This blog is also available as a podcast.
Rector's Blog: Sent Ones
This blog post is also available as a podcast.
I originally wrote this a little over a year ago as we meditated on The Way of Love – The Episcopal Church’s rule of life. My focus, as you’ll see, was on our movement out into the world...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Church, Dead and Resurrected
This blog is also available as a podcast.
I really thought we’d be back indoors by now. We saw the COVID case numbers start to dip after the holiday surge, and the vaccines started to come out, and I thought, “This is it: We&rs...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Proclaim the Blessing You See
The blog post is also available as a podcast.
I believe that LGBTQ+ people are a blessing to this world. The church community I serve, the Church of the Redeemer, affirms this belief, as does the Episcopal Church to which we belong. We do ...
Read More
Rector's Blog: One Year
This blog is also available as a podcast.
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the day the Church of the Redeemer decided to cease in-person worship and indoor gathering. Friday, March 13th, 2020. The clergy, staff, and wardens gath...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Hard Times Come Again No More
The blog is also available as a podcast.
Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears while we all sup sorrow with the poor. There's a song that will linger forever in our ears Hard times come again no more 'Tis the so...
Read More
Rector's Blog: A Vision of Beloved Community
The blog is also available as a podcast.
At the Church of the Redeemer, we have a vision .
We have a vision of a worshiping community that knows Jesus and grows in Love: United in relationships of holy connection and communion; growing w...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Proclaiming the Dream
This blog is also available as a podcast.
What if you knew you were loved fully, totally, unconditionally exactly as you are right now? Knew it in your bones and felt convinced of your belonging in this world? Now, on top of that, what if ...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Update On Regathering
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Friends, it’s been a while since we spoke about how our church is dealing with the pandemic, and I thought it might be time to catch up, and to provide as clear a picture as I can give you abou...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Real Unity
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Unity is the buzzword of the month. In the aftermath of the deadly insurrection that capped off a traumatic election season that took place in the midst of the (still ongoing) greatest public health ...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Stubborn Christians
This blog is also available as a podcast.
I became a priest, in part, out of stubbornness. I was a waiter at the time, and my coworkers had a lot to do with my decision. Throughout our time working together, many of them consistently commu...
Read More
Rector's Blog: When We Repent
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Last week I wrote that throughout the Epiphany Season, I planned to interview parishioners about their vocation for my blog. Then Wednesday, January 6th happened. We watched a violent act of insurr...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Your Epiphany
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Ok, so Christmas is over. The baby was born. Jesus is here. God with us. Now what? In the church we celebrate a season called Epiphany, and I’m here to tell you it’s underrated. Epiphany ...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Wait and Wonder
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Every year is the same. Every Christmas, as the day approaches, we stress about the same things: About our expectations for the day, for the season, about if we will give and get the right things for...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Rest in Peace
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Yesterday I held my friend David’s hand. He told me he loved me. I told him I loved him. We talked about what had been, and what was coming. He told me he was ready. He told me he loved me again. I...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Rest Dysfunction
This blog is also available as a podcast
My wife has a sleep disorder. It’s called Narcolepsy. You’ve probably heard of it, though you don’t necessarily know what it does. I remember thinking narcolepsy meant someone would fall aslee...
Read More
Rector's Blog: I am Thankful for You
This blog is also available as a podcast.
One Thanksgiving we put our names in a hat. There were four families of people together that Thanksgiving – which feels so odd to imagine heading into this quiet little COVID holiday, but there...
Read More
Rector's Blog: We're Taking a Break
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Back in April, shortly after Church of the Redeemer transitioned to remote and digital ministry, we had a realization: We were losing money. In response to the pandemic and based on our B...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Are You Tired?
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Can we rest yet? Is it time? The dizzying, never-ending buzz, the exhausting, contentious election season, and the marathon Groundhog Day experience of a four-day Election are all in our rearview m...
Read More
Rector's Blog: In the Hands of a Competent God
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Do you have your plan? We’ve been hearing this question a lot lately as Election Day approaches. And of course, it’s referring to your need to come up with a plan for how you will vote:...
Read More
Rector's Blog: When Jesus Votes
This blog is also available as a podcast.
In Ireland, during the Troubles, if someone was asked, “Are you a Catholic or a Protestant?” and they responded, “I’m an atheist,” the question would come back immediate...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Your Commitment in 2021
This blog is also available as a podcast.
I’m writing to you today about how I’d like you to make a financial commitment to Church of the Redeemer in 2021. If this makes you uncomfortable, I hope you stick around anyway: Your u...
Read More
Rector's Blog: A Place for This Church in Your Life
This blog is also available as a podcast.
It seems like we're supposed to preface everything these days with, "I know this not how we'd like things to be but..."
We have an understanding, of course, that our lives have been radically up...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Unity not Uniformity
This blog is also available as a podcast.
When I was growing up, we talked about politics in my family. Which is to say we argued a lot. Mostly around the dinner table. I’m not sure what there was to argue about – for all inten...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Last Sunday I Stayed Home
This blog is also available as a podcast.
I stayed home and watched church on Sunday. I know you probably did too, since there were only 9 people in the building that day. But, y’know: Normally I’m in it. So even when we’...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Holy Connection and Communion
This blog is also available as a podcast.
When we first started piecing together our Vision Statement a couple years ago, we knew we needed to talk about relationships. The relationships we build and foster here are like the marrow of the ...
Read More
Rector's Blog: I miss taking Communion
This blog is also available as a podcast. "I miss taking Communion." "Really? What do you miss about it?" I was not prepared to be challenged by a priest when I said I missed communion. But that was what was happening. I wanted him to say, ...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Building Unity
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Last Sunday I walked down the center aisle of our Church for the first time in a long time. What’s more, I wasn’t alone! A small group of us had gathered together to rehearse the st...
Read More
Rector's Blog: No Such Thing As Secular
Last Spring, I preached a sermon about the political implications of the Gospel. It was, I have to tell you, not my favorite topic. Talking about divisive things in the church makes me squirm, and what’s more divisive than politics in our curre...
Read More
Rector's Blog: Where is Jesus in Your Spending?
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Where is Jesus in your spending? I asked you this question last week, but I sort of hid it at the bottom of the blog, so maybe you didn’t notice it. We don’t get to avoid that question ...
Read More
Rector's Blog: We Sold Our House
This blog is also available as a podcast.
Last Fall I was sitting in a presentation at our Annual Clergy Day and had no intention of having my life changed. My preference would have been to simply survive the day and get home before Cincin...
Read More