4th Sunday in Lent - 03/19/2023

 Readings for today.

Who sinned this man or his parents?

Do they think I can’t hear them?

I’m blind, not deaf.  With all their laughing and talking and commenting on every last tree and stone and person, I heard them coming for the last 15 minutes.  There must be at least a dozen people, men and women, in this group.  I wonder where they are going.

I hope they toss a few coins my way so I can buy some bread today.

If they bothered to ask, to speak to me like a human being, I would have told them that I was born this way.

But no, they just assume that there’s something deeply wrong with me because I’m blind.  Because the only way I can support myself is to sit here at the side of the road, all day, every day, in the sun, begging for kindness of people who would rather I disappear.

Third Sunday in Lent - 03/12/2023

 Readings for Today

Here it is the third and middle Sunday in Lent.  Two more Sundays, then Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday.  Before we get all excited for the palm procession and the Passion, it’s still Lent.  Our Lenten commitments to do, or not do, something different for 40 days are beginning to feel more like habits.

A key component of our Lenten commitment is self-reflection.  What are we hoping will happen in Lent?  What is the point of making time and spiritual space for prayer?  Or changing our habits, fasting, or taking on a discipline?

Second Sunday in Lent - 03/05/2023

Readings for the Day



What do you love about Lent?

Many of us would say, “Nothing!” Who needs an entire seven weeks of being reminded how we don’t measure up? I can work up plenty of guilt and shame all on my own, thank you very much.

Most of us lump guilt and shame into one basket of unworthiness and emotional yuck. But did you know that they are distinctly different? Guilt is about something we did or didn’t do, breaking some social norm or rule. Shame is about judging our own self-worth based on unmet expectations.

Celebration of New & Mutual Ministry - 02/28/2023

A Celebration of New & Mutual Ministry is the service where the bishop officially installs a new rector in a congregation, blessing the relationship and shared ministry of the priest and congregation.

Readings:

Isaiah 2:2-4

Psalm 96

Ephesians 2:13-22

Luke 10:1-9

The Rev. Eric Stelle, preacher

You’ve got a lot to envy, here at Trinity.

You’ve got a long heritage of faith to be rooted in and to draw from. You’ve got a fabulous building that immediately feels like church as soon as you step inside. You’ve got an actual neighborhood! (My church is just kind of stuck on the side of the road.) You’ve got a nice website. (You see the things priests get jealous of!) You’ve gotten a great rector. When I daydream about having a second priest on staff with me, it’s always someone like Sabeth I dream about.

But do you know what I envy most? Your name! You get to be called, “Trinity.” You get to be known by that aspect of God’s nature our spirits most yearn to know – this paradox of being many and being one. 

First Sunday in Lent - 02/26/2023

Readings for the Day


On Wednesday this last week, we heard the words “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

The Ash Wednesday service pivots on a soul-baring confession of the insidious and invisible clutter of our spiritual lives and our failures to recall our own faith and God’s grace. Ash-smudged, humbled and forgiven, we gathered to share a meal and recall holy Love’s power to vanquish death.

State of the Parish Address - February 5, 2023

State of the Parish Address

Trinity Parish of Seattle

February 5, 2023

Readings for today

Typically the State of the Parish Address happens on the same Sunday as the Annual Meeting.  When we held our Annual Meeting last Sunday, I was in the middle of a pernicious and humbling non-COVID virus.  With gratitude for healing rest and your patience, I have had another week to reflect on Trinity’s life and ministry in 2022 and look ahead into 2023.   

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Dear People of God, congregation of Trinity Parish, my siblings in Christ,

Greetings in the name of the one, holy, and indivisible God.  I give thanks for you every day, and for the gift and privilege of proclaiming the Good News of God’s love with you.

PRIDE Sunday - 3rd Sunday after Pentecost

It's been a long and strange 18 months since I posted a sermon.  Ministry in pandemic was/is a day to day and week to week learning experience, and some usual tasks (like posting printed sermons) lost urgency.

On Sunday, June 26, I was thrilled to walk in Seattle's Pride Parade as part of the Diocese of Olympia group - sharing the message that God's love is for Everyone - no Exceptions!  I preached this sermon at 8:00AM (a service that is not recorded or broadcast) before leaving for the parade.

Readings for the Day are here (Track 1).

Freedom.  

The colonists arrived on the eastern shores of this continent 400 years ago in search of freedom.

A civil war resulted in a proclamation that no person may be owned by another - legally freeing hundreds of thousands of enslaved persons to earn and keep wages, to marry, to become educated and own property.

Non-native settlers gradually moved west seeking the opportunities of wide open spaces.

Women fought for legal recognition of their freedom - to vote, to earn equitable pay for their work, to control what happens to their bodies.

LGBTQ folx stood up for their rights to the same things as other people - to be authentically who God created them to be, to enjoy the legal privileges of freedom.  Job security, wholistic health and mental health care, marriage and children, a safe home.

Freedom.  

Is a lifetime journey.