Image courtesy of William Foley, Unsplash Dear friends, On Sunday, I drove my daughter back to college and enjoyed a long car conversation with this wise and thoughtful companion. We talked about public executions and failed lethal injections, wars and rumors of wars, algorithms and artificial intelligence, formative works of art, the meaning of life, and the precarity of the future for a young person on the threshold of adulthood. You know, small talk. :) In response to that

Dear Incarnation, Incarnation will elect its 2027 vestry members at our October Parish Meeting. We have 3 open seats (rather than the usual 2) to replace outgoing vestry members Will Montague, Buz Schultz, and Elena Benning; Elena is stepping down one year early due to her involvement in Holy Comforter. For this reason, one of the elected new members will only serve for one year to complete Elena's term. Because there are 3 candidates for 3 seats, this year's vestry election

Fall retreat camping Dear friends, I loved being on retreat with so many of you, and I missed being with those who couldn’t make it. I hope that wherever you found yourself last weekend, you experienced God’s goodness. At the retreat, we focused on the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 (we’ll also focus on this story in our small groups this week). In that story, Jesus is trying to get away to a quiet place to pray alone and grieve the death of his friend John. But the crowds f

Incarnation's Ukuladies & Friends (feat. Bruce) perform at the talent show Dear friends, Last Saturday was the annual L’Arche talent show, an event that always reminds me of a simple truth of being human: we need each other, and we aren’t made to go it alone. That’s also a truth at the heart of how we view membership at Incarnation. In fact, our membership process and philosophy were amended early in our church’s life when Bruce, a L’Arche core member with intellectual disabi

Saint Paul in Prison, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1627 Dear Incarnation, What a joyful Sunday. I loved starting our series in Philippians and celebrating our 8th birthday! (I also loved discovering after church that in the intro to my sermon I'd confused Mark Hamill, Star Wars guy, with Scott Hamilton, figure skater — neither of whom is Alexander Hamilton, first Treasury Secretary. I laughed about that all day!) And I loved the opportunity to welcome and pray for our September outrea

Incarnation's launch team in 2018! Which faces do you recognize? Dear friends, This week I’ve got a letter full of mostly-unrelated, newsy updates (yay fall!). Thanks for reading and see you Sunday! Happy birthday, Incarnation! Eight years ago today, we launched the public worship of Incarnation Anglican Church. Back then, I never could have imagined that I would be your rector. I never could have imagined we’d plant a church in Maryland. I never could have imagined you, this

Friends, As we establish our Fall rhythms, I want to invite all of us to consider joining a small group this semester. Small groups invite us into a life of prayerful friendship with God and one another. They offer us a weekly scaffolding to orient our lives Godward, no matter what our weeks may bring. So please consider participating in one this fall! Click here to see and sign up for the different small groups. Our friend, Danny Nasry, will be trying a new type of small gro

Dear friends, Two Sundays ago, we gathered in the home of Leigh McAfee to pray through the Incarnation Examen together. I was so grateful for those who showed up to pray, including many who are new(ish) to our church! If you missed it, you can read the responses from our prayer time on the leaf post-its in the church narthex. I encourage you to read these as you consider your own prayers for our church. As I have said many times, this summer discernment was not in response to