A #CCAB outcome

November 16, 2012.Reading time 2 minutes.

As Episcopal denizens of Twitter already know, this past week was the organizational meeting of the CCAB’s. I attended as a new member of the Standing Commission on Lifelong Christian Formation and Education. As it often does, the appropriate role of social media was a topic for all of the assembled CCAB’s. There were a […]

Family Reunion (aka Diocesan Convention)

October 13, 2012.Reading time 2 minutes.

This weekend is Diocesan Convention for Episcopalians in Montana. I should confess that I love Diocesan Convention. As we Episcopalians are wont to do, we quibble over what should or shouldn’t happen, what’s appropriate or unnecessary at a Diocesan Convention. And whatever my opinion may be, I will love Convention. This is my family. The […]

Peace, People, and Prayer

September 12, 2012.Reading time 2 minutes.

Part of what I inherited when I came to the Church I serve was a labyrinth with a Peace Pole in the middle. Due to a variety of reasons, we now worship in a space not near them. So I found out via email that our pole had recently been vandalized. The four sides of […]

Sermon Review: Proper 13, Ephesians, Baptism, and Eucharist

August 7, 2012.Reading time 2 minutes.

Sermon Review Link: Proper 13 8-5-12 Summary of what I was saying and why: Ephesians 4 starts with a great section on Christian unity. Which is really difficult and we never quite achieve, but we keep practicing. A lot more than you may think. Especially through our baptism and Eucharist. Theology: Baptismal and Eucharistic theology […]

Sermon Review: Proper 12, David, Bathsheba, and sex

August 1, 2012.Reading time 2 minutes.

Sermon Review Proper 12 6-29-12 Listen to the sermon here Summary of what I was saying: David and Bathsheba have sex. Adulterous sex or possibly rape (the text is unclear about motivations). This leads to pregnancy, murder, and marriage. Both text and Jewish tradition are fairly silent about D&B’s motivations. Good News: The story is […]

A Church where the Preaching is Damn Good Every Time

July 31, 2012.Reading time 2 minutes.

A few weeks ago I was at the 77th General Convention of The Episcopal Church. I had a great time. This is not the wrap-up post. Lots of other people have done that and done it well. One of the many things I did while I was at GC was spend time with the loose […]

Millennials: The End isn’t Coming (short of Jesus’s return)

July 25, 2012.Reading time 5 minutes.

First, the Church isn’t about to end, be it with a whimper or a bang. We are the inheritors of a tradition that has survived the Ascension of Jesus, outward persecutions, inward persecutions (those heresy debates with permanent conclusions), the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and more. All of this changed the Church. The 21st century and […]

Millennials: Rumors Abound

July 6, 2012.Reading time 5 minutes.

My parents were part of that pattern where people left the Church for a chunk of their late teens/early twenties and then came back, usually when they wanted the kids to go to Church (link). They may well have been one of the last to leave and return. We should stop accepting this pattern.* For […]

Millennials: Starting Young

May 22, 2012.Reading time 4 minutes.

My parents picked The Episcopal Church for their family long before I chose to stay, and I’ve often thought that TEC ‘stuck’ better in my case than they might have wished. By the time I was the one choosing a lot more was involved than easy Sunday School registration. The first time I chose TEC […]

Millennials in the Church: Before you hide the China and Change the Music

May 18, 2012.Reading time 2 minutes.

I have a confession: I’m under thirty. Which is wonderful but I’m also an Episcopal priest. So suddenly no-one* seems to know what to do with me. I should celebrate my youth; I should talk up my experience (and at 14 years of leadership in this here Church, I’ve got some). I should learn more; […]