Mother Claire's Sermons

When I was a curate, my rector had written prayers of the people for the entire three year lectionary cycle. Therefore, we didn’t use one of the forms in the Book of Common Prayer - which is actually what is being encouraged today in Episcopal seminaries. If you look at the prayers of the people on page 383, there is a list of six things you must offer prayers for, but then it says, “any of the forms which follow may be used” - “may” being the key word which means we can use the forms, but we don’t have to. On the Last Sunday after Pentecost, or Christ the King, during that curacy one year, I was preaching. And I laid in to the whole concept of Christ the King. I talked about how we had a shepherd yet demanded a king and we continue to insist on giving Christ a title he didn't claim for himself. And then we made it to the prayers of the people, written by my boss…where every single petition began with and was addressed to “Christ the King”. And I stand by what I said. We sometimes ...

If you have spent any time on the internet, it will not surprise you to hear there is a corner of social media that is occupied by clergy asking one another for thoughts on a variety of topics. Sometimes that space is really helpful and affirming and sometimes it is the Bad Place. Last Sunday afternoon, a colleague asked clergy Facebook what sermon they think people will want to hear the Sunday after the election. And many other colleagues were mostly saying things about how we should all get along, find common purpose, how do we move forward together, etc. My friend Fr. Sam is on parental leave and going a little stir crazy without preaching for several weeks. His outline for a sermon on leaving your election sticker on your shirt, sending it through the wash, and ruining the shirt was…a lot. He texted me, “I know I'm not preaching next Sunday because of Leave but...I think all those fools are wrong. Can you imagine if your candidate loses and you think America is doomed? You don...

John Calvin was a French theologian, pastor, and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, including its doctrines of predestination and of God’s absolute sovereignty in the salvation of the human soul. Various Congregational, Reformed, and Presbyterian churches throughout the world today trace their roots back to Calvin. In addition to his most influential work Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible, confessional documents, and various other theological treatises. His Biblical commentaries are noted for their pastoral nature, as their material often originated from lectures to students and ministers that he then re-worked for publication. Calvin wrote commentaries on the entire New Testament with the exceptions of the brief 2nd and 3rd letters of John, which total 28 verses between the two, and the Revelation to J...