Dear St. John’s, I am delighted to announce to you the upcoming ordination of Todd Thomas to the diaconate on Saturday, June 15, at 10 am at the National Cathedral. This will be the first of two ordination services for Todd, as we look forward to his ordination to the priesthood six months later on […]

I had a part-time job at a music store many years ago during seminary. At the time, it was a great place for me to get to know people outside of my almost exclusively Christian academic circles. I remember one conversation in particular that I had with a co-worker – a gay man, and the […]

This past Sunday, I invited us to reflect together on a question that Bishop Mariann recently posted on her blog: “Why are you a Christian?” I loved hearing many of your responses as I passed the microphone around from person to person at each of the four services. Many of you responded by saying that […]

Dear St. John’s,   Last month, at both the Candidates Forum and the Annual Parish Meeting, we informed you of our continued efforts to identify the next junior warden. To allow additional time for this important search, former Senior Warden Roxy Wolfe, graciously agreed to run for election for this position at the Annual Parish […]

Leaving a Legacy: Planned Giving at St. John’s Have you ever considered what your legacy will be when you’re gone? Do you ever think about how you might make a lasting difference that will extend generations beyond you? For most of us, there is a deep, God-given desire to see those things we value and […]

See from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown? Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. – […]

In this week’s chapter of Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity, Adam Hamilton talks about cultivating contentment. One of the points that Hamilton makes (which I personally find to be both fascinating and deeply convicting) is that we tend to be content with those things we should never be content with, and discontent with […]

Last week, I started a book study on Adam Hamilton’s Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity. In the first chapter of this short book, Hamilton talked about the lie of the American Dream that promises us that it is through materialism and consumerism that we will find our true joy.   I think we […]

Dear St. John’s,   This Lent, I am encouraging our entire congregation to join me in reading a short but profound book called Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity by Adam Hamilton. Hamilton is the Senior Pastor of Church of the Resurrection, the largest United Methodist Church in America. In his book, Hamilton uses […]