October 11, 2026 – The Feast of Saint Stephen & The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

First reading; Psalm, Epistle, and Gospel text

That your Church may be filled with the Holy Spirit. Amen.

That prayer is one that was used weekly from 1924 to 1926 as this building was being constructed. Grace Church was established in 1873 and Saint Stephen’s in 1893, merging in 1923. As they came together, they set out to construct this gem of a building and the first liturgies held in this space were on Sunday, October 10, 1926—100 years ago yesterday. This is certainly something to celebrate—100 years of worship and community in this space. And our prayer remains the same: that this church might be filled with the Holy Spirit.

October 4, 2026 – The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary readings; Epistle reading

In the name of God ☩ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            I prefer Dijon over yellow mustard. I usually choose the scenic route over the interstate. And I think the Rite I funeral liturgy is far superior to Rite II. On these topics, I am biased. We misunderstand bias though to be a bad thing.

September 27, 2026 – The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings (Epistle reading)

In the name of the living God ☩ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            In Latin America, the musical that we know as The Sound of Music is called “The Rebel Nun.” And they’re not wrong. The sci–fi blockbuster Blade Runner was going to be called “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.” Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. Who can forget the Steven Speilberg classic “A Boy’s Life,” better known as E.T. Or what if we called The Wizard of Oz, “The Witch–Slayer of Kansas”? Titles matter.

September 13, 2026 – The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

In the name of the One who raised Jesus Christ from the dead after first raising Israel out of Egypt. Amen.

How much debt do you have? That’s a serious question. We all have debts and sometimes the amounts are so large that we don’t really know how much we are carrying. Oh, I’m not talking student loans, medical debt, car loans, mortgages, or credit card balances. While our relationship to money and financial debt is absolutely a spiritual matter, that’s not what I mean. No, I’m talking about a much more searing and uncomfortable conversation about our relational debt. Jesus says, “So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

August 30, 2025 - The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

In the name of the God who is and ever shall be. Amen.

What is your go-to passage of Scripture? Whatever that passage is, it’s a good indicator of your foundational theology. Really like David and Goliath? You likely value justice and believe in a God who is on the side of the underdog. If it’s Peter walking on water, you probably see Jesus as enabling you to overcome fears and do more than you thought possible. If it’s the Baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch, your foundation is that there are no boundaries when it comes to the love of God.

August 16, 2026 - The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon us. Amen.

“We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy.” Those words come from the Prayer of Humble Access, an optional prayer that is sometimes used before receiving Communion. It reminds us that we come forward not because of where we fall on the spectrum of worthiness and unworthiness, but solely on the welcoming and gracious invitation of Jesus.

July 19, 2026 - The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

Gracious Lord, help us to see all things in the light of your love. Amen.

“You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Or “Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.” These are phrases that are commonly used and often misunderstood. For example, pulling ourselves up by own bootstraps is a phrase usually meant to convey initiative, resilience, and determination. But that’s not, at all, what the phrase actually means – to find the true meaning of those words, when you get home, lie down on the floor and try to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, or shoelaces if you don’t have bootstraps. You’ll soon discover that the phrase is meant to describe an absurd and impossible task.

July 12, 2026 - The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

In the name of God ☩ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Juliet famously asks Romeo, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” She’s saying, “Romeo – it doesn’t matter what our family names are, what matters is our love, which would be just as true if our families weren’t at war with one another.” And her point is valid –  a Capulet can love a Smith or a Jones just as validly as a Montague. Right?

July 5, 2026 - The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

Gracious Lord, forgive the sins of the preacher, for they are many, that only your Word might be proclaimed and only your Truth be heard ☩ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

How’d you sleep last night? According to studies, more than half of us would say “Not great.” Many do not get enough good quality sleep. Some of that is self-inflicted – going to bed too late, screens before bed, or having an evening drink. But a lot of it is beyond our control because while our bodies might be ready for rest, we can’t seem to turn off our minds. We lay there thinking about what we’d say differently if we could redo that conversation, or running through the to-do list for tomorrow, or trying to figure out how to solve whatever we’re up against.

June 7, 2026 - The Second Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

 In the name of God ☩ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

An interesting Grace & St. Stephen’s trivia question is, “Where did I first meet members of the Search Committee?” It wasn’t at the church I was serving in Salisbury or at restaurant, though those would be good guesses. No, it was at a Barenaked Ladies concert. Tanya and Linda came to North Carolina as a part of the search process and the Barenaked Ladies are my favorite band, so of course we had tickets. When Tanya found out they were playing in Charlotte the night of their arrival, they also got tickets and we met up there.

May 31, 2026 - The Feast of the Holy Trinity

Lectionary Readings

In the name of the Holy Trinity ☩ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

“You shall not make for yourselves any idol.” That is one of the 613 commandments in the Old Testament. Yes, I know that Jesus was once asked which commandment is the greatest – to which he responded with two: love God from Deuteronomy and love your neighbor from Leviticus. To be clear, I’m not disagreeing with Jesus. Those two together, indeed, are the greatest commandment. But the commandment about not having idols might be most urgent for us today.

May 24, 2026 - The Feast of Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

Holy Spirit, the Life that gives life: You are the cause of all movement. You are the breath of all creatures. You are the salve that purifies our souls. You are the ointment that heals our wounds. You are the fire that warms our hearts. You are the light that guides our feet. Be with us now, and evermore. Amen.

May 14, 2026 - The Feast of the Ascension

Preached at Evensong - readings are Psalms 24 & 96, Daniel 7:9-14, Matthew 28:16-20

In the name of the Risen and Ascended Lord. Amen.

The first time I went to Israel was in 2012 and I had the opportunity to see so many wonderful and holy sites. But one place we didn’t go was the Chapel of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives. It just wasn’t on our itinerary. So, when I went back in 2020, just about a week before the pandemic began, I told the guide we hired that I wanted to go to see the site of the Ascension. He warned me that there wasn’t much to see and that I’d probably be disappointed. But I insisted – I’ve seen the sites of Jesus’ birth, death, and Resurrection, so I wanted to add the missing Ascension site.

May 10, 2026 - The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary Readings (note, we are using a trial version of the lectionary in Eastertide that has an alternate first reading and Psalm)

In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.

The hardest part of faith for a lot of us is the problem of suffering. We experience tragedies, illnesses, and misfortunes and we just want the suffering to stop. Or, if the pain doesn’t go away, we want to know why. Not that a reason for suffering necessarily relieves the pain, but it gives it a larger purpose that at least makes it tolerable. But, truth be told, all the reasons for pain and suffering that preachers sometimes give are unsatisfactory and only lead to deeper sense of woundedness.

May 3, 2026 - The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary Readings (note, we are using a trial version of the lectionary in Eastertide that has an alternate first reading and Psalm)

In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.

A couple of decades ago if you would have asked someone in the record label industry what their business was all about, they probably would have said something like: “Well, we try to find talented musicians, then we record their music, and sell albums to you.” They misunderstood their business, which is why MP3s and eventually streaming became such a threat. In actuality, their business wasn’t selling vinyl, cassettes, and CDs, it was selling access to the music people wanted to listen to. But they struggled to figure out how to monetize a non-physical product.

April 19, 2026 - The Third Sunday of Easter

Lectionary Readings (note, we are using a trial version of the lectionary in Eastertide that has an alternate first reading and Psalm)

In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.

The two stories from our sacred Scripture that speak most deeply to me and that I cherish are Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush in Exodus 3 and what we heard this morning from Luke 24 when Jesus meets two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Both stories involve fire – a burning bush and burning hearts. Maybe it was playing with campfires on father-and-son camping trips at the church I grew up in that sparked that interest? Who knows. The passage from Luke is such a rich story that is a revelation into God’s very essence and it is also a mirror that shows us something about what it is to follow this living and loving God.

April 12, 2026 - The Second Sunday of Easter

Lectionary Readings (note, we are using a trial version of the lectionary in Eastertide and the first reading can be found here)

In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.

I remember one time hearing a theologian describe the challenge of her work as being, “God is very, very big and we are very, very small.” It’s a similar sentiment to what we heard in Exodus: “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?” The implied response is “No one.” When Israel was between Egypt’s army and the Red Sea, God alone was their salvation. When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we have but one Good Shepherd to see us through. This passage from Exodus is a song proclaiming God’s incomprehensible and incomparable goodness and love.

April 5, 2026 - Easter Sunday

Lectionary Readings

In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.

Wow! What a good looking group you are in your Easter finest! As you all know, the date of Easter fluctuates throughout the spring based on the lunar cycle – but Easter always comes just in the nick of time. The news cycle has been pretty rough of late – war, soaring gas prices, a government that seems to be less useful than even a broken clock. Plus, I know we’re all carrying some burdens this morning – maybe a recent diagnosis; worrying about your marriage, your children, your job; or perhaps you’re trying to figure out how to deal with a bully or a crush at school; or it could be the addictions or anxieties that you’ve been dealing with for a while. Into all these spaces of deadness, the Good News of Easter comes just in the nick of time, and it is my immense joy to celebrate the gift of Easter with you all.

April 4, 2026 - Easter Vigil

Scripture readings: Genesis 22:1-18; Exodus 14:10-15:1; Daniel 3:1-28; Jonah 1:1-2:1, 10; Jeremiah 31:7-13, 31-34; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Romans 6:3-11; Matthew 28:1-10

In the name of the One whose love is making all things well – Jesus Christ. Amen.

“This is the night.” We heard that refrain in the Exsultet, one of most ancient prayers of the Church that has been chanted at Easter Vigils around the globe for the past 1,500 years. We heard – this is the night that the children of Israel were led out of bondage in Egypt through the Red Sea; this is the night when death was defeated and Christ rose victorious from the grave; this is the night when earth and heaven are joined. Don’t look at your watch – it is wrong, for this is the night that exists in the fullness of eternity.

April 4, 2026 - Holy Saturday

Lectionary Readings

In the name of the One whose love is making all things well – Jesus Christ. Amen.

Holy Saturday is quite likely the most neglected of all liturgies in the Church Year. It’s only half a page in the Prayer Book, so people can be forgiven for not even noticing it’s there. And on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter, most clergy and altar guilds are thinking about flowers and trumpets more than they are squeezing in another liturgy into an already very full week. But that’s not actually the reason why I think Holy Saturday is neglected. No, it’s not ignorance, laziness, or busyness, but the discomfort of waiting that leads so many to skip over Holy Saturday.