News and Updates
A Season of Transitions
The Old Testament writer known as Ecclesiastes made memorable the ancient truth, “For everything there is a season and for every activity under heaven its time.” But he was singularly unsuccessful in suggesting why life must be riddled with so many beginnings and...
Being a Broad Church
One of the gifts of the Episcopal Church is that we value variety, breadth, depth and comprehensiveness. Many refer to us as a “broad church.” Each week we have the remarkable ability to sit in church with complete strangers, go to communion with people who are...
An Effective and Faithful Plan for the Summer and Fall, 2022
Dear People of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, The Vestry and Search Committee wrote to the congregation this past week regarding the status of the search for a new rector and the need to continue the search into the fall. As you know, I gladly accept the invitation to continue...
Called by Name
Jesus said, “The good shepherd calls his sheep by name and leads them out and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” To hear him call our name, we have to know ourselves and be ready to respond. One of my favorite plays is “Les Miserables.” In the...
Hearing the Question and Responding
In this week’s gospel, Jesus is questioning Peter about his true intentions. I still hear echoes of his central question to the Apostle Peter in the voice of Archbishop Donald Coggin, when he asked my seminary class in 1980: “Do you love Jesus?” “Yes, of course I do,”...
Practicing Resurrection
There is great evidence in the resurrection narratives that there was an emerging transformation as Jesus’ community began to encounter the risen Christ. Once beyond the immediate drama of Easter morning, the disciples began not by asking “Why me?”, but by asking,...
Writing Love with One’s Life
One of the greatest writers of the last Century was the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery. He wrote only a few books, however, because he was killed while flying reconnaissance missions in World War II. In the spring of 1940, shortly before the fall of France,...
A Paradoxical Week
April in pleasant Palm Beach is no mask for the paradox of Holy Week. The tough patches of human life meet up with the realities of new life and hope. These mixed signals underlie every liturgy and sermon and gathering during this coming week. Holy Week may be the...
In the Shadow of the Cross
The whole action of these weeks in Lent invites us to see one moment in time as carrying meaning for all time. In a distant time and a tiny corner of the planet, a life, a trial, a mob, a cross, a death changed everything. Or so we dare to say and believe. What...