Just some good music for a difficult time ..read more

Listening for the Spirit Reflections for the 2nd Sunday in Lent   RCL Lent 2C [i] 16 March 2025   Church of the Epiphany Surrey BC               When I was in theological college, all students were expected to attend morning and evening prayer as well as the daily celebration of the eucharist.  In addition to the daily worship services, my theological college required all students to take at least one or two courses in the Holy Scriptures every semester.  So, when one considers the numbe ..read more

  RCL Lent 1C 9 March 2025   Church of the Epiphany Surrey BC            In the autumn of 1990, Paula and I were given the gift of new neighbours in the apartment across the hall from ours.  Cyril and Marjorie Powles were retired Anglican missionaries who had spent a considerable time serving in Japan and elsewhere in the world. They were a wise, hospitable and generous presence in our community at Vancouver School of Theology.            Paula and Marjorie occasionally ..read more

  RCL Last Epiphany C 2 May 2025   Church of the Epiphany Surrey BC            More than thirty years ago, Paula and I were invited to a gathering for families who had children attending the same schools and parishes.  What I remember most about that party was a brief moment of revelation.  David, our oldest, was three or four years old and was playing with some older children.  All of a sudden, I saw David as a young man, and I liked what I saw.  Then, just as suddenly as the vision came, it v ..read more

  RCL Epiphany 7C [i] 23 February 2025   Church of the Epiphany Surrey BC            When I was a lot younger, there was a comedy team known as the Smothers Brothers – Dick and Tommy.  One of the recurring themes of their act was the rivalry between brothers and sisters.  At least once in every routine, Tommy, the older brother, would look at Dick, the younger brother, with a face filled with envy and disappointment and say, ‘Mom always liked you best!’            ..read more

  Celebration of a New Ministry BAS Ember Day Propers [1] 18 February 2025   Parish of Saint Thomas Vancouver BC            In the year before I left to begin theological college, I was summoned for jury duty in El Paso County, the jurisdiction where Colorado Springs, the town in which I grew up, is located.  I remember waiting in a large room with at least one hundred other people who had been selected to perform their important but not always welcomed civic duty.  It turned out, however, that twice as many p ..read more

  RCL Epiphany 6C 16 February 2025   Church of the Epiphany Surrey BC            Although I grew up as a city boy, I spent a fair piece of my youth camping, hiking, hunting and fishing in central Colorado where the Great Plains meet the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.  In that environment you learn to pay attention to the trees.              The Front Range of the Rockies is covered with various kinds of fir and pine trees, but, when you reach the tree line ..read more

Here I Am Reflections for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany   RCL Epiphany 5C 9 February 2025   Church of the Epiphany Surrey BC            From the time that I was in Grade 9, I knew what I wanted to be and to do as an adult.  If my mother were here, she would tell you that I knew what I wanted to be and to do from an even younger age.  While most of my peers have explored various careers, I’ve always had my eye and my heart set on what I’m doing today – being a pastor, priest and teacher.      ..read more

 Waiting for God Reflections on the Feast of the Presentation   BAS Presentation of the Lord [1] 2 February 2025   Church of the Epiphany Surrey BC            Several weeks ago I shared with you my love of musicals and, in particular, Fiddler on the Roof, a musical based on stories by the Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem and set in the dying days of tsarist Russia.  At the end of the musical, the Jewish residents of Anatevka, an impoverished village, are forced by Christian nationalists to leave their homes of m ..read more

Political But not Partisan Reflections for the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany   RCL Epiphany 3C 26 January 2026   Church of the Epiphany Surrey BC            On the Feast of Saint Thomas, the 21st of December 1981, a snowy Monday night, Bishop William Frey of Colorado presided at my ordination to the priesthood in the Cathedral of Saint John in the Wilderness in Denver, Colorado.  Before asking me to make certain commitments and promises, Bishop Frey spoke these words to me:   As a priest, it will be your task to ..read more