Writings and Sermons
I was as unprepared as any of us ever are; I was as prepared as all of us are. A seminarian doing CPE, serving the sick, the dying, the struggling. In CPE, sometimes you stumble across people who needs you and sometimes someone (usually a nurse) will page you for a patient. I don’t remember […]
Read MoreHoly Week is hard. That may seem an overly simple statement for a priest to make. After all, Easter, Resurrection is at the center of our faith. And this week leading up to it is full: full of weighty symbols, full of meaning, full of Church, full of work. More sermons to write, more liturgies to plan, […]
Read MoreShe said yes. Well, technically, I had asked-slashed-offered to help lead the next time this event was put on and she said, “I think you could be very good at that.” To my 15 year old self, it was a yes of magnitude. When I think back to me at this time I want to […]
Read MoreFirst, a couple of disclaimers. (1) I’ve been trying to write various posts on aspects of these topics for a couple of weeks now and have nothing coherent–yet. (2) I love Twitter. (3) I get tired of defending the ability to have a conversation on Twitter. So when I realized that I had a conversation […]
Read MoreI tell people that my life is a juggling act where the goal is not to drop the same ball every week. If you’ve ever seen me (attempt to) juggle, you’d have an appreciation for just how appropriate this image is. Time management is challenging. For all of us. A Google search for “time management” […]
Read MoreAnother round has broken out in the gender and Church debates. Also known as the “should I be allowed to do my job” debates. For the record, I don’t anticipate an end to this debate, or even an uneasy truce within my lifetime. The fact that women are allowed to preach, teach, and celebrate the […]
Read MoreI read. All sorts and types of things. I read people who agree with me, people who disagree with me, people who almost or mostly do one or the other. I read for work. The Bible, I hope obviously; liturgies and about them; sermons, my own and others; theology; social and political commentary; current events; […]
Read MoreWhen I moved into my office—my only one amid the Churches I was called to, I did it with verve. I was the first new priest in 20 years, and possibly the first to use this space in longer than that, based on the dust. Boxes of books were piled into the Honda sedan I […]
Read MoreI love preaching. (I was shy enough growing up to still wonder at this delight in speaking in front of people.) I’ve even gotten enough compliments beyond “Nice sermon” to think that I’m at least not horrible at it. I am not naive enough, however, to think that every sermon is my best. It would […]
Read MoreThe catch-all line in any job description is always “and other jobs as requested.” When you are an Episcopal Priest sometimes that line means cleaning bathrooms, negotiating with copiers, or shoveling walkways, and sometimes it means teaching theology. For the past three months, I’ve had the joyous privilege of teaching theology to future deacons. (We’ll […]
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Theologybird Writes 