Tonight we take a look at Ephesians 3 and the pretty radical idea that seems to have landed Saint Paul in prison: "Every ethnic group in heaven or on earth is recognized by God."

We go live at 6:00 pm Hawai'i time (or whenever after).

#Jesus #Bible #Episcopal #Church #Theology

https://www.youtube.com/live/bzxDk1t6aDA

The third week in #Lent is all about #Prayers according to #TheDisciplesWay Its going to be a challenging week for me. My #PrayerLife leaves much to be desired. Today’s verse (Luke 11:1-4) teaches us how to say the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father, who art in heaven…) This is probably the most widely recognized, known, & said prayers in all Christiandom. It is part of every #Episcopal service I have been part of from Daily Offices to Eucharists to funerals to weddings to ordinations to prayer services. It is also the prayer we spend the least amount of time thinking about once we have it memorized. Which is why I regularly lobby for teaching the congregation to say the prayer in languages other than English. The idea being that if we are praying in a language which is not native to someone, they will need to be more aware of & pay more attention to each word. It also acknowledges that English is not the only, or perhaps even the first language spoken by members of the congregation.

In our second part of our study of Ephesians during Lent, we take a look at the second chapter of the letter. This presents us with Saint Paul's ideas about grace, salvation, and how God is working to break down the dividing walls between us people.

Live at 6:00 pm Hawai'i time and whenever after, by clicking the link

#Bible #Jesus #Episcopal #Church #Christianity #spirituality

https://www.youtube.com/live/HI1gmkfZ6eo

I arrived at #SLECBuffalo on Nov. 1, 2023.
On Jan. 3, 2024 I found a letter on my desk from our organist saying, “I quit.” (It was a little longer, but that was the essence). Ever since then we’ve been using a digital hymnal thing attached to the organ. It’s difficult to use, time consuming, and doesn’t produce the best music.
I convinced the Vestry to purchase another digital hymnal that I used 15-20 years ago. We got some funds to help, and it arrived last week. This one is so much better in all ways; so much so that I spent yesterday afternoon loading in all our music from Lent 3 to Easter 7.
Now we need a better speaker.
#Episcopal #PriestLife #GettingBetter

Let’s get a little weird for the weekend! This is my first longer blog post and I’ve been doing a fair bit of reflection on #Theology and #Technology these days…

#Jesus #Christian #Church #Linux #Episcopal #Weird #Spirituality

https://catecheticconverter.com/gods-technology

Asking all #Episcopalians to contact their Senators, Congresspersons, other elected officials, members of the administration, media & anyone/everyone else about the removal of Pauli Murray, the #Episcopal Church’s first AFAB #lesbian African American priest from the National Park Service website https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2025/03/10/pauli-murray-center-denounces-removal-of-the-priests-biography-from-national-park-service-website/ #PauliMurray #TEC #TheEpiscopalChurch #NationalParkService #women #BIPOC

Pauli Murray Center denounces removal of the priest’s biography from National Park Service website
https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2025/03/10/pauli-murray-center-denounces-removal-of-the-priests-biography-from-national-park-service-website/
"The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice in Durham, North Carolina, has denounced the removal of a biography of Murray from the National Park Service website about the Murray Family Home, a National Historic Landmark." #episcopal

Just (re)watched The #PhiladelphiaEleven Although I lived through this part of church #history every time I see or read or hear about it I discover something new & profound. The older I get, the more I am struck by & admire the courage of those involved. Today I find myself wondering what might have happened if Pauli Murray had counseled them differently or joined their action or just lived long enough to see Barbara Harris nominated as a bishop. Despite my playing “what if” I have rarely been so proud to be part of the #Episcopal Church. We owe these women (and a few men) a great deal, especially prayers that the doors they opened with such radical love will never close. https://pbs.org/video/the-philadelphia-eleven-cOIThl?source=social

Seems like I’m getting some affirmation of my social media/technology fast during #Lent from today’s #ForwardDaybyDay (Hebrews 2:1-3a) For me, it’s not just a matter of a shortened attention span (tho I ! ! that too), it’s also about losing sight of what is important in my life. I need and want to make space to just sit with God and listen. I may or may not be discerning a call. I can’t quite tell because of the overwhelming noise around me. We talk about holding space for others, which is an important thing to do. We also need to hold space, in our lives and our world, for God and the Divine (I’d say “whatever we conceive that to be” but too many people today seem to be worshipping or attention or false prophets rather than any aspect of the Divine) The biggest issue I have with a social media fast is that social media is my job. Maybe if I confine myself to work hours and #Episcopal related content We’ll see how #offline and #analog I can get this season and still do my job.

Happy feast day of George Herbert!
https://prayer.forwardmovement.org/calendar/george-herbert
Daily Prayer: A Resource of Forward Movement #episcopal #anglican

Tonight, we take a look at church architecture and what it has to say about our faith! Yes, "the church" is the people, but the building itself is a testament of faith and an act of worship, so let's investigate it and ponder what it all says about our relationship with God almighty! We go live at 6:00 pm Hawai'i time.

#Episcopal #Church #Jesus #architecture #theology #spirituality

https://www.youtube.com/live/gGSf-ZOGfwE

In our ride to school this morning, my four-year-old daughter says that she wants me to tell her “everything about Jesus.” Lemme tell you, 20+ years of theological education, 42 years of Christian living, and 14 years of ordained ministry only serve as precursors to such conversations. No examination required me to be as nimble and clear as that twenty minutes in the car did—and NONE of it was ever as rewarding either!

I have a special needs person who’s an acolyte at the first service. She does things fine, but getting her to do things differently or in a new way is a challenge, so I tend to let a lot slide.
Today we had a small issue with the wine cruet, and in trying to get it turned around, I set it down on the altar and it urped up wine onto the fair linen. And now I need to apologize to the Altar Guild for making a mess.
#Episcopal #Oops #PriestLife #Patience

Texas ACNA Congregation Becomes Second to Join #Episcopal Church
https://julieroys.com/texas-acna-congregation-becomes-second-join-episcopal-church/

In the gospels, Jesus tells us to "love our enemies," which often feels impossible, because it is. However, we tend to react to this impossibility by dropping the "love" part, and not the enemy part.

I'm convinced that what Jesus is challenging us to do is move beyond seeing anyone as our "enemy."

“Today I am announcing the first major milestone toward achieving these goals: a realignment of the church center staff that will position us to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ more effectively in the world that we see emerging.” Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe announces a mix of layoffs and retirements as the #EpiscopalChurch seeks to realign itself operationally to better meet the needs of #episcopal dioceses, parishes, organizations, and people. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/publicaffairs/presiding-bishop-sean-rowe-on-episcopal-church-staff-realignment/