Holy Communion播客

We have a hard time understanding God, especially when we think we are in the right. God is always more merciful, always more welcoming, always more ready to celebrate and embrace than we can comprehend.由Holy Communion

On the third Sunday of Lent, the Rev. Julie Graham opens Jesus' questions about how to interpret tragedy and loss.由Holy Communion

Our rector and our rabbi in residence, Maharat Rori Picker Neiss talk about the anti-Trans legislation proposed in Jefferson City, and how people of faith can stand with Trans kids.由Holy Communion

The ancient rabbis taught that the city of God hovers mere inches above the earthly city. The work of faithful people is to build up the streets where we live, until they touch the holy.由Holy Communion

As Missouri’s state legislature considers several proposals to regulate the lives of Trans people in our state, including a ban on children trans athletes, we offer this week and next week two chances to engage the conversation. This week we are re-posting our “Trans Expansive 101” training from 2020 led by Sayer Johnson, director of the Metro Tran…

The Rev. Luke Jernagan preaches about the importance of wonder, as a spiritual discipline, after two years of Lent.由Holy Communion

The Rev. Mike Angell looks at the theology of sharing the chalice in the Episcopal Church, and asks questions about potential plans for sharing the Eucharist "in both kinds" (bread and wine) at this stage of the pandemic.Click here to download the slides: https://www.holycommunion.net/s/The-Chalice.pdf…

If your discipline allows you to invest attention, time, or treasure in a way that lifts up the poor, if this Lent allows you to develop relationships with those who are persecuted, who are suffering, this Lent for you will become sacred time.由Holy Communion

Deacon Chester Hines preaches on the Transfiguration, and on the last Sunday of Black History month. How can our relationships be transformed?由Holy Communion

Deborah Nelson Linck talks about her new book, "Pauli Murray Shouting for the Rights of All People" and about the role schools, families, and church, can play in expanding the heroes kids learn in questions of Civil Rights.由Holy Communion

There are enough people out there who believe God wants them to hate. Do we have the courage to love, even when it is hard, even when it is complicated? Do we have the courage to try and love, even our enemies?由Holy Communion

We are will be hosting two morning stations in the Loop and in Central Clayton with clergy and lay leaders for "Ashes to Go," offering a chance to pray and receive ashes even in the midst of the morning commute. The Rev. Julie will speak about the opportunity in our forum this week. We'll hold a planning meeting at coffee hour on Feb. 20.If you are…

The Rev. Mike Angell preaches on the beatitudes, and wonders what it would mean if we didn't implicitly add "in spirit" to Jesus' words, "Blessed are the poor?" How can we live our lives in a way that makes those words true, for the people who need it most.由Holy Communion

Is the Bible "inerrant" or "inspired?" What do we mean by "the Word of God?" The Rev. Mike Angell presents the first in our Winter 2022 classes on the basics of Christianity in the Episcopal Church, looking at the historical makeup of the Bible and wondering at how we hold the Bible today.You can find the slides here: https://holycommunion.net/s/Pi…

Our senior warden Rudy Nickens and rector the Rev. Mike Angell talk through the year on vestry, preview our new Stained Glass Windows, and talk about leadership and Church.You can read The Senior Warden's written report here: https://www.holycommunion.net/annual-meetingRegister for the annual meeting here: https://holycommunion.zoom.us/meeting/regi…

The superintendent of University City Schools, who was given the title "disruptor in chief" by the St. Louis American gives us an update on our local schools, and our partnership.由Holy Communion

Our treasurer Brian Barnhart walks us through 2021 and 2022 Finances. You can read more and register for the meeting at www.holycommunion.net/annual-meeting由Holy Communion

In his combined sermon and annual report to the parish, the rector confesses he has been putting too much stock in our growth measured by "Average Sunday Attendance." He asks instead, "what would Jesus measure?" and quotes Jonathan Larson's musical Rent to find an answer.由Holy Communion

The Annual Meeting on February 13 at 9am will elect members of the vestry. The vestry is the legal representative of the parish with regard to all matters pertaining to its corporate property (that is to say, the vestry functions like a non-profit board). Our vestry consists of nine members, elected to staggered three year terms. This year's candid…

Preaching on Jesus' reading of Isaiah in the synagogue, the Rev. Julie Graham asks, "what do you do if you believed the Spirit of God is upon you?"由Holy Communion

As we prepare for Dr. King's holiday, my sermon is about Mountaintops and Mentorship. King knew, for the movement to live on, he had to pass along the faith, he had to pass along the vision. After all,, King knew, he had been handed this faith, this vision, from the generation before him, and especially from his mentor, Dr. Howard Thurman.…

Our rector speaks with Alison Nash MD, the chair of our Pandemic task force for Holy Communion and with Paul Mensah, PhD, Vice President of Biotherapeutics Pharmaceutical Sciences at Pfizer. We talk about omicron, the current precautions at church, and the hope on the horizon with expanded vaccine access and therapeutic treatments.…

The wisest spiritual teachers say control is, almost always, an illusion. With one important exception...由Holy Communion

The Rev. Julie Graham preaches on pre-teen Jesus in the temple: "What if we encountered one another, including our teens, with the same kind of passion Mary and Joseph brought to their search for Jesus? And when we encountered them, we dared to take the time and effort to see the person right in front of us?"…

To be a follower of Jesus, you don't need to be merry and bright all the time. The Son of God could be a bit of a mess, held complex emotions, what makes you think you're going to be any different?由Holy Communion

The Rev. Mike Angell encourages you, to set down the newsfeed for awhile. Pay attention to the deep structure. God has re-made the world for love.由Holy Communion

There's one word we usually associate with John the Baptist: Repent. But what if we interpreted the word differently? What if Advent is a chance to open your heart, to change your life, for the sake of others?由Holy Communion

This week on the Forum our presenters ask, what is it about the music of this season? Join us for an informative and at times hilarious romp through Christmas music past and present: the good, the bad, the sacred and the secular.由Holy Communion

This time of year is chock-full of nostalgia. How many of us measure our Christmas present against some ghost of a Christmas past? Could this Advent be about something else? Could Advent be about God showing up in the unexpected places?由Holy Communion

Our rector explores the ideas of "belonging" and "membership" in the church, in light of trends in our wider culture which have been accelerated by COVID. What does it mean to belong, to be a member of a church today? What will it mean in the years to come?由Holy Communion

The Rev. Hope Jernagan preaches on the first Sunday of Advent.由Holy Communion

: The love we experience -- sometimes it's like we can’t handle the idea that this is the way the cosmos really is. We can’t rest in the truth, that the “real” world is all about this love.由Holy Communion

Christian Art theologian, Lisa Thorpe discusses her work, "Na'amah of the Ark" with the Rev. Julie Graham. The piece will be on loan to Holy Communion through Advent.由Holy Communion

The rector preaches on Jesus' prophesy in the Mark's Gospel and says, "until we decide to stop seeing this moment as the end of history, until we start asking 'what new world would we like to see born?" we are stuck in the apocalypse.由Holy Communion

Dr. Michael Booker, a parishioner at St. Francis Eureka, joins us to discuss the question "Who is my neighbor?" Part of our ongoing series on questions of housing justice. Join us Sunday morning at 9am for Q and A in person (on the front lawn weather permitting, or masked in Mitchell Hall).由Holy Communion

The Rev. Mike Angell preaches on All Saints Day: Your faith isn't just yours. Your faith was passed down to you. Never forget that, and know when you come down the aisle of church, when you sing a song of the saints of God, when you stand around the table, you are not alone. The communion of the saints, all the saints is here to. So take off your g…

Part of why we need to be careful about Halloween is because there are so many stories around us that associate evil with women's bodies, with other cultures, with those who are different. Specific evils: Racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, age-ism, these evils haunt us. Real concrete harm is done when we allow these forces to run amok. Some moder…

The Rector catches up with the Rev. Hopie Jernagen, interim chaplain to our campus ministry for WashU and SLU. You are welcome to join us for a Q and A with Hopie on Sunday October 17 at 9am on our front lawn.由Holy Communion

In his last sermon as Priest Associate, the Rev. Marc Smith asks us to hear in the story of blind Bartimeaus Jesus' way of working for change in our lives and the life our our world.由Holy Communion

A group of HOCO volunteers have been connecting with other St. Louis non-profits, this summer, to understand where the biggest housing needs are, and how a congregation like Holy Communion might help the housing insecure of St. Louis. That team of volunteers now wants to engage the congregation to discuss "the menu" of options that they have collec…

In both today's lessons we encounter men who are taking themselves too seriously. God's response is to take them lightly. There is humor in these texts because God invites us almost always to take ourselves lightly.由Holy Communion

The Rev. Marc Smith came as our priest associate in the Fall of 2016, with special charge of pastoral care and adult formation. Additionally Marc has served as the Bishop's Deputy for Violence Prevention. Marc will conclude his service with us on Sunday October 24, as he prepares to move to Colorado. You are welcome to join us for a Q and A with Ma…

The Rev. Julie Graham preaches on the young man who comes to Jesus to ask, "what more must I do?" Jesus' response, to love, counters our expectations.由Holy Communion

Brought to you by Grace GatheringS. We host Terrie Desloge of Synapsory. Terrie offers personal experience, practical tools and ways for spiritual communities to be in a supportive & mutual relationship with individuals with specific needs, and diverse abilities and their parents and caregivers.由Holy Communion

We don't have to live this life, face this pandemic, wrestle with what to do about climate change or how to live peacefully by ourselves.由Holy Communion

On Sunday we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis, the culmination of a short "Season of Creation" in the church. Today for the Forum, the rector is joined by a University City resident, theologian, and storyteller Belden Lane, who asks us to engage questions of ecology and nature as a spiritual practice of talking with trees.…

It's because of the over-individualization of faith that we struggle with this Gospel about plucking out eyes and severing limbs. Jesus is talking rhetorically, asking people to tend to their relationships. How can we broaden our sense, in the church, of who counts? In order to make the kind of change our world so desperately needs, we're going to …

In the midst of our "Season of Creation" our rector interviews Dr. Rachel Penczykowski, assistant professor of biology at Washington University studying "disease ecology." We talk about climate change, disease/host interactions, and about faith in response to human driven environmental change. Join us Sunday September 26 at 9am on the Front Lawn of…

The wisdom of the cross asks us to see the painful truths, to see the suffering of climate change, not to avert our gaze, and the wisdom of the cross asks us to also see the beauty that can happen even in the ugliest of situations. The wisdom of the cross is that dread does not have the last word. There is always a reason to hope. There is always a…

Tired of the pandemic? Frustrated by vax deniers? Angered by so many preventable deaths? Us, too! Join the Rev. Marc Smith, our priest associate for a discussion of the plagues which descended on Ancient Egypt and eventually forced Pharoah to "let God's people go." God's message to the people of Israel, as well as the Egyptian empire, have much to …