus ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Easter 4 Year A 2026: John 10:1-10

The other day, I was commenting to my husband how excited I was about the prospect of getting a real sheep to St. Matthew’s for Vacation Bible School. The theme for VBS this year is Psalm 23, which we read today, and there is so much sheep and shepherd imagery throughout scripture to explain to the ancient near east’s agrarian society the relationship between God and His people using terms that were familiar to them. I said it would be good for all these city slicker kids - my own included - to see what an actual sheep looks like. I told my husband it shouldn’t be that difficult to find someone with a sheep nearby, since my stepmom’s parents had a farm out by Mead where they farmed sheep. And he, as the grandson and nephew of actual farmers, turned to me with a look of incredulity and said, “speaking of city slickers, you don’t farm sheep, you raise sheep”. So I might not be the target demographic of all of the sheep metaphors in scripture. In my clergy text chain, one colleague sent t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Easter 3, Year A 2026: 1 Peter 1:17-23

This year’s Lent Madness winners were Constance and her companions, also known as the Martyrs of Memphis. In August of 1878, yellow fever invaded the city of Memphis, Tennessee, for the third time in ten years. By the month’s end, the disease had become epidemic and a quarantine was ordered. While more than 25,000 citizens had fled in terror, nearly 20,000 more remained to face the pestilence. As cases multiplied, the death toll averaged 200 people per day. When the worst was over, ninety percent of the people who remained had contracted the fever and more than 5,000 people had died. In that time of panic and flight, many brave men and women, both lay and ordained, remained at their posts of duty or came as volunteers to assist in spite of the terrible risk. Notable among these heroes were four Episcopal sisters from the Community of Saint Mary, and two of their clergy colleagues, all of whom died while tending to the sick. The Sisters had come to Memphis in 1873, at the bishop’s reque...
Post a Comment
Read more

Easter Sunday 2026

Wednesday night, my husband and I were watching Survivor . At the end of every episode they have Tribal Council where one member of that episode’s losing tribe is voted off of the show. As that tribe enters tribal council, host Jeff Probst instructs them to take a torch and light it in the fire because, “This is part of the ritual of Tribal Council because, in this game, fire represents life. As long as you have fire, you are still in this game. When your fire’s gone, so are you.” As Jeff was giving his spiel, I turned to my husband and said, “the liturgy of Survivor ”. He chuckled and I said, “I’m not joking” and he said, “oh, I know you’re not”. While we most often think of liturgy as occurring in the church, so many other things in our lives have what are essentially liturgies. I read an article last month about the liturgy of Taylor Swift concerts. The word liturgy comes from the Greek leitourgia which roughly translates to “the work of the people”. While it is often written down -...
Post a Comment
Read more

Good Friday 2026

Image
One of the great privileges of parish ministry is that of walking alongside families who are mourning the death of a loved one. In Episcopal “last rites”, which the prayer book calls “Ministration at the Time of Death”, the opening prayer recalls to us the resurrection: “Almighty God, look on this your servant, lying in great weakness, and comfort her with the promise of life everlasting, given in the resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen .” In the words of this prayer, we are reminded of the small space between death and life eternal as we then begin the Litany at the time of Death - which is recommended, when possible, to be prayed by a group of people, not just the priest alone. It is a beautiful experience when family members and friends are there to pray the responses and help usher their loved one into the arms of Jesus. Today, we have the opportunity to be that loving community to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To come face to face with his suffering and death....
Post a Comment
Read more

Palm Sunday, Year A 2026

There are many debates that are ongoing in Episcopal preaching circles. One of those debates resurfaces every year: what to do with Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday, as I’m sure you have all noticed, is a long service. We’ve already been here for (checks watch) 40 minutes. We could have used a shorter Gospel, which would’ve started at Judas’ betrayal and ended before Joseph of Arimathea comes along. But it’s important for us to get the entire story. This is the only day every three years where we can hear the Passion according to St. Matthew, all the way through the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.. One of the solutions preachers sometimes arrive at is to nix the sermon altogether. To let the Gospel stand for itself. But, our Book of Common Prayer requires a sermon if there is to be a Eucharist. And, although the Palm Sunday service tends to be longer than usual, brevity in preaching can be impactful. A twenty minute homily isn't necessary, but it’s important to take a breath and break do...
Post a Comment
Read more