February 4, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Extend Hope to All People

This is the second clause of our Vision Statement. And while I think it's a good phrase, you might be wondering just how, exactly, do we do that? How do we “extend hope to all people?”

If you think about it, there are multiple ways to do this.

We offer our parish hall for AA meetings on Mondays and Thursdays. AA provides hope and resources for those people suffering from an addiction to alcohol and the chaos that can create in lives. Having a place to go that is consistent and safe provides hope for the people of AA.

The Johnson County Suicide Prevention Coalition provides hope for those struggling with thoughts of suicide. Through resources, advocacy, trainings, and awareness, the SPC works to provide hope for those contemplating suicide as well as their families. When we are sincere in telling people that we are better with them than without them, hope takes root.

At our Annual Meeting this past Sunday, Horizon and Balyn made a presentation to the congregation on behalf of the Confirmation class. As part of the class' “faith in action” segment, the group discussed a variety of needs within the community and settled on a hygiene drive through the season of Lent. Personal hygiene items are the one thing that the Food Pantry is always in need of and are items that go quickly when they do have them in stock.

How does the hygiene drive extend hope? Well . . . it's always easier to be hopeful when you're shaved, showered, and have your teeth brushed.

Supplying hygiene products for the food pantry would be an excellent Lenten discipline for the people of Saint Luke's. I encourage you to support this youth-led project by purchasing additional toothpaste, shampoo, soap, pads, wipes, and/or any other additional items that come to mind.

Through this project we can help provide daily hope for the people who rely on the Food Pantry, and thereby begin to live into our vision to extend hope to all people.

Blessings,

January 28, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Holy Communion Thoughts

Holy Communion is the foretaste of the heavenly banquet.  Holy Communion is the sacred meal of bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus.  As Episcopalians we do not hold that the elements of bread and wine are changed into the substance of body and blood, but we do believe that the bread and wine are substantially changed such that they are infused with the real presence of Christ’s Body and Blood through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

These gifts of Body and Blood are then given to us, the members of Christ’s one holy catholic and apostolic Church, by the appointed ministers. 

With regards to Communion in conversations I’ve had and overheard, the phrase “I am taking Communion,” (or words to that affect where take is the primary verb) often comes up.  And while that is perfectly acceptable to think in those terms, let me give you another option.

“Take” most often refers to an action where we are the primary players.  It implies bringing something into our possession, sometimes by force, sometimes by choice, sometimes through a victory of sorts.

If we remember that Holy Communion is a gift given to us by Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, and if we remember that we partake of this holy Sacrament in remembrance of his great love for us, then it would be proper for us to receive this great gift humbly and with awe and reverence.  I encourage you, therefore, to change your vocabulary around Communion. 

Rather than seeing Communion as an object to be taken, begin to see and talk about Communion as a gift to be received.  You receive this great gift of Christ’s Body and Blood just as you receive the love of God (or other gifts that are freely given). 

And in your receiving Holy Communion, may you be drawn ever deeper into its mystery. 

Blessings,

January 21, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Common Prayer

Joelene and I went away this past weekend for some much needed rest and lazy time.  We made a short trip to Thermopolis where we drove through the park taking pictures of a small bison herd and drove up to Cody to visit the Buffalo Bill museum.  Tickets there are good for two days because the museum is so massive.  Unfortunately that was about all we did because we both suffered from head colds.

Sunday morning we worshiped with the people at Holy Trinity.  As we walked in and grabbed our bulletins, I noticed it was Morning Prayer.  Holy Trinity, we discovered, will be advertising for a new priest shortly, having done the hard work of developing their parish profile.  During this interim time they rotate between supply priests for Eucharist and lay-led Morning Prayer.

I have often said that one of the things I like about the Episcopal church is that you can walk into almost any church and pretty much know what to expect.  There will be some differences (Rite 1 or Rite 2, Prayer A, B, C, or D) in the service, and there will be some local customs (placement of announcements, children’s time, birthday blessings, etc.) that a parish makes, but the same lessons are read and the flow is pretty much the same.  For me, that’s comforting because I can focus on the worship and not wonder what’s going to happen next.

That is our Common Prayer – that we are all bound together by the genius of the Prayer Book.  Not necessarily doing the exact same thing as each other, but praying together in commonality.

And this past Sunday, whether by fate, or luck, or divine scheduling, Joelene and I prayed and worshiped the service of Morning Prayer.  As we went through the service I had to smile knowing that the people of Holy Trinity and Saint Luke’s were praying this same service.

Once again I was reminded that we are all bound together through our Common Prayer, and that is a very good thing.

Blessings,

January 14, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . God’s Creation

Joelene and I are going away this weekend for some much needed rest and lazy time.  We’re making a short trip to Thermopolis, leaving tomorrow and returning sometime Sunday afternoon.

I’ve spent these past few days working on my portion of Annual Meeting stuff (Reminder:  the Annual Meeting is Sunday, February 1, with 9:00 worship followed by breakfast and the meeting) and working with Monica to get the bulletins ready for this coming Sunday service.

As I was proofing the 10:00 bulletin I came to the Prayers of the People.  During the Epiphany season the 10:00 service uses Form IV (found on page 388 of the BCP).  I like to rotate through the various prayers during the Church year, so this certainly isn’t the first time I’ve paid attention to the prayer; but for some reason the third petition caught my attention:

Give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation, that we might use its resources rightly in the service of others and to your honor and glory.

In this short petition we ask for a sense of reverence for the earth.  In this short petition is the recognition that the earth was created by God, therefore the earth belongs to God.  In this short petition is a prayer to use resources rightly – and not for ourselves but in the services of others.

This touches on everything from strip mining and logging to drilling for oil in fragile environments all in the pursuit of the almighty dollar.  It touches on over-fishing and a refusal to look for alternative energy sources.  It touches on the equitable distribution of food items.  It touches on the heresy that my individual rights are more important that the well-being of my neighbors.  And it brings to mind the famous saying, “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”

May we all do our own small part to help bring this petition to fruition.

Blessings,

January 7, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Christmas Season Thoughts

With the Twelfth Night Party on Monday, the Twelve Days of Christmas officially came to a close.  Those who gathered celebrated with good food and a lively gift/theft exchange.

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany, also called The Manifestation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.  This is the day when the Church remembers and celebrates the arrival of magi (of an unknown number) from the east who journeyed to Bethlehem and presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

In short, the Twelve Days of Christmas arose because the Western and Eastern Churches (the two Churches based in Rome and Constantinople) celebrated Christmas on December 25 and January 6 respectively, and those days were twelve days apart.

We generally tend to think of the Christmas season as one of joy, gift giving, frivolity, and carols, among other thoughts along those lines.  But the Christmas season also gives us the days of Saint Stephen, the first deacon and martyr of the Church who was stoned to death (12/26); Saint John, who was exiled on Patmos (12/27); and the Holy Innocents, remembering the children of Bethlehem that Herod had slaughtered because he wanted to eliminate threats to his rule (12/28).  And on Epiphany, when we remember the arrival of the magi and the gifts they brought, we also remember that both the magi and Joseph were warned in a dream to hastily get out of town to escape Herod’s wrath.

Christmas reminds us of the joy of new birth and of God with us.  We are also reminded of the horrors and abuses in the world.  God is with us in both the good times and the bad times.  As we close out the Christmas season, may we have the courage to stand with the innocent, abused, neglected, and downtrodden in the name of the One who came to be with us through all manner of human conditions.

Blessings,

December 31, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Names

Our name is the only thing we have when we come into this world and the only thing we take with us when we leave this world.  In some cultures names are given by others as representative of who we really are or of some significant event that defines us – think Dances With Wolves.  Some names have deep family roots – a former parishioner comes from a family where all male children are named Charles.  And in some cultures a name was a secret to be kept because it was believed that knowing a person’s name gave you power over them.

Names play an important part in Scripture.  It was Adam who named all the animals and Eve.  God changed Abram and Sarai’s names to Abraham and Sarah.  Jacob’s name was changed to Israel.  Moses was so named because it means “to draw out,” as he was drawn out of the water by Pharaoh’s daughter.  Jesus means “Savior” or “Deliverer” in Hebrew.  Saul, the persecutor of the Church, became the evangelist Paul. 

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Holy Name.  Tomorrow is the Eighth Day of Christmas, and it was on the eighth day that Jewish boys were circumcised and named.  And it was on the “eighth day,” the Day of Resurrection, when Jesus’ full divinity shown forth to the disciples.

The Wednesday Night BBQ resumes tonight and we will be talking names.  What is the meaning of your name?  Does a certain name inform your life?  What do you think the importance of names are?  These and other questions will be looked at on this Eve of the Holy Name.  I hope you can join us; and if you can’t, I hope you spend some time pondering names on the Eighth Day of Christmas.

Merry Christmas,

December 24, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Christmas

No matter what the calendar says, it certainly doesn’t feel like Christmas – especially with temperatures running in the mid-50’s.  It may not look like a Currier & Ives postcard out there, but it’s still Christmas.

Members of the Altar Guild came in Monday to clean, polish, and set up for our Christmas services.  It may not look like Christmas outside, but it sure looks like Christmas inside the church.  And on Monday evening before I left the office for the day, I went into the church, turned on one solitary light, stood at the back, and appreciated the quiet beauty of it all.

Today is Christmas Eve.  The reality of the events we will celebrate this evening was far from peaceful.  There was no silent night.  There were no peaceful manger scenes.  There were no people gathered in a respectful awe.  Instead, there was a birth (which is anything but quiet), the scent of animals filling the air, and a bunch of shepherd showing up unexpectedly.

Be that as it may, I kind of prefer what we have turned this coming night into.  Because, while not historically accurate, it does give us a sense of God with us in chaotic times.  So wherever and however you spend tonight, I hope it fills you with the peace of Christ and love of God.

Merry Christmas,