"Will You Call This a Fast?"
Isaiah 58:1–9a “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of […]
New Translations of the BCP into Spanish, French and Haitian Creole
March 3: World Mission Sunday
Bible Study: Epiphany 1 (C) – 2019
Isaiah 43:1-7 As we remember Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan, the prophet Isaiah’s words speak to us about the profound faithfulness of God. In this passage, God promises his chosen people that he will be with them no matter what. During my undergraduate days at a small church-related college in the Midwest, we sang […]
After Eight Days, Holy Name Day – 2019
“After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” – Luke 2:21 January 1, the Feast of the Holy Name, is a day when we encounter an interweaving of spiritual traditions: a mystical attachment […]
How to Be Beloved, Epiphany 1 (C) – 2019
I want to talk a bit about the Baptism of Jesus, about what it means. The place to start, of course, is with the story we just heard. We heard the first part of it just a few weeks ago. Remember how John was at the Jordan River (the place where the people of Israel […]
End of 115th Congress Updates
The House and Senate just passed the Farm Bill that maintains the protections for the vulnerable and hungry that you have been advocating for! This is a significant victory to prevent incredibly harmful changes that were proposed in previous versions. Through the For Such a Time campaign to #PrayFastAct, the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran […]
Looking Back, Looking Forward
The election is a week away, Congress is in recess, but our advocacy work continues. Every day, all of us in the Office of Government Relations continue to educate and equip Episcopalians to carry out advocacy for the Church based on the policies of General Convention and Executive Council. Our advocacy work (and yours!) continues, […]
Bible Study: Proper 23 (B) – 2018
Job 23:1-9, 16-17 In this reading, we find the ever-faithful Job trusting in his God but nonetheless turning bitter and confused as the realities of life begin to torment him. As his pitiful situation drags on with his friends and family adding to his problems instead of encouraging him, he wakes up heavily burdened with […]
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Be Faithful, Keep Planting, Proper 6 (B) – 2018
The lessons we read today seem to be mainly about planting. Most of us probably do not live on farms, but we might have some knowledge about the growth of plants. We know that planting requires someone to sow the seeds. The seeds need to have soil, and the soil needs to be tilled and […]
Bible Study: Easter 4 (B) – 2018
Acts 4:5-12 “The stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone” (verse 11). As is often the case, the context of this passage is set in the portion of the text that is not included in the reading. Here, the situation is that Peter and John were preaching and rejoicing […]
Triduum: Until he comes again
Movements shake things up! One moment, everything feels stable, secure, predictable. Then suddenly the ground shifts, the earth shakes, and what appeared steady and familiar before now feels…different. Movements shake things up. Movements change things. Paul understood this all too well. He had heard about this new thing from Palestine, this Jesus Movement. He heard […]
Lent 3: But we proclaim Christ crucified
Some things just don’t make much sense. Water doesn’t become wine, bread and fish do not suddenly multiply, the lame do not jump up and walk. And most certainly, dead people stay dead, especially those who experience the horrific death of crucifixion! And yet, where Jesus is involved, all kinds of things that don’t make […]
Leave Her Alone. She Is Telling the Truth., Monday in Holy Week – 2018
In our Episcopal tradition, it was Palm Sunday yesterday. Jesus has entered Jerusalem. We are beginning Holy Week, and Jesus is walking closer and closer toward the cross. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is at Bethany, attending a dinner party hosted by Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead a […]
Christ’s Own for Ever, Epiphany 1 (B) – 2018
Today, we commemorate the baptism of Jesus by his cousin John in the River Jordan. Now, John’s that guy we’ve been hearing a lot about lately (since the beginning of Advent), and after today, he will drop into the background. You see, we no longer need that voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way […]
Frank T. Griswold – Biography
Frank Tracy Griswold III (1937-2023) served as the 25th presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church from 1998-2006. Griswold co-chaired the Roman Catholic-Anglican Commission from 1998 to 2003 and made significant contributions to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and to its practical use in the liturgical life of the church. Griswold’s private spiritual practice was deeply […]
Five Things I Learned at the Diocese of Georgia Revival
Deaconess Alexander was an extraordinary person. A focus of the weekend, along with a general renewal of spirit and revival of our faith, was the life and ministry of Deaconess Anna Alexander. The deaconess was born in 1865 to recently emancipated slaves on Butler Plantation in McIntosh County, Georgia. In a calling of more than […]
Triennial report on Episcopal Church-Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Dialogue
THE EPISCOPAL PRESBYTERIAN BI-LATERAL DIALOGUE RECOMMENDATION The Episcopal Presbyterian Bi-lateral Dialogue committee recommends to the 223rd General Assembly (2018) and the 79th General Convention of The Episcopal Church (2018): 1. The bi-lateral dialogue be continued and meet until 2024, a year in which both the General Assembly and the General Convention will meet, and report back […]