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St Thomas

Transitions

By Rector's Corner

Dear Doubters of Great Faith, It is good to be back among you, my Doubter family, if even only virtually, after some much-needed, much-appreciated time away. The excitement of going away is heightened by knowing that there will always be a joy-filled homecoming, a safe place of landing that is St. Thomas the Apostle! Holiday during the time of COVID-19 is a strange, perplexing thing for us “do-ers.” The adventure of going and conquering some foreign place and space is fully consumed by the reality of what is, “to be.” And so, this “do-er” had a whole lot of time to just “be!” Alone. With God… As a forward-thinker, always planning, my thoughts turned to transitions. In Corona-tide, the season that seems endless, the transitions of life continue in spite of the virus. Lent and Easter came and went. The Church’s program year came and went. We already look toward…

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August 6, 2020

Sermon for Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

By Sermons

August 2, 2020 The Episcopal Church of St. Thomas the Apostle Dallas, Texas The Reverend Stephen J. Waller From the Book of Genesis: “Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me. So he said to him, “What is your name? And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “ You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there…

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August 2, 2020

Integrity

By Christian Formation

Take a moment to bring to mind some people who have inspired you, and who have had a significant, positive impact on your life. As you reflect on who came to mind just now, whether they were a parent, friend, sister, brother, family member, teacher, coach, boss, spiritual leader, or political leader, I imagine that there is something they all have in common—each of them was a person of integrity. The word integrity shares the same root as the word integration. A person with integrity has a high degree of integration between what they say and how they live. Such a person “walks the talk” and embodies in their actions what they say with their words. Integrity is based on the highest spiritual values of what it means to live a good life, transcending political, religious, and other differences. People from different perspectives will be open to listening to and…

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August 1, 2020

Community

By Outreach

For my entire life I have been seeking “community” one way or another. We are not put on this Earth by God just to be alone among all the others God created. We are put here to be “in community” with one another… Life Together is what “Life” is about.
 The Church, God’s Beloved Community, has been that place where my longing for Life Together has found soil in which to grow. For that I am grateful to God and to the communities of Faith in which I served throughout my “active” ordained ministry. Each one of the six parishes where I served gave me a sense of Life Together. Each was a different manifestation of Life Together. Each taught me more about living in God’s Beloved Community.
 Perhaps because my tenure at St. Thomas the Apostle in Dallas was nearly 25 years, that parish did more to reveal the…

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July 30, 2020

Sermon for Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

By Sermons

July 26, 2020, Year A: Proper 12 The Episcopal Church of St. Thomas the Apostle Dallas, Texas Allen M. Junek, Seminarian-in-Residence + In the name of the one, holy, undivided Trinity. Amen. Think for a moment about the expanse of God’s love. Its height. Its width. Its breath. This love that welcomes us, and calls us each by name. Now once you’ve considered this Love, I have a question: Who does God love more…the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, or the President of the United States? This question rose in my mind earlier this week while I was meditating on today’s lectionary passages, particularly the epistle reading, and it has haunted me ever since — mainly because I don’t like my answer. Now, I don’t know about you, but I have a complicated relationship with Paul. Some of the things he writes I think are beautiful, and others make…

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July 26, 2020

Eating More Than Our Share of Radishes

By Christian Formation

In 1996, psychologist Roy Bauermeister conducted a fascinating experiment on will power. He invited a large group of people into a room filled with the smell of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. He sat them at tables and then brought to each table two bowls. One bowl contained radishes and the other chocolate chip cookies. Half of the people were told they could eat only the radishes and to use their will power to avoid eating any of the cookies. The other half of the group were told they could skip the radishes and eat as many cookies as they wished. Ten minutes later, everyone was led to another room where they were given (unknown to them at the time) an unsolvable geometry problem. The group of people who had just eaten the cookies worked an average of nineteen minutes trying to solve the problem before giving up. The group of…

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July 25, 2020

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a tiny insignificant little seed

By Outreach

Dear Doubters, Fr. Christopher asked if I would do the weekly reflection this first week of his well-deserved vacation. And now that I have had a chance to look at the Gospel reading, I suspect he may wish he had done this himself – such rich rich imagery! From Matthew’s Gospel: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a tiny insignificant little seed. Or a small bit of yeast that leavens. But what happens when that little seed is planted? Or the yeast mixed in a whole lot of flour? Huge results can happen – trees large enough for birds to nest in. Or three loaves of homemade bread! In other words, the Kingdom of Heaven APPEARS to be something small and insignificant – but oh what it can accomplish! I think Matthew’s message is we don’t really see the King of Heaven initially – when it’s like a tiny seed…

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July 23, 2020

Time to unplug and recharge

By Rector's Corner

Dear Doubters of Great Faith, Well, we, you and I, have been together for six months. Six months! On Sunday, February 2, you may remember that I mentioned that we had 18 years to do this thing between us, to live out our time together, and that it would go much faster than we all would or could possibly imagine. And now, six months have been chipped away. In some ways, thanks to “Corona-tide” it seems as though it’s been a lifetime, and yet there is so much that I do not know, so much yet to discover, about the beautiful tapestry woven together into what is St. Thomas the Apostle Church. And I know that I want to know more. I need to know more. Because I know that God is calling us, you and me, to do something big here with our piece of the ‘kin-dom’ at Inwood…

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July 20, 2020

Sermon for Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

By Rector's Corner, Sermons

Christopher Thomas Sermon for Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Year A – 7/19/20 Genesis 28:10-19a Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 When Great Trees Fall
 by Maya Angelou When great trees fall,
 rocks on distant hills shudder,
 lions hunker down
 in tall grasses,
 and even elephants
 lumber after safety. When great trees fall
 in forests,
 small things recoil into silence,
 their senses
 eroded beyond fear. When great souls die,
 the air around us becomes
 light, rare, sterile.
 We breathe, briefly.
 Our eyes, briefly,
 see with
 a hurtful clarity.
 Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
 examines,
 gnaws on kind words
 unsaid,
 promised walks
 never taken. Great souls die and
 our reality, bound to
 them, takes leave of us.
 Our souls,
 dependent upon their
 nurture,
 now shrink, wizened.
 Our minds, formed
 and informed by their
 radiance, fall away.
 We are not so much maddened as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of
…

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July 19, 2020