Category: Current Affairs

Let us give thanks to God!

The Book of Common Prayer of The Episcopal Church provides many resources to help us join together in giving thanks on our national day of thanksgiving. Our Hymnal also is filled with words and music to express our gratitude. I commend these worship resources to you and pray that you and those you love will enjoy a truly Happy Thanksgiving!

The Collect for Thanksgiving Day

Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Prayers for Our Country

Almighty God, you have given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech you that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought here out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in your Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to your law, we may show forth your praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in you to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Litany of Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so freely bestowed upon us.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea.
We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women, revealing the image of Christ,
We thank you, Lord.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends,
We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity,
We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Hymn 433

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
he chastens and hastens his will to make known;
the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing:
sing praise to his Name, he forgets not his own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
so from the beginning the fight we were winning:
thou, Lord, wast at our side: all glory be thine!

We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
and pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation:
thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

Words: Nederlandtsche Gedenckclanck, 1626; trans. Theodore Baker (1851-1934), 1894.
Music: Kremser (Nederlandtsche Gedenckclank, 1626)

Hymn 397

Now thank we all our God,
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done,
in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mother's arms
hath blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever-joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us;
and keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
in this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son, and Holy Ghost,
supreme in highest heaven,
the one eternal God,
whom earth and heaven adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.

Words: Martin Rinkart (1586-1649), 1636 trans. Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878), 1858.
Music: Nun danket alle Gott (later form of melody by Johann Crüger, 1598-1662) arr. John Rutter.

November 25, 2015
Many Paths to Easter Faith

How do you feel about your faith this Easter? St. John’s account (John 20:1-18) of the experiences of those first disciples on that first Easter morning offers an important message: not everyone takes the same path to faith in the Risen Christ. In this account of the resurrection, the responses Simon Peter, the "Beloved Disciple", and Mary Magdalene are carefully interwoven. In their responses, the writer is able to show how faith in Christ's resurrection is generated in different ways.

Some people come to an Easter faith on the basis of evidence. And the process of gathering external evidence can take time! Peter arrived at the tomb second, but entered it first, looked around, saw everything and yet nothing. Then, he left. There is no evidence that what he saw generated any faith in him at all. All Peter took away from the empty tomb was a personal confirmation that indeed, Jesus' body was not present, just as Mary had reported. It took some time for Peter’s faith to develop because he required the additional evidence that came as the Risen Christ appeared to the Apostles over the next few weeks.

Other people come to their Easter faith in a relational way. The disciple whom Jesus loved ran with Peter to the tomb and arrived first, but he entered the tomb after Peter. He saw the same things Peter saw but his response was different. When he entered the tomb "he saw and believed." But he did not know what to do with his belief. He, like Peter, returned home. He believed Christ is risen. But what are the implications of the Resurrection for him? He seems to have come to understand the implications as he participated in the community of believers. Some think that it is this "beloved disciple" who wrote the gospel attributed to St. John. This gospel is characterized by both an understanding of love divine that is both deep and broad. Long after the first Easter, this writer remembered that Jesus had said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," and "love one another, just as I have loved you…I have told you this so that my joy will be in you, and your joy might be complete."

Mary Magdalene represents faith formed yet another way. The empty tomb, rather than even hinting resurrection, saddened Mary with the thought of Jesus' body being stolen. Even the appearance of two angels does not break her sorrow. In fact, the voice and the appearance of Jesus do not at first stir her to belief. Only when he speaks her name does she believe. Mary comes to faith through the word of Christ and by that word she must be sustained. She cannot resume her old relationship with her Lord. When Jesus says to Mary, "Do not hold on to me," he wants Mary to understand that "the past is prologue." There is much more to faith than what has gone before. Mary’s path to an Easter faith is no more normative than any other. We don't know whatever happened to her, but we do know what happened to her message. It spread around the world until it reached us.

Not everyone takes the same path to faith in the Risen Christ. There is not one normative way. Some respond to a word, others to evidence, and others to a relationship. But whatever the path, and whether sudden or slow, it is always faith that removes the distance between the first Easter and our own.

I’ll see you in Church!

April 1, 2015
An Aspen Epiphany

Signs of spring are appearing a little earlier than usual in Jackson Hole. The snow is almost all gone in our yard and little green sprigs are pushing their way up through the soil. Buds are appearing on the branches of various members of the willow family. When I was out walking yesterday, I noticed the change on the branches of some aspen trees beside the road. This sight gladdened my heart because I’ve never before seen aspens in springtime. I’ve loved aspens for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, I played among them. When I was a youth, I hiked and camped among them. I’ve spent time around their white trunks in the summer, in the fall, and in the winter, but never before in springtime.

Jews have a tradition of offering a brief prayer of thanks to God (berakhah) whenever they have a new experience. I appreciate the tradition and try to practice it daily at every point when I experience the hand of God at work in the world around me. So, on the occasion of seeing the buds on the aspen tree, I said, “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Sovereign of the Universe and Creator of all things, for showing me your handiwork.”

The function of a berakhah is to acknowledge God as the source of all blessing. These short prayers also serve to transform a variety of everyday actions and occurrences into religious experiences that increase awareness of God at all times. For this purpose, ancient rabbis taught that it was the duty of every Jew to recite one hundred berakhot every day.

I wonder what would happen if every believer from every faith tradition were to adopt this practice. Greater awareness of the One who created all things might make us better neighbors, better stewards, better parents, and better sons and daughters. Offering a blessing to God for the abundance of blessings from God could, over time, transform us into more generous people. Acknowledging the majesty and wonder of our Creator would humble us and change us into more grateful creatures.

Let’s try it for a few days and see what happens!

I’ll see you in Church!

March 19, 2015
Sermon at The Episcopal Church in Parker County ~ January 18, 2015

The Second Sunday After the Epiphany

Listen to the Sermon for January 18, 2015

Read the Sermon for January 18, 2015

January 18, 2015
Sermon at The Episcopal Church in Parker County ~ January 11, 2015

The Baptism of the Lord

Listen to the Sermon January 11, 2015

Read the Sermon for January 11, 2015

January 11, 2015
Sermon at The Episcopal Church in Parker County ~ December 7, 2014

The Second Sunday of Advent

Listen to the Sermon for December 7, 2014

Read the Sermon for December 7, 2014

December 7, 2014
Sermon at The Episcopal Church of Parker County ~ November 30, 2014

The First Sunday of Advent

Listen to the Sermon for November 30, 2014

Read the Sermon for November 30, 2014

November 30, 2014
The Dynamic Relationship Between Mission and Transition

I was recently asked this question: What has been the most valuable learning experience in your ministry and why? Here's my response.

Mission and transition are dynamically related.

When a faith community is intentional about discerning the mission entrusted to it and committed to engagement in that mission, it is also willing to be intentional about the transitions that are necessary. The dots have to be connected.

While considering leaving the parish I had served as rector for almost a decade, I was intrigued by the work being accomplished by colleagues who were intentional interim rectors. In conversations with them, I was encouraged to explore service to the wider Church through transitional ministry instead of as a settled rector in one parish. That discernment led to training in intentional interim ministry, during which I suddenly realized that all churches are in some sort of transition most of the time, although often unconscious of it.

Transition training should be core seminary curriculum. Transitions between settled rectors provide a unique opportunity to explore transition – remembering where we’ve been, clarifying where we are, discerning where God is calling us, making changes that are needed, connecting with the wider church, and embracing a new era of mission with a new spiritual leader. But that is not the end of transition!

During this epiphany, I recalled some words of Titus Presler: “Mission is not fundamentally something we do as Christians but a quality of God’s own being. It is not a program of ours but the path of God’s action in the world. The mission of the church, therefore, derives from the mission of God, and it has meaning only in relation to what God is up to in the universe. Already engaged in mission, God simply invites us to participate in what God is doing.”

The Church doesn’t have a mission. The mission has a Church. Everything we do as followers of Christ in community is related to and in the service of that mission. And God’s mission is constantly in transition. It became clear to me that when a church continues to function as if nothing has changed, the mission suffers. It also became clear to me that the mission suffers when changes are needed but are avoided or resisted.

So, intentional transition work in the Church, whether between rectors or at any time, must involve discernment about mission, participation in what God is doing for the sake of the world at our doorstep. Transition work matters only in relation to mission.

This insight guides my leadership so that after our interim time together, consciousness of the dynamic relationship between ongoing mission and ongoing transition will continue. Churches that are engaged in mission are healthier, happier, and more attractive to those who are seeking what Christ offers through them. In such places, transition evokes transformation.

I would like to leave a legacy of healthy, mission-focused, transformative congregations in my service to the wider Church.

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer, Collect for Proper 10)

Blessings,

November 18, 2014
An Epiphany from a Road Sign

Road signs are put there to advise and warn motorists of various kinds of conditions for which they should be alert in that particular area – a winding road, a curve, wildlife crossing, an intersection.

While driving on the Ohio Pass Road near Gunnison, Colorado, I saw a road sign I’d never seen before. It looks sort of like a domino. It is a rectangle composed of two squares. The bottom square is a black box with a stripe down the middle. The top square is filled with static. Here’s a photo of it.

The sign is meant to advise motorists that the pavement ends, but the road continues. After the pavement ends, there will be bumps, potholes, dust, and other challenges. The transition can be abrupt if you don’t slow down and pay attention.

That’s a fitting metaphor for the journey of faith, isn’t it? The pavement represents the progress and accomplishments grace has helped us reach thus far. The unpaved road represents the uncertain, hazardous, and often bumpy road conditions that lie ahead. God is constantly calling us to continue moving forward and to trust in the divine guidance that will be available to us in an uncertain future. When we make the transition from the familiar to the unfamiliar, we need to pay attention and be open to guidance as we travel through new challenges. The Son of God, who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, has already blazed the trail for us.

It’s also a fitting metaphor for transition ministry in the Church. Transition ministers enter the community during the time between settled pastors. Our task involves helping the members of the community slow down, pay attention, and prepare for future transformation for themselves and the mission field at their doorstep. After all, with God's help, we paved the road we've been on. The same God will be there to help us pave the continuing road that lies ahead.

This is just one more sign that life is a series of transitions. Transitions are normal and necessary. What we make of them is the key to transformation. The pavement ends, but the road continues.

I’ll see you in Church!

October 26, 2014
An Epiphany From a Grasshopper

Gay and I are visiting at the cabin of friends on Ohio Creek near Gunnison, Colorado. Across the creek are golden aspens, the snowcapped West Elk Mountains, and endless blue skies.

On our afternoon walk today, I saw and heard some grasshoppers that brought back a memory from my childhood and brought on an epiphany.

My parents owned a sizeable parcel of property between Winter Park and Granby, Colorado during the 1950’s. I was fortunate to be able to spend most of six summers there as a boy. My dad built three ponds on one creek that flowed through the property and stocked them with rainbow and brook trout. On the backside of the property, there was another creek where the beavers had built dams, saving my dad the trouble.

Dad used to take me fishing in both of those places and we caught a lot of trout. He tried to teach me to fish with a fly rod but I got the line tangled in bushes and overhanging branches so often that it just wasn’t worth the trouble. So, we used bait such as salmon eggs, worms, and grasshoppers. The salmon eggs came in jars, which we bought at the sporting goods store in Granby. The worms and grasshoppers had to be harvested and I quickly learned how to do that. I was really good at it. My dad complimented me on my advanced skills and often suggested that I should go and employ those skills so that we would have ample bait on our next fishing expedition. I was proud of my abilities when it came to catching worms and grasshoppers and I understood that my role was significant.

Today, when I encountered those grasshoppers on our walk and recalled my days as a semi-professional bait harvester, it dawned on me that dad recognized an opportunity and seized it. Sending me for worms and grasshoppers with the promise of catching some trout with them was a very clever way to keep me occupied while he took care of more important business. It took me all these years to catch on!

Even though my task was pretty menial, it was certainly purposeful, a fact I never let go unrecognized after a fishing trip when we sat down to feast on our catch. We couldn’t have caught those trout without my bait. I still think those fish preferred my worms and grasshoppers to salmon eggs and fake flies. My contribution to the enterprise was extremely useful, though not very glamorous. The success of our fishing trips was the result of a joint effort. A little boy's bait helped a grown man catch fish and a family enjoy a delicious meal.

Each of us has a contribution to make to the rest of us. Some contributions are more glamorous and others go almost unnoticed. There are people who do the dirty work that others of us won't do because we are too well educated and too culturally advanced. Sadly, many people who perform vital tasks upon which we depend are rewarded with low wages, lack of adequate healthcare, and poor educational opportunities. Are there people like that who are involved in your way of life? Who digs your worms and catches your grasshoppers so you can haul in a big catch?

The Old and New Testaments are filled with admonitions that those who enjoy prestige and have more should not disrespect those who perform menial tasks and have little. Central to the message of the Bible is the truth that our lives and labors are interdependent in God's view of reality. God expects us to be mindful of how much we need each other and to continually look for ways to respect the dignity of every human being.

Daylight is fading now as I reflect on the epiphany of yesterday’s experiences brought to mind by today’s grasshoppers. This evening prayer seems a fitting close to these reflections at the end of this day.

O God, your unfailing providence sustains the world we live in and the life we live: Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep, and grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other’s toil; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (from The Book of Common Prayer)

Blessings,

October 7, 2014