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Proper 27-a: St. Alfred's

Proper 27a -- St. Alfred's date: Nov. 8, 2026 author: Dale Hathaway Opening Did anyone notice that we had an election this last week? When I first saw the schedule about who is to preach and celebrate on this day I thought to myself is there some kind of conspiracy? It turns out that I was scheduled to preach on the Sunday after election day two years ago. It’s amazing to think that anyone would remember what I preached that day. But I happen to know that several of you remember my sermon on that day. It included a kind of experiment when I dragged string all up and down the center aisle. I was trying to illustrate the importance of putting things into perspective. Human beings have been a part of God‘s creation, at least in the manifestation on this planet, for only a tiny fraction of the time that God has been about the business of creating the universe. As it turns out, I was also preaching the Sunday after Donald Trump was elected for the first time. It wasn’t around here and I...
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Homily Proper 20a -- St. Alfred's

  Homily for Proper 20 September 20, 2026 Dale Hathaway Opening It’s amazing to me to think that just a month ago I was standing behind a church in Seydisfjordur, Iceland. A tiny village of a little over 600 people on the north-eastern side of the island nation. Until fairly recently it was a major town on the island, being a good distribution point for the fishing which was the main business of the population. I was looking down on an archaeological dig from a few years ago that had uncovered a house built around the time of the earliest Viking settlement ca. 1,000 years ago. I felt a sense of connection to folks long, long ago. I felt somehow related in ways I can’t explain. At that point the Vikings were not yet Christianized, for that would come in a couple of centuries. A few days later we woke up on the ship hoping to be able to see a total eclipse of the sun. For many there was a sense of disappointment as we were mostly covered with clouds during the actual event. But not m...
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Trinity Sunday at St. Alfred's, May 30, 2026

Buyer Beware I don’t know how old I was when I first heard the phrase caveat emptor . I can place it within a couple of years. I took Latin all through junior high and high school. And I can remember when I first heard the phrase and it registered that it was Latin. "Oh, I understand that!," I thought. I was far enough into my 6 years of Latin that I recognized it. So it would’ve been maybe ninth grade. Caveat emptor . Buyer beware. You should beware any time you hear somebody preach on the Trinity. I'm no exception. Many years ago a young woman and mother came to me asking me to explain the Trinity to her. She didn't get it and she didn't believe it. She had been attending our church for a year or so and had integrated well into our ongoing life. She had taken leadership with the young people, including my children who were four and six old or so. She said, "I’m having a real hard time with all of this Trinity stuff, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." I sai...
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Easter Vigil Sermon 2026

  Easter Vigil Sermon Final DCH April 2026 Props Mock Card Candle stick with matches Children’s reading book Pitcher of water with bowl Loaf of bread Introduction When I was in my 20’s one Christmas, I came up with what I imaged to be a creative Christmas card that I was really excited about. My idea was to carve a linoleum block with a design and then print on nice paper, a kind of combination Christmas gift and Christmas card. I spent several weeks carving by design. It had these two elements, the Greek of the opening verse of Johns gospel. And symbols of the ancient Greek understanding of the four basic elements of creation. 1  In the center or the four symbols, and then around the outside of the card, the Greek of the gospel. 2 Prop:  Mock card It didn’t look exactly like this, but you get the idea. Well, I had been working on the fairly intricate carving of the Greek into that linoleum block – with its articulation marks – when with a start I realized that I needed t...
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