Pentecost 7 / Afrique fêteJuly 27, 2025Hosea 1:2-10 Colossians 2:6-19 Luke 11:1-13 When or where do you find it easiest to pray? Does it depend on your mood? Do you have to feel relaxed to pray, or do you pray only when you feel a pressing need for God’s help? The answer is different for…
Pentecost IV July 6, 2025 2 Kings 5 :1-14 Galatians 6 :1-16 Luke 10 :1-20 I have to admit that one of my least favorite experiences of my seminary education was the annual mission. Every summer, we were sent out from Oxford in teams of five people to parishes or chaplaincies throughout England: in theory, to bring new…
Pentecost IIIJune 29, 20252 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Luke 9:51-62 We have all experienced pain or shame related to our bodies. Due to the judgments we make about ourselves and the judgments society makes about us, it is often our physical appearance or mannerisms that cause us to feel ashamed. Our weight, height,…
Pentecost IIJune 22, 20251 Kings 19:1-15 Galatians 3:23-39 Luke 8:26-39 There are a few tricky things in the miracle story Joris just read to us from the gospel of Luke. Firstly, it’s topic. It is about demonic possession; something our modern minds find difficult to accept at all. Secondly, there is the problematic means through…
Pentecost June 8, 2025 Romans 8:22-27 Acts 2:1-21 John 14:8-1 After the church service next Sunday, a group of volunteers will come together to begin work on the little garden that we plan to make next door. Tending a garden in a shaded yard in the middle of Manhattan surrounded by skyscrapers is not an…
Easter VI May 25, 2025 Acts 16:9-15 Revelation 21:10-22:5 John 14:23-29 Once every few years, our spring schedule of services means that we celebrate four big Sundays in a row: Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, Huguenot Sunday and the Sunday of the Annual General Meeting. Almost every year, we celebrate those last two occasions during the…
Easter III May 1, 2025 Acts 9:1-6 Revelation 5:11-14 John 21:1-19 The word we use in both French and English to describe someone whose interest in sports, a certain sort of music or a celebrity is a shortened form of the word ‘fanatic’. In its long form it has rathe disparaging connotations. It…
April 20, 202510:34-43 Romans 6:3-11 Luke 24:1-10 In recent months, the row over textbooks and what is taught in universities in the United States has reached a head. When I went to primary school in the sixties and seventies, the answer to the question, “Who discovered America?” was “Christopher Columbus.” The answer to the question,…
Lent VApril 6, 2025Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:4b-14 John 12:1-8 The Marys of the bible are confusing, because there are up to six or seven or them. The New Testament mentions the name over sixty times. It probably derives from the ancient Egyptian verb meri – ‘to love’. The most easily recognized is Mary the…
Lent II March 16, 2025 Genesis 15:1-18 Philippians 3:17 – 4:1 Luke 13:31-35 On this first joyful Sunday celebration of Joris’ ordination as a deacon, I was relieved to see that our reading from Luke’s Gospel puts the religious authorities of Jesus’ day in a good light. Most of the time, Jesus has very few good things to say about the ordained people of his day. Large occasions…