Luke 13:10 Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had ailed her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said,...... Read More

(This is an attempt to recreate the sermon I preached today, 12 June 2016, commemorating the homophobic terrorist attack that killed 50 and wounded 53 at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando FL.) As we pray for living and the dead let us also offer a word of consolation to God whose heart is broken as...... Read More

Most of the sermon can be viewed here: facebook.com/wil.gafney/posts/10209498062188831 Joshua 2:1 Yehoshua ben Nun, Joshua the son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly saying, “Go, survey the land including Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a woman, a sex-selling woman, a prostitute, a harlot, a whore, a ‘ho –...... Read More

Updated for Trinity Sunday 2016. (These were the lessons in 2012 when I preached the sermon.) Let us pray: Holy One of Old, open our eyes that we may see. Amen. It was a set-up. Yeshayahu, Isaiah was set up. God set Isaiah up. Isaiah was minding his own business. He was asleep and dreaming. Or...... Read More

Let us pray: Holy Spirit, transform us, our hearts and our homes, the Church and the world. Amen. The Church! The Church! The Church is on fire! We don’t need no water let the Holy Spirit burn! Pentecost is dramatic. It’s noisy. And it is Episcopalian. We are a Pentecostal church, but we tend to be...... Read More

In the name of God who loves us, who is Love and bids us love one another. Amen. May I tell you the truth? As a Hebrew Bible scholar I’m always offended that in some parts of Easter and Pentecost the scriptures of Jesus are declared dispensable and replaced with the Acts of the Apostles....... Read More

Holy Wednesday Sermon In the Name of God who hears our cries, bear our tears on her wings and empowers us to dry each other’s tears. Amen. Today is a day for lament, even though we will celebrate the Eucharist. The lessons call for lament. The state of the world calls for lament. The state...... Read More

Image credit:  Christa by Edwina Sandys Let us pray: God of our mothers, Hagar, Sarah and Keturah, fold us under the shelter of your wings with all your children of every race and every faith. Amen. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have...... Read More

Let us pray: God who dreams in flesh and blood, teach us to respond to the cries of your people with justice, compassion and unfailing hope. Amen. God told Moses to say: I have heard the cry of the Israelites and I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them, press them, squeeze them. Exodus 3:9...... Read More

Madonna and Child, Laura James Holy One of Old, open our eyes that we may see. Amen. In the beginning… Those words mark the beginning of the story of our faith. In the beginning God… At the birth of all things when nothing yet was birthed, there was God pregnant with all creation. In the...... Read More