Week of September 6, 2020
First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude at the outpouring of love and support on the occasion of my ten year anniversary at Trinity Church. It was a wonderful surprise and I was very touched. Second, I want to share with you some of what is going on in…
Week of August 30, 2020
Last Sunday the passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome used the familiar language of the Church, the community of disciples of Jesus Christ, as a single human body. Part of the metaphor of the body stresses the importance of diversity, especially the diversity of spiritual gifts. Presently, we are in the midst of heightened…
Week of August 23, 2020
The mason had been working all day in the sun and the heat rebuilding the brick wall of the church next door. While not the hottest day of the week, it wasn’t the coolest either. As I was leaving for the day, he was still at work, although he had briefly ducked into the church building for…
Week of August 16, 2020
We are about to have a huge narrative jump on Sunday when it comes to the Old Testament readings. Last week Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. This upcoming Sunday Joseph, now serving in the court of Pharaoh, is reunited with his brothers. The week after that, we leave Genesis behind entirely and move into…
Week of August 9, 2020
Is your spiritual life by chance, or by choice? I’ll freely admit that a lot of my own spiritual life is by chance, and that is not a bad thing per se. Let me explain by using a metaphor. Right now my extroverted tendencies are largely being fed by random encounters with people I meet. I’ll run into…
Week of August 2
I’m taking a break from my review of various spiritual gifts to check in with all of you regarding this time of forced physical separation. On August 3 the Vestry will be meeting again to discuss our situation and the best and safest way for us to engage in community. I think that at this point it…
Week of July 26, 2020
This week’s topic for spiritual gifts has literally to do with spirits, namely the gift of the discernment of spirits. The origins of this gift as described in scripture are connected to notions of both divine and holy spiritual entities and evil ones that could influence (or afflict) people, but more contemporary uses of the…
Week of July 19, 2020
Last week, I talked about the spiritual gift of Exhortation, which involves the ministry of instructing others of the fundamental, practical elements of discipleship. Related to that spiritual gift is another, the gift of Teaching. Teachers are not just people who take our children downstairs into classrooms for the first half of the service. They are people who…
Week of July 12, 2020
I’m continuing with a look at the gifts of the Holy Spirit during this Pentecost season. Parakleo is translated in different ways into English: to admonish, encourage, or beseech. But the most common translation in the context of a spiritual gift is “to exhort,” or to possession the gift of Exhortation. Simply put, those who possess…
Week of July 5, 2020
I have been discussing spiritual gifts during this Pentecost season. This week I would like to talk about the gift of Mercy. Simply put, those who possess this spiritual gift are drawn to caring for people who are experiencing physical or emotional needs. These are the people who are the first to ask how they can help when…