Marshall A. Jolly
The Reverend Dr. Marshall Jolly is the 19th rector of St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church and president of Mead Hall Episcopal School in Aiken, South Carolina. He holds degrees in theology and other stuff from Transylvania University and Emory University and enjoys running, reading, and golf. He and his wife are looked after by Hambrick, their little nine-pound Himalayan cat with a huge personality.
Sermons and Bible Studies
God of the Living, Proper 27 (C) – 2025
[RCL] Haggai 1:15b-2:9; Psalm 145:1-5, 18-22 or Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38 “God is God not of the dead, but of the living…” One of the most ancient claims about God made by our Jewish siblings is that God is the God of the living. The ancient Hebrew moniker for God, Elohim […]
Journeying, Wednesday in Holy Week – 2025
[RCL] Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 70; Hebrews 12:1-3; John 13:21-32 Hebrews is something of an anomaly among New Testament writings. It tells of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but it’s not a Gospel. It appears to be written to a particular community of faith, but it’s not a letter in the traditional sense. It […]
Nicodemus, Lent 2 (A) – March 8, 2020
[RCL]: Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17 There is a trend among preachers, particularly lectionary preachers, to try and find that elusive “fresh perspective” or “new insight” into the Biblical text. The more familiar the text, the more fever-pitched the effort to say something “new” about it. Enter John chapter three, verse sixteen: […]
Shrewdness, Proper 20 (C) – 2019
[RCL]: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1; Psalm 79:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13 Every now and then, we come upon a passage of Scripture that is especially challenging to preach on. Sometimes, the homiletical difficulty comes from the fact that the text is so familiar that just about everything that can be said about it has been said. […]
Suffering and Punishment, Lent 3 (C) – 2019
Odds are that a quick scan of the commentaries and preaching resources written on Luke, chapter 13, would produce a common refrain: “Be careful with this passage!” The warning is a good one, as this passage causes the faithful to ask some of the most common and complicated questions in all of Christendom. They are […]
Where Are You?, Proper 5 (B) – 2018
It’s a familiar scene: parents and grandparents lingering in conversation on the steps of the parish hall after coffee hour, as their children and grandchildren make the most of the beautiful early summer day. They scamper through the churchyard with cheerful squeals and, after a few moments of frolic, they decide to organize a game […]
More Than Fixing, Lent 2 (B) – 2018
Blessed Saint Peter: author of Scripture, first Pope, chief Apostle, teacher and defender of the faith, pillar of the Early Church, purported benefactor of the Gospel of Mark, and martyr. It is little wonder that Saint Peter gets so much good press amongst Christians! But there is one thing missing from this list. One thing, […]
How Is God Calling Us?, Proper 21 (A) – 2017
In March of 1979, a nonprofit organization by the name of the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network was launched. It is better-known by its acronym: C-SPAN. The organization’s mission is to provide continuous coverage of the goings-on of the US Government. You may have tuned in on occasion to watch as Congress works—or, depending on your […]
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!, Easter Day (A) – 2017
We, the faithful in Christ, gather this morning, not just with our friends and families, but also with Christians around the world and across time, joyfully proclaiming what is perhaps the most ancient creed in Christendom: Christ is risen! For the next fifty days, this great and powerful Easter proclamation will mark our liturgy, define our purpose, […]
Digging into Our Certainty, Lent 2 (A) – 2017
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Martin Luther called John 3:16 “the Gospel in a nutshell.” Without a doubt, this is the most famous verse in the New Testament. And yet, as most preachers […]
What We Need From Christmas, Christmas Day (II) – 2016
For churches across the country, the month of December is devoted to preparation—not only the kind of spiritual preparation that Advent invites; but rather, practical planning: where (and when) to hang the decorations, how to assemble the Christmas liturgies, when to organize the Christmas parties and festivities, and so on. Altar guilds and worship committees […]
Are We Ready to Hear the Truth?, Proper 10 (C) – 2016
On August 28, 1963, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood before 250,000 people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC and delivered what would become one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century: his “I Have a Dream” speech. In it, he called for civil rights and economic protections […]
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