St. John The Good Shepherd

Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year B) This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on Good Shepherd Sunday April 21, 2024. On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we continue reading through the First Epistle of St. John, who is the traditional author of those beloved and bucolic words attributed to Jesus, “I […]

Walking in the Light

Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter (Year B) This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on April 7, 2024. As we continue our celebration of the Resurrection throughout the fifty days of Eastertide, our lectionary offers us readings from the first Epistle of St. John, which exhorts us to turn away from […]

St. John, Celtic Spirituality, and the Heart Sense

Readings for the Feast of the Christ Mass This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka for the Christmas Day service on Sunday December 25, 2023. Merry Christmas! In the ninth century, the brilliant Celtic theologian John Scotus Eriugena (815–877) wrote a homily on the Gospel we just heard read, a homily that has been called […]

Metta Force Be With You

This article was written for the January 2024 Chronicle newsletter for Christ Church Eureka. 2023 is a significant year for me as I celebrate my 40th birthday, my 5-year anniversary at Christ Church Eureka, and begin my 10th year as an Episcopal priest. I was ordained to the priesthood in early January on the Eve of the […]

Seabury and the Patriotic Practice of Stewardship

This article was written for the October 2022 Chronicle newsletter for Christ Church Eureka. This March will be the 240th anniversary of the election of the first Episcopal bishop Samuel Seabury, the namesake of one of my Yorkies. The first Anglican worship service held on American soil took place in California in 1579, but Seabury wasn’t […]

Wedding Homily for David & Martha

Readings for the Wedding of David William Harty and Martha Buckle Shear: Tobit 8:5b-8 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Matthew 5:1 – 10 This sermon was preached at the Wedding of David Harty and Martha Shear on June 21, 2014 at Ru’s Farm at Healdsburg Country Gardens in Healdsburg CA. Over the last few months, I have […]