The Sunday Sermon: The Challenge of God’s Grace

St Paul’s welcomed the Rev Michael Kinnamon for both the forum and the sermon on Pride Sunday. Grace and peace to you in the name of our savior, Jesus Christ! I give thanks for the ministry God has done through the St. Paul’s community, including your ministry to the homeless, your support of Dorcas House, … READ MORE…

The Sunday Sermon: And who is our neighbor?

Luke 10:25-37 Come Holy Spirit: Touch our minds and think with them, touch our lips and speak with them and touch our hearts and set them on fire with love for you. AMEN. Different times in human history have gone by different names: the reformation, the renaissance, the age of reason, the Enlightenment. In our … READ MORE…

Gary’s story

Gary presented this story along with Colin’s sermon on The Power of Story on July 5.   Friday morning June 24th, I was at my favorite weekly event. At 8 a.m., I was breakfasting at Bread & Cie with our Dean and the cathedral’s “best and brightest” (just ask them). About 8:35 the thought entered … READ MORE…

The Sunday Sermon: The Power of Story

What a beautiful passage in today’s Gospel. It details the the next chapter in Luke’s steady development of Jesus’ followers from a small band of disciples to today’s seventy ambassadors, to the many thousands who, in Luke’s Book of Acts, will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to share God’s Good News with the world. … READ MORE…

Education for Ministry: Fertile ground to grow your faith

“Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers” (Baptismal Covenant, BCP 304). Every baptized Christian is called to ministry. What is yours? Education for Ministry (EfM) is a program of the School of Theology at the University of the South (Sewanee) that provides the foundational … READ MORE…

Orlando Strong

I’ve had Eucharist in a bar before. But this was different, and I was nervous. This week, we decided that the next step in healing would be for us to offer ourselves to the community and take church to the streets. We did that by having a communion service in the gay bar in Hillcrest, … READ MORE…

The Sunday Sermon: We are not alone

“Jesus asked the man, ‘What is your name?’ And he answered ‘Legion’, for many demons had entered him”. The demons have indeed been legion this week. We are all still reeling from the Orlando attack, and in the midst of that horror, our local community dealt with two terrible events close to home: a shootout … READ MORE…

Meditation: Prayers for Pulse

For me it became real when a former parishioner texted me. He told me that he knew one of the victims. Brenda McCool lived in Barstow for a time. She was in the club with her son, dancing. She was there with him to celebrate him, to support him, to make sure he knew that … READ MORE…

An Ordination Sermon: Poets of the soul

Feast Day of St. Barnabas   Isaiah 42:5-12   Acts 11:19-30, 13:1-3   Psalm 112   Matthew 10:7-16   The Feast Day of St. Barnabas: The Ordination of Jacqueline Bray, Christopher Harris, Nancy Holland, and Richard Lee Jesus said, “As you go, proclaim the good news.” It’s amazing to see so many people here in church to celebrate the Feast … READ MORE…