Hello Friends, As I write this, I’m preparing for our celebration of the Feast of the Ascension. This major feastday doesn’t get a lot of attention these days, because it always falls on a Thursday. The opening chapterof the Acts of the Apostles sets the timeline. Forty days after the resurrection, Luke tells us, Jesus …
Dear Friends, As you may know, in November, 2020, our then-Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Thomas Breidenthal, retired after a serious illness, during which time he admitted that he was addicted to alcohol. Upon his retirement, the Standing Committee of the diocese assumed ecclesiastical authority according to the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church On …
Dear Friends, After the attacks of September 11, 2001, my church joined with leaders and members of a nearby synagogue and a mosque to discuss ways to live together. During those discussions, many similarities of belief, and some obvious differences, came out. One evening, during a Bible Study session the rabbi remarked, “Jewish faith can …
Dear Friends, It’s late on the last Wednesday of February. Snow flurries are in the air, but then, tomorrow isThursday, and that seems to be their regular schedule this year. I have a question for you, and I hope wecan all help each other understand what we might need as we share our answers. Do …
When I was in college, a local television station began giving out umbrellas to those who calledand answered a question, or to those who showed up at a publicity event. When unfolded, the umbrel-la stated in large letters, “Tony said it would rain,” along with the station’s logo. I never got one of those umbrellas, …
WHAT’S NEXT? A new year is upon us, and like every new year, we make plans, we have expectations, wecelebrate having gotten through the previous one, and we often hope that this new beginning will notbring too many unexpected changes. So, how’s that working for you? We’ve just celebrated the Nativity of Jesus. During Advent, …
Several years ago, while working as a hospital chaplain, December came around and thehospital auxiliary frantically made sure as many places as possible were covered by some sort ofdecoration. Now, I’m not much into that sort of thing. I’ve often said that my decorations forChristmas consist of the possibility of putting a red cloth on …
November is here, and one word will keep cropping up as we move through it. Holidays. Plans are no doubt being made for travel, food, gifts, and other assorted details. There will be joyful anticipation, and more than a little anxiety. And, for some, sadness will creep in as memories fill chairs where loved ones …
As I write this, the sky is grey, storm clouds gather on the horizon. Predictions are that we will have significant rainfall over the next couple of days. Then, we’re supposed to have cooler temperatures as the Autumn season begins as the rain falls. We look at these forecasts and predictions as a type of …
As a child, I was part of an independent, non-denominational, fundamentalist congregation that only read from the King James Version of the Bible. To this day, they still maintain that stance, refusing to consider any other translations that use contemporary language, or that have fewer errors in translation. We occasionally encountered chapters that we called …