The Sunday Sermon: The Rest in Good Work

Happy Independence Day weekend! We live in an incredible country, to be sure. These days, as nation after nation succumbs to violence, often in the wake of elections, I am deeply grateful for the willingness of Americans to transfer power peacefully, even to those with whom we disagree. It is right and proper to celebrate … READ MORE…

The Sunday Sermon: Which God?

Today the Episcopal Church invites us to find ways to highlight the use of social media in our faith life. Social media technology offers us new ways to share the Gospel with our friends, to show what church looks like, to pass along a word of comfort, grief, or challenge to those who are dear … READ MORE…

The Sunday Sermon: Communicating the Spirit

The Feast of Pentecost, June 8 2014  It’s party time in Jerusalem. Jews have come from all over the world to celebrate one of the three major feasts of the religious year: Pentecost. That’s the name St. Luke gives to Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, a celebration mandated by Moses to take place 50 days, … READ MORE…

The Sunday Sermon: Life in the Unknown God

When Paul visited Athens in the 1st century AD, he visited a city that was bursting with religion. Every street corner had its shrine; the Pantheon of gods and goddesses provided a deity for every personality, every profession, every moral standard. If you wanted your garden to be fruitful you prayed to Demeter, goddess of … READ MORE…

Sermon: Celebration of New Ministry. We Show People Jesus!

The Very Rev. Mike Kinman, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, St Louis MO, preached the sermon for Dean Penny’s installation: Let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new and that all things are being brought to … READ MORE…

The Sunday Sermon: On the Road with Jesus

Some of the most memorable stories in Scripture are stories of the road: Abraham’s emigration to Canaan; the Exodus wanderings; the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus; the encounter between the deacon Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch on the desert road. Today’s story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus is much … READ MORE…

The Sunday Sermon: My Peace I Leave You

In 1992 a young American Fulbright Scholar was murdered in a South African black township. Amy Biehl had been working passionately against apartheid but fell victim to the rampant political violence and racial distrust of the time. She had been working for peace. What do we mean by peace? And why is it so dangerous … READ MORE…

The Sunday sermon: Joy is the Power

The thing gardeners do during winter in most everywhere in the United States is wait. Tulip and daffodil bulbs lay under snow and ice, dead to the world. Berries and asparagus become dried sticks, barren. In that season Advent prepares us for the hope of Christmas, the hope that light conquers darkness, that the sun … READ MORE…