St Thomas

My Dear Doubters of Great Faith, This week I had conversation with a friend about what Episcopalians believe (scary thought!) regarding the presence of Jesus Christ in communion. Of course, we believe in Christ’s “real presence” in the elements, bread and wine, but what does that really mean? Are these things transformed, in some way, because of the words that a priest breathes over them? Our Articles of Religion, the basic footprint of Anglicanism, while not clear what “real presence” is, is definitive about what it is not – transubstantiation. The beauty is in the mystery! O magnum mysterium. She knows that Christ is there; she can feel his imprint. This outward, visible sign of an inward, spiritual grace. If Christ falls to the floor in distribution, she quickly bends to pick him up, and consumes. Christ IS there. Presence, real presence is this glorious mystery of words and Word…

Dear Doubters of Great Faith, On Wednesday of this week, Fr. Stephen Waller and I were honored to be guest lecturers in Dr. Stephen Sprinkle’s Doctor of Ministry class at Brite Divinity School, “The Ministerial Leader as Practical Theologian.” Steve specifically tasked us with leading a conversation around the practical implications of liturgy. What does our liturgical life as Episcopalians have to say about or to do with our lives lived out in the world? In short, so what? It was a fascinating, humbling time together, as we found ourselves surrounded by those who were every bit as schooled in their own liturgical practice, of so many different varieties, shapes and sizes. I started my part of the discussion by waging what we subscribers to Anglican theology uphold in our liturgical practice, the three-legged stool of “scripture, tradition, reason,” and what that looks like when praying really does shape our…

Dear Doubters of Great Faith, There were several identifiable steps along my journey to this passion I now own and possess for social justice ministry particularly in the area of racial reconciliation, healing, and privilege. While I was still a Church Business Administrator, I attended several gatherings of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP), and heard a presentation by the Rev. Mike Kinman, sometime Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis, MO, and now Rector of the famed social justice parish All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena, CA. The year was 2014, and St. Louis had been for many months in the throes of protests over the killing in Ferguson of Michael Brown. The scene was not unlike what we witnessed in Dallas following the death of George Floyd. Downtown St. Louis was awash in daily marches of protesters decrying an end to senseless police violence. Fr. Mike told us…

“…for the saints of God are just folk like you and like me…” I sat captivated as they carried the casket of Ruth Bader Ginsburg up the steps of the majestic Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. I found myself thinking how appropriate, and how ironic, and how fitting, that such a diminutive physical frame, was coming to rest, and be honored, in such hallowed, majestic halls. Because, after all, she lived her life in what appeared to be, at least from this vantage point, some very majestic ways. Unique, individual, and yet so similar, to the emotions stirred as I watched John Lewis’ funeral caisson pass gracefully over the Edmund Pettus bridge less than two months earlier. These two lives, lived so fully, distinctly, humbly, and yet mightily, for the cause of equal rights, indeed liberty and justice for all. These two seemed to be able to think universally…