In the midst of all our memorials, in the midst of all our sorrow and fear, stands the itinerant preacher talking about a different kingdom—the kingdom of God. In the midst of all of our anxiety about the future is the one who strips himself down to a towel around his waist and washes the aching...
To the Beloved Community of the Convocation and our friends everywhere: At our convention this past October, the assembled delegates responded to the report of our Task Force on Race, Reconciliation, and Beloved Community by adopting a Covenant for Dismantling Racism...
It is an old preacher’s trope that this story begins in a garden, and ends in a garden. It begins in a garden filled with life, a garden of perfection, the garden of God’s loving purpose for us—a purpose we preferred to decide for ourselves. And it ends in a garden near a...
It is Ash Wednesday today. Despite the comforting familiarity of the yearly cycle of penitence and fasting, this Ash Wednesday is a little different from all the others we have known. Yes, this day still marks the beginning of our journey through the penitential days of Lent. But let’s be...
You might wonder why a church in Europe would have anything to say about what has been happening in America these past days. In part, the answer to that question is simple; we are the European members of a church that has its origins, and its home, in America. We are the Episcopal...
To our Friends near and far, I write from Florence, where I've come to serve for a few weeks as the parish awaits the arrival of its new priest-in-charge. The chance to serve as an occasional supply priest in our congregations is one...
All Saints-Tide, 2020 To the Clergy and People of the ConvocationFew things are less comforting to us than the knowledge that there are matters of great significance to us over which we have no choice but to wait. We are not good at waiting. We are conditioned by our culture of...
Over the past six months, the Council of Advice and the Bishop have together been undertaking a process known as a “Mutual Ministry Review.” All clergy in the Convocation, as a part of their letters of agreement, agree to take part in this...
Back in June, as the protests against police brutality against communities of color in the United States were echoed in Paris by large demonstrations demanding accountability for the death in police custody of Adama Traoré, the Convocation and the cathedral went in together on a large...
It is perhaps not surprising that the summer of this annus horribilis has brought with it a bitter and bumper crop of hopelessness. It’s somehow in vogue to speak and write of hopelessness—not as you might imagine, but instead as the needed catalyst for change, perhaps a...