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 […]

Hair Loss

August 8, 2012.Reading time 3 minutes.

My mother wore her hair long until cancer and chemotherapy left her bald. I remember her telling me, from the first of many hospital beds, that she’d chosen to have them shave her whole head. As far as I can remember she handled baldness well with wigs, scarves, and bare scalp. A few years and […]

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: 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 […]

(Happy Birthday)x

May 4, 2012.Reading time 1 minute.

I’m not a big birthday person. It’s not an age thing–one of the perks of being an Episcopal Priest is that I get to be considered “young” until I”m 45 (currently, I’m waiting for them to raise it). That gives me another 16 years of young. For years I would be reminded that it was […]

Understanding Incarnation

April 16, 2012.Reading time 3 minutes.

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 […]

Holy Week and Memories

April 3, 2012.Reading time 3 minutes.

Holy 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, […]

The First Yes

March 21, 2012.Reading time 2 minutes.

She 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 […]