On Sunday I was surprised that several dedicated St. Lukers did not know I always try to keep a jar of pickles from the farmers market in the pockets hidden in my vestments. This has been a thing for a while, so I thought I’d get us on the same page.

Whenever I greet a newcomer, I pull out the jar of pickles, give it to them and thank them for joining us. They almost always say something like, “What’s this?” I always respond sincerely with, “your welcome pickles, of course. We are glad you are here!” After a moment of silence and uncomfortable eye contact I add, “The pickles are homemade and the best I’ve had. Come back next week and let me know what you think!” You’d be surprised how effective this strategy is. Over the summer when a family returned to church after checking us out the previous week the father told me it was because the pickles were that good. He was deadpan and his delivery was perfect.

Friends,

Right now we are a dog family. I would like to get a cat in a year or so, but even if I will that negotiation, we must always have a dog. One day we may be a dog and cat family, but we must remain a dog family.

After Leandra and I were married on October 11, 2014, I was determined to get a dog as quickly as possible. My family had dogs growing up, but I craved to have my dog. The following May Leandra and I found a dog on the local shelter’s website that we fell in love with. Her name was given as “Danny” and she was a shepherd/husky mix and had beautiful heteroochromia (two different colored eyes) and one ear that went up and the other down. We were smitten.

Over the summer, I championed a new nursery space. My desire was to have the nursery incredibly close to the sanctuary and for it to be as transparent as possible. Knowing that I could have easy access to my baby and for the space to be incredibly transparent to all would have made me more comfortable as a new parent. The space was beautiful, and I believe that everything was very well thought out. We have had record attendance the past two Sunday, the nursery got a ton of use, aaaaaaand it didn’t work out the way I had planned.

Friends,

This coming Sunday is big in the life of the Church! Pentecost is when we remember the disciples receiving the gifts of the spirit. The passage from Acts describing the day of Pentecost is one of my favorites. Not only is it great story telling and profound, it also is a bit silly with Peter proclaiming to the bewildered crowd witnessing these followers of Christ speaking to them in their native language, “Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:..” When seeing the birth of the Church everyone assumed they were witnessing a group of drunks. We come from a religious tradition that loves order, intention and decorum. I bet most Episcopalians would have been rubbed the wrong way seeing this miraculous event as the disciples poured into the street filled with the power of the spirit.

  This coming Sunday has some of my favorite and least favorite passages from scripture.

  I almost always just use the Gospel lesson as my source scripture when I preach. The reason I give most people is that the Gospels are specifically about Jesus, so it makes sense to start there. Probably a more honest reason is that I preach right after I get done reading the Gospel in front of Church, so it’s what I have on my mind when I start talking. Don’t get me wrong, I think about my sermon way before I preach, but it feels weird to read the Gospel like I mean it and then go preach about the psalm or whatever. All of this is to say, I am getting nothing about this week’s Gospel.

  This has been a very special year for me. This was the only year in my life where both of my sons are in St Luke’s Day School. Theo is in the two-year-old “Kangaroo” classroom, and Andrew is in the oldest class we offer which is the “Elephant” kindergarten room. Mondays are extra special as we begin the week with chapel, and you can’t have chapel without Rev. Vanilla Bean. Considering Vanilla Bean lives with us, she gets to ride to Church with us on Monday mornings. 

One of my best friends from Seminary was the last of our rag tagged group to get ordained. Not due to a lack of sanctity (he probably had the most of our lot), but just because that is how his Diocese’s bureaucracy worked. When he did finally get his date for his ordination, he did something remarkable. He made fancy invitations and just didn’t send them to his family friends, but he also included the Pope, the Queen of England and the President of the United States. He immediately got a legit nicely hand-written note from the Pope’s office giving the pontiff’s regrets but still offered a genuinely encouraging message. He heard from the Queen’s office a month later. Less personal than the response from the Pope, but regardless, it was nice. Then from the President, a standard letter well after his ordination giving the president’s regrets.