Snake-on-a-Stick Sunday

Readings for the Fourth Sunday in Lent This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Sunday March 10, 2024. “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” There’s a Facebook meme that comes around during […]

Let Christ Pray in Your Wilderness

Readings for the First Sunday in Lent This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Sunday February 18, 2024. On this First Sunday in Lent, we pick up our reading in Mark’s Gospel right where we left off, way back on the Second Sunday of Advent (almost two months ago!), when we read about […]

New Year Reflections On the Saint of Rievaulx

This article was written for the January 2024 Chronicle newsletter for Christ Church Eureka. This January, I begin my seventh year at Christ Church (Jan 28), and I also celebrate the 10-year anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood (Jan 11). Since I was ordained on the Eve of the Feast Day of St. Aelred of Rievaulx […]

Affirming “Brother Ass”

Readings for the First Sunday after Christmas Day This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Sunday December 31, 2023. 800 years ago, a 41-year-old deacon travelled to the Italian town of Greccio, where he pondered the mystery of Christmas expressed in the words of the Gospel we just heard read. Although his younger years […]

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 […]