Homily on Vida Dutton Scudder

Readings for the Feast Day of Vida Dutton Scudder Isaiah 42:5-9 Psalm 25:1-14 Romans 12:1-2, 14-21 John 6:37-51 This sermon was preached in Lewis Hall at Christ Church Eureka in a gathering of the Episcopal Church Women on Wednesday October 10, 2018. Vida Dutton Scudder (1861 – 1954) was a social welfare activist in the social gospel movement […]

St. Francis the Sissy?

There was a discussion in a First Grade religion class focused on St. Francis of Assisi. After school, a First Grader came home very excited about what he had learned and blurted out to his mother, “Guess what, Mommy? Today, I learned that St. Francis was a sissy!” Now one practical way to ensure that […]

Salt and Fire

Readings for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B – Track 2 – Proper 21) Numbers 11:4-6,10-16,24-29 Psalm 19:7-14 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on Sunday September 30, 2018. A few years ago, while leading a kid’s church service in Sausalito, I invited the children to […]

The Ever-Giving Flow of Divine Generosity

Two Sundays ago, on our Homecoming Sunday (when we bounced back to church), I read a poem from the Christian poet Rainer Maria Rilke who prayed, “May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.” I invited us to live our lives […]

Homily for Vestry Retreat and Feast of St. Cyprian and James Chisholm

Today we gather as the elected leaders of Christ Church Eureka parish to pray together, to break bread, to laugh, to play and to listen to each other and to be guided by the Holy Spirit among us as we begin to articulate a mission statement for the church. God has chosen each of us […]

Ephphatha – Be Opened!

Readings for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost (Year B Track 2) Isaiah 35:4-7a Psalm 146 James 2:1-17 Mark 7:24-37 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on September 9, 2018. “For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the […]

McCain and the Wisdom of the Maverick Gospel

Readings for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16) Readings for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16)– Track 2 Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18 Psalm 34:15-22 Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:56-69 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on August 26, 2018. Last Sunday, I preached on the life and death and witness of a young […]

Jonathan Daniels and the Bread of Wisdom

Readings for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15) – Track 2 Proverbs 9:1-6 Psalm 34:9-14 Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on August 19, 2018. This last Tuesday was the feast day of a modern-day martyr named Jonathan Myrick Daniels. Throughout the week, I have been […]

Grace That Saves a Kvetch Like Me

Readings for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14 Year B Track 2) 1 Kings 19:4-8 Psalm 34:1-8 Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2 John 6:35, 41 – 51 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on August 12, 2018. By now, you know how much I like to glean wisdom from our Jewish […]

Transfigured by Glory

Readings for the Feast Day of the Transfiguration (Instructional Eucharist) Exodus 34:29-35 2 Peter 1:13-21 Luke 9:28-36 Psalm 99 This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Sunday August 5, 2018. … Our prayer book requires a response to the scriptures in a sermon. The preacher comments on the readings and helps us […]