An Altar to an Unknown God
Sermon from today, May 25th, given by our Young Priest Initiative Intern, Grant Mansfield
Sermon May 25, 2014
The Church of the Holy Comforter, Richmond Virginia, in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. The title of this blog comes from the book of the same name by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In Life Together, Bonhoeffer describes Christian community as a gift from God. Our church is a gift from God for those who take part in the life of our faith community and a gift to those we serve in Christ's name. This blog is about our life together as the members and friends of Holy Comforter.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Sermon from the 6th Sunday of Easter, May 25, 2014
Sermon from today, May 25th, given by our Young Priest Initiative Intern, Grant Mansfield
Sermon May 25, 2014
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Sermon Preview for May 25, 2014
An Altar to an Unknown God
Join us on Sunday at 10:00 am to hear this sermon given by our intern from the diocesan Young Priest Initiative, Grant Mansfield. Come hear what a young adult, 21 years-old, thinks, discerns about God and the Church.
Sermon from May 11, 2014
Ways of Knowing God
After I finished this sermon, I learned of the tragic hot-air balloon accident in which three persons died. I address that at the start of the sermon. Toward the end of the sermon I am quoting from Nan Merrill's wonderful book, Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness. After quoting from her preface, I attribute a version of Psalm 23 to her, in fact, the version that I read is from Eugene H. Peterson's translation founding in his The Message Remix: The Bible in Contemporary Language, 2006. Merrill's version of Psalm 23 is lovely as well.
Sermon May 11, 2014
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Saturday, May 3, 2014
My Message for May
This appears in the May 2014 edition of the Holy Comforter newsletter
Thank you for a meaningful Holy Week and wonderful celebrations of Easter, at both the Vigil and on Easter Sunday morning. Thank you to all who contributed to our services by singing, organizing the many aspects from altar guild duties to those reading lessons. Thank you to Carey Perkins, our parish administrator, and Martha Burford, our director of music, for working so well with me and supporting me in my first Holy Week/Easter with you. Thank you to Bill Smith for building our new cross for the “Flowering of the Cross.” With the nights of frost a few days before Easter, I was concerned about having a sufficient supply of flowers for the children to put on the cross, but no need for concern – you all provided more than enough! In my Easter Sunday sermon, I mentioned that each flower put on that cross represented to me the gift that each child, and each person, gives to God and to the world, which makes Resurrection visible in our midst. This continues to be a powerful image for me, and really represents for me who we are as a faith community. We each bring beautiful gifts, the gift of ourselves, and we offer those gifts to help others and to make God’s love visible. We might never think about it that way; we don’t have to; we just do what we do, we are who we are, and that makes all the difference in the world. God’s love is made visible; we are the hands and heart of the Risen Christ.
Everyone has heard of the Stations of the Cross, but have you ever heard of the Stations of the Resurrection? I have had the joy of celebrating services with Stations of the Resurrection. Each Station speaks of Resurrection, of new life, God’s love, and the human spirit being known in powerful ways. The ideal is that a community makes Stations of Resurrection based on the circumstances of their lives and ministry. For example, one station for us might be a visual representation of our Food Pantry. We would create the art together and also write text for prayerful expression in words of our experience of God/Resurrection/Great Love among us, in our world. Maybe we will do something like that as a group at some time, but, for now, I encourage you to consider what the Stations of Resurrection might before you. We do so much during Lent for spiritual development, but often the Easter season gets little attention as a season for growth. On June 8th, we will celebrant our great festival of Pentecost; before that day, we are in the season of Easter. Perhaps during the Easter season, you and I could consider where we see Resurrection: new life, God’s love in action, our love in action. What would a Station of such a thing look like, for you? Can we think of one each week of the Easter season? I would love to hear what you see, what images you have of Resurrection in daily life. Let me know. Blessings for an Easter season filled with joy!
Faithfully yours,
Hilary+
Dear Friends and Companions in Ministry,
Thank you for a meaningful Holy Week and wonderful celebrations of Easter, at both the Vigil and on Easter Sunday morning. Thank you to all who contributed to our services by singing, organizing the many aspects from altar guild duties to those reading lessons. Thank you to Carey Perkins, our parish administrator, and Martha Burford, our director of music, for working so well with me and supporting me in my first Holy Week/Easter with you. Thank you to Bill Smith for building our new cross for the “Flowering of the Cross.” With the nights of frost a few days before Easter, I was concerned about having a sufficient supply of flowers for the children to put on the cross, but no need for concern – you all provided more than enough! In my Easter Sunday sermon, I mentioned that each flower put on that cross represented to me the gift that each child, and each person, gives to God and to the world, which makes Resurrection visible in our midst. This continues to be a powerful image for me, and really represents for me who we are as a faith community. We each bring beautiful gifts, the gift of ourselves, and we offer those gifts to help others and to make God’s love visible. We might never think about it that way; we don’t have to; we just do what we do, we are who we are, and that makes all the difference in the world. God’s love is made visible; we are the hands and heart of the Risen Christ.
Everyone has heard of the Stations of the Cross, but have you ever heard of the Stations of the Resurrection? I have had the joy of celebrating services with Stations of the Resurrection. Each Station speaks of Resurrection, of new life, God’s love, and the human spirit being known in powerful ways. The ideal is that a community makes Stations of Resurrection based on the circumstances of their lives and ministry. For example, one station for us might be a visual representation of our Food Pantry. We would create the art together and also write text for prayerful expression in words of our experience of God/Resurrection/Great Love among us, in our world. Maybe we will do something like that as a group at some time, but, for now, I encourage you to consider what the Stations of Resurrection might before you. We do so much during Lent for spiritual development, but often the Easter season gets little attention as a season for growth. On June 8th, we will celebrant our great festival of Pentecost; before that day, we are in the season of Easter. Perhaps during the Easter season, you and I could consider where we see Resurrection: new life, God’s love in action, our love in action. What would a Station of such a thing look like, for you? Can we think of one each week of the Easter season? I would love to hear what you see, what images you have of Resurrection in daily life. Let me know. Blessings for an Easter season filled with joy!
Faithfully yours,
Hilary+
The Third Sunday of Easter, Sermon Preview
Recognizing the Risen Christ:
In Our Lives and in Our World
Sermon Preview for May 4, 2014; the 3rd Sunday of Easter.
Where do we see and experience the Risen Christ in our lives in our world? As I did in my Easter Sunday sermon, I continue to consider why the Resurrection as a stand-alone event is difficult to understand, and why we need each other, the community and the stories of our faith community from the past and the present, in order to enter deeply into the mystery of resurrection...and let it enter us.
Join us at 10:00 am on May 4th to hear this sermon live.
Join us every Sunday at 10:00am to celebrate and give thanks to God
for our life together and all of life.
preview created at wordle.net
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