City Camp

This Sunday (Jan 23) we will welcome a guest to St. Peter's to talk about a ministry that is as inspiring as it is important.  Meghan Farrar is the director of City Camp, a summer day camp for the children of Olneyville, in western Providence.  City Camp has been in existence for over twenty years, offering kids in a tough part of the state a few welcome days of safe, organized fun.

I had a chance last summer to spend a day with City Camp, and I have to tell you, it was one of the coolest acts of ministry

Going Deeper

One of my favorite writers is Bill Bryson.  Bryson writes books about travel, science, history and contemporary society.  Even when writing about topics that seem enormously boring--the geological history of North America, for example, or the history of the English language--he infuses his writing with a healthy dose of humor and wit, and the whole thing becomes absolutely fascinating. 

Right now I'm reading his newest book called At Home: A Short History of Private Life.  In it he traces the history of

Another Epiphany

Yesterday was the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord, when we remember those strange travelers from the east, who followed a star to meet the new king. In a Facebook status update, a priest friend of mine wrote, "They were magi, not wise men or kings.  What they accomplished was foolish in the extreme and undermined royal authority.  [On Epiphany] we celebrate pagan astrologers who take huge risks with sketchy evidence and find God as a result."

Exactly.

God moved in strange ways when he called

Christmas is Twelve Days

So I'm wondering who out there has seven swans a-swimming in their bathtub?  Maybe you're already tired of cleaning up after the six geese you received yesterday. To keep the house tidy with all this fowl, you'd have to pawn the five golden rings and hire a housekeeper...

Okay, so you probably haven't received gifts according to the classic holiday song "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  And maybe that's a good thing.  The idea of milking maids or leaping lords coming to my house is less humorous than

ABC's Christmas Sermon

'This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet'.

Phrases like this echo like a refrain through the nativity stories in the Gospels – and indeed the stories of Jesus' trial and death as well. The stories of Jesus' birth and death were, from the very first, stories about how God had kept his promise. The earliest Christians looked at the records and memories of what had happened in and around the life of Jesus and felt a sense of déjà vu: doesn't this remind you of...? Surely

Words, Words, Words

Last week I poured over dozens and dozens of options in a catalogue, each one with a different, beautiful image, some visual representation of the birth story, or some dominant theme related to the Incarnation: peace, joy, hope, love.  Inside all these cards were beautiful sentiments, each a little different, each lovely in its own way.  We had the darndest time choosing one card over all the others (spoiler alert: you may be getting a Christmas card from St. Peter's this year!). 

All these words that have

Christmas Services at St. Peter's

This Christmas there are four distinct opportunities to worship the newborn King at St. Peter's:

5:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve: Holy Eucharist with Pageant
Children help heighten the Christmas joy in a delightful retelling of the story of Jesus’ birth.  Families with children are especially encouraged to attend, as children and youth will act, read, and play musical instruments. 

10:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve: Festal Eucharist 
Traditional “Midnight Mass,” including incense and a string

Archbishop of Canterbury's Christmas Message

Dear Friends in Christ

"They were given a warning in a dream not to go back to Herod (Matt 2.12)."

As soon as Our Lord is born, he is caught up in the terror and violence of our world.  The wise men, without meaning to, prompt a tyrant to an act of dreadful barbarity.  The life of the Incarnate Word of God is never to be spared the risk of suffering and death.  Recalling the Massacre of the Innocents (on 28 December in the West) we affirm our faith that God's action and

Presiding Bishop's Christmas Message

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. —Isaiah 9:2

That's how the first lesson of Christmas Eve opens. It's familiar and comforting, as the familiar words go on to say that light has shined on those who live in deep darkness, that God has brought joy to people living under oppression, for a child has been borne to us. The name of that child is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace — and God is bringing an endless peace through an