Advent Reflections
AdventWord: Light
As our days shorten in the north, we lament the loss of light and seek alternatives to illuminate our spaces. Candles, lamps, and fires provide comfort and we seek the warmth the sun no longer provides through hot drinks, hugs, soups, and blankets. The image of light calls much to mind, making it hard to […]
AdventWord: Night
On Sunday, April 3, 2016, I wanted to die. I was lying in bed, at the end of my rope, after long years of depression, angst, substance abuse, and trauma. This is not the place to go into all the details, but I was at my bottom. Faithless, miserable, and unable to get out of […]
AdventWord: Focus
As one might imagine, humanitarians are prominent in the history of the Episcopal Church, and the Archives of the Episcopal Church works tirelessly to acquire and maintain their papers—including those of Episcopalians Mary and Julia Chester Emery (1852-1922). These amazing sisters propelled the Church’s mission forward by growing the Women’s Auxiliary and establishing the United […]
AdventWord: Watch
“Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.” It is way too easy to fall asleep spiritually. When you are spiritually asleep, you might still pray, but it can feel like you are just going through the motions. It happens […]
AdventWord: Journey
It was the story of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt as refugees that inspired Episcopalians in Southern Ohio in the 1930s to offer refuge to those fleeing Nazi Europe. For the first time since World War II, there are more than 65.6 million displaced people worldwide, including more than 22.5 million refugees. Episcopal Migration […]
Advent devotions offered by heads of Episcopal Church, Anglican Church of Canada, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop and Primate Michael Curry joined the leaders of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in preparing Advent Devotions for the upcoming liturgical season. Titled “Liberated by God’s Grace” and available here. The weekly devotions were prepared by The Most Rev. […]
Advent 2016 Reflections on Social Justice
The Episcopal Networks Collaborative, consisting of the Episcopal Network for Economic Justice, the Union of Black Episcopalians, and the Episcopal Ecological Network, has published a new resource for preachers entitled Reflections on Social Justice for the Season of Advent. The Rev. Richard Burnett of Trinity Episcopal Church, Columbus, Ohio writes in the introduction: We began […]
Liberated by God’s Grace: 2016 Advent Devotions
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry joined the leaders of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in preparing Advent Devotions for the upcoming liturgical season. Titled “Liberated by God’s Grace,” the weekly devotions were prepared by The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry. Presiding Bishop and […]
Christmas Day / Peace
Merry Christmas! May a hurting world find peace and healing on this holy day. The word peace, or versions of the word, is used in all but one New Testament book. It seems the angels had it right when they declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” They […]
The Holy Family
The Holy Family is the name given to the family unit of Jesus: Jesus, his mother the Virgin Mary, and his foster-father Joseph. We know very little about the life of the Holy Family through the Gospels. They speak of the early years of the Holy Family, including the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the […]