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Epiphany 7c Sermon

Epiphany 7c St. Alfred's Episcopal Church Palm Harbor, FL Feb. 23, 2025 The Rev. Dale C. Hathaway Attention Having heard the words that we have just read from scripture, I wonder what the right reaction is? We might just reflect that all those passages sure sound familiar. “I’ve heard those before.” It would be entirely appropriate to have some questions. A few years ago, the dean of Harvard graduate school of Education began speaking and writing about questions that really matter. Wait, what? I wonder? What truly matters? How can I help? Over 100 years ago GK Chesterton wrote, the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried. For much of what we read in the Bible, as well as in the later Christian tradition, I think the best response we can make is to ask questions. Some of you have heard me tell the story about a young Jewish student living in a remote village centuries ago, shouting at the top of his lungs as he ran...
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Baptism of the Lord 2025

  Baptism of the Lord St. Alfred's Episcopal Church Fr. Dale Hathaway Baptism of Zack Robetaille January 12, 2025 opening We are gathered here this morning for a variety of reasons. In some places there might be children in church because their parents told them, “You will be in church.” Others are here because it’s what they do every Sunday. Some places I think there’s still a social expectation that a person will be in church. Some people, no doubt, don’t really know why they’re in church. Now some of you may be aware that after the Christmas festivities, there is often a drop off in attendance. So you all are no doubt here because you have chosen to be. For myself, there is the fact that Fr. Peter had sent me a list of who would celebrate and preach through February and March. This was one of my Sundays and I make a concerted effort to do what I said I would do. In the early centuries of the church on the day known as theophany – or more recently epiphany – in the eas...
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Homily Thanksgiving Day, St. Alfred's

Homily Thanksgiving Day 2024 St. Alfred's Dale Hathaway Nov. 28 Introduction: Various approaches to this day Dearly beloved, we have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless ... Oh, that's from a different liturgy. This is Thanksgiving Day. Another occasion. Another festive time. The focus here is Thanksgiving. Gratitude. Thank you. But I must say, there's a mixed up pile of subjects that come to mind, driving this theme of "Thanksgiving". The Collect of the day -- the prayer that opens our liturgy sets a certain theme. It's a "harvest festival". Such as religions have celebrated from time immemorial. It's at least a part of the decor of our Thanksgiving celebrations. But really, the Collect suggests that we should celebrate and lift up the immigrants who harvest our food -- documented and undocumented, I suppose. And in the world we now live that particular theme is fraught with "issues." For many this is th...
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Proper 27b -- Palm Harbor FL

Sermon: Proper 27B St. Alfred's Episcopal church Nov. 9-10, 2024 After 42 years of ministry, this past Sunday's was among the most challenging sermons I ever had to prepare and deliver. It can be viewed at https://boxcast.tv/highlights/st-alfreds-episcopal-church-sunday-holy-eucharist-rite-2-syur7m0hxikht6lj1phm/pggokxirk3vhysidsow7/sp7txlsd8q19tvifjuyv . Opening We had an election this past week. You may have noticed. Wednesday brought a lot of intense emotions across our country – but, of course, the emotions varied a lot because it was win/lose situation. I felt it. But I did anticipate it. I have been thinking about this sermon for weeks now. I thought about previous occasions when I was called upon to preach after the nation had experienced something intense. I thought about the charge I accepted on the occasion of my ordination, that I preach the Gospel to all people, regardless of any distinction other than that they were children of God. The bishop's words to...
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Proper 16b, St. Alfred's

Proper 16b  2024-08-02 St. Alfred's Church Opening One of the most important books of my college years was titled Either / Or: a fragment of life . It was a foundational text for the emergence of what came to be known as existentialism. It was an important tool f or me to finding a path toward spiritual growth and faith. Ultimately it was important in my decision to embrace the Christian path to -- as I put it -- to follow it as far as its mystical riches could be mined . Maybe a decade later, I was challenged by a different sort of phrase. I encountered theologians who wanted to de-emphasize either / or and argued that Jesus proclaimed something more like both / and . I first heard about the phrase in the context of Jesus's proclamation that the Kingdom of God was at hand . Was the coming Kingdom that Jesus preached already accomplished before or with the resurrection? Or was it still in the future? The New Testament seems to argue both positions. So these teachers made t...
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Proper 8b: St. Alfred's

  title: Proper 8b Sermon subtitle: Fr. Dale author: St. Alfred's Church date: June 29, 2024 The collect The collects we pray at the beginning of the liturgy have a particular form. By the way it is not entirely clear how we get the word "collect". It might have to do with a prayer that collects the gathered people. It might be from an old Latin word that means "gather the people." We know that in the word with bad associations in the old socialist term: "Collective". Addressing the prayer to God. Noticing a particular act, normally some aspect of glory, that God has done or is doing. Spelling out a particular request or petition for grace. Usually there is a "colon" at the beginning of this 3rd part of the collect. There is also usually a 4th part which identifies the desired result of the request. Concluding with a signature, the bearer of the prayer, (In the name of Christ ...) (the name of the Trinity ...) and so on Many yea...
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Easter Vigil, St. Alfred's

  Easter Vigil 2024  Dale Hathaway  March 30, 2024 Opening When I was a child I spoke like a child, I thought like a child. When I was a child I experienced Easter pretty much like Fr. Peter shared last Sunday. There was Palm Sunday, with the pomp and procession. Then there was Easter. When I was a child, I knew my name and I knew that my parents were Helen and Dale. I tolerated my siblings for the most part. It was only later that I began to realize that one of the great challenges of life was to figure who I really was and who I was meant to be. And it was later still that I began to grasp that it wasn't even about me. I was a part of a larger story . I was in my 20's when I experienced my first Easter Vigil. We didn't have such a thing when I was a child in the church. I returned to the church, trying to be an adult, and trying to figure out what an adult faith looks like. I'm still working at that. I know of no better expression of what adult Christianit...
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