Harrowing Of Hell

Category: The Church

To Be A Disciple of Christ

Sermon | June 25, 2023

To watch the sermon click here. I remember a picture that hung on the wall of one of the Sunday School classrooms in the church where I grew up. It was a pastoral scene. Jesus was seated on a large stone beneath a tree, a tree unlike any I was familiar with in West Virginia.

Founding Church Members in the Age of the Holy Spirit

Sermon | April 23, 2023

In 2070 I will be 103 years old, and most likely in the columbarium here at Epiphany. And as you stroll by, that is, as some of you stroll by, I hope you say, “Oh, remember Doyt? He was Rector here for a long time.” Hopefully you won’t say, “too long.” Others of you will

Climbing the Mountain of Christianity

Sermon | February 19, 2023

Seven years ago, my sister Valerie and I set out to conquer Mount Rainier. The compulsion to climb that mountain set upon me the first time I saw it jutting up on the horizon as I drove south to the airport. There, single and solitary,a majestic point of power ripping out of the earth toward

Ambiguity Capacity as a Kingdom of God Experience

Sermon | November 7, 2021

I’m reading a book right now called Nonsense by Jamie Holmes, and in it he makes a claim that grabbed my attention. He wrote: “As uncertainties add up in the world around us, they accelerate our desire for certainty.” When I read this, I was reminded of a sermon I preached on Easter day 2014:

Battle for Christianity – Annual Appeal

Sermon | October 3, 2021

I am so glad to be here with you today. I just returned from a board meeting for the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes in Atlanta, and then flew to Essex Connecticut where I preached at Kate Wesch’s installation as Rector at Saint John’s Church. Incidentally, Kate is doing very well, as is her family,

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

Sermon | September 12, 2021

I’ve been hearing lately about conversations people have had with family members and good friends who refused to get vaccinated. (disqualify people who are immune-compromised) These conversations are exasperating! Nothing they say inspires their loved one to change their mind. Nothing works. It is crazy making. This is life and death, and there are not