Dear Friends in Christ, Here in the week after Christmas, many of us are finally ready to contemplate the prospect of a new year. All of those events that were “after the holidays” are suddenly at hand. As January begins,…
Dear Friends in Christ, We all want to “make haste to Bethlehem,” to hurry to the manger. Hurry, it seems bring the operative word. I see that my schedule for the coming weekend includes three parties in two days, as wel…
Dear Friends in Christ, It is often said that Christmas is a season for children. I believe this statement is true—but not necessarily in the way we think. December is, indeed, a time of great excitement for children. Parents take them…
Dear Friends in Christ— As some of you know, I love birdwatching. I will take myself out to the wetlands or the woods, especially in the springtime, with the express purpose of looking for warblers or ducks or raptors. I…
Dear Friends in Christ— I am here with you. I am an adjunct professor of preaching at Virginia Theological Seminary. At the beginning of our class meetings, my VTS colleague Ruthanna Hooke often leads students in voice w…
Dear Friends in Christ– This Sunday is Christ the King Sunday, which marks the end of the liturgical year. We celebrate it in white and gold and alleluias. Christ the King is a relatively recent addition to the church y…
Dear Friends in Christ— It is often said that we give in response to gratitude. I believe this maxim is true. But I also want to suggest that the reverse is equally true: we become grateful by giving. Generosity do…
Dear Friends in Christ, “But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD.” (Micah 7:7) This week, I am thinking a good deal about how we invest in our future. I am thinking about it in the context of our Diocesan Convention,…
Dear Friends in Christ, Monday night’s service was a great gift to me and a powerful welcome back to this community. I am so grateful to you all. I have been reconnecting with Grace Church this week—unpacking my office,…
This weekend, we’ll celebrate Halloween at Grace with Trunk or Treat on Sunday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, and I’m already in the Halloween spirit. I’ve been thinking about twilight – not the book, but that magical time between sunset and dusk, w…
This coming Sunday we will celebrate the ongoing connection between Grace Church and Grace School through our annual Grace School Sunday! While the two entities function independently in many ways, we also share our Episcopal identity, our…
I have (already) called you friends! It is hard to believe that 8 weeks have passed since I wrote those words to you and nearly 6 weeks since I began at Grace as Bridge Rector. It has been a joy to enter into the continually unfoldin…
In last week’s reflection, I wrote about the gift of our spiritual practices as a means to presence the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. I invited you to consider what spiritual practices are most meaningful to you. What did you notice about your…
Do not be conformed to this world, rather be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may determine what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and mature. (Romans: 12:2) In last week’s reflection, I shared som…
“Where does God reliably show up in the here and now of your congregation?” I love this question posed in the book, Vital Christian Community: Twelve Characteristics of Healthy Congregations. As the reflective prompt,…
Welcome back, my friends! To those who came to Shrine Mont last weekend, welcome back to northern Virginia. To those who haven’t been to church since COVID or are just discovering our livestreams, welcome back. To those who decided to renew…
On Tuesday, I arrived at Grace for my “first day of school.” I’ve been wholeheartedly welcomed by staff and the few parishioners I’ve encountered as I’ve walked the halls, and I’m looking forward to more introductions this weekend at Shrine…
Transitions in life, whether big or small, are a constant in our journey. Whether it’s a major move, starting a new job, welcoming a newborn, or losing a loved one, we all face moments of change that challenge and shape us. Our faith provid…
Saying “thank you” is the easy part. Returning to Grace to serve as your Priest Locum Tenens was an opportunity I had never expected and has been a gift. Re-establishing pastoral relationships with many of you and making new one…
Next week I will thank you for our time together. This week the reality of leaving hangs heavy. Here’s what I will miss: Walks to the river The distant view of the US Capitol Watching airplanes descend toward National Airport Elmo’s,…
This coming Monday evening, August 12, those of us who are able, will gather at 7:00pm in the nave of Grace Church for a Service of Healing. The lights will be dimmed, candles lit, the choir will sing, scripture will be read, a h…
Question: Does anyone know what they are planning to do with the large three-story brick office buildings on North Fairfax and 2nd Street in North Old Town? I’ve been watching the gradual deconstruction of these buildings for months and am…
In 1974 my twenty-year-old self was madly in love, planning her wedding and oblivious to the upheaval happening in the Episcopal Church. The fact that eleven trailblazing women, remembered today as the Philadelphia Eleven, and three retired…
The title of John O’Donohue’s book, To Bless the Space Between Us, has inspired me to design our upcoming Monday evening summer vesper series around two things. The first is to bless. To bless, as I am coming to understand it more fu…
To vacation at Capon Springs in West Virginia is to step back in time where window box fans substitute for air-conditioning; shuffle board, badminton, horse shoes, board games and bingo are pastimes. Hammocks, rocking chairs, a spring fed s…
Dear Friends in Christ, As many of you know, I spent last week on a mission trip with some of our high school youth. I preached about the trip on Sunday (click here to view sermon), but as I’ve caught up on my sleep, my reflections c…
Although I’m grateful to have an apartment near Grace Church, living in two places can be stressful. Doing mental gymnastics every week to make sure I don’t forget anything, this week the inevitable happened. In my haste to get ahead of tra…
The process of discernment is unfolding. We have bared our souls and been vulnerable with one another. We have named the elephants in the room. We are facing our fears. We are imagining a way forward but we still do not—still cannot—know pr…
A Lesson from our Garden As a novice gardener, it has taken me several years to more fully understand how to best care for perennials. Take for example the large Bigleaf hydrangea at the back of our yard. Even though the toughness of…
On my walk by the Potomac River this morning I was accompanied by a gaggle of eight Canadian geese who were floating near the shore. I greeted them as God’s creatures and then picking up my pace, continue on the path. Coming to my fa…
One of the things I enjoy about being home in Richmond for part of each week is lingering over morning coffee with Joe. Outside on our garden patio, we call this our “ritual of connection” and there’s no telling what will come up in our con…
For the past seven months, I have driven the same route every single time I go from my apartment in North Old Town to Grace Church. This route is easy. I don’t have to think about which turns to make. There’s never any traffic. That…
Right now, I am staring out the window onto our backyard wondering what words I could offer that would be spiritually uplifting for you. A week of caregiving for my husband after knee replacement surgery has muddled my thinking. Coordinatin…
In his Reflections on the Unknowable, Thomas Keating says that powerlessness is our greatest treasure. He encourages us not to try to get rid of our feelings of powerlessness or inadequacy even though everything in us desperately tries to d…
Before we bless and send forth our seminarians on Sunday, I want to use this opportunity to thank them, their Supervisors and their Lay Committees for their time, energy and commitment to Grace’s long-standing partnership with Virginia Semi…