Week of January 19, 2020
It feels like one of those weeks where I am really seeing the whole “Loving Your Neighborhood” mission being made real. First, I’m pleased to share with all of you that I have been selected to serve on the Lawrence Special Education Advisory Committee which is composed of parents of special needs kids. L-SEAC works with the…
Week of January 12, 2020
Nestled among the various Christmas-related holidays is the Feast of the Holy Innocents. In the Episcopal Church this is observed on December 28, but is actually a bit of a follow-up to the events depicted in the Epiphany of Our Lord, January 6. In the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew King Herod, having been tipped…
Week of January 5, 2020
Some of you may have seen on Facebook that on New Year’s Eve I took an accidental fall down a stair and badly sprained my ankle. I wasn’t skating or anything exciting like that; I can’t even say I was partying for the holiday–I had just finished Chinese takeout and was heading downstairs to watch television. In…
Week of December 22, 2019
Trinity said goodbye to a member of our community last week. Every Thursday several volunteers from Community Living Opportunities (CLO) arrive at the Trinity Interfaith Food Pantry to pick up a list of requested items to be purchased at a local store to fill out the shelves. These volunteers are developmentally disabled, and are accompanied by…
Week of December 15, 2019
So one of my more unusual personal Advent traditions is that when the readings from Isaiah (11:1-10) appear in our lectionary describing the “Peaceable Kingdom” I reintroduce myself to the works of American painter Edward Hicks. Hicks (1780-1849) was a Quaker minister and artist who painted a depiction of the Peaceable Kingdom 62 times in…
Week of December 8, 2019
Amidst the onset of Advent and the approach of Christmas in this liturgical season, we have perhaps forgotten one other change in our worship life together: the switch to the Gospel of Matthew. For those who do not know, the readings in church are determined based on a three-year cycle with begins on the first…
Week of December 1, 2019
As the nation gathers together for a communal expression of Thanksgiving, I would like to just celebrate the fact that God calls us to gratitude every day of our lives, should we choose to listen. I believe that gratitude is the cornerstone of Christian spirituality and discipleship, especially in the way that it helps us avoid…
Week of November 24, 2019
With so many things going on this week, I wanted to share with you a few things happening at Trinity. First, my thanks to everyone who has filled out a pledge card and returned it to the office. Every card has come in with the hope of seeing the ministries of Trinity Church grow and…
Week of November 10, 2019
The readings from last Sunday, which were taken from the Feast Day of All Saints, featured a sort of “before and after” aspect that may not be immediately evident. The book of Daniel is best known for stories about Daniel and others surviving the hardships of living under Babylonian rule (such as Daniel in the…
Week of November 3, 2019
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was continuing to look at ways in which Trinity Church could respond to the increased need to assist the community’s homeless population, particularly in light of the recent (and necessary) downsizing of the Lawrence Community Shelter. Since then, I have met with local government leaders from the…