Liturgical Resources for Advent: A compilation and review

I’m Episcopalian so I rely heavily on pre-written and prescribed prayers, pre-chosen texts, and liturgies from the Book of Common Prayer and other resources approved by The Episcopal Church. However, as a psychiatric hospital chaplain I draw more widely on outside resources for liturgical planning. Last year my department decided to purchase electronic liturgical resources […]

Prayer for Historic Pregnancy Loss

Sadly, miscarriage and pregnancy loss are an all-too-common reality all around the world, and I can count myself among that number. In hospital chaplaincy I have found people like me who have felt that pain and emptiness – some who have been able to nurture a living child, and some who have not. Regardless of […]

A Liturgy for Moving Out

When it was time to move out of the first home that I could truly call “mine,” it was with a complicated mixture of emotions. My most striking moments of joy and my deepest moments of pain were stacked side by side in cardboard boxes. The baggage involved in this move was not insignificant–pun intended. 

Fig Trees, Pleasure, and Canon

Greetings to you and peace from God our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Abiding Holy Spirit. The Song of Solomon is right in the middle of our scriptures, amidst the wisdom books of Proverbs (a book of pithy sayings), Psalms (a book of worship songs), Job (an exploration of suffering), and Ecclesiastes (an […]

A Blessing for Moving In

The season called Ordinary Time in the church calendar often allows a brief reprieve for ministers and families of ministers. Often this time where school is out for the summer and regular programming shifts to summer programming invites change. Whether you are experiencing a change in moving houses or calls or bearing witness as someone […]

Holy Humor Communion Liturgy

Holy Humor is a tradition that dates back to the fifteenth century.  Typically celebrated the Sunday after Easter, the mass provided some levity after the heavy season of Lent.  Its underlying theological premise is that Easter is God’s joke on the devil.  The resurrection is God’s ultimate prank on the forces of evil! In those […]

Make Room

“No room,” they say. “All full,” we’re told. “You’ll have to go somewhere else.” What I’ve come to learn that they’re really saying is that they are full. That their capacity for love is limited– their imagination inaccessible. Closed off. Gone.

A Litany for Waiting

Here we are again: a season of waiting, a season of watching.  Here we are again: a season of wondering a season of hoping. 

Cultivating Light (Cultivating Hope in the Climate Crisis- Christmas Eve)

Prayer of the Day God, you cultivated a world that is full of your glory. When we are struggling with dark thoughts and heavy burdens, when we are tired and weary, when we are longing to see you, open our eyes to see your light shining in and through our lives. Guide us to be […]

A Prayer for the Doubting

God of the Shadows, of the Hidden Places, of the Bellies of Whales, and the Recesses of Tombs,