Much has happened since my election as your second Bishop on May 14th. My excitement to serve you all has not been diminished at all despite my recent health issues. After a heart attack on June 28th, two stents were placed in my right coronary artery giving me immediate relief. Two days later a second procedure placed additional stents in my Left arteries due to chronic buildup. While I am told genetics played a large role in my attack, I have amended my diet to be safe. The doctors say that I should be back to full strength in time....
I remember my graduation from high school. I said goodbye to many friends, but it did not sink in at the time that I would probably never see most of them again. As I come to my retirement, I am reminded of Paul’s farewell speech to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. He is heading into persecution in Jerusalem and realizes that this will be his last journey in Asia Minor. He says this as part of his farewell: And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again....
Bishop-Elect Alex Farmer suffered a heart attack on Tuesday, June 28 while working in his yard. He drove himself to an emergency room and was sent from there to the University of Florida main hospital where he immediately had surgery to put in two stents. He later elected to have non-urgent follow-up surgery Thursday to insert two more stents in another part of his heart. The prognosis for recovery is very good and Bishop-Elect Alex says that he is feeling great. He should be able to go home on Saturday. After consulting his doctor, he plans to move forward with a previously scheduled retreat with the diocesan staff beginning Wednesday....
I don’t know about you, but I have almost given up on reading diet books. It is not that I don’t need to eat less and eat better. It is more that it almost feels hypocritical to investigate another diet when I have not followed the most recent one very faithfully. I suspect the same is true for many of us when it comes to reading books about discipleship. Why read another one when we haven’t mastered the content of earlier ones?...
I am at a season of transition in life where my heart resonates with the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30, ESV). So for the next few Communiques, I want to focus on three topics, three things that I believe are critically important for the life of followers of Jesus. Today I want to consider Bible study and prayer, just for a moment....
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....
To 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...
Keep ReadingDear rectors and wardens, May the Lord Jesus uphold you in your leadership during this season of the pandemic. I know that in several churches the giving last month was down as a result of the crisis we face as a country.Therefore, I wanted you to know that churches qualify for loans from the Small Business Administration to help with payroll. The loans will be forgiven ...
Keep ReadingDear brothers and sisters in the diocese, While we may not all be together this Easter, the Easter declaration will still ring out among us: Alleluia! Christ is risen!The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! There is no better news in human history than the Resurrection of Jesus, the ultimate validation by God the Father of his Son's saving work on the Cross. There is so ...
Keep ReadingDear diocesan clergy, St. Paul wrote to Timothy, "Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel" (2 Timothy 2:8). As we come to Holy Week and Easter Sunday, this is our goal: remembering what the Risen Lord Jesus accomplished for us and for our salvation. Please focus on Jesus in your hearts and minds and be determined to w...
Keep ReadingTo rectors and clergy,Greetings in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that this season of coronavirus exile is very hard. I am reminded of Psalm 137, the song of the exiles:"By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered ZionHow shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?" Many of you have asked when will we be able to worship together again as ...
Keep ReadingDear Diocesan Family, As we are living in this time of a truly global pandemic, let me begin with the transforming words Jesus shared with his disciples. They were about to face his crucifixion, the greatest tragedy and most redemptive act in human history, when all of human sin crushed our Savior (Isaiah 53). After predicting that the disciples would abandon him, Jesus c...
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