discipleship – The Rev. Beverly Patterson

1 Advent 2022

As we hear the scripture readings for today, the first Sunday of Advent in Year A, the first cycle of the church lectionary, we are reminded that Advent is both a time of joyful anticipation and a time of diligent preparation. The reading from Isaiah is a call to anticipate the glory of the comingContinue reading “1 Advent 2022”

Proper 18 2022

Today’s reading is one where we really have to understand the social structure in which Jesus is speaking. When you hear the word people, what do you think of? Is it a singular or plural noun? Do you visualize a group of random individuals or do you think of a single entity made up of many interconnected,Continue reading “Proper 18 2022”

6 Epiphany 2022

When we think of the Beatitudes, our minds generally go to Matthew’s description of Jesus preaching the Sermon on the Mount not to Luke’s description of the Sermon on the Plain. I have no idea if these were two distinct sermons that Jesus preached and someone took notes or if more likely they are illustrationsContinue reading “6 Epiphany 2022”

2 Epiphany 2022

Just a few weeks ago, Bp Jennifer was at Emmanuel and laid hands on N. and N.. As she laid hands on each of them she said “Strengthen, O Lord, your servant N. with your Holy Spirit; empower her for your service; and sustain her all the days of her life. Amen.” (BCP p.419) LastContinue reading “2 Epiphany 2022”

Baptism of Jesus 2022

Last year several of us read the Gospel of Mark straight through, start to finish, as though it was a piece of literature. I think it was an eye opening experience for those who participated as they watched Mark sandwich particular stories together in a way that brought a deeper meaning to the individual storiesContinue reading “Baptism of Jesus 2022”

4 Easter 2020

What does it mean to be the church in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of the post-Christian era, in a global community, but a highly divided and polarized country? What does it mean to be the Church today? We get three glimpses this morning of what it meant to be the churchContinue reading “4 Easter 2020”