by jakeowensby | Aug 18, 2023 | Following Jesus, Matthew 16:13-20, Proper 16 A
After Sunday worship at one of the congregations in my diocese, I met with the church’s leadership for the standard review of finances, attendance figures, evangelism strategies, and the like. One of the leaders was visibly angry. He said nothing until we came to the...
by jakeowensby | Aug 11, 2023 | Matthew 15:21-28, Proper 15 A
When my daughter was diagnosed with autism, I had a few choice words for God. On a long evening walk under the stars, I railed at the unfairness of it all. At God’s unfairness. “Honestly, the kid’s barely out of preschool and she’s already undergone open heart...
by jakeowensby | Aug 3, 2023 | Matthew 14:22-33
The movers had finished unloading the van after sunset. Joy and I had gotten up early to get a jump on the unpacking. I was desperately searching for the coffee maker when the phone rang. It was our realtor C-. He said, “I need to ask you a question.” Thinking that he...
by jakeowensby | Jun 30, 2023 | Matthew 11:16-30, Proper 9 A
They are community centers. Apartment buildings and restaurants. Abandoned, decaying shells. Former worshippers used to call them church. The authors of Beyond Doubt: The Secularization of Society tell us that up to 10,000 churches close each year in the United...
by jakeowensby | Jun 16, 2023 | Courage, Matthew 10:24-39, Proper 7 A
To speak normally—to make intelligible sounds that other people could understand—I had to undergo two lengthy surgeries. The first happened when I was just a toddler. There’s not much I can tell you about that one. I have no memory of it at all. The second time around...
by jakeowensby | Jun 9, 2023 | Matthew 9:35-10:8, Proper 6 A
At the height of the Second World War, French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil (1909-1943) urged the Allies to provide planes so that squads of white-clad nurses could parachute onto the battlefield. The nurses would give medical aid and emotional comfort to the...
