Reverend Ref +

SERMONS? DID SOMEONE SAY SERMONS?

For the past five weeks I haven't posted a single sermon on this site. If you are a regular reader (riiiiight .... ) you will recall that I was doing an Instructed Eucharist through Lent. You may also recall that I said I would return to sermon posting on Palm Sunday.

If you don't remember that, let me refresh your memory: I have been doing an Instructed Eucharist throughout Lent. We have several new people in the parishes, and not all of them have roots in the Episcopal Church. As fate would have it, parishioners in both churches, at nearly the same time, asked for this. So I have simply been going through the Prayer Book explaining why we do what we do, why I do what I do, and what they may or may not do based on their own personal piety. It's been informative and well received, as well as keeping me from falling into the "Because I've always done it that way" trap.

I also had every intention of returning to regular sermon writing/posting by Palm Sunday; afterall, I preached on it last year. However, I was having a conversation with a friend (who also happens to be the newest priest in the diocese), and she said that they were going to take some time after the reading of the Passion to let people sit with the story. The more I thought about that, the more I liked it.

I will not be preaching Palm Sunday. Instead, I'll take those 10-15 minutes and let people sit with the story in silence. And like every other priest, sermons will kick into high gear with Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Day. So far my sermon-writing sabbatical hasn't hampered my creativity; I just hope it hasn't messed with my delivery.