Weekly Message

Dear Friends, I write this on Thanksgiving Eve, a damp dreary day, but one filled with the expectation of tomorrow’s Thanksgiving meal, even one that will look different from the one we might have imagined for ourselves at the start of this year. On Tuesday, I stopped by a colleague’s house to sign checks. We […]Read more “November 29, 2020”

Dear Friends, Tomorrow is the 183rd Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of the Chicago, and for the first time ever, it will be completely digital. This makes me sad because I am a church geek, and I love diocesan conventions!! For many, it is the one time of year people from all over this large […]Read more “November 22, 2020”

Dear Friends, One of the joys of having grandchildren is that stage when they play pretend. The youngest of our grandkids aren’t toddlers any more – both are four and a half – so some aspects of pretending are starting to fade a little. But their imaginations are still active, for which I am grateful. When […]Read more “November 15, 2020”

Dear Friends, “The kingdom of God is justice and peaceAnd joy in the Holy SpiritCome, Lord, and open in us the gates of your kingdom.” This chant has floated into my memory as I have been watching the historical final results of the 2020 presidential election on this Friday morning.  We have sung this Taizé […]Read more “November 8, 2020”

Dear Friends, This morning, I walked into All Saints’ for the first time since the papel picado and the hundreds of prayer flags had been hung in the sanctuary. Unlike other years when people brought theirs to church on the Sundays leading up to All Saints’ Day, flags were dropped off in one of the bins outside […]Read more “November 1, 2020”

Dear Friends, From a young age, my mom taught and showed me the importance of living out my faith through civic engagement. Whether writing letters to elected officials, visiting legislators when they were in session, testifying at committee hearings, or showing up to march in support of a particular issue, she taught me that my […]Read more “October 25, 2020”

Dear Friends, All Saints’ people take actions for social justice and hold dear our long-term commitments to local and international ministries. Our Mexico Outreach supports two parishes in Cuernavaca – San Pablo and Santísma Trinidad – where we have purchased everything from Bibles to a pick-up truck, and have funded classes and other projects.  Their […]Read more “October 18, 2020”

Dear Friends, This week I am reminded of something my Mimi (my Mom’s mom) used to always to say: “The more important something is, the more you need to prepare.” She would say this in reference to many things—a big exam that was coming up, a public speaking engagement, or a major vacation on the […]Read more “October 11, 2020”

Dear Friends, When I told one of my colleagues recently that I was serving my fourth church in the last four years, she quipped, “Can’t hold a job, huh?” With friends like that, who needs . . . But I take her point. We intentional interim clergy don’t stay in one place for very long. […]Read more “October 4, 2020”

Dear Friends, This coming Sunday, and two Sundays after that (October 4), we will be celebrating two of the All Saints’ “high holy days”—the Backpack Blessing and the Pet Blessing. You may be asking, “but how is this possible if we aren’t all together, in person? It won’t be the same without having someone throwing […]Read more “September 27, 2020”