February 15, 2023. Bishop Alex Farmer preaches at the Ordination of Jack McNeil to the priesthood at Grace Anglican Church, Fleming Island, Florida. Readings: Isaiah 6:1-8 Psalm 119:33-40 Philippians 4:4-9 Luke 10:1-9
Pray to the Lord of the Harvest (Feb 12, 2023) [Alex Farmer, Apostles Eastern Shore]
February 12, 2023. Bishop Alex Farmer preaches at Church of the Apostles, Eastern Shore, Alabama. Confirmations and Receptions.
Bishop’s Epiphany Letter: A Season of Revelation
My prayer is that more and more we are learning to stand together, in spirit and mind, proclaiming to North America the transforming Good News of Jesus Christ.
The Lord has Made His Home Among Us (Christmas 2022)
As we prepare for the celebration of our Lord’s Incarnation, I find myself especially focused on God’s willingness to dwell among us (John 1:14).
Through the Prayers of Many
The ordination service for a priest includes the Examination, in which vows are made with the response, “I will, the Lord being my helper”. How wonderfully often the tangible evidence of the Lord’s help comes through human agents who encourage, exhort and guide us by their prayers to God on our behalf! I thank God that my pathway to priesthood has been so blessed and formed “through the prayers of many.”
Report from New Wineskins 2022
Be the one. See the one. Share the ONE. The Gulf Atlantic Diocese, under the leadership of Bishop Alex, is poised to raise up and deploy missionaries to our neighborhoods and to the nations.
Mission Momentum (October ’22 Communique Article)
I write to you with much on my heart. First, the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian. Second, my experience of a wonderful time at the New Wineskins Conference. Third, I’m pleased to announce our new Canon for Global Mission.
Petra 2022 Retreat Recap
Petra is a diocesan ministry founded and led by young adults to serve young adults. Built to meet the need for an organized ministry to connect young adults across the Gulf Atlantic, its centerpiece is the Petra retreat, an annual summer event incorporating Biblical teaching and corporate recreation. This year’s retreat, held from May 19 through 22, was based on Ephesians 6:13: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Scripture teaches that humanity is involved in a spiritual war of cosmic proportions in which every soul is at stake. To stand, Christians must arm themselves with the armament God has provided them in Christ.
A Parting Blessing
A parting blessing. My mother used to say it as we said goodbye for any length of time, like when I was returning to boarding school or college. “May the Lord watch between me and thee while we are apart, one from the other” (Genesis 31:49-50). It sounds so affectionate, lovely. I only learned later, and I wonder if she ever knew, that it was actually spoken between Laban and Jacob as a prayer for accountability. It expresses the suspicion of wrongdoing and the uneasy peace that marred their relationship. In truth it’s more like the refrain of the Christmas song, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, warning little kids that Santa “knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!”
Heavenly Food
I once had a quirky unemotional vision. A waking dream. I wondered for years if it was a function of an overactive imagination or a spicy lunch. I’ve always said that since God made me, he knows how low he has to aim to get me right between the eyes. Still, if this was a message from God it somehow missed me.
Ditch the Scolding Bias?
An identity grounded in God would mean that when we think of who we are, the first thing that would come to mind is our status as someone who is deeply loved by God. (David Benner, … Read More
Confidential Conversation
Moses met the Lord in the tent of meeting in the wilderness. God arranged it for private conversation. Can you imagine it? Friendly conversation with the Creator, Redeemer, God of Israel? While the word of the Lord comes to various prophets in various ways, Moses is the only one in the Hebrew Scriptures whom we are told has this kind of intimate conversation with God…as one speaks to a friend
Slow Learners in Advent
My whimsical dad was known for his tongue-in-cheek pithy sayings. Growing up, I would have said he repeated them ad nauseum. Now I’d give just about anything to hear him repeat one, just one more … Read More
Remembrance and Recovery: A Thanksgiving Exercise
The fall holiday season is here. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Charlie Brown specials! Are they even on network TV anymore? To me, the most endearing and memorable feature of those shows was the unintelligible voice of every adult. Teacher and parent alike were heard only as a blurry, slow, muted trumpet sort of sound. Waaah-wah-wa-wa-waaah. Remember it?
The Big Lie
There is a Big Lie out there, one that is both ancient and contemporary, and it eclipses all the “big lies” we are so accustomed to hearing about in the media. This is the Big Lie: God cannot be trusted, so you’d better do something, and fast!
We’re spending the year considering the cohesive story of the Scriptures, seeing it as a narrative tapestry with threads, themes, running through it, start to finish. My friend Canon Mary Hays contends that at the heart of sin there is always a lie. And the more I think about it, this truth emerges as a bright thread of warning in the biblical narrative.