Meet Our Clergy
The Rev. Kelly Kirby,
Rector
The Rev. Doug Adkins,
Dir. of Congregational Life
The Rev. Jan Scholtz,
Deacon
Listen to Sermons
Click on the links for SERMON to listen.
All are videos or mp3 audio files, unless the link says “Text” or “PDF."
Feeding the Five Thousand (c.1580-590), oil painting on canvas by Marten van Valckenborch (1535-1612). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.
Read the Illuminations
Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Pentecost 10B July 28, 2024
First Reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44
The story of the Prophet Elisha in our first reading might make us think of the familiar gospel story about Jesus encountering feeding a hungry crowd of thousands with a few loaves and fishes. As told in the Second Book of Kings, Elisha, faced with a crowd of hungry people, directs that they be fed from a sack of food that a man has brought to sacrifice. There were only 20 loaves and a bit of grain to share among 100 people, which surely didn’t seem like enough. But with God’s help it proved to be more than enough. Just as in the Gospel stories, there were even leftovers after all were fed.
Psalm: Psalm 145:10-19
Like many of the Psalms, this hymn of praise and thanksgiving expresses gratitude to a God who is not only powerful but faithful and merciful too. God is always prepared to gently lift up those who fall and to support those who are oppressed, we hear in this portion of Psalm 145. Echoing the bounty that God provided for the hungry people in the Ezekiel reading and the hungry crowd that Jesus feeds in the gospel stories, the Psalmist, too, celebrates God who gives us food; whose outstretched hands satisfy every living creature.
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21
Sunday’s passage from the letter to the Ephesians takes a break from its pastoral advice to an early Christian community as the author kneels before God to lift up a prayer for the people being addressed. He prays that the people of Ephesus may receive strength through the Holy Spirit, and that Christ may come to live in their hearts through faith. The reading closes with a beautiful blessing that we often hear slightly reworded as a benediction in Morning and Evening Prayer: “Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”
Gospel: John 6:1-21
Beginning Sunday and continuing through the month of August, our gospel readings will turn from Mark’s Gospel to the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, in which we hear Jesus discourse at length about the bread of life. This first portion gives us John’s version of the familiar story of the loaves and fishes, which hints at the Eucharist in its imagery: Jesus first blesses the bread, then shares five barley loaves and two fish among 5,000 people. Somehow this tiny portion feeds everyone so abundantly that there is more left over than they had to start with. The crowds are so amazed that they clamor to make Jesus king, but he slips away, catching up with the startled disciples by walking miles across the choppy water to join them in their boat.
First Reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44
The story of the Prophet Elisha in our first reading might make us think of the familiar gospel story about Jesus encountering feeding a hungry crowd of thousands with a few loaves and fishes. As told in the Second Book of Kings, Elisha, faced with a crowd of hungry people, directs that they be fed from a sack of food that a man has brought to sacrifice. There were only 20 loaves and a bit of grain to share among 100 people, which surely didn’t seem like enough. But with God’s help it proved to be more than enough. Just as in the Gospel stories, there were even leftovers after all were fed.
Psalm: Psalm 145:10-19
Like many of the Psalms, this hymn of praise and thanksgiving expresses gratitude to a God who is not only powerful but faithful and merciful too. God is always prepared to gently lift up those who fall and to support those who are oppressed, we hear in this portion of Psalm 145. Echoing the bounty that God provided for the hungry people in the Ezekiel reading and the hungry crowd that Jesus feeds in the gospel stories, the Psalmist, too, celebrates God who gives us food; whose outstretched hands satisfy every living creature.
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21
Sunday’s passage from the letter to the Ephesians takes a break from its pastoral advice to an early Christian community as the author kneels before God to lift up a prayer for the people being addressed. He prays that the people of Ephesus may receive strength through the Holy Spirit, and that Christ may come to live in their hearts through faith. The reading closes with a beautiful blessing that we often hear slightly reworded as a benediction in Morning and Evening Prayer: “Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”
Gospel: John 6:1-21
Beginning Sunday and continuing through the month of August, our gospel readings will turn from Mark’s Gospel to the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, in which we hear Jesus discourse at length about the bread of life. This first portion gives us John’s version of the familiar story of the loaves and fishes, which hints at the Eucharist in its imagery: Jesus first blesses the bread, then shares five barley loaves and two fish among 5,000 people. Somehow this tiny portion feeds everyone so abundantly that there is more left over than they had to start with. The crowds are so amazed that they clamor to make Jesus king, but he slips away, catching up with the startled disciples by walking miles across the choppy water to join them in their boat.
Dimensions of Faith Lectures
Dimensions of Faith invites thinkers and writers to explore the interface of religion and culture, as we continue as a parish to challenge our minds and renew our spirits.
Upcoming Speaker: Bishop Mariann Budde, March 17, 2024
Previous Speakers Include:
Nadia Bolz-Weber / Dr. Lewis Brogdon / Sarah Bessey / Steve Crump Ruby Sales / Dr. Amy-Jill Levine / Marcus Borg / Sara Miles
Robert Putnam / John Dominic Crossan / Brian McLaren / Scott Gunn
John Philip Newell / Silas House
Upcoming Speaker: Bishop Mariann Budde, March 17, 2024
Previous Speakers Include:
Nadia Bolz-Weber / Dr. Lewis Brogdon / Sarah Bessey / Steve Crump Ruby Sales / Dr. Amy-Jill Levine / Marcus Borg / Sara Miles
Robert Putnam / John Dominic Crossan / Brian McLaren / Scott Gunn
John Philip Newell / Silas House
