Thursday, March 7, 2019

A Different Narrative


Dedication and Consecration of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church, Spring

March 2, 2019

 


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Sibling Rivalry


Christ Church, Matagorda

February 24, 2019

Epiphany 7C


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Festival Eucharist- Diocesan Council


Festival Eucharist- 170th Diocesan Council

A Celebration of Bishop Dena Harrison

February 21, 2019


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Confirmation at Texas A&M Canterbury


Texas A&M Canterbury, College Station

February 27, 2019


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Tuesday, February 12, 2019

God's Big Net


St. Paul's, Leigh

February 10, 2019

The 5th Sunday after the Epiphany 


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Thursday, January 31, 2019

Brothers and Sisters


Celebration of New Ministry 

The Rev. Sharon Cox

St. Mary's, West Columbia

 


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Monday, January 28, 2019

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Annual Meeting Report 2019

To watch and download the Annual Meeting Video, click here. To download a Missional Communities and Church Plants infographic, click here. 

We all have stories we tell about ourselves when we're with friends or family. These stories are different and they don't necessarily come together. We tell them to ourselves in order to navigate a complex world, whether it's our private lives and our role in public life—even the society in which we live or the political situation in which we find ourselves. We navigate the world in a very fractured way.

This is true in our private lives as it is true in the lives of our congregations. I'm curious about the characters in our diocesan story and what virtues are revealed that show who we are as an Episcopal community together.
The Diocese is not an office on Texas Avenue in Houston. It is not a church alone or a bishop or a rector. We in Houston are not an office at the top of some kind of episcopal, hierarchical organizational chart in relationship to our congregations.
Kenneth “Ken” Earl Wilber, an American author, and Rolf Sattler, a plant biologist specializing in plant morphology, propose an “integral theory” for how similar relationships work. Their studies reveal that in nature there are “holarchies.” Applyingtheir work, we discover that our relationships within the structure may be more like a set of nesting dolls.
As a Diocese, we are a family of interrelated stories. Each of us shares an integral part of a whole story—a community of congregations, of clergy, of the baptized—no matter where we find ourselves, no matter what role we play. We are a part of a story that stretches into the many contacts of the 57 counties and the lives around us. This is all in turn part of a wider community of dioceses within the Episcopal Church, our global Anglican family … all of us working to tell one story, actually, The Story.
The story that we are ultimately invited into is not a story about me, nor is it a story about you as an individual, or even a story about our Diocese or the workplace or churches or politics and its machinations. Instead, as we believe, it is God's story.
You and I are invited into God’s story. And it is God who does the inviting. It is God who weaves us into one common fabric. There is one story, God's story, a story of God's own making … of God's creation, a story that we don't make up about God, but instead a story that God invites us to enter into. It is God who desires, who creates us in order that we might participate in God’s own story and narrative. It is a story that winds its way from Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, to the kind of proto-creation stories that help us understand who God is and what God is about. These stories make their way through Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Rachel, they make their way through all of history to today, and to us. God has not simply sent the apostles but our reading of God’s story tells us that God sends people … God is sending us.
The story is the Missio Dei—God’s mission. It is a mission of reconciliation through which God intends to be in relationship with creation and God's people and we, as part of that family, as part of that story, are ourselves undertaking it. We are the Church, we are being sent. We become the chief characters in it. We are not the heroes of our story but the virtuous citizens within God’s story. Each of us is part of a great unfolding narrative.
And so as we reflect in this magazine about our work over the last year and take a look into the future, we do not do so from the standpoint of what we have accomplished, but what God accomplishes through us as part of God’s story of reconciliation.
So it is that I look back with joy at all that God has done across the Diocese in the past year, and forward with hope and anticipation for the coming season! As the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, we serve more than 200 Episcopal congregations and communities from Longview to Palacios, inspiring Texans seeking God to birth new communities and nurture relationships among them.
Hurricane Harvey had a dramatic impact on many parts of our Diocese and beyond in 2017. Responding to the hurricane was a major emphasis of our 2018 work and we have been able to fully implement Harvey Recovery. This includes both a financial plan for impacted congregations as well as an overall mission-oriented recovery with metrics and clear connections for congregational involvement. What is truly amazing is that we were also able to do all this while continuing our other work.
In 2018 we initiated church plants in South Austin, Northeast Houston and Pflugerville, and 22 missional communities were created across the Diocese. This is the tangible result of our relationship-building work across our communities. This brings to 10 the number of churches planted since 2008, and 89 missional communities.
We continue to build relationships across the Church as well. One of the highlights of 2018 was hosting the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Austin. It is no overstatement when I say our hosting efforts were a huge success. Visitors from across our Church remarked upon the Texas hospitality they received from many of you who volunteered throughout the Convention.
Inside the Diocese, one of our goals is to provide tools and resources for practical ministry needs. We were able in 2018 to help congregations negotiate loans with lower interest rates through our finance department. In addition, we began to offer planned giving presentations for congregations. We also maximized our interest earnings to free up more dollars for mission.
In 2019, we are excited to continue to expand the reach of the Episcopal Church in our Diocese. We have set the goal of planting three congregations and 25 missional communities.
Another emphasis will be to start or restart campus missions at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s). Last spring, we established a student organization at Texas Southern University, and this fall we began work at Texas College, Tyler. We intend to reboot a ministry with students at Prairie View A&M in the fall of 2019.
As a Diocese we look forward to electing a new bishop suffragan for the West region and to integrating that person into the life of the Diocese and our leadership team.
A diocesan liturgical commission has been formed under the leadership of Bishop Suffragan Jeff Fisher. They are prepared to follow up on the work of General Convention to collect and evaluate worship resources. This year the commission will help us by looking at non-eucharistic worship, especially for small churches.
Another goal for 2019 is to evaluate where we are in terms of leadership diversity, specifically looking at the rectors of our larger parishes. We will be in conversation to encourage and recruit the best candidates for positions. The congregations truly seeking the strongest priests will find that the best candidates do not all look the same. As we seek to minister to a diverse and multicultural world, we expect that our leadership reflects the diversity of our communities.
In addition, our communications department will be reorganizing and imagining a future course of leadership. Through Carol Barnwell’s leadership over the past three decades, we have led the Church in communications. We are excited about our future because she has left us with a strong foundation.
There is much to give thanks for as we look back at 2018 and much to be excited about as we look ahead to 2019. At this moment, let us pause and give thanks to God for the gift of invitation to be part of God’s missional story—an invitation that includes the work of this Diocese, the gift of meaningful work, our congregations, missions, campus ministries, missional communities, schools and other institutions, and for all of our clergy. Let us pray for a renewed spirit to continue the work God has given us to do. And let us give thanks for God in Christ Jesus, our Savior, and Emmanuel, who is with us and always goes before us, to lead us and guide us. Amen.

Monday, December 31, 2018

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Vocatio Advent Bible Study- Week 3

Week 3-December 16, 2018
Theme- The vocation of the baptized
Vocatio Chapter: 5, Detour Towards Principality
Scripture-Luke 3:7-18

In the Episcopal tradition, we are asked a series of questions at baptism that form The Baptismal Covenant. When we answer, we are committing to living a life that continues the work the apostles began and answering God’s call to create the community of shalom. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he writes that it is at the core of the church’s mission to care for the least and the lost. Early Christians understood that the primary focus of Jesus’s ministry was to care for the poor, the oppressed, the sick, the hungry and the needy. This was the work of the Gospel that would become the vocation of the baptized. Jesus begins his ministry after being baptized and so too should we.


Activity: During this third week of Advent, recommit yourself to the vocation of the baptized by choosing a promise of the Baptismal Covenant and make a personal commitment to live it out. 

Discussion Questions: 1) How might it be challenging to live out your chosen promise of the Baptismal Covenant? 2) What do you see getting in the way of fulfilling that promise?

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Vocatio Advent Bible Study- Week 2

Week 2- December 9, 2018
Theme-Messenger 
Vocatio Chapter: 3, Disciples of Peace
Scripture- Malachi 3:1-4

The work of Jesus’s ministry is foretold several times throughout the Old Testament. The book of Isaiah talks about how Jesus has been anointed by God to “bring good news to the poor... recover the sight of the blind, to let the captives go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:16-21). The ministry that Jesus goes on to develop with the disciples would parallel what Isaiah foretold, creating a community for the least and the lost. 

In Sunday’s reading of Malachi, we are reminded that a messenger is being sent to “prepare the way.” The creation of this community was part of Jesus’ vocation. In this way, Christ acted as a messenger on God’s behalf. We as a Church are called to do the same. If vocation is about being invited to be peacemakers, then how do we embody that in our own lives? 

Activity:Think about your communities- your church, your family, your gym, your school etc. During the time of Advent, how can you live out the Church’s vocation of being a messenger? How can you bring God’s message of love to the least and the lost in your communities?

Discussion Questions: 1)Think of a time when you have received God’s message of love from a member of your community. What did that feel like? 2) How did continue to share that message of love?

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Christ the King Sunday and the Prince of Peace


Trinity, Houston

November 25, 2018

Christ the King Sunday

Last Sunday after Pentecost 


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God Tears Down Our Temples and Walls and Moves Us towards the Reign of God


St. John the Divine, Houston

November 18, 2018

The 25th Sunday after Pentecost


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Open the Door and Let the Thief In


Retreat for Potential Bishop Suffragan Nominees

November 15, 2018

 


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Dios y communitarian de amor


December 2, 2018

The First Week in Advent

Christ Church Cathedral, Houston


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That's what makes us the Gospel and Keith Richards


December 2, 2018

The First Week in Advent

Christ Church Cathedral, Houston


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Funeral Service for the Rev. Betty Masquelette


December 8, 2018

St. Francis Episcopal Church, Houston


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Monday, December 10, 2018

Messenger- Vocatio Advent Bible Study Week 2

Week 2- December 9, 2018
Theme-Messenger 
Vocatio Chapter: 3, The Prince of Peace
Scripture- Malachi 3:1-4

The work of Jesus’s ministry is foretold several times throughout the Old Testament. The book of Isaiah talks about how Jesus has been anointed by God to “bring good news to the poor... recover the sight of the blind, to let the captives go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:16-21). The ministry that Jesus goes on to develop with the disciples would parallel what Isaiah foretold, creating a community for the least and the lost. 

In Sunday’s reading of Malachi, we are reminded that a messenger is being sent to “prepare the way.” The creation of this community was part of Jesus’ vocation. In this way, Christ acted as a messenger on God’s behalf. We as a Church are called to do the same. If vocation is about being invited to be peacemakers, then how do we embody that in our own lives? 

Activity:Think about your communities- your church, your family, your gym, your school etc. During the time of Advent, how can you live out the Church’s vocation of being a messenger? How can you bring God’s message of love to the least and the lost in your communities?

Discussion Questions: 1)Think of a time when you have received God’s message of love from a member of your community. What did that feel like? 2) How did continue to share that message of love?

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Vocatio Advent Bible Study- Week 1


Week 1-December 2, 2018
Theme- “Keep Awake”
Vocatio Chapter: Chapter 1, A Shalom Making God
Scripture-Luke 21:25-36 

In the gospel reading for the first week of Advent, Jesus tells us to be alert as the time of redemption is drawing near. Have we fallen asleep? Have we begun to “hit snooze” on our relationship with Jesus? With the Church as a whole? Why is this reminder needed?
Advent is a time to prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus. As we ready our homes with Christmas decorations and finalize our travel plans, we must also remember to keep awake during this season of Advent as we await the coming of Christ.

Keeping awake means being ready to go where God calls. Being receptive to God’s command to go can feel uncertain. The prophets of the Hebrew scriptures show us what a faithful response looks like. Isaiah responded “I will go! Send me!” (Isaiah 6:6-8) And this invitation “overwhelmed misgivings about worthiness, personal plans for the future, or bodily safety.” (p. 31) What does it look like to “keep awake” all the time while also living as people with uncertainty?

Activity:During this first week of Advent, write down what makes you feel uncertain and then create a reminder (on your phone, in your planner, your email calendar) to pray about it. We often worry about the uncertain and about what we cannot change, but how often do we pray about such things?

Discussion Question: 1) When you feel uncertain, how do you move through that difficult time? Are there certain activities you do or certain people you turn to in your life?

Thursday, October 4, 2018

A Flavorful Life/Una vida con mucho sabor


St. Mary Magdalene, Manor

September 30, 2018

The 19th Sunday after Pentecost 


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Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Itchy Twitchy Gospel


St. Matthew's, Austin

September 23, 2018

The 18th Sunday After Pentecost


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Tuesday, September 18, 2018

At the Crossroads


September 16, 2018

The 17th Sunday after Pentecost

Christ Church, San Augustine 


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Tuesday, September 11, 2018

T-Shirts and Religious Particularity


St. Geroge's, Austin 

September 9, 2018

The 16th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18


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Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Harry Potter and Christian Friendship


Christ Church, Eagle Lake

September 2, 2018

The 17th Sunday after Pentecost


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The Deep Theology of Heaven and Earth


St. Martin's, Copperas Cove

August 26, 2018

The 16th Sunday after Pentecost


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Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Chain of Fools


St. Mary's, Belleville

The Feast of Saint Mary, the 13th Sunday after Pentecost

August 19, 2018


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Friday, July 20, 2018

A Note of Thanks

A Note of Thanks from Bishop Doyle

Dear Members of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas,

I write today to give special thanks to Bishop Jeff Fisher, Halley Ortiz, Anthony Chappel and Scott Madison for leading our work at General Convention. I am grateful to the many hours that each of them gave to this project. I am grateful to their spouses, friends and family who also helped. I am grateful to Susan Fisher, JoAnne Doyle and Rob Montgomery who helped to organize and support the Bishops’ Spouses and Partners events. And, I am of course thankful to your diocesan staff who did not flinch at the challenge, but gave extra during a time when we were responding to the Hurricane, regular church business/ministry and all the rest to ensure we put our best foot forward.

I am thankful for you. You volunteered, served, helped and showed the rest of the Episcopal Church why I love you so much. You were amazing hosts! More than 1,000 of you joined our deputies and bishops and gave your time and gifts to this project. The churches in the Austin area and their leadership did extra work to support our efforts.

So, as each of us is resting, recovering and relaxing, I stop today to give thanks for the Diocese of Texas. I give thanks for you. Truly, each of you, are part of a great missionary diocese – a great and delightful family of faith. I am so proud to be your bishop. I am so grateful to be your bishop. We are glad that we get to call you our family and Texas our home. So, I pray:

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have
done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole
creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life,
and for the mystery of love. Especially for your Episcopal
Church and the Diocese of Texas.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for
the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best
efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy
and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures
that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the
truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast
obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying,
through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life
again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and
make him known; and through him, at all times and in all
places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.


Thank you,

Andy

The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, D.D.
Episcopal Bishop Diocesan of Texas

Monday, July 2, 2018

Have a Little Faith in Me


St. John's, Center

July 1, 2018

6th Sunday after Pentecost, year B


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Monday, June 25, 2018

Riders on the Storm


June 24, 2018

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 7

St. Luke's, Lindale


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Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Juneteenth

What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is a holiday that commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas in June 1865, and more generally the emancipation of African-American slaves throughout the Confederate South. Celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth is recognized as a state holiday or special day of observance in most states. In practice, the Emancipation Proclamation only freed persons held in Confederate States who were either behind the Union lines or close enough to take advantage of the Union advance. Therefore, the news and practice of freeing enslaved people moved slowly. The date marks the moment when the news of the end of the Civil War and the complete emancipation of all slaves was announced in Galveston, TX on June 19, 1865, over two months after the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia and Two Years after President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation and published it on January 1, 1863. We mark this moment as a Church not only as the end of the institution of American slavery, but also in the spirit of reconciliation and new life as we journey together towards togetherness and community.
Litanist: O Lord, we celebrate your strong hand of deliverance. We have seen your grace in the midst of life’s burdens.

**Lord God of Hosts, on the anniversary of our freedom from slavery, we know that we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us. (see Phil. 4:13)
Litanist: The Emancipation Proclamation freed African slaves in the United States on New Year’s Day in 1863. But actual freedom for the last slaves did not come until a June day two and a half years later, This Juneteenth milestone reminds us of the triumph of the human spirit.

**Lord God of Hosts, be with us always, as you were with Harriet Tubman.The Constitution once defined African Americans as three- fifths human. But we have labored and died as whole men and women.
**Lord God of Hosts, be with us always, as you were with Frederick Douglas.The Thirteenth Amendment abolished the heinous institution of slavery, but we still struggle against the chains of racial discrimination.
**Lord God of Hosts, be with us always, as you were with Vernon Johns.
The Fourteenth Amendment made us citizens by legislation because our blood, sweat, and tears helped to build this nation.
**Lord God of Hosts, be with us always, as you were with Thurgood Marshall.
The Fifteenth Amendment said we could not be denied the right to vote because of our color; yet we have faced systematic exclusion from the political process, and we continue to struggle for full inclusion.
**Lord God of Hosts, be with us always, as you were with Barbara Jordan.
The Twenty-fourth Amendment abolished poll taxes, voting tests, and other restrictions upon our right to vote; but these soon were replaced by gerrymandering and political apathy.
**Lord God of Hosts, be with us always, as you were with Benjamin Quarles.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 translated into law most of the goals of the Civil Rights Movement, protecting all citizens from racial segregation and discrimination. Let us remain ever vigilant in our commitment to proactive citizenship.
**Lord God of Hosts, be with us always, as you were with Stokely Carmichael.
Our hopes soar to heights of joy when we remember the emancipation of Nelson Mandela in 1990, and his ascendancy to President of South Africa after twenty-six long years in prison. Blessed are the righteous.
**Lord God of Hosts, be with us always, as you are with Desmond Tutu.
Let us leave behind those sins that pulled us down in the old year, and answer the high calling of your will for our lives in the new year.
**Lord God of Hosts, on the anniversary of our freedom from slavery, we know that we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.

Let us ALL pray together: (From the Book of Common Prayer)
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Monday, June 18, 2018

Pleasant Valley Sunday

Pleasant Valley Sunday

A sermon given by C. Andrew Doyle on June 17, 2018 at St. Francis, College Station. You can listen to the sermon here. 


If we opened up the Gospel of Mark and began in the beginning and made our way forward, we would see clearly that Jesus is in the mode of confrontation. He has been confronting both the religious and political leaders of His day. He has been doing works of power casting out demons and He has been casting a vision for the kingdom of God. As we reach Chapter 4, our gospel today, one would not be surprised as He launches into His teaching that those in authority are not happy. They are displeased. And Jesus's own message whether, it'd be subtle or in your face is wearing on them. 

So to them and those who gather around He says, "People look, but they don't see. They listen, but they don't understand. This is the moment for seeing. This is the moment for understanding." There is an urgency in Jesus's words and in Mark's gospel.  There is a literal urgency. Jesus speaks urgently the Words follow, come here, go there, do this, listen, see, hear, and do. Everything is in the present tense and it is urgent. There is an immediacy to the situation in which Jesus and His followers find themselves. 

Jesus gives the story first about the sower that we normally recognize, and the seeds, as well as the story about the light, the lamp, and the basket. These are the ones that come right before our gospel today. If you have eyes to see and hear, then you will hear this differently. Jesus did not enter the world to be hidden like a lamp under the bushel basket. He is the light of the world and all are to see Him. The world is like a seed taking root, like the sower it has been planted. Jesus is present. It is growing. 

The kingdom is taking root and growing quite frankly without your help. It is as if you went to sleep and you woke up the next day and the kingdom like a great field has grown up all around you and it is ready for harvest. This is a kingdom that will not be controlled by the powers, but when they wake it will be too late. The earth itself is responding to its creator's presence in their midst. The images of growth and harvest time are meant to conjure up in our own eyes and in our own ears this notion that it is a kingdom that is being brought forth because God speaks a word into it, and it is a good word. It is a word of hope and joy, of mercy and forgiveness. 

When the creator, and the light, the sower is present, the bridegroom, nothing can stop the kingdom. God is present. And just as the prophets told you, this kingdom will grow like a mustard seed, like a weed by the way, the bane of farmers. I mean, I love mustard. If you're a good German, you love mustard. But let me tell you, the mustard seed is a pain for anybody who finds it in their roses, where it is not to be. The kingdom is like this voracious weed, this bush. It is large enough for the birds of the air to nest in it, and it will not be like one tree in the middle of a valley sucking up everything around it so that it may live. No, it will thrive in the barest of circumstances and spread until your whole field will be filled with mustard which is bitter to the farmer or the powers that bees own taste. 

No, the kingdom will be like a massive infestation that will overcome whatever you have tried to control. And many who have not found a home in your society will find a home in this kingdom. I will tell you that in Jesus community there was a sense of immediacy, of urgency. The bridegroom was present. It was time, hope, and light, and love had come near, and people felt it. It was a movement because people were in that moment moved. This is something that continued in the first decades after Jesus's own resurrection. People felt God's presence in the spirit and had an own sense of urgency to share the good news.

Author and Pulitzer Price finalist Arthur Herman in his book "The Cave and the Light" characterizes this moment as a message that had resonated with the deepest needs of the citizens of Rome and their dissolving empire. They had a sense of belonging in the midst of disintegrating institutions. They found a moral purpose as their government had lost their way. It was a message of hope in an age of cynicism and pessimism. This gospel, this word, this light had a sense of abundance to it in a world filled with scarcity. 

There was a God in the midst of these words and images and this preaching of-- teaching of Paul and the apostles of a God who is close. Of a God who cared of the things of men. And a God who was not happy at the injustice. These first Christians felt this so much that in their time they translated this urgency into care and into good deeds where hope and love were of substance and made a difference in the world around them. They were people who acted on behalf of those who had been forgotten by the Romans. 

Now perhaps you and I, in our time hear these words. But perhaps we hear them in the midst of what The Monkees called a "Pleasant Valley Sunday." 

Here in the status symbol land, mothers complain about how hard life is and the kids just don't understand. For creature, comfort, goals, they only numb my soul and they make it hard for me to see. Or maybe you live in a world where your ears are numbed into passivity because of the cynicism and pessimism which is all around us. 

Either way, I fear we may have lost our sense of urgency. And that we may feel as though there is not much movement left in this movement. God and Christ Jesus come to us in Mark's gospel today in the midst of our service. Jesus invites us like the farmer in bed to wake up and see that in fact God is on the move. The seeds of this kingdom have been sown and the harvest is plentiful. Like a weed this kingdom will not be stopped and it is even now spreading. The light will not be hidden. And those that have no place to call a home, or lay their head, or dwell among loved ones are the ones who, like birds of the air, will find a home and nest in the arms of the true Jesus followers.

As it was in Jesus's time and Paul's, so it shall be in ours. The time is now. There is urgency for word and deed. We are being judged by our actions and our inactions. So hear, see, go, do, follow the way, follow, and like a weed you will grow. 

Amen. 

Pleasant Valley Sunday


St. Francis, College Station 

4th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 6B

June 17, 2018  


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Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Walk this Way


St. David's, Austin

Pentecost 4B

June 3, 2018 


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Quotes

  • "Christianity is not a theory or speculation, but a life; not a philosophy of life, but a life and a living process." Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • "Most people are willing to take the Sermon on the Mount as a flag to sail under, but few will use it as a rudder by which to steer." Oliver Wendell Holmes
  • "Perfection, in a Christian sense, means becoming mature enough to give ourselves to others." Kathleen Norris
  • "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." John Wesley
  • "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." G. K. Chesterton
  • "One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans." C. S. Lewis
  • "When we say, 'I love Jesus, but I hate the Church,' we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too. The challenge is to forgive the Church. This challenge is especially great because the church seldom asks us for forgiveness." Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey
  • "Christians are hard to tolerate; I don't know how Jesus does it." Bono
  • "It's too easy to get caught in our little church subcultures, and the result is that the only younger people we might know are Christians who are already inside the church." Dan Kimball