As I was thinking last week about our readings for today, the first Sunday in Lent, my thoughts kept returning to a period in my life about fifteen years ago, I think, when I would make frequent trips to my hometown to check on my parents well being, a routine not unfamiliar to some of you, I suspect…
So you’re at the checkout line at Harris Teeter or Food Lion. There’s a person in front of you and all their stuff has gone through. It’s time to pay. The person takes out their piece of plastic and puts it through. It’s always a debit or credit, or pays cash and there’s some problem…
When I was a young adult I remember my father repeating a story that his father was born before cars existed. That means probably before there were any roads. Then by the time Grandpa died and he was 95 years old and we had put a man on the moon. So my dad was overwhelmed about the amount of change that had taken place in our world in these less than 100 years of his own father’s life…
The Gospel reading this morning really invites me, engages me, more than any of these other readings. It reminds me of some things I’ve shared with you before about some of the stages that religion can go through. Some of this is from Richard Rohr. You may remember my mentioning him. I want to put this in some sort of context. It’s that reading where Jesus says, “You’ve heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say…”
When Ricky asked me to stand before you and share my story I was more than a bit apprehensive. Then after we scheduled my talk for February thirteenth, I realized I woukd be speaking after Bishop Curry. So you might be wondering why I accepted this opportunity to speak given all of the powerful talks that have come before me. But as the mother of three small children, all under the age of seven, I could not pass up the chance to talk for ten uninterrupted minutes…
It’s a joy to be back at St. Paul’s. I must tell you that once in a while when I get a Sunday off, I’ll slip in and sit in the back at the 7:30 (I like that 7:30) and then go to Starbuck’s and see all those Episcopalians who are supposed to be in church. I really do give God thanks for the witness, the ministries, the service that you do as St. Paul’s Church here and well beyond Cary. I really do thank God for your ministries and your witness. This is just a lovely church, a wonderful place. And your clergy are among the best that God has called for in the church…
Good morning. My name is Rick Bradley and I have to tell you how I came to be the parishioner before you to share my stewardship story. For many of you who have come before me to share your story, you know how this works. If you’ve been an involved parishioner as a ministry leader or on Vestry or served in some other capacity that made you known to others, you just know that your time is coming and you will be asked to stand before the congregation and share your story…
Have you ever heard the story of the rector who was preaching to the congregation on a Sunday, and it’s that time of the year that is stewardship, and a lot of the talk is about giving? The rector says to the congregation, “I have good news. We have all the money we need. We have all the money we need to do all that we need to do.” And the congregation looks a little puzzled. And the rector says, “But here’s the challenge: all the money is in your pockets…”
The historian and theologian Diana Butler Bass, in responding to the tragedy in Arizona last week was quoted as saying that: ” ..the core values of our faith are at odds with violence and the rhetoric of violence. We need to give our people hope that the God born a few weeks ago in a manger is still among us, deeply grieving and deeply caring.”
In every tragedy, whether near or far, in every loss, whether ours or another’s, in every fear and doubt and any crisis that we encounter (and we all encounter many throughout our lives) in all of these instances it is eventually to God that we turn for answers, for comfort, for a reason to go on…
Today is our annual meeting day. I apologize for this service starting later. This is the first time we’ve tried it between services so now we have some ideas about how we can tweak that a little better next year. What I want to do today is, rather that what you might call a regular homily, I will present some thoughts in the context of our annual meeting day. St. Paul’s has many blessings to be thankful for. But with those blessings also come challenges. And so this year, 2011, it certainly is a year of blessings and challenges. I want to share some information with you and put it in context to understand what we’re experiencing as well as that experience within the larger church…