In this northern hemisphere, it seems that all the schools have finally started and the weather is beginning to turn (high in the 90s instead of the 100s here in Southern California). The program year may be starting up, different from last year, but also different from all the years before. What are the questions… Read More
RCL – Proper 20, Year B – Resist
As I studied up on the readings for Sunday one common theme emerged: Resist. The resist I speak of is a resistance to the stuff we are told will make us feel better if only we can accumulate enough of it. A resistance to running after power, status and ambition; resistance to serving only ourselves.… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party Sept. 5, 2021 Lectionary 23/Proper 18/15th Sunday after Pentecost
Rev Gals and Pals, School is back in session in my part of the world and I imagine the young people I know gladly said goodbye to summer vacation this morning as they boarded the bus more than ready to get back in the classroom with their friends; today, as these children were held in… Read More
Worship Words: 5 September 2021
What? Sunday is coming again? Didn’t we just have one? Yes, we who wear the yoke of Christ and pull alongside him find ourselves facing another set of worship services that require our attention, devotion, and inspiration. Maybe you’ve got all that in spades. That’s great! Maybe you’re feeling like a dried out spring. That’s… Read More
RCL: The Be Opened Edition
I love this story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. Admittedly, it’s a love that had come in more recent years. We get to witness a moment of growth in Jesus’s life. Yes, he was a man of his times and schooled in all the prejudices and human foolishness of his day. He meets a… Read More
Worship Words for 29 August
Stress and distress have been the undercurrents of conversations with colleagues this week. The Delta variant of COVID-19 is again wreaking havoc with our worship, education and fellowship plans. Back to school is complicated by fear for families. Climate change and the newest dire report raises feelings of helplessness and dread. The plight of the… Read More
Revised Common Lectionary August 29, 2021. Into The Stew of Anger
This past week, the Rev. Michelle L. Torigian offered us a powerful and prophetic lament in the tradition of the psalmist. (https://revgalblogpals.org/2021/08/18/the-pastoral-is-political-anger-in-the-time-of-covid-19/) She wrote about anger in her life and our lives. She wrote about anger in the Bible and anger in communities of faith. She did not try to “solve” anger, instead talking about… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: To Whom Can We Go?
Here in California, summer lingers even as school has started and fall products are beginning to appear. How do we keep going? What will we say in these times? What do your people need to hear? During this long stretch or Ordinary Time or the Sundays after Pentecost, will you follow the Revised Common Lectionary?… Read More
Revised Common Lectionary: As for me and my household…
The Revised Common Lectionary continues the theme of bread in this week’s reading from John. In today’s passage, Jesus calls his own body and blood the bread from heaven, which will grant eternal life. These words must have sounded strange to Jesus’ Jewish followers, who would have followed strict dietary laws regulating which types of… Read More
Sunday Prayer: Psalm 130
To you, O God, we hold out our hearts.Deal gently with them, we pray.Increase their love with your forgiveness;soften their bitterness with your peace. Until peace comes,we will wait and watch. To you, O God, we hold out our hungers.Have mercy on them, we pray.Rain down with manna to renew our hope;quench our despair from… Read More
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