The Adventures of Mo. Lauren and Fr. Kenny

Hello Friends,

Today’s sermon kicks off a five week series in the Gospel John all about bread!  Well, not really about bread, but bread is an integral part of explaining who Jesus is, and that is what the narrative is all about.  In today’s lesson, Jesus feeds the 5,000+ people and then they want to grab Him and make Him their king here on earth.  They don’t yet understand what is going on, take a listen to find out:

Sermon, John 6:1-21, Proper 12, Year B, July 26, 2015

Two more Sundays and then I will be on vacation, YAY!  But, we can’t get ahead of ourselves can we?  Thanks for stopping by!

-Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

I hope everyone in NY is keeping cool during this especially hot and humid July.  Phew!  This week’s Gospel reading sees the disciples returning from the mission that Jesus sent them on in the story 2 weeks ago.  They are tired, hungry, and just want some alone time, but the needy people follow them everywhere, for there is no shortage of people in need.  But, they need some rest.  Rest is important, we even have a commandment about rest, and we explore this in today’s sermon, check it out:

Sermon, Mark 6:30-34,53-36, Proper 11, Year B, July 19, 2015

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This week’s story seems a little out of place, it is a flashback to John the Baptist’s gruesome death at the hands of King Herod (we had a baptism too, I bet this story was a bit shocking for the family).  Jesus isn’t even in this story, so what is up with that?  Take a listen (please note that my first sentence is cut off, it should be “Today’s story has it all!”:

Mark 6:14-29-Sermon-Proper 10-Year B-July 12, 2015

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

Happy Independence Day to everyone in the USA.  I hope you all had a safe and fun holiday weekend.  This past Sunday’s text finds Jesus visiting his hometown and not getting the reception he expected.  Why is that?  Well take a listen:

Mark 6:1-13, Proper 9, Year B, July 5, 2015

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This past Sunday we have two healing stories, the woman who has been bleeding for 12 years, and Jairus’ daughter who is brought back to life.  Jesus meets both of these people and restores them to health, but He also brings wellness, which is a different thing altogether, check it out:

Mark 5:21-34, Proper 8, Year B, June 28, 2015

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This week’s story in Mark is one of the nature miracles, Jesus stills the storm.  The disciples are very scared and they accuse Jesus of not caring about them, so he stops the storm, but then their fear does not leave them, rather, it increases.  Why is that?  Well, take a listen:

Sermon, Mark 4:35-41, Proper 7, Year B, June 21, 2015

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends,

Fr. Kenny and I are back from a week long conference/retreat called CREDO.  CREDO began in the mid 1990s as a program for clergy that was to focus on the overall well being of clergy in the Episcopal Church.  The word CREDO is Latin, and can be translated as “I believe,” but more literally means “I give my heart.”  According to the CREDO website:

CREDO encourages participants to rediscover the passionate essence of their life and ministry in the context of their faith, their relationships, and community. Through the strength of a holistic approach to wellness, participants are invited to examine their minds, bodies, spirits, and hearts by examining four significant areas of their lives—spiritual, vocational, health, and financial.

CREDO is…

• An intentional Christ-centered community;
• A work of the heart, mind, body and spirit;
• A living stream with a sustainable spirit;
• A four-step life cycle process of identity, discernment, practice, and transformation.        (credo.org/history)

We had a great time, learned a lot, and had some much needed retreat time.  We will be going back in one year’s time to see how we all have changed and grown over the year and how we have applied all we learned to our ministry.

The conference was at the Roslyn Conference Center near Richmond, VA.  It is a beautiful place:

The dining hall

The Bishop’s Chapel

Ready to learn!

Fr. Kenny confers with some colleagues.

Turn around Dewitt

Hammock Break!

We spent some quality worship time in the Bishop’s Chapel, which is dedicated to Bishop Peter Lee, someone I know from seminary, where he was our interim Dean for a while.  He is a great man!

That’s just a photo Fr. Kenny!

Behind the altar is the beauty of nature.

Getting some holy water……

A lovely altar.

We had a lot of fun and made new friends.  We were broken down into small groups for discussion, and our group was assigned to “The Pit,” a super groovy, 1970s throw back filled with pillows, and centipedes as we discovered later…..

Betsy wanted to pose with FK.

Fr. Kenny practices “active listening.”

Group meeting in “The Pit”

We also had a lot of fun, here are some pictures of Game night!

It’s CREDO! (not that other game)

FK won a kazoo, then we all played “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” (not kidding)

Glow Stick collars!

FK and his stuffed penguin Napoleon enjoyed sleeping in.

I also got some hammock time, never fear!

Reflecting on the beauty of this place.

We had a great time, and are looking forward to next year!  I hope you like our photos, and I’ll be back Monday with a sermon about the stilling of the storm in Mark.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

This week, we jump into Mark, right into the action, into a very dense story.  Jesus is overrun by the crowds and everyone, even His own family, think He is possessed or crazy, because of all the strange things He has done.  What are those things?  Well, healing people, for one.  So, what is going on?  Take a listen:

Mark 3:20-35, Sermon, Proper 5, Year B, June 7, 2015

Fr. Kenny and I are headed to a conference for newly ordained clergy called CREDO, so there won’t be a sermon next week, but I promise pictures of our adventures in Virginia!

Thanks for stopping by,

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends,

I am a week behind, and I apologize for that, a lot of things have been happening.  Not the least of these things is the arrival of Pentecost, when we hear about how the Holy Spirit descended on ALL PEOPLE and how we are supposed work with the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We have domesticated the Spirit, forgetting the fire, the rushing wind, the confusion.  The Spirit is here to push us, stretch us, make us grow….well, take a listen:

Sermon, Acts 2:1-21, John 15:26-27;16:4b-15, Pentecost , Year B, May 24, 2015

Also, I neglected to post the sermon from the week before on Easter 7, so here it is!

Sermon, John 17:6-19, Easter 7, Year B, May 17, 2015 

The Bishop is coming to visit this weekend, so no sermon, but I will try to get some pictures!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

Happy belated Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.  This past Sunday we continued in John picking up directly where we left off on May 3rd.  So we learned last week that we must abide in vine (Jesus) and from the vine we gain strength to bear fruit.  What is that fruit?  Well, we will find out today:

Sermon, John 15:9-17, Easter 6, Year B, May 10, 2015

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren