Sermons

Honoring the Graduates of St. Margaret’s School

Rev. Amy Welin (17 Pentecost/Proper 20): Who is wise and understanding? This morning we celebrate the legacy of St Margaret’s School of Waterbury, honoring its heritage and its graduates! For nearly a century, St Margaret’s was supported by St John’s and some of our members of longer tenure may remember that the students participated in worship on Sunday mornings, sitting up in the loft with the girls from Westover School (founded by former leaders of St Margaret’s). It is difficult for us to think about the education of young women as revolutionary. It was. It is. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Honoring the Graduates of St. Margaret’s School”
Sermons

You are part of the change we need at St John’s. You are part of God’s mission in Waterbury.

Rev. Amy Welin (9 Pentecost/Proper 12):What do we want and expect from our leaders? We can ask this about our nations, our military, our churches. Do we see the nobility of true leadership when someone talks from a safe and comfortable distance about what they could do? When they flex their lip muscles? Or do we see the nobility of leadership when a person offers their life and their service for the sake of others? The scripture offers some pertinent insight about the nature of leadership today. Read More Read more • Leer más → “You are part of the change we need at St John’s. You are part of God’s mission in Waterbury.”
Sermons

And Jesus said to them “Come away . . . and rest a while.”

Rev. Amy Welin (8 Pentecost/Proper 11): Most weeks, Friday is a special day. That is the day that Greg and I take our Sabbath. We are often very busy the rest of the week, and we choose a different rhythm for Friday. It is not a day to do no work, because we always have some errands and chores. Sometimes we have an appointment. Sometimes we have a family obligation. We always make time to have lunch together. We spend some time in prayer. We choose not to cook and usually order a pizza for dinner. We try to decompress. We need the rest so we can continue our work for God. I suppose that people would expect that a priest would spend some time each week figuring out how to rest, so I am able to do what God wants me to do. I recognize that taking some time for Sabbath - an intentional rest - is counter-cultural. And I think that everyone who wants to know God can benefit from this sort of reflective time. It strikes me that our scripture today invites us to consider how we can live differently as children of God. God needs people who are different. God needs a king who brings peace. David’s son Solomon – a man of peace and wisdom - will build the Temple. The Letter to the Ephesians speaks of the people of God as a peaceful household in which God dwells. Read More Read more • Leer más → “And Jesus said to them “Come away . . . and rest a while.””
Sermons

Grant that we may know and understand what things we ought to do

Rev. Amy Welin (7 Pentecost/Proper 10): I have just returned from three weeks of intense study in the doctoral program at Virginia Theological Seminary. It is a wonderful program. In the middle of the first week, the light bulb in the bath burned out. That should be easy to fix, I thought. Finding another bulb in the utility closet, I spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to take the cover off the fixture! The quick fix became a project, because I had to figure out how to ask the (largely invisible) staff for assistance. Sometimes we do not know what to do, or how to proceed, and it is difficult. Sometimes we think we know what to do, and it is still more difficult than we had anticipated. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Grant that we may know and understand what things we ought to do”
Sermons

He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

Rev. Amy Welin (4 Pentecost/Proper 7):The events in Charleston, South Carolina, this week have forced us to confront the giant evil of racism. Nine church members were murdered during a Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church. Their killer reportedly considered not fulfilling hid mission, because they were so kind to him. But he pulled the trigger, driven by his personal demons. This is the most recent racially-driven tragedy calling Americans to go to a new place. We have failed to find the post-racial society we thought we had found. We have instead come to dwell in a place of barely restrained violence and danger and it is often polarized by racial identity. I must acknowledge that it is difficult for me, as a White woman, to fully comprehend the anxiety of my Black friends. I live in a different experience. Yet I do understand that if one cannot find sanctuary even in church, there is no safe place on earth. Read More Read more • Leer más → “He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?””
Sermons

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it

Rev. Amy Welin (3 Pentecost/Proper 6):Jesus used parables to teach his followers. The parables are more than stories about sheep, birds, farmers and mustard seeds. They are symbolic and authoritative spiritual teachings. His stories use everyday objects and situations in order to illustrate the deep truths of life in relationship with God. Read More Read more • Leer más → “With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it”
Sermons

It is all about relationship

Rev. Amy Welin (Trinity Sunday): Once upon a time, in the olden days, I was in a confirmation class with a bunch of rowdy kids in New Jersey. One of our required topics was the Trinity. We were sixth and seventh graders, prone to giggling and clowning around, especially when we had something serious to discuss. I imagine that our teacher cringed as she anticipated our reaction to Trinitarian theology. Alas, shamrocks were not in season, and with a certain desperation, she used a can of Three in One Oil to explain the Trinity to us. One God, three ways that God operates. Unfortunately, this was a class that the pastor chose to sit in for observation. And then he reprimanded her for teaching heresy to us, because the Triune God is three persons in one substance (instead of one substance with three functions). Who knew? Read More Read more • Leer más → “It is all about relationship”
Sermons

The Kingdom of God has been left in our hands. Jesus has trusted that we would do the right thing.

Rev. Amy Welin (Pentecost Sunday): We baptize on Pentecost because we recognize the power of the Holy Spirit. Imagine a community, moved by that Spirit, in which everyone is safe, and no one is so comfortable that they want to just sit back and admire it. What do you think was on the minds of the disciples who arrived a little later to the gathering at the apostles’ house in Jerusalem on Pentecost? They may have expected a worship service. I wonder if they heard the powerful rush of the wind as they were walking. Can you imagine arriving at church fifteen minutes late, and walking in to see the entire group gathered, everyone talking loudly in different languages, with little flames coming out of their heads? It must have been exciting, and I doubt that anyone was comfortable. Read More Read more • Leer más → “The Kingdom of God has been left in our hands. Jesus has trusted that we would do the right thing.”