Sunday 8 AM, 9 AM, 11 AM and 5 PM

  2944 Erie Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45208  ·   (513) 321-6700  ·         Give

The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
  • Welcome
    • Children
    • Service Times
  • About
    • What We Believe
    • Vision Statement
    • Community Covenant
    • The Way of Love
    • Our Clergy & Staff
    • Vestry
    • Calendar
    • Latest News
    • Wedding Guidelines
    • Contact Us
  • Worship
    • Our Worship
    • Worship Online
    • Worship Weekdays
    • Bulletins
    • Music
    • Families in Worship
    • Children's Liturgy
    • Sermons
    • Prayers of the People
    • Ministry Scheduler
  • Serve
    • Mission Ministries
    • Mission Minded Forum
    • Reconcilers
    • Ministry Discernment
  • Care
    • Healthy Church
    • Stephen Ministry
    • Creation Care
    • Dementia Inclusive Cincinnati Initiative
    • Obituaries
  • Learn
    • Family Ministry
    • Redeemer Preschool
    • Book Group
    • Downtown Bible Study
    • Library
    • Theology Circle
    • Thursday Morning Bible Study
    • CoR After School
  • Connect
    • Holy Week 2023
    • Events
    • Church Directory
    • StorySharers
    • Becoming Beloved Community
    • Scotland Pilgrimage and Choir Residency
    • Second Half Ministry
    • Young Adults
    • Membership
    • Calendar
    • Contact Us
    • Giving
    • Planned Giving
    • CoR Portal
  • Media
    • Redeemer Online
    • Rector's Blog
    • Podcasts
    • Annual Report
  • Give
    • Commitment 2022
    • Stewardship
    • Endowment Fund

Rector's Blog: For the Bengals

This blog is also available as a podcast

“Ok, it’s time for a serious question,” the Search Committee member said to me. I was in the living room of a parishioner in the midst of the final round of interviews for the role I currently hold at Church of the Redeemer. The Committee and I had been talking all evening about our vision of what the next chapter of the life of the church might be, about our hopes and dreams, fears and wonders. And then came the warning that the next question was serious. I took a deep breath and prepared myself. “If you move here,” he said with a straight face, “are you willing to root for the Reds and the Bengals?”

I’m a Johnny-come-lately to the glory that is Cincinnati sports. I cannot pretend to be a long-suffering fan. But I am a fan. It’s one of the ways I experience connection and a sense of belonging here. I loved that someone asked me that question in a job interview. It told me so much of what I needed to know about this town. Cincinnatians have a sense of place, a genuine affection for the city, and an identity that matters to them.

Cincinnatians are often curious about me moving here. They ask me why I, a Californian, would live here instead of, well, California. I like to ask them what they love about Cincinnati. They unfailingly have a list ready to go, their passion and pride clear and unabashed. And they usually list several things I love too. And then I ask, “Well, why wouldn’t I love those things too?” Sometimes they believe me. Sometimes they are flattered, or appreciative. But oftentimes, a lifelong Cincinnatian with a deep sense of loyalty for their beloved town will just shake their head and say, “I don’t know, though…you came from California…” and then immediately complain about Cincinnati weather and the sports teams.

Cincinnatians love their city in a way that I find really beautiful. They don’t need it to be the biggest or the best. They don’t try to bury its negatives under a pile of superlatives. They will gladly complain about their town. But there’s something lovely about it. The poet Robert Frost once wrote, “We love the things we love for what they are.” I see that lived out here every day: People loving something unabashedly without needing it to be the best. Our zoo, our music hall, our chili, our ice cream… ok, Graeter’s might actually be objectively the best ice cream in the country. And come to think of it, the Music Hall is such a beautiful building, and the Symphony performed an amazing rendition of Beethoven's 9th. And our zoo is exactly the right size, and that view of the skyline coming down the hill on 71 North…see this is what it feels like to love the things we love for what they are.

But then there’s Cincinnati sports. I have not seen anything in my time here that contains the pride, frustration, hope, and misery of a people quite like their relationship with sports. Inviting me, challenging me to root for Cincinnati sports teams was a crucible. It was as if they were saying to me, “You don’t get to love us if you’re not going to suffer alongside us.” And that makes sense to me. That’s always been my favorite part about Jesus: That he’s all in on us, and not just here for the good parts.

There are countless painful things about the last two years. We are nowhere near fully comprehending all that it has been for us. But one acute pain has been our inability to really connect with the things we love about the place we love. When you find so much of yourself in the shared life of the city, and you can’t go share life with the people of this city, you feel a deep sense of loss and isolation. I have felt that acutely. I have sometimes felt homesick for Cincinnati will being in Cincinnati – because I could not feel that sense of connection and shared life that is so much a part of being here.

And then last week the Bengals beat the Chiefs in overtime.

And we jumped up out of our seats and ran into our front yard and banged pots and pans and screamed. And our neighbors grabbed their Bengals flag from their porch and ran it up and down the street what felt like the whole neighborhood hooted and hollered and shouted “Who Dey” and horns honked and fireworks exploded. This single moment did not end the pandemic. It did not fix everything. But in that moment many of us felt in our bones a deep stirring of collective joy – a remembering of why we love what we love.

Sports are a strange and particular expression of love and identity. And I’m not going to spend any time on sports psychology here – I just want to say there’s something about loving a team. It can feel depressing and defeatist. Especially when they don’t win a lot. And Cincinnati knows a lot about loving teams that don’t win a lot. You can have all sorts of feelings about players, managers, coaches, and ownership. But when a team shows signs of life, it channels our love of place. Joey Votto doesn’t just make us love the Reds more – he makes us love Cincinnati more. That doesn’t have to make any sense for it to be true. And last Sunday night, Joe Burrow and Ja’maar Chase smoking victory cigars somehow embodied the joy and swagger of a few million people – a few million people, by the way, who really need some joy and some swagger in our lives right now. That’s no small thing. Their victory was our victory and helped us remember in some small way that we belong to each other.

Throughout this season our church has been focusing on Paul’s letter to a Christian community he helped build in Corinth. Throughout this letter, he shuns their desire to idealize the community – their efforts to pretend perfection and bury the difficult and discomfiting things. Some people think Paul is an idealist because of his radical insistence on Love. But Paul doesn’t see Love as a flowery abstract idea to be dreamt of – he sees it as a practical truth, as the primary reality of the whole world. We find our identity and sense of place in the way we love and belong to one another, the way we see each other as beloved, the way we recognize God’s presence in our shared suffering and joy. We love the things (and the people and the cities) we love for what they are.

So, I guess I love the Bengals now. Not just because they’re winning – though that doesn’t hurt. But because they make me feel more connected to you. They remind me that we are in this together, that we belong to each other. And that’s where Love shows up for me.


Tags: Rector's Blog

Sermons

  • Mar 20 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    The Present Past
  • Mar 12 | Tym House
    Direct Access to Grace
  • Mar 6 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Being Righteous
  • Feb 27 | The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane
    Two Sides of the Same Coin
  • Feb 20 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Superman Transfigured

Rector's Blog

  • Mar 24 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Rector's Blog, When God Feels Like It
  • Mar 17 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Rector's Blog, But Through Me
  • Mar 10 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Rector's Blog, Conversions - Part 2
  • Mar 3 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Rector's Blog, Conversions - Part 1
  • Feb 24 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Rector's Blog, Better Not Easier

© 2023 The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
2944 Erie Ave. · Cincinnati, OH 45208
(513) 321-6700
Privacy Policy · Powered by Membership Vision

  View Entire Post

Service Times

We welcome you to join us at the church building or online.

Learn more about our worship services using the button below.

Our Worship

Please join us online by using the button below!

Online Worship

Location

The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
2944 Erie Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45208

Contact Us
(513) 321-6700

Newsletter Signup

Welcome Children Service Times Membership Contact Us

Welcome to Church of the Redeemer! We invite and welcome ALL to join us in worship and community. In addition to worship, we have a vibrant music community, a fun and welcoming community for children and youth, plus offerings for everyone from young adults to seniors, covering many varied interests.

The Rev. Philip DeVaul, Rector

WHAT WE BELIEVE

We love children, and children love Church of the Redeemer!

Children are at the heart of life at Church of the Redeemer. Children learn about the word of God through our Children's Christian Education programs; they are involved in worship services, they play music in our services, and they form lifelong friendships with each other through their experiences.

LEARN MORE

On Sundays we have an 8:00 am Holy Eucharist, Rite I service, a 9:00 am Holy Eucharist, Rite II service (which is also livestreamed), an 11:00 am Banquet Eucharist service and a 5:00 pm Celtic Eucharist service.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we offer Morning Prayer on our Online Worship Podcast.

On Wednesdays, we offer Holy Eucharist, Rite II at 6:00 pm in the Chapel.

LEARN MORE

The community of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer welcomes you! We are glad that you have chosen to explore your faith here and hope that this document can answer some of the questions you may have about Church of the Redeemer. We seek to be an open, inviting community. Our invitation to you is to join us as we grow in faith and reach out in love to others. At Church of the Redeemer we are always seeking to know Jesus and grow in love. We hope that in whatever ministries you undertake will strengthen your relationship with him through your ministry and fellowship here.

LEARN MORE

PARKING: Parking is on the street. Please pay attention to the signs indicating proper parking zones. Handicapped parking is available in the front on Erie, in the back parking lot, and on the south side of Raymar.

ACCESSIBLE REDEEMER: The front entrance has a ramp and there is an elevator inside the back door and to the left. Accessible restrooms are located in the Lobby inside the front entrance.


CONTACT US
Make a Donation Altar Flowers Endowment Fund Commitment 2023 Planned Giving

Thank you for supporting the mission and ministry of Church of the Redeemer!

To give a one time gift, click the button below. To make a financial commitment for 2023, use the Commitment 2023 tab above.

Donate

Flowers in our holy worship spaces are a beautiful gift to God and those who attend services at Church of the Redeemer as well as those being honored or remembered. A contribution to the Flower Fund is a meaningful way to honor or remember a loved one for special life events such as birthdays, anniversaries, baptisms, confirmations, thanksgivings, or in memory of a loved one.

Donate

The Church of the Redeemer is blessed to have received special gifts from parishioners who wanted Redeemer to have permanent savings to care for our facilities and to supplement our pledge income.

Such permanent savings are often called an “endowment.” The endowed funds are permanently set aside by donors or by the Vestry. Some of our donors have specified uses for their endowment gifts. A limited portion of the funds is distributed each year to supplement our general budget. All funds are invested with professional advice.

LEARN MORE

What about your connection to Redeemer changes the way you live in this world? Your financial commitment is a response to the work that God is doing with you here. It is a practical way to ensure that others are able to experience the relationships of holy connection and communion that are shaping your life.

For 2023, we ask that you make your commitment through regular scheduled electronic giving, if possible. Whether it be weekly or annually, giving electronically is a safe and sustainable way to ensure your continued financial support.

MAKE YOUR COMMITMENT NOW

Your planned legacy gift to the Church of the Redeemer is a practical way for you to empower generations to come. It is a powerful witness of faith, love, and gratitude. This type of gift recognizes the heritage left by those who came before us and acknowledges that we bear a responsibility to the future faithful - to insure the continuation of God’s work within and beyond Church of the Redeemer.

Read More