This Week.

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16

We are back to our usual schedule this week, so I hope to see you on campus or at Trinity Commons. This past Sunday we had a wonderful supper after our service thanks to the folks at Black Dog BBQ. So remember, Sunday suppers are back!

For the past couple of weeks, we have been looking at The Sermon on the Mount. We have reflected on the Beatitudes and on Jesus’ call to take the Torah seriously.  In the passage for this week, Jesus declares that his disciples are salt and light.

I have always found this a bit curious. Salt and light are both very useful, but they are not my go-to comparisons to use for encouragement. Salt certainly makes food taste better and can preserve food. Light definitely makes life easier. But salt and light can be too much. If you have ever eaten an over-salted meal or stepped into the bright sunlight from a dark room, you know how too much of either of these can be an unpleasant or painful experience.

What do you think Jesus wants the disciples to learn by being “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world”? What is he encouraging? And what is he warning against? What does it mean to be salt and light in 2020?

-Kelley

SCHEDULE

This Week.

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.” Matthew 5:17-18

Some folks read the Sermon on the Mount as a correction to the Torah. Pointing to Matthew 5:17 through 6:4, they describe Jesus as providing antitheses to the shortcomings of the Jewish law. Scholar Amy-Jill Levine writes that these are not antitheses but extensions of the law. Jesus is not correcting the law, but is instead challenging us to protect the law and take it more seriously. Jesus places a “fence around the Torah,” and by doing so the Torah is protected because is harder to get yourself in a situation where you would break the law.

Putting a fence around something can be an important tool. If we are trying to quit a bad habit, the first thing to do is remove the temptation. If we are trying to develop a healthy discipline, sometimes we have to make space and remove distractions. When we do this, we are showing our commitment and how important the thing is that we are trying to change.

How can you protect what is important when there is so much competition and distraction? In this day of information overload, are there things you need to put a fence around? Do you need to protect a relationship with family or a friend? Time for rest? Time for joy? What are the temptations or distractions that you need to clear out to make room for God?

I hope you join us this week, either at BSC or Trinity Commons. Don’t forget to register for Fall College Retreat at Camp McDowell by October 1.

Also, GOOD NEWS, this Sunday we will offer Sunday Supper to-go following our worship service. So, come and say your prays and share a meal!

-Kelley

SCHEDULE

• 11:45 a.m. Worship at BSC
  Join us in Norton 121 as we begin our look at the Sermon on the Mount during a short service of prayers and scripture.
• 3-6 p.m. Drop-in Hours at Trinity Commons
  Come by for a chat or just to take a break. And if you are interested, you can even grab a popsicle or ice cream cone. You can also drop in on Zoom.

• 6 pm Worship at Trinity Commons & Zoom
  Join us for Church in the chapel. Sunday Supper to-go following the service. Wear a mask and invite a friend. You can also join us via Zoom.

This Week.

“Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly…”

This is the opening line of the collect for this past Sunday, and maybe a prayer we should say weekly. There are lots of earthly things to be anxious about right now. But as the prayer says, we do not have to rely on just us to keep us focused on things heavenly, but by the grace of God granted to us we can to hold fast to the things that shall endure.

Today is the Feast of St. Matthew the Evangelist. In this year’s lectionary cycle we have been reading from Matthew’s gospels most Sundays, and we have recently been challenged by his parables giving us a glimpse of what the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew’s gospel gives us the Sermon on the Mount. This “sermon” is not a sermon at all, but is instead a collection of Jesus’ teachings (or his “greatest hits”). It is the essential teachings for followers of Jesus to take their role in the Kingdom of Heaven with is already breaking into the world. It begins with the familiar Beatitudes. While we may think of these as nine quaint blessings that get cross-stitched on pillows, they are really prophetic declarations of what is and what will be. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry calls these blessings “the precedent for what it means to follow in the way of Jesus in the first century or the 21st century.”

So I invite you during this anxious season, to join me in working to “love things heavenly” by exploring the Sermon on the Mount. Each Tuesday at BSC we will read and reflect on a portion of Matthew 5-7. Then on Tuesday afternoons, I will share reflections and prayers on that week’s reading.

I hope you will join us!

-Kelley

SCHEDULE

• 11:45 a.m. Worship at BSC
  I will be on in front of Norton around 10 a.m., come by and say hello. Then join us in Norton 121 as we begin our look at the Sermon on the Mount during a short service of prayers and scripture.
• 3-6 p.m. Drop-in Hours at Trinity Commons
  Come by for a chat or just to take a break. And if you are interested, you can even grab a popsicle or ice cream cone. You can also drop in on Zoom.

• 6 pm Worship at Trinity Commons & Zoom
  Join us for Church in the chapel. Wear a mask and invite a friend. You can also join us via Zoom.

This Week.

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Today is the Feast of the Holy Cross. Unlike Good Friday which focuses on Christ’s Passion, this feast is a remembrance of the Cross itself. The date is tied to the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher 335. This church was built by Constantine on the believed site of Golgotha and where his mother, Helena, found a relic of the true cross.

I was fortunate to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land a few years ago and to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The steps leading up to where you can touch the stone of Golgotha are worn down by the thousands of pilgrims’ footsteps. The church may not mark the actual Golgotha (there is an alternative site outside the old city), but I found that didn’t really matter. The place was made holy by the faith of the pilgrims that came there seeking the grace to take up their cross and follow Jesus.

Holy Cross Day also marks the beginning of the Ember Days. This is a period that invites special discernment and prayers for Christian ministry. All of us as Christians are invited to take up our cross and follow Jesus.

Where is God calling you?

-Kelley

SCHEDULE

• 11:45 am Worship at BSC
  I will be on in front of Norton around 10 a.m., come by and say hello. Then join us in Norton 121 for a short service of prayers and scripture.

  I won’t be at Trinity Commons this Tuesday afternoon but come by next week.

• 6 pm Worship at Trinity Commons & Zoom
  Join us for Church in the chapel. Wear a mask and invite a friend. You can also join us via Zoom.

This Week.

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  –Romans 13:8

Paul’s simple challenge to owe no one anything except love actually puts us on the hook for a lot. It means that we owe each other a lot. We owe each other care and respect.

These past six months we have really had to practice the love we owe each other. We have all been called upon to change our plans and give things up. We wear our uncomfortable masks and stay six feet apart. We do all this to protect ourselves, but also to protect each other.

We have a ways to go yet with all this. We still have to watch the numbers and be careful. But I am thankful that we are able to carefully gather again.

I hope to see you this week, either on campus at BSC, at Trinity Commons, or on Zoom. We still owe each other love and the care that requires, but I have found that all this is a bit easier when we get to spend time together.

-Kelley

SCHEDULE

• Monday, 6 pm at BSC
  BSC students come out to the Residence Hall Quad for Smooshie Pie and hang out with me and the other campus ministers
• Tuesday, 11:45 am Worship at BSC
  Join us for worship in Yielding Chapel.
• Tuesday, 4-6 pm at Trinity Commons & Zoom
  Take a break and drop by Trinity Commons, and cool off with a popsicle. Kelley will be hanging out from 4-6 pm, and ready to hear about your day. You can also join via Zoom.
• Sunday, 6 pm Worship at Trinity Commons & Zoom
  Join us for Church Outside. Wear a mask and invite a friend. You can also join us via Zoom.

This week.

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  – Mt. 16:24

Pre-COVID-19 I loved going to the movies to watch comic book movies. In 2018 I was really excited to go to the opening weekend release of Black Panther. The audience was diverse in age, race, and experience level with comic book movies. I laughed afterward as I watched a young White comic book kid explaining to an older Black man about how Black Panther fit into the MCU.

I was really ready to send 2020 packing when I heard that Chadwick Boseman, a.k.a. King T’Challa in Black Panther, died. It was made even more heart wrenching when I learned that for much of Boseman’s time in the spotlight he was fighting cancer. In spite of his illness, he continued acting and serving the community.

Representation matters. We need our superheroes to represent the full diversity of our community. We need a world where White kids and Black kids want to be Black Panther on Halloween. In the church, we need saints that represent the full diversity and experience of the people of God.

This week The Episcopal Church celebrates the life and ministry of a Deacon David Pendleton Oakerhater (originally Okuhhatuh), a Cheyenne spiritual leader and warrior who fought against the United States to protect Indigenous peoples’ land rights, for which he was imprisoned. He was ordained a deacon in 1881 and returned to Oklahoma where he was instrumental in founding schools and missions, through great personal sacrifice and often in the face of apathy from the church hierarchy and resistance from the government. He continued his ministry of service, education, and pastoral care among his people until his death on August 31, 1931. He was the first Native American to be added to the calendar of saints in The Episcopal Church.

So this week I am thankful for the example of David Oakerhater, and his commitment in the face of apathy and resistance to serve Christ and his people. I am also thankful for Chadwick Boseman, who invited us to see the world differently.

Do you have a favorite saint? Are you Marvel or DC? Come by Trinity Commons tomorrow from 4-6 pm and tell me about it.

-Kelley

SCHEDULE

• Tuesday, 4-6 pm at Trinity Commons & Zoom
  Take a break and drop by Trinity Commons, and cool off with a popsicle. Kelley will be hanging out from 4-6 pm, and ready to hear about your day. You can also join via Zoom.
• Sunday, 6 pm Worship at Trinity Commons & Zoom
  Join us for Church Outside. Wear a mask and invite a friend. You can also join us via Zoom.

This week.

Hello folks.

Well, the first day of classes of the Fall 2020 semester for UAB, BSC, and Samford is nearly in the books. My guess is that it was not exactly the first day that you had in mind. Between social distancing, masks, and hybrid or online classes, it is all pretty strange. I am hoping that you survived the momentary Zoom outage this morning and that classes went well.

Yesterday we gathered in person for worship for the first time since March 8^th. We were outside, and the temperature wasn’t too bad. We did encounter mosquitos, and next week we will be better prepared to limit their annoying attendance. It was great to be with those of you that attended in person, and also wonderful to have the lively presence of those attending via Zoom. You can watch the sermon here.

Each university has its own return to campus plan and has a slightly different timetable for resuming activities. As we are able to return tp campus, we will let you know through email, our social media, and website.

If you need a break from school or work, starting tomorrow, August 24, I will be hanging out at Trinity Commons from 4-6 pm. The Zoom room will also be open if you want to drop in online. So, take a break, and come hang out a bit. And since it is still so hot outside, we will have an assortment of popsicles to help you cool off while you take a break.

Back in March, as everything closed a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer got passed around. It has been a helpful prayer for me, and I wrote about it here. While we are venturing out more, there is still a lot of uncertainty, and plans change quickly.  So, I offer it to you.

This is another day, O Lord.  I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be.  If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely.  If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly.  If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently.  And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus.  Amen.

-Kelley

SCHEDULE

• Tuesday, 4-6 pm at Trinity Commons & Zoom
  Take a break and drop by Trinity Commons, and cool off with a popsicle. Kelley will be hanging out from 4-6 pm, and ready to hear about your day. You can also join via Zoom.
• Sunday, 6 pm Worship at Trinity Commons & Zoom
  Join us for Church Outside. Wear a mask and invite a friend. You can also join us via Zoom.

This week.

Hello folks.

I am writing this from my home office, which is where I typically am for our Zoom worship and gatherings. Zoom has been a great way for us to stay connected during this time of COVID-19. UAB, Samford, and BSC will all begin their Fall semester on August 24. Given that, and the return of many folks in Birmingham, Trinity Commons is planning to return to in-person worship on Sunday, August 23, at 6 p.m.

We are going to gather for worship outside in front of the student center. Our service time of 6 p.m. means that there will be shade. We have folding chairs available, but you can also bring your own. There is plenty of space for us to physically distance.

We are going to continue using the Liturgy of the Word, which includes prayers, music, scripture, and a sermon, but not Holy Eucharist. Starting off, we won’t offer Sunday supper, but we are working on a plan for Sunday suppers in the near future. I think this is the safer way for us to be together right now.

So, here are the important things to know and remember:

1. Sunday, August 23, at 6 p.m. we will meet outside at Trinity Commons for worship.
2. You need to wear a mask. It can be a cloth mask or a disposable mask, but it needs to cover your nose and mouth. You will need to wear your mask the whole time, especially if you are within 6 feet of someone or inside. We will have the student center open so that folks can use the restrooms if needed.
3. Stay home if you are sick, or if someone in your household is sick. Don’t come if you have been exposed to COVID-19 and are waiting for your test results, or if someone in your household has. We will continue to offer a Zoom option, so if you are not feeling well, please join via Zoom.
4. Use the online bulletin. To limit contact and to not use a lot of paper, we ask that you download the service bulletin to your phone or iPad and use that. We will have a few paper bulletins available, but if at all possible, please use the web version.
5. Dress comfortably. While we will be in the shade, it is still August in Alabama, so it will be hot.

This will all be strange at first. And we are beginning the strangest fall semester ever. But I am looking forward to seeing everyone again. And for folks that need to or prefer to connect online, we will continue Zoom as an option to join us.

Take care of yourselves, and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

–Kelley

Schedule: 

• Tuesday, 6 pm on Zoom
  Drop by to hang out or have a chat on Zoom (http://bit.ly/TCZoom).
• Sunday, 6 pm at Trinity Commons
  Join us for worship on Sunday, August 23, at 6 pm at Trinity Commons. If you need to or prefer to gather online, join by Zoom (http://bit.ly/TCZoom).

This week.

But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? But what does it say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim)… Romans 10:6-8

This summer we have spent our Sundays hearing the stories of Genesis. An ongoing theme is that no matter how unfaithful the people are, no matter how much the people get wrapped up in their own plots and power, God remains faithful. In the reading from Romans yesterday, Paul reminds us that we don’t have to go up to heaven or into the abyss to find God, we just need to realize that God is already near to us.

Five months into a world reordered due to COVID-19 and facing the uncertainty of returning to campus and class, a lot of us feel powerless and isolated. It is good to be reminded that even in our anxiety and isolation, God is with us.

• In this uncertain time, have there been times when you found the word you needed nearby?
• What word is on your lips and in your heart now?

I hope you take some time this week to feel the nearness of God. If you want some ways to connect, check out the schedule below for the Zoom gatherings and online offerings.

–Kelley

Gathering Online: https://bit.ly/TCZoom

• Tuesday, 6 pm on Zoom
  Drop by to hang out or have a chat on Zoom.
• Saturday, 11 am Jonathan Daniels Pilgrimage Online
  You can watch the virtual pilgrimage at www.dioala.org/jonathandaniels or on Facebook.
• Sunday, 6 pm on Zoom
  Join us for worship on Sunday, August 16, at 6 pm on Zoom

This week.

I spent part of this evening watching a pair of hummingbirds zoom around a feeder on my front porch. I always think of hummingbirds as being in constant motion. But tonight I got to watch them at rest. They would each take a turn drinking from the feeder, but then retire to a tree branch nearby.

Since early March, I have worked primarily at home. I have only been present for a handful or worship services, and I have not received Holy Eucharist. While I am tired of working from home, am sick endless Zoom meetings, and miss gathering in person for worship, I have grown thankful for the time that I have been given to simply sit and watch the world around me–especially the hummingbirds.

This Thursday is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus. This curious scene is found in all three synoptic Gospels. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to a mountain to pray. There they witness Jesus transfigured and see Moses and Elijah with him. As part of the prayer for the day, we ask that “being delivered from the disquietude of this world, [we[ may by faith behold the King in his beauty.”

I Googled the definition of “disquietude” and found that its dictionary definition is “a state of uneasiness or anxiety.” I have certainly been living in disquietude these past few months. I am thankful for the moments like this evening, where I could leave the disquietude of the world behind and see the beauty and glory of God’s creation, and be reminded that evening hummingbirds need a place to rest.

We are back to our usual schedule this week: Zoom hangout on Tuesday at 6 pm and worship on Sunday at 6 pm. I hope you join us.

–Kelley

Gathering Online: https://bit.ly/TCZoom

Tuesday, 6 pm on Zoom
Drop by to hang out or have a chat on Zoom.

Sunday, 6 pm on Zoom
Join us for worship on Sunday, August 9, at 6 pm on Zoom.