I had a wonderful time visiting Christ Church (Episcopal) in Eagle Lake on this past Sunday, January 22. I drove up from Houston for the 10:00 Eucharist. The Rt. Rev’d C. Andrew Doyle, Bishop of Texas, was there for a Confirmation (4! young adults, roughly the same age as I was when I became an Episcopalian), and two Baptisms. Quite a great day for a small church. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Church
Reflections on a visit to Christ Church (Episcopal), Eagle Lake, Texas
Filed under Christianity, Church, Uncategorized
The Wedding in Cana, Water into Wine: The Gospel According to John, Chapter 2
(This is written as an early Lenten exploration, as described in an earlier post – I encourage you to comment!)
The Wedding at Cana
1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Bible, Christianity, Gospel According to John, Marriage, Theology
Singing in Harmony: an objection to Deitrich Bonhoeffer (or what I learned from the music ministry of Church of the Redeemer)
“ ‘Sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord’ (Eph. 5:19). …
‘Because it is bound wholly to the Word, the singing of the congregation, especially of the family congregation, is essentially singing in unison. Here words and music combine in a unique way. The soaring tone of unison singing finds its sole and essential support in the words that are sung and therefore does not need the musical support of other voices. …
‘Unison singing, difficult as it is, is less of a musical than a spiritual matter. Only where everybody in the group is disposed to an attitude of worship and discipleship can unison singing, even though it may lack much musically, give us the joy which is peculiar to it alone.’ ”
from Life Together, The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
It is only with the greatest trepidation that I would dare to dissent from such a saint as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but this section of “Life Together” has bothered me since I first read it over thirty years ago. The ideas have nagged at me as I have seen changes in congregational singing between parishes, and even in the way congregational music is published. My renewed time and extended visitation among the folk of Houston’s Church of the Redeemer (Episcopal) has both confirmed and solidified my objections. It is time I gave them voice. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Christianity, Church, Theology
A Poem of Restoration and Thanksgiving
As I continue to process the story of The Church of the Redeemer, Episcopal (Houston), I remembered a bit of a poem another person with a past at Redeemer had posted. I wish I could remember who, that person has earned my gratitude!
I finally found it. It nearly perfectly captures my emotions, particularly in what I understand as God’s redemption of that period of my life, particularly the final stanza.
I have reposted it here.
Filed under ALL, Christianity, Church
On the closing of The Church of the Redeemer
“My place in Redeemer & vice versa, ”compare and contrast “ with life in general and personal history, with particular emphasis on the themes of plans and expectation (see subtext “Judas”)…”
OK, yesterday eve (well, late afternoon!) when I finally got to bed after staying up like I was half my age, I couldn’t write what I wanted. But I was too full to properly resist, so I at least assigned a theme for myself, noted above. Upon reading my “assignment,” today, I am dismayed, and thankful on behalf of my non-existent class, that I do not teach High School English, nor do I assign term papers.
I have been dodging this topic all morning, and my available time is near an end. Some would say I have been dodging this topic for 20 years, maybe 25. Time to get to it… Continue reading
An introduction to Thoughts of The Church of the Redeemer, Episcopal (Houston)
By way of explanation, I have alluded to my coming to the Anglican Communion in the form of the Episcopal Church. The parish was “Church of the Redeemer, Episcopal”, which has had a widely reported existence over the last 40+ years. It has indeed been remarkable, not easily shoved into one ecclesial pigeon-hole. The physical building has this Sunday (27 February, 2011) been “secularized” meaning it is no longer set apart as a church. The life of that physical plant is at an end, due to an unattainable cost of essential repairs. The life of the parish continues, but it leads into a mist through which none but God can yet see.
Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Christianity, Church, preaching, Uncategorized
Thoughts about the Baptism of Infants
Bill Pratt, at “Tough Questions Answered.org” has an interesting post and poll asking about infant (or paedo) baptism
I encourage you to visit his site for this, and many other excellent discussions. But I wanted to bring at least some of my thoughts over here. In general, I am not fond of getting off into the “family squabbles” inside Christianity. I would rather stay with what sets us apart from those who are not Christian. But these internecine differences can point up more fundamental issues, such as how we read Holy Scripture, that are worth some thought.
Having spent my formative spiritual years as a Baptist, and my parenting (now grandparenting) years as an Anglican, this is an issue that has captured no little attention form me, and I think I have come to some terms with it. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Christianity, Theology, Uncategorized
Seizures versus Demons: a response to “Concerned”
My wife (Stephanie S. Sawyer) has written much about her experiences with epilepsy, including her first of two books, “Facing Me”.She has been a persistant and effective advocate for those afflicted with this disorder, and nationally recognized for “Making a Difference” in this cause.
She recently posted an article about one of her experiences with epilepsy in the church. That article is on SQUIDOO.COM, and is titled “Seizures versus Demon Possession: The Church’s Mistake”
She received this response from “Concerned”
Concerned wrote
if you will not accept or admit that you have a demon (seizure) you will not be delivered from these attacks.
My response was too lengthy for the format there, so I am posting it here, with a link from her site. Continue reading
Filed under ALL, Blogroll, Christianity, Epilepsy, Marriage
Random Musings 