When Archbishop Foley Beach heard that I was heading to Israel for a personal trip, he asked if there was some way I could stop in Poland along the way and ordain a Ukrainian woman named Nina there. His diocese is closely connected to Christ Church, the historic Anglican congregation in the walled Old City of Jerusalem. Nina will serve there, once her visa goes through....
As the season of Lent draws near, it occurs to me how counter-cultural it really is. The culture tells us in many ways that our needs and desires come first, and that limiting ourselves by restraining our desires is somehow generally wrong. We also have a culture that tells us that busyness is required to get the most out of life....
It is common for Christians to teach that we live in the Already–Not yet season. Jesus has already called many to be his people, but the kingdom is not yet fully realized, and will not be until Jesus returns again....
I hope that as we head towards Christmas, you are finding the Lord’s peace in the midst of the flurry of the season. Let me share one perhaps unexpected way to prepare for Christmas....
A recent podcast caught my attention as it compared the cultural upheaval of our own day to the year 1968. I was a senior in high school that spring, and remember vividly the sense of things falling apart. There were violent anti-war rallies, the continuing Civil Rights debates, and the horrific assassinations of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy. Kennedy was a presidential candidate in that tumultuous and divisive election year. And yes, there was a deadly pandemic that year as well....
While we have used the term a lot, I struggle a bit with the language of the “new normal.” Obviously, we mean what life will be like after the pandemic, and certainly many things have changed already. I think there will be major impacts on business travel, online education, various types of available jobs, the economy, etc., etc. But my real struggle is with the concept of “normal.”...
Although we are not quite there yet, the new normal, post-pandemic world is thankfully almost in sight. While this has been a physical health restoration process, I am more concerned that there be a spiritual restoration coming out of it. Will we take the time to hear what the Lord will speak? There can be no real revival without such hearing....
I was struck by a scene in one of the most recent episodes of the online series The Chosen (see below**). Jesus’ new disciples Peter and Matthew get into a heated argument. Matthew is depicted as the tax collector who had made Peter’s life financially miserable....
Lockdown. It is the tragic and fearful state which we all experienced early on in the pandemic. Everything came to a halt. Sadly, some countries are in the midst of lockdowns again. What struck me as I considered the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples after the resurrection (John 20:19-23) is that they were in lockdown:...
Dear Clergy, Many of you are familiar with the book and movieThe Perfect Storm. It told the tragic story of one fishing boat lost at sea in 1991. It encountered a storm created by three converging factors: a ridge, a cold front, and the remains of Hurricane Grace. At the moment, it feels like we in this culture are facing a similar storm, a combination of a pandemic with...
Keep ReadingDear brothers and sisters in the Gulf Atlantic Diocese, What a heartbreaking season we are in. We are surrounded by death as we have passed the 100,000 mark in the COVID-19 pandemic. In the midst of that tragedy we as a nation are now struggling with the horrific death of George Floyd. Therefore I commend the thoughtful letter linked below written by some of my brother b...
Keep ReadingDear brothers and sisters, Have you ever been promised that someone would give you a present and then you had to wait for it? At his ascension, Jesus promised his disciples that ". . . not many days from now . . . you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the ea...
Keep ReadingDear brothers and sisters,Greetings in our ascended Lord Jesus. One thing I have said continually is that we are in a season of adaptive change. Therefore, I ask that you extend grace to me because the following is a result of my adapting to input and concerns I am hearing from many of you. I am writing this to give each congregation permission to decide when it is best ...
Keep Reading[Nehemiah] said to them, "You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision." (Nehemiah 2:17) Dear clergy, Greetings in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday and today and forever(Hebrews 13:8). In this season of constant change, with ever changing...
Keep ReadingTo All Clergy Dear brothers and sisters, Let me begin with how I am being encouraged and challenged. I was reading the Jubilate this morning in Morning Prayer and these words came alive: Be assured that the Lord, he is God;it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves;we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.(BCP 2019 version) In the midst of a pandemic that i...
Keep ReadingDear diocesan family, We are in unprecedented and difficult times. But as I reflect on our situation in this midst of this pandemic, I find comfort in the fact that God is our refuge and strength, our help in times of trouble, and therefore we need not, indeed should not, fear (Psalm 46). As I shared with clergy earlier this week, there is a weighing of what seem like c...
Keep ReadingTo the Clergy and Wardens - Steps for Reopening Dear brothers and sisters, Greetings in the Risen Jesus who is Lord over all! We have faced the challenge together of ending public church services for this season. I want to commend you all for the prayerful and creative ways you have continued to share the gospel and pastor your flocks. In many ways, moving churches onl...
Keep ReadingDear Clergy and Wardens, Greetings in our Risen Lord this Easter season! I have been asked whether there can continue to be "drive-by" communion services. The quick answer is that the bishops only envisioned and permitted this drive-by exception for Easter as a major Christian feast, not as an on-going practice. You or your eucharistic ministers may continue to t...
Keep ReadingDear brothers and sisters in the diocese, I received a special call to prayer and fasting on Good Friday from Archbishop Beach as we face the pandemic together It is a unique opportunity to join in prayer with hundreds of thousands of Christians from around North America, including faithful Presbyterians. Please join in heeding this call. Click here for the link. In t...
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