Dear Holy Trinity Family, It has been a long hard year! But spring has come and there is a sense of anticipation in the air as we long for the end of this pandemic. Although the news coming in from around the world is a mix of the tragic and the hopeful, we seem…
It was a bitterly cold January afternoon and rain was pinging sideways off the windows when John Stott emerged from his study. It was teatime and a large pot was brewing on the small counter of the kitchenette of The Hermitage, Uncle John’s cozy living quarters in one of the old farm buildings at the…
This past weekend, April 22-23, 2021, the Diocese of the Carolinas held its annual synod at St. Andrews Church in Mt. Pleasant, SC. If you are not familiar with the term, synod, it is simply the annual gathering of all clergy and lay representatives for prayer, worship and corporate decision-making. We attended as lay delegates…
Tish Harrison Warren offers important insight into what appears to be an inescapable predicament. Here’s the issue: In the throes of real pain and genuine suffering, we struggle to make sense out of the goodness of God (assuming there is some sense to be made under such pressure). This predicament favors no one and applies to everyone,…
In chapter three of his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul offers this prayer for the members of the church: may [you] have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge… (vv.18-19). This is a…
We are living in strange times, indeed. As we continue into 2021 hoping to finally get through all the disruption the pandemic has brought us these past 12 months, I am still pondering this question: What is the Church, and what impact did social distancing restrictions have on our ability to be the Church? I…
Looking for a special way to observe the season of Lent? You are invited to spend Forty Days with the Psalms. We have updated the prayer booklet we introduced last year during Lent and it will be available in the lower lobby this week from noon-3pm or on Sunday, Feb. 14. The booklet features psalms…
So often I encounter people who are not merely assertive but aggressive, predominantly coarse rather than careful; people who are eager to expound their opinions and knowledge rather than reserved and reflective, thoughtful and Socratic in dialog. Consequently, they often lack an understanding about what others are saying because they don’t listen well. Should they…
Fasting is about giving up something of value and it seems like we’ve been in an unending season of “fasting” since March. I’m referring to the coronavirus pandemic and what many of us have had to do without for the past nine months: a sense of normalcy, time with friends and family, and some of…
Every fall I go through a lengthy process of selecting music for the Christmas services. This year I have been very aware of stylistic differences among the various national traditions from which we draw Christmas music each year. (For this post, the phrase “Christmas music” refers to music with lyrics that deal with the Incarnation…