“Hello Father. Will you pray for me?” In Springfield where I used to serve, that was a greeting I received sometimes as a priest. Roman Catholics are taught to ask the priest to pray for them and, although not a Roman Catholic, I was always happy to oblige. I usually responded with a question of my own, which was “What is your name?” That helped me when, later on, I would recall the person and offer a prayer for them. ...  read more

On our way home last week after three days away in Maryland, my wife Ruth and I took a diversion onto route 662 and found ourselves stopping at Old Wye Episcopal Church in the diocese of Easton.

It’s an historic church which began life as a small wooden chapel in 1650 and was  rebuilt in 1721. To pay for the construction, the pews were auctioned off to the highest bidders, for the (then) considerable sum of £100 sterling and sixty thousand pounds of tobacco. The Rector himself contributed four hundred pounds of tobacco. However, not everyone kept to their pledge, according to the records, and the Vestry had to ask the Governor for help in having the outstanding pledges honored.  ...  read more

One of America’s greatest and best loved poets is Walt Whitman; 2019 marks the 200th anniversary of his birth. His first book of poetry, self-published in 1855, was Leaves of Grass. Experimental and experiential, the poems came from Whitman’s own observations of the world and himself. It was a visionary and ambitious work, employing free verse – new for the time – and an unusual combination of language both florid and down to earth. The book made his reputation, and he revised it and reissued it many times before he died.  ...  read more

What is an icon? To owners of computers, it’s that little picture you double-click on to open up a web page or an application or a folder or a file. For others, icons are cultural: Frank Sinatra, Steve Jobs, Frank Lloyd Wright (insert the name of someone successful and famous). Even buildings such as the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building have been described as “iconic”. “Icon” is one of those words whose meaning has expanded fast within the last thirty years. However, its original meaning was rather narrower – it was the name given to religious images seen mostly in ancient and Orthodox Christian churches. ...  read more

When churches, like St Barnabas, enter a period of transition, there is a process of self-evaluation and discernment of future needs. During this process you are likely to be asked questions about yourselves, to determine your strengths and weaknesses, what you do well and what you could do better. I would say that these questions can be boiled down into one single question, which is, “how do you see yourselves as a church?” ...  read more