The Ninth Bishop of Texas

Sunday, June 7, 2020

The Embodied Gospel

We cannot begin to dismantle the institutional violence, nor much of the world’s evils, if we do not begin by re-embodying the Gospel.

Let me be clear. We will go nowhere if we do not begin by understanding that bodies and their dignity are to be protected by the community and the nation.

Music from https://filmmusic.io
"Slow Burn" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Thursday, May 21, 2020

Malcolm Guite, Christian Poet - Come on and Zoom!

Malcolm Guite brings poetry to our understanding of current times. Take a moment to rest in this: what can we learn from poets of similar points in history? Listen for good humor, stirring readings, and Quarantine Quatrains.

In this new series, Bishop Doyle interviews experts and asks big questions. Where are we going? What does it mean for the church?

Review and subscribe - it will help others find the series. Full video of these Zoom calls are available on YouTube: https://bit.ly/2We8vdP

Check out this episode!

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Evan Smith, Texas Tribune - Come on and Zoom!

In this new series, Bishop Doyle interviews experts and asks big questions. Where are we going? What does it mean for the church?

In this episode, Evan Smith of Texas Tribune fame shares his thoughts about lessons from 2020, election predictions, and more.

Bishop Doyle asks: how do we form Christians to be good citizens, even amidst governmental chaos?

Review and subscribe - it will help others find the series. Full video of these Zoom calls are available on YouTube: https://bit.ly/2We8vdP

Check out this episode!

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Come Out of Your Self Made Lands

When we walk miles and miles with God, we reclaim our kinship with God, from whose heart we were shaped. We can no longer divide the human community into “friends” and “others,” and we discover rather quickly that there are no strangers or aliens in God’s country.

Music from https://filmmusic.io
"Slow Burn" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Check out this episode!

Prophetic Citizenship of Renunciation

What can we learn from the Devil?

Jesus rejects all forms of dominion and power over one another than enrich individuals at the expense of the broader community. God rejects all religious, social, political power that demands total allegiance. And by this rejection, we are invited to reject such power as well - and entrust ourselves to God.

Music from https://filmmusic.io
"Slow Burn" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Check out this episode!

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

Blog Autobiography

Husband, Father, Bishop, Author, Friend

As the son of an Episcopal priest, I grew up in churches around Houston. I have lived and worked for the Church in Austin, Temple, Houston and College Station. At Camp Allen, some of you were my counselors and some of you were my campers and now several of you serve as priests in the diocese. It was here among you, that I first heard a call to ministry. I pursued a degree in fine arts and then with the support of St. Paul's, Freeport and All Saints, Austin, I attended Virginia Theological Seminary and graduated in 1995. I was ordained at Christ Church, Temple. I have served the Diocese of Texas for more than thirty five years as a youth minister, camp counselor, priest, consultant, workshop leader, Canon to the Ordinary, and Coadjutor and Diocesan Bishop (2008).

JoAnne and I met at Camp Allen and were married in 1990. Our two beautiful girls, Caisa and Zoë, are the delight of our lives.

I am the author of Church, Unabashedly Episcopalian, Generous Community, Small Batch, and The Jesus Heist.