Phil Hooper
The Rev. Phil Hooper serves as rector of Saint Anne Episcopal Church, West Chester, in the Diocese of Southern Ohio. He is a contributor to several Episcopal publications and a board member of the Center for Deep Green Faith. His sermons and other writings can be found at www.byanotherroad.com.
Sermons and Bible Studies
Answer, Advent 3 (A) – December 14, 2025
[RCL] Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 We want answers, most days. We crave them; we seek them; sometimes we demand them. We peer at stars and read between lines and survey the vast, muddied landscape of our experiences, hoping to catch sight of something clear and telling. Often they are quite matter-of-fact, […]
At the Edge, Proper 21 (C) – 2025
[RCL] Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15; Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16; 1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31 If you have ever had occasion to stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon, you know that its vastness is difficult to take in. The distances and depths appear unreal to human eyes unaccustomed to such magnitude. Our brains, dazzled and dismayed […]
Departures, Maundy Thursday – 2025
[RCL] Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14; Psalm 116:1, 10-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35 It is not as common an experience in North America, but perhaps you have had, at some point or place in your life, the distinctive experience of standing on the platform of a train station, either as the one who is […]
Uncountable, Christmas Day (I) – 2024
[RCL] Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) They came to be counted. This is where it begins: Joseph and Mary, just two of many in the teeming, trembling, transcendent history of their people, traveling the well-worn roads of their ancestors and coming, at last, to Bethlehem, the city of King David. They […]
Bible Study: Advent 4 (C) – 2021
RCL: Micah 5:2-5a; Canticle 15 (or 3) or Psalm 80:1-7; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45, (46-55) During Advent and Christmas, we will be using study prompts and other activities tied to the sermon for the week. Read the sermon aloud and follow-up with spoken responses to the two questions at the end. Find our full sermon […]
Bible Study: Advent 3 (B) – 2020
RCL: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126 or Canticle 15 or 3; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28 Emptiness If you have ever stood at the rim of a canyon, you know what it is to comprehend the immense majesty of emptiness. These clefts in the earth, carved by the incessant flow of water over millennia, […]
Joy and Sorrow, The Presentation – 2020
[RCL]: Malachi 3:1-4; Psalm 84 or Psalm 24:7-10; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40 If you have ever lived in (or simply loved) a very large city, you will likely have discovered that for the urban dweller, one of life’s greatest pleasures is walking down busy sidewalks on a mild evening as life swirls around you in […]
What’s in a Name?, Holy Name Day – 2020
[RCL]: Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 8; Galatians 4:4-7 or Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 2:15-21 In Act II of William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, the lovestruck Juliet ponders a difficult circumstance: she, a Capulet, has fallen in love with a man who bears the name of her family’s sworn enemies—the name of Montague. Passionately and hopefully, with youthful […]
Bible Study: Proper 20 (A) – 2017
Exodus 16:2-15 Have you ever felt true physical hunger? The kind that creates a dull, aching delirium in which nothing matters other than finding nourishment? In the West, we are largely removed from this experience, and so it is difficult to fully inhabit the desperation of the hungry Israelites, wandering and woeful. And so we […]
Bible Study: Lent 3 (A) – 2017
Exodus 17:1-7 The Israelites are weary and thirsty in the wilderness, and in their desperation, they demand divine providence in the form of water. Moses is, perhaps, a bit frustrated by their rancorousness, but God rushes forth to nourish the people with a stream from the rock at Horeb. What do we make of these […]
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