The Adventures of Mo. Lauren and Fr. Kenny

Hello Friends,

I’m back, and ready to preach!  I don’t take on the Trinity on Trinity Sunday, rather I talk about the Great Commissioning and how we are all called to follow Jesus whether we are perfect or not (hint: NO ONE is perfect).

Just a note, at one point I stop mid sentence and say “uh-oh.”  At this point, the alarm system panel started beeping.  We just had it fixed.  For about a week or so it would randomly go off and beep and cause chaos.  So, I just froze for a second when it beeped and I didn’t feel like editing that part out.  HA.  Anyway, here it is:

Trinity Sunday, June 15, 2014, Matthew 28:16-20

More adventures to come!

Mo. Lauren

Hello friends!

I’m back, (Back!) back in the New York mood.

Yes, I took a little vacation and missed tons of stuff at work.  I returned to find my desk covered with purple post it notes with phone messages on them and a big stack of mail, as well as other issues.  Oh, well, totally worth it!

Before I left, we had the Great River Memorial Day Parade, and it was very fun.  We marched a bit, had a memorial service, and then hot dogs back at the fire house!  Here are some pictures:

The original GRFD fire truck from the 1920s!

While I was gone, Fr. Kenny stayed put.  We had our good friend Anjelica come and take over the office, Fr. Kenny thought he could handle it all, but I thought he needed help, but he still is a micro manager!

She knows how to make bulletins Fr. Kenny, she designed them!

Fr. Kenny also helped out at the ladies tea, and helped us to comply with state law, so that’s good for him!

carrot? dip?

Fr. Kenny is a stickler for regulations!

I’ll have a new sermon posted on Monday and maybe some pictures of Belgium and Holland!

Thanks!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends,

This week we hear about the Advocate/the Paraclete/the Holy Spirit, that Jesus will ask God to send us when he is gone.  What is the Holy Spirit?  I don’t know, and I’m not going to try and explain it, but I can talk about how we know the Spirit and how others can see the Spirit in us.  So, check it out if you like!

Sermon, May 15, 2014, Easter 6 – John 14:15-21

I’ll be on vacation for 2 weeks, so no sermons from me until June 15th.  Fr. Kenny will be holding down the fort though, so maybe he’ll post one.

~Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends,

This week’s text was John 14:1-14 which has often been interpreted in many strange ways.  Some people determine that in heaven we all get our own mansions, and that Jesus excludes people from heaven, I think that is missing the point.  To find out how, listen to my sermon:

Sermon, Test John 14:1-14, Easter 5, May 18, 2014

We had 2 baptisms Sunday, that is why the ending is a little bit different that usual.

Thanks for listening!

-Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

We’re back with some fun pictures and a little instruction.  It is Eastertide, so Fr. Kenny is wearing his white chasuble for the occasion.  It is a bit stained and old, but it functions.

So, generally speaking, there are 2 places to put the altar in a church, there is east facing, and west facing.  East facing is when the altar is against the wall and the priest’s back is to the congregation during the Eucharist, as follows:

Now, this is an “older” style of church.  The theology behind this, briefly, is that the priest is part of the congregation, facing God with the congregation.  So the priest is the representative of the whole and they are all praying together.  A lot of people think this is impersonal and secretive, because no one can see what the priest is doing.  When this was in high fashion, the Mass was said in Latin, making it more inaccessible to people.

There is also west facing, which is when the priest is behind the altar, facing the people.  My friend calls this “the cooking show.”

In this model, the people can see what the priest is doing, so it is looked at as a more inviting posture.  Here the priest is the leader, but the Eucharist is in the middle of the priest and the people, so it is like a circle.  The people are surrounding Jesus.  Younger people are more used to this style, and often think that the east facing way is “old fashioned” and impersonal/uninviting.  (I used to feel that way, until it was explained to me.)

Here is the thing.  This wasn’t an issue until Vatican II in 1962.  This was an ecumenical council when we all tried to get along.  It was here that the Roman Catholic church decided to switch the mass to English and we all decided to pull the altars away from the wall, as you are able.

So, you can do either, or both.  Most churches just left their altar against the wall (the High Altar) and added an altar farther out.  Well, here at Emmanuel in Great River, NY, the church is way too small for 2 altars.  So they compromised.  A parishioner who was a woodworker, cut the altar off the wall and added wheels.  So the altar is wheeled in and out for Eucharist.  If you leave the altar out during distribution, you can’t walk back and forth along the rail.

Fr. Kenny shows us how to roll out the Altar.

Push Fr. Kenny! Push!

The last priest here refused to roll that altar.  It is awkward and takes away from the service a bit, it caused some conflict, but that was his decision.  But, I decided to compromise.  For the 8am service, I do not roll it, and do the service east facing.  For the 10am service, when I have copious amounts of altar servers, we roll it out during the peace and I shimmy behind it for the Eucharist (it doesn’t roll that far out).  We have gotten it down to a science with little disruption of the service, (I think).

Anyway, that was your lesson for today!  I hope you feel enlightened!

-Mo. Lauren and Fr. Kenny

Hello Friends,

Below is a link to my sermon from the Fourth Sunday of Easter (John 10:1-10), aka Good Shepherd Sunday, aka Mother’s Day.  Here, Jesus tries to explain the healing of the man born blind with some sheep/shepherd talk.  HE starts out as the shepherd, but the disciples don’t understand (big surprise) and instead starts talking about how he is the gate.  What is that about?  Well, I’ll tell ya!

Sermon, Easter 4, May 11, 2014-John 10:1-10

Thanks for stopping by!

Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends,

This week’s Gospel reading was from Luke, (Luke 24:13-35) and is the story of Cleopas and his friend meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus.  Of course, the two men do not recognize Jesus as Jesus until later in the story.   In this sermon, we explore doubt, lost hope, and found hope.

Sermon, Easter 3, Luke 24:13-35 

More adventures to come this week!  Thanks for stopping by.

~Mo. Lauren

Greetings Friends!

Happy Easter!  We just had the second Sunday of Easter and heard the story of Thomas, who gets an unfortunate nickname.  In my sermon, I explore other names for Thomas and talk about how Jesus cannot be locked out by any door, or fear, or doubt that we put up.

So take a listen if you like:

Sermon, 2nd Sunday of Easter, John 20:19-31

Enjoy!  More adventures with Kenny later in the week!

~Mo. Lauren

Hello Friends!

Happy Easter!  Remember its a season, not just a day.  I know I have been remiss in posting lately, Holy Week is a busy time for clergy, and I was pretty busy myself.  While I was busy, it was so wonderful, fulfilling, rewarding, and just greatly spiritual.  I LOVE Holy Week!

Anyway, the text for Sunday was Matthew 28:1-10, an angel appears to the Marys and tells them that Christ is Risen!  It is a colossal game of telephone that started with an angel, and continues with us!  Check it out, and I promise more Fr. Kenny shortly!

Sermon Easter Sunday April 20, 2014, Matthew 29:1-10

Many blessings during this Easter season!

Hello Friends!

Wow, it is Holy Week, my first ever as a real live priest.  I’m very excited and also kind of nervous about it, but I’m sure everything will be great.  As I always tell nervous God-parents at a Baptism, don’t be afraid of messing up, because you can’t, God will still be praised!

Anyway, a friend sermon today, because on Palm Sunday we read the Passion of Jesus, which is really long.  This years is Matthew 26:14-27:66.  I talk about how the passion is a mirror healed up to us.  It shows us the best and worst of human nature, and how everyone can get swept away in the crowd.

Sermon, Palm Sunday, April 13, 2014

More adventures soon!