Harrowing Of Hell

Guardians of Hope

Good morning. HAPPY EASTER! I’m so glad to see you today. There is a sense that we’re back to normal, if that’s really possible in a world where COVID is endemic. In fact, I know some of you can’t be here today because you have COVID. I’m glad you’re joining us online. I hope you’re

Hope and Joy

We delivered Desmond to college this fall. As we crisscrossed the campus, side by side with other parents, lugging the carefully chosen belongings of our children up a flight or two or three to the dorm rooms, that would be their new homes…something stirred in me. Watching the young people meeting each other for the

The Unstoppable Hope Plays Out

Happy Eastertide. I hope you had a meaningful Holy Week and a joyful Easter. I preached Easter morning about the “what” and the “who” of Christianity. I built this sermon on the theme of unstoppable hope; about how hope is something we seek through expectations, and dreams, and optimism, and I pointed out that it

The Unstoppable Hope of Jesus

Happy Easter! I am so glad to see you. I am so happy to be celebrating this day of Resurrection with you. Happy Resurrection day! It is good for my soul to be with you. I hope it is good day for yours as well. Hope is the word I want you to carry away

Hard Things Lead to the Best Things

Good morning. I wish I’d gotten off another plane this week, so I could rewrite my sermon and avoid Jesus’ comment about how hard it is for those who have wealth to get into the Kingdom of God. Not a top 10 favorite on an annual appeal Sunday, particularly in Seattle, where stock portfolios and

Rector’s Summer Reading

Dear Epiphany, As summer sets upon us, I hope you have an opportunity to do some reading. Maybe you’ll even join me in reading Timothy Keller’s new book Hope in Times of Fear. I’m a fan of Mr. Keller, having been influenced by his wonderful book The Reason for God. Keller wrote that book 20+

Forthtellers of the Gospel

Good morning Christians, seekers, and friends: How are you doing? Where do you land on a scale from one to five?  I know we were all looking forward to this New Year and the vaccine that it promised and promises us but so far, as a parishioner recently wrote me, this new year hasn’t necessarily

A Christmas Festival

Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoyed this journey through the stories of Jesus’s birth this evening. It is a different way than usual to celebrate Christmas Eve at Epiphany Parish. But the COVID restrictions necessitated this change, and that is OK, it is how it should be. This is, yet one more reason this COVID