Some moments in time are hinge points in history. There’s a before and an after as a door closes in one direction and opens in another. GAFCON IV in Kigali, Rwanda, was this kind of moment. I had the privilege to serve as a delegate representing the Diocese of the Carolinas, joining 1300 clergy and…

Imagine a black suitcase bulging at the sides with a neon green sock hanging out the front, part of a red shirt sticking out one side and another mysterious blue something poking out the other side. That’s what it’s like to try to pack this report into an acceptable word count! Please join me as I…

On several occasions I have read or listened to the classic work by Brother Lawrence (d. 1691) titled The Practice of the Presence of God. I don’t always make it through each subsequent reading or hearing, yet it always stirs me. I never tire of rehearsing the same lesson after each pass through: when living “as if there were…

Motherhood is full of contradictions. Being thrilled to see my children grow while also wishing they’d stay little forever. The more passion I put into getting my toddler to eat green beans, the more beans will end up on the floor. If my children go to bed late, they will not wake up later the…

In Psalm 115, the Psalmist contrasts the idols of the other nations with God. “They have mouths,” he writes, “but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no…

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,   Like many of you, I have been soberly watching the situation unfolding in Afghanistan.  I know it has surfaced many emotions for people across the world, especially those who have personal connections with Afghanistan and the Afghan people.  Whether justified or unjustified, war is always a tragic consequence…

In my previous post, I wrote about the Christian imperative to respond to human need, specifically in relation to the situation on the U.S. southern border. This calling transcends and goes before the political concerns regarding policy and national immigration philosophy. As Christians, our calling to care for the poor and vulnerable cuts through the…

August 13, 2021   Dear Holy Trinity Family,   Over the last few weeks, we have seen a significant spike in COVID cases in Wake County due to the spread of the Delta variant.  In response to this trend, Raleigh’s mayor, Mary Ann Baldwin, has decided to impose a mask mandate on all indoor activities…

In my short time here on the U.S.-Mexico border, I have observed many of the problems which afflict the rest of our country, such as widespread homelessness and poverty, as well as unique problems such as the arrival of refugees and immigrants from all around the world hoping for a better life within our borders.…

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…

I accepted a call to serve Holy Trinity’s children during a global crisis, a pandemic no-less – COVID-19 if we’re going to be technical. Why on earth would I do this? Sometimes I wonder myself. However, if I’m being honest, it’s because I believed the Lord nudged me and called me to this place at…

With Thanksgiving here and the season of Advent approaching to bring 2020 to a close, I am reminded more than ever why the season is so significant. In it we remember the Advent, the coming of God himself incarnate into our broken world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth 2,000 or so years ago.…

Conversations with Jesus seemed to leave people not only awestruck but also exposed. Jesus brilliantly asked questions that pierced through surface matters and probed heart longings, desires and motivations. Jesus cared and still cares about the heart because he knows that good and evil emanate from it (Matt. 15:11). Words and behaviors originate from the…

This summer challenged us in many ways. Aside from the ongoing worry and adjustments due to a global pandemic, every corner of our nation echoed with protests, calls for justice and confused sorrow in response to George Floyd’s murder. The subsequent media coverage of other black and brown Americans like Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery…

It has been several months since I last wrote to you with a few reflections on race and the importance of “double listening.” I have been doing a lot of listening since then: reading, watching, praying and meeting for one-on-one discussion. I have delved into Scripture, history and the personal stories of friends and strangers. It has been…

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” St. John’s Gospel (1:14 NRSV)   A central message of the Christian faith is that God saves what God assumes. Or, rather, God makes holy that which…

The Episcopal Church in the United States was in crisis. Its leadership had strayed from the traditional and historic teachings of the Church, particularly those dealing with the authority of scripture. Simply put, it was a controversy about the Bible. At issue was not just a few individual passages, as is often alleged, but the…

The plan was for Gil and me to travel to Great Britain and spend several weeks of vacation visiting as many museums and used bookstores in London as possible, followed by a tour of the countryside and concluding with a forage into northwest England in search of Greggs family records (as far as we can…

It was nearly six weeks ago that George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer over the course of nearly nine horrifying minutes. The video of Floyd’s death led to weeks of peaceful protest and periodic violent looting that gripped the headlines and tore at our hearts. It also led our nation into a…

Morning is the worst time of day for those in the grip of suffering. The nauseating jolt back into consciousness is accompanied by acute sensation: the foul odor and tinny taste of a too-parched mouth is complemented by the needling pain of dry eyelids on dryer eyes. Your body seems to want to participate in…

In my last post (How We Talk Should Be Different, June 22, 2020), I set out in general terms why it is important for the people of God to be apprenticed to the Word rather than to the world in our speech. With this second post, I get specific with five principles from the Proverbs.…

As the people of God Christ has called us to reflect God’s character in word and deed. The calling to ambassadors for our King is never more important in times of crisis and turmoil. In order to foster this kind of distinctly Christian community and witness, our interaction is to be characterized by biblical wisdom…

Many of us are finding it difficult to disciple our children during this painful time, and rightfully so. Some of us have talked with our children about topics around race their whole lives and others are doing so for the first time. Some have experienced racism firsthand and find it painful to introduce these realities…

For me, this is a fractured time. Plans for exciting international travel are dashed. Visits with family in other cities on hold. The serendipity of seeing friends and meeting new people at church postponed. And now grief over the recent tragedies and current unrest.   Yet, I’m extremely blessed. I thank our Father for a loving…

I so long for normalcy, for life to go back to the way it was. And I’m thinking you do, too. But I’ve had to face the fact that normalcy is not possible right now, and that some aspects of life may not go back to the way things were before the coronavirus. For some…

Yesterday morning we awoke to the sad news of looting and destruction in downtown Raleigh. What began with a peaceful protest on Saturday afternoon turned senselessly violent after dark, and the unrest continues. We are grieved and overwhelmed. Our wounded city needs healing, and we know that as God’s people we must be part of…

During this pandemic, God brought back to my mind something that he used a stranger to teach me years ago. When I was in my forties with a full-time job and two children, my widowed mother was hospitalized with complications from breast cancer. She was scheduled to be released from the hospital to our home.…

A few weeks ago, Dr. Harold Coble, a retired professor at NC State, brought our daughter Sarah Kate about 20 tiny monarch caterpillars. He provided a cage and needed food, the milkweed plant. Monarchs begin as eggs before turning into caterpillars and then butterflies.   In case you don’t know much about monarchs, they must have…

I would like to share a musical work by Handel that is not as well-known as his oratorio, Messiah, but arguably just as powerful and skillfully wrought. I’m referring to his Dettingen Te Deum, a musical setting of an early (3rd-4th c.) hymn of praise, similar to the Gloria text that we sing in church.…

“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” – Zephaniah 3:17   As this pandemic drags on, I’ve found myself drawn to unexpected places in my Bible reading. I’ve long loved…

In our Staying in Touch video this past week, Paige and I shared a little bit about how we are trusting God for his guidance in these new days. I want to share a bit more concretely how I’m personally attempting to do this while also offering some tools that may be helpful to you…

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur in the time of COVID-19?   The question has come to mind lately as the New City Fellows* have been exploring what it means to be an entrepreneur as a follower of Christ. We’ve gotten to hear from Christian entrepreneurs like Holy Trinity’s Jesma and David Reynolds;…

While each day is feeling more and more like a scene out of the movie, Groundhog Day, navigating these days of unanticipated time with my immediate family has been endearing and unforgettable, peppered with some tense moments. Our college-aged girls moved out of their dorms for the semester and have filled their rooms with a lot of…

Community feels like one of those buzzworthy ideas that gets tossed around a lot in advertising, announcements and general conversations. But what is it and what does it really mean day in and day out? How do we experience it? Why is it important and why do we need it? Why is it emphasized at…

At nine o’clock every night, without fail, two men and two women from among the thirty members of a small, informal, Christian community in Huntingdonshire, England, gathered to read aloud antiphonally the entire Psalter, while the others retired for the night. The recitation lasted until about one o’clock in the morning. Every member of their…

A seasoned pastor was once asked this question: “If you were only able to have one book of the Bible, which would you choose?” He responded immediately saying, “That’s easy! The Book of Psalms because they encapsulate every emotion of life.”   It’s easy to understand why the pastor would respond in this way. The…

We live in a day where it seems that every public issue becomes weaponized to score partisan points.  The painful reality is that when these verbal bombs start flying, problems aren’t actually solved, and suffering is not relieved. Wounds are made worse rather than healed. In our cultural movement, the very act of having hard…

For most of my early life as a Christian, I did not really consider thanksgiving to be the stuff of prayer. Thanksgiving was more of a prelude to petition, which was where I thought the real action lay. When I prayed, I would quickly thank God for the day or for my food—good things to…

Looking for a special way to observe the season of Lent? You are invited to spend 40 Days with the Psalms. This is the title of our Holy Trinity Lenten prayer booklet and it will be available behind each seat in the church and on tables in the lower lobby and narthex on Sunday, Feb.…

Prayer is a central bedrock of our dynamic relationship with God. Yet all too often, prayer falls to the wayside amidst the busyness of life – often an afterthought or a last-ditch effort during rock bottom times rather than a daily, front-line initiative.   This is unfortunate because prayer offers us the exact thing we…

Recently while I was watching our baby Samuel, I found myself dancing with him around our kitchen to hymns and songs of praise coming from our Apple HomePod. When we’re not dancing together, Samuel has begun to bounce along to the music in his bouncer suspended from the doorframe. The songs we listen to lately…

When I was younger, my liturgical attention span was mostly limited to Christmas Day and for all the wrong reasons. “Sure, we’re celebrating the birth of Jesus, but let’s get on with opening my presents already!” As a preacher kid, my patience was further tested each year by all of the services that stood between…

The word advent is adopted from the Latin word adventus which can be translated “coming and/or arrival.” As Rev. Joe Carnes Ananias laid out more robustly in the Trinity News a few weeks ago, Advent is a set apart season of the church where the community both celebrates that Christ has come once, in the form of…

Today we enter the season of Advent. We rightly think of this season in the life of the church as a preparation to celebrate Christ’s birth at Christmas, but it is more. Advent is a time of preparation—for Christmas, yes—but ultimately for the last day (Jn. 6:40), when Christ will “descend from heaven with a…

News broke this week that a secret startup led by Bill Gates achieved an incredible breakthrough in solar energy that may enable our most energy-intensive industries to drastically reduce their carbon footprint. It seems every day we find the marker for human achievement advanced further than imaginable. Which raises the question, what are the limits…

I have the privilege of serving as our church’s finance manager for the past 14 years. It has been exciting to be on the front lines observing and accounting for Holy Trinity Anglican’s growth and kingdom impact – the construction of a new church, years of revenue growth, new ministries, more outreach and more staff…

Our opening few weeks of the New City Fellows program focuses on the biblical storyline. One of the reasons we do this is because of how pervasive stories are for humans. As the NYU social scientist Jonathan Haidt points out, “The human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor.”[1]   As we invent…

Serving one another is closely related to our identity as Christians. The apostle Paul explains why this is so in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter twelve. He uses the human body as a metaphor for how the church should function, likening the various parts of a body – hand and foot, eye and…

If you add up our work time—hours at work, time tidying up the house, the seemingly endless lawn work, the extended homework sessions, the evenings spent answering work emails—the result for many of us is that the majority of life is spent working. And in work, we often sense that there has to be meaning…

Throughout Scripture, God is described using many different names: God as king (Psalm 95), shepherd (Psalm 23) and warrior (Exodus 15) to name a few. In Psalm 78, we are presented with God as teacher. In the first four verses of this psalm, the psalmist conveys a message of instruction from God to his people,…

It’s a challenge to live as faithful witnesses of Christ. So I was pleased to recently discover help in a surprising place: the story of Abraham.   Abraham’s world was not so different from ours. He was called by God to sojourn in a place that was not his home, among people who believed differently,…

Those of us who have been Christians for a while sometimes forget that much of what we do might seem strange to the world around us. I was reminded of this as I read an article which observed that the church is one of the only places we continue to encounter corporate singing. It’s true—when…

In our career-driven society, we often think about a child’s hobbies and activities in terms of future goals: the scholarship, the career path, the networking. Of course, you want to best for your child, grandchild, nephew or niece, as well as the children in your community who are near and dear to your heart. But…

In 1902, columnist Finley Dunne was credited with saying that the job of the newspaper was to “comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.” Years later, theologian Reinhold Niebuhr would borrow that phrase to describe the role of the preacher. The more I think about it, the more that description resonates with me.   Certainly,…