The blog of the Rev’d David O. Browder, Rector of St. Thomas’. Law and gospel, grace, pop culture, links to interesting articles and videos.
Our lives are so very busy these days. There is so much going on in them, in fact, that it is a good practice to ask ourselves why we do all that we do. And that will lead us to ask about all the things there are to do at church. What makes church different…
This Sunday, our inaugural Rector’s Forum will tackle the spiritual issues raised by the recent college admissions scandal that has rocked the upper tier of American society. From the Wall Street Journal: Federal prosecutors charged dozens of wealthy parents—including prominent law and business figures and two Hollywood actresses—with using bribes, bogus entrance-exam scores and faked…
When I was little, we sang a song called “This Little Light of Mine”. Maybe you did, too. We loved singing it — and my children love singing it now. As I see where we’ve been and where we are headed, as individuals and as a church, I have a new appreciation for it. It’s…
by David Browder, Rector of Saint Thomas’ This past year had both victories and challenges for our parish. We achieved a surplus at year-end, instead of the deficit we projected. This was wonderful, unexpected news, driven by the success of the preschool, help from our Diocese, and, most importantly to me, pledging and gifts from…
By Bryan Anderson, Director of Music Last Sunday at St. Thomas, we sang and read Psalm 42, “Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks, so longeth my soul after thee, O God.” Such expressions, comparing the need for God’s presence to physical needs, are common throughout Scripture. Another that comes to mind is Psalm 84:…
Of all the churches with which I’ve been associated and in which I’ve served, Saint Thomas’ has the most interesting beginning. Not long after the founders started the church, they created and began sustaining a school. To Saint Thomas’ primary mission — the proclamation of the Gospel together with the administration of the sacraments —…
We have been searching for a well-qualified musician to lead our church and school music programs as Director of Music. I am excited to announce that I have offered the position to Mr. Bryan Anderson and he has accepted. Bryan has served as our Interim Director of Music since September of 2018 and he has…
The Advent and Christmas seasons are “Take a Walk Around the Block” seasons. What do I mean by that? Well, several things. For many of you, either family will descend on you or you will descend on family. In many ways, that is a wonderful thing! But, it also carries with it the tensions and…
As we move into the season of Advent, it might be worthwhile to re-visit the reason we go through this particular season before Christmas. In Latin, adventus means a “coming, approach, or arrival”. In our Christian context, in Advent we wait for the coming, approach, or arrival of Jesus Christ, the second Person of the…
In 587 BC, the nation of Israel suffered a devastating event: the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem and the resulting exile. It was a catastrophe for their society. For fifty years, the people of Israel languished in exile until they were allowed to return by King Cyrus of Persia in 537 (or so) BC. They returned…
