Reflecting on St. Andrew’s as a “Small” Church Maybe it’s just because this column is being written just before our Annual Meeting in which we naturally survey our past and future, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I have been drawn to think about the many Episcopal churches that are small in number, scattered across … [Read more…]
WILDERNESS TEMPTATIONS The Rev. Brian Backstrand February 22, 2015 Mark does not waste time. In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus is baptized, Jesus is tempted in the wilderness, and Jesus proclaims the Good News, that the Kingdom or reign of God has arrived—come near. All in seven compact verses. The Lenten journey begins this … [Read more…]
WHAT POSSESSES US? The Rev. Brian Backstrand February 8, 2015 And the whole city gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. Mark 1: 33-34 I am going to … [Read more…]
BLACKBERRIES & OTHER DISTRACTIONS The Rev. Brian Backstrand 1-18-15 When it comes to the life of faith, one of the questions that haunts me concerns the holy and the ordinary and our ability to perceive: What do we see? What do we see of the holy? What claims us, arrests us? The other night … [Read more…]