Yes! Magazine is a wonderful collection of feel-good news. This week, an article from them passed through my feed, We Have to Get Ready for the Good Things to Come. I immediately thought, “Exactly! This is what our Discerning Vision team is helping St. Luke’s to do: to prepare ourselves to be ready for the … Continue reading Getting Ready for the Good Things to Come
The Trinity of Love | May 30, 2021
Rev. Dr. Helen Svoboda-Barber My seminary experience was full of learning and possibilities and tools. I only remember two or three admonitions to avoid some things, and I’m failing at avoiding everything I’ve been told to avoid. Our Pastoral Studies Professor Charlie Cook repeatedly told us, “Don’t poll the congregation. Just don’t poll the congregation.” … Continue reading The Trinity of Love | May 30, 2021
A Poem to Share
Clergy have been talking about how we hold people who are in very different places. Some are ready to get back and frustrated that things are so slow. Others are grieving very real losses that they have had to hold alone for far too long. Enfleshed, a Facebook page I follow, shared that they had … Continue reading A Poem to Share
Get Ready for the Spirit to Show Up | May 23, 2021 – Pentecost
Rev. Dr. Helen Svoboda-Barber Today is Pentecost. It feels odd not to be gathering in person to celebrate Pentecost for a second year in a row. And yet, when we really think about it, this is not a bad way to celebrate Pentecost. For the past 14 months, we’ve been living similar to how the disciples … Continue reading Get Ready for the Spirit to Show Up | May 23, 2021 – Pentecost
Imagine Yourself Here
A new ice cream store had its grand opening downtown last night. My family decided we’d like to try it out so we piled into our car, with a fully vaccinated friend and drove downtown after dinner. We got close and saw a line running out the door and half a block down. People were … Continue reading Imagine Yourself Here
Prayer and New Life for the Church | May 16, 2021
by Rev. Dr. Helen Svoboda-Barber Every year on the Sunday before Pentecost, we read a section of the longest prayer attributed to Jesus. The entire 17th chapter of the gospel of John is the prayer Jesus prayed just before he was arrested. The whole prayer has three fairly distinct sections. In the first section, Jesus … Continue reading Prayer and New Life for the Church | May 16, 2021
Rebuilding from the Ground Up
After twenty-some years, the brick walkway in front of our house had become a danger for visitors. Trees had grown, water channels had eroded, and bricks had heaved and sunk. What was once a beautiful, welcoming path had become a hazard. So this week, Shawn pulled up all the bricks to expose the foundation. And … Continue reading Rebuilding from the Ground Up
New Stories Emerging | May 9, 2021
by Dr. Sam Laurent, Director of the Episcopal Center at Duke All of us have come to church for ressurance. We come needing to reaffirm that we know the order of things. Difficulties and confusion buffet us all the time, and the decisions we’ve made are never truly certain. There’s always the career path we … Continue reading New Stories Emerging | May 9, 2021
The End of the Flood
This phase of the global pandemic reminds me of the end of the flood story in Genesis. The narrative we’re most familiar with is the “Forty days and forty nights.” But, like so many of the stories in our Bible, there is actually more than one version of the story about Noah and the Flood. … Continue reading The End of the Flood
Following Philip in Discipleship and Apostleship | May 2, 2021
by the Rev. Dr. Helen Svoboda-Barber This morning I want to talk about the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8:26-40. The book of the Acts of the Apostles is the story of the very first Christians. What did the followers of Jesus DO after he died? Acts tells the stories of … Continue reading Following Philip in Discipleship and Apostleship | May 2, 2021
