Sermons

Homily: Nov. 5, 2017 All Saints tr. ⚜ St. Paul’s, Monroe, NC Many years ago my brother sent me an audio tape of a concert / program given at Carnegie Hall in honor of Harry Chapin’s 45th birthday. 12/7/87. He had died, tragically a few years earlier. Harry Belafonte was mc’'íng the program. Somebody said to him that the Smothers Brothers were next on the program. Belafonte feigned surprise. He said. They’re here? My god, I’m glad I came man. Isn’t it great. Harry Chapin was a personal saint of mine. I first encountered him as a gifted folk singer, a singer of tales. Then I learned that he was one of the first – if not the first – artist to bring attention to world hunger. It was reported and commonly known that he would do one concert for himself and then do another concert where the proceeds went toward a charity of some kind. His legacy lives on to this day in the form food banks. Chapin was also a dedicated humanitarian who fought to end world hunger; he was a key particip...

Homily: Oct 29, 2017. St. Peter’s. Anniversaries We have several anniversaries presented to us this morning. They represent the general theme of remembering. Reformation Sunday passing on the “tradition” of Reformation Sunday Grace alone Scripture alone Faith alone These are Reformation truths , dogmas, that been at the core of its teaching down through the centuries. But the truth is, we are not alone. For many who have recently written about this anniversary there is considerable introspection and wondering about which part of the Reformation we ought to celebrate. On the one hand there is the reforming part that sought to rid the church of dysfunction, abuse, corruption, incompetence, etc. On the other hand the Reformation set in motion things like an excessive and exuberant celebration of the individual over the community, the splintering of Christianity that at one time in the 1980’s was creating 3-5 new denominations in the US per week! , a distrust of institutions t...