A Postcard from the 5th Sunday of Easter 05/15/22
Day 29 of Easter.
This weekend The Episcopal Church in Alabama held a revival. There were fancy lights, a LED screen, and lots of music. There were testimonies, prayers, and preaching from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. It was a truly wonderful celebration, and I was glad to see so many familiar faces from across the diocese. I was also grateful to have the 5th Sunday of Easter off to rest and recharge.
The theme of our revival was “Come and see! Go and do!” and our scripture text was Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well from John 4. The testimonies explored Discipleship through Cursillo. Reconciliation through the ministries of Sawyerville. Resurrection through living the Way of Love. Presiding Bishop Curry preached about the necessity of love and reconciliation, and you can find the link to his sermon below.
After our celebration finished, I heard the news about the shooting in Buffalo, NY. That a young, white man—filled with hatred and lies—shot 13 people, killing 10. To make matters worse, this was just one of several mass shootings this weekend. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry wrote this on Monday:
The loss of any human life is tragic, but there was deep racial hatred driving this shooting, and we have got to turn from the deadly path our nation has walked for much too long. Bigotry-based violence—any bigotry at all—against our siblings who are people of color, Jewish, Sikh, Asian, trans, or any other group, is fundamentally wrong. As baptized followers of Jesus of Nazareth, we are called to uphold and protect the dignity of every human child of God, and to actively uproot the white supremacy and racism deep in the heart of our shared life.
After this weekend—after the celebration and the sorrow—I am convinced even more that to defeat the powers of hatred and violence of this world, Christians must be disciples of Jesus, committed to love and reconciliation, living lives marked by Resurrection. The world needs us to believe what we pray, and act like we believe!
A sermon from RevivAL 2022:
The Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church
Coming next
- May 22 – 6th Sunday of Easter – Church of the Messiah, Heflin
- May 29 – 7th Sunday of Easter – Holy Cross, Uniontown
- June 5 – Pentecost Sunday – St. Barnabas, Roanoke
- June 12 – Trinity Sunday – Church of the Messiah, Heflin
- June 19 – 2nd Sunday After Pentecost – St. Paul’s, Greensboro
- June 26 – 3rd Sunday After Pentecost – Church of the Messiah, Heflin
Notoriously Episcopalian 