Yesterday was low attendance at the 10:00 service (maybe because it was 8 degrees at service time —but it was 4 at 8:00 and we had more then, so ….??).
But we did have someone from a bar show up with his girlfriend. He’s the first bar patron to show up for a regular service, and I was glad to them. And I don’t think we overwhelmed them, so hopefully they’ll keep coming back.
In the wake of a video made by a Roman Catholic parishioner from Saint Elizabeth’s in PA where he bragged about only receiving Communion from their white priest, my sermon today is all about true repentance and amendment of life.
Today, on Saint Mary's live-stream, we'll be taking a look at the good news of the Episcopal Church and how we live the Christian faith as we've received it and understand it.
We go live at 2:30 pm Hawai'i time (but of course can we watched anytime after that).
https://www.youtube.com/live/_caAryHop0M
#Episcopal #Church #Christianity #Spirituality #theology #Jesus
Sometimes this job is ….. interesting. I met with a woman whose mother died earlier this month (she was 108). She came to me because she witnessed “a spiritual battle between evil and good for mom’s soul,” and described in great detail what she witnessed.
She asked if I would pray over mom’s ashes as a final eviction of evil so that she wouldn’t have to worry about the evil spirit trying to reclaim her while her ashes awaited burial.
#Episcopal #SLECBuffalo #PriestLife #NeverBoring #Commendation
“I have told the #clergy of the #Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness,” Hirschfeld said. “And I’ve asked them to get their affairs in order, to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies, to stand between the powers of this world & the most vulnerable.”
#Trump #StateSponsoredTerrorism #religion #law #ethics #RightToProtest #CivilRights #UseOfForce #MafiaState
The Stations Of The Cross: Think Upon These Things https://a.co/d/5i85cIx #Amazon #books #episcopal #religion #anglican #jesus
Good and evil
A #poetry thread
—
i.
There are nine empty niches
on DC’s Gothic cathedral.
Let us pray, hold onto wishes
they won’t be filled by further evil.
Eight martyrs more — still unnamed saints —
to join a good mother in her car
who turned a wheel, to flee, not feint,
three icy bullets, au revoir.
🧵👇🏼
#poem #poemaday #church #cathedral #episcopal #anglican #monochrome #blackandwhite #photography
There is an online Prayer Vigil this evening (13 January 2026) to mourn, lament, and remember those who have died due to immigration enforcement or in detention. Details at:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_haZevIcwQPCpcGuk2m_Zyw?mc_cid=49c696bac9#/registration
Today is #1Epiphany and the #FeastOfTheBaptism. This is one of four days we renew our #BaptismalVows. The #BaptismalCovenant has a series of questions that include questions about resisting evil, seeking and serving Christ in all persons, and striving for justice.
My sermon today ended with: “If we are to resist evil, will we stand against the rise of white nationalism and white supremacy now running rampant? If we are to seek and serve Christ in all persons, will we welcome the stranger, alien, and people of color? If we are to strive for justice, will we speak out against arrests, detainments, and killings of innocent people.”
After service, one person heading out the door said, “You need to stop preaching politics.”
The Rt. Rev. Craig Loya, Bishop of the #Episcopal Diocese of #Minnesota issues a statement reminding us, in the light of recent events, not to respond like Herod. Instead, we, as Christians, are challenged to shine God’s light on the fear, violence, and hatred that feeds such acts and lamenting them, while praying always for peace and trusting in the love of Jesus. https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2026/01/08/minnesota-bishop-invokes-story-of-herod-in-statement-lamenting-ice-killing-of-woman/
So my piece on the Holy Innocents a few weeks or so back garnered a little bit of discussion. So I figured it was worthwhile to follow that up with a longer essay on the nature of Truth in scripture that, I hope, will help enrich folks' appreciation of the Bible.
https://catecheticconverter.com/deeper-than-fact-on-fiction-and-truth-in-scripture
#Bible #Episcopal #Anglican #Church #Christianity #Theology #Spirituality #ImABelieverInTheIdeaThatFactOrFictionWasSomethingRikerDidOnTheHolodeckForFun
Today, after a long hiatus, we take a look at #Epiphany and all the things associated with that.
We go live at 2:15 Hawai'i time, but can be viewed any time after that!
https://www.youtube.com/live/0zwdDNZtkhw
#Episcopal #Church #Christian #Jesus #theology #Anglican #Spirituality
For a while I’ve had folks telling me I need to start a newsletter or a podcast with some of my faith related writing and reflections. I started Functioning Faith newsletter over on notd.io but struggled to define what I’m doing so I took a break over the holidays to try to pin things down. My latest attempt explores today’s feast of the Desert Mothers (Sarah, Theodora, and Syncletica) with a slightly different angle than previous content. Let me know which you prefer. https://notd.io/notes/6239800789827584_1_1767636374102/celebrating%20the%20desert%20mothers:%20sarah,%20theodora,%20&%20syncletica
fun spare time project – enabling pastoral care in parishes by sending emails when government warnings are issued within them. half a dozen clergy in my Diocese have signed up already.
use case: say there's a fire in my part-rural parish. I am alerted, and am able to provide care 😊
It wouldn’t be a #Confirmation service without at least one misspelled name.
One incorrect certificate, one name on the cake.
#OhWell #Episcopal #SLECBuffalo
Join me (virtually) for a service of lessons and carols this morning. #christmas #episcopal https://vimeo.com/event/3523178
It’s the #SecondSundayAfterChristmas and the #EleventhDayOfChristmas
Instead of 11 pipers piping we have 6 Confirmations. Our provisional bishop is making his official visitation and we’ve got a big day. Should be fun. And I’m not preaching, so I get to do all the fun stuff.
#Episcopal #SLECBuffalo #MerryChristmas
Suspended ACNA Bishop Founds Breakaway Church - The Living Church
https://livingchurch.org/news/suspended-acna-bishop-founds-breakaway-church/
This is very inside-baseball but people interested in the (so-called) Continuing Anglican movement might enjoy this article. #Anglican #Episcopal
“It’s been nearly a year since then, but I often think that this might have been the only time the president was forced to sit (relatively) still and quiet and listen to someone stand up for the victims of his cruel policies. From her pulpit, [Bishop Budde] spoke about the qualities of mercy that are repeated by religious people all the time. But this time, facing all these powerful and vindictive people, she was not just pastoral, she was heroic.”
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/12/hero-bishop-mariann-budde/
#Today we remember and honor a specifically #Episcopal Church saint. Frances Joseph-Gaudet was committed to prison reform, using her immediate available means to do the work of God's kingdom.
(Now, there is some complication regarding the date of her commemoration--she's listed as both today and tomorrow in different resources. Given that, in the current calendar there is not saintly commemoration for today, I opted to use the old calendar.)
https://catecheticconverter.com/on-saint-frances-of-new-orleans
