Calvary Episcopal Church - Memphis, TN

“About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” I wonder what would sustain me in that dark night? What stories or poems would emerge from my internal library? And if not in a jail cell, then in the other dark watches of illness or despair, or of the trap of spiraling worry.

So, for all the hardship and need we see and experience, let's commit to being a community that tends to its joy and its curiosity. Which means we not only learn together and pray together and serve together, but that we also eat and drink together, sing and laugh together, rejoice in all the ways we can together.

For most of our history, we Christians have been re-drawing the lines between who's in and who's out, between whose beliefs are correct and whose are not. For one group, fundamentalists might be the problem; for another, it's woke liberals. For yet another, it could be terrorists or immigrants or environmentalists, rich people or poor people, or Muslims or atheists or God knows what else. Our hearts harden, our beliefs solidify, and we reduce God to a tidy formula, and we are on the verge of destroying everything that is beautiful and true and holy.

Just as Ananias embraced Saul as family by calling him, ‘Brother Saul,' Ruthie and I will always think of you as ‘Sister Calvary.' We are family to each other. You will always be in my and Ruthie's hearts. And God's ongoing story of conversion in all our hearts will never end.

Go be a Thomas. Not Thomas, the cool skeptic of tradition. But Thomas, who knows that an incarnate relationship with complicated people is what we're made for, not membership in a religious club we join by storing beliefs in the attic of our mind, like furniture under bedsheets no one even thinks to sit on anymore.

Let the women at the tomb be our guides back into a love that's at work in our lives still, right now, right here. Today.

I feel a kinship with the women in this kind of moment, in which the story is still unfurling. And I am grateful and profoundly moved by their witness, their belief, with only the barest bit of news to go on.

So say the prayers, whether it feels like anyone's listening or not. Jesus did. Say the prayers, if only to remember that you're not the only one whose ever felt like everything that matters is unsolved in their heart. Say the prayers as a way to be still, expand your soul to hold a little more life and hurt and, maybe even to pass back into this world something a little less like violence, and a little more like love.

When Jesus stood up and wrapped a towel around himself, in essence he taught them, ‘Do not be afraid to stoop down and offer the most humble service imaginable to one another. It is no more than I have done for you.'

Ó Tuama's interests lie in language, violence, and religion. Growing up in a place with a long history of all three (Ireland, yes, but also Europe), he finds that language might be the most redeeming. In language, there is the possibility of vulnerability, of surprise, of the creative movement towards something as yet unseen. Any artist of words inspires him: from Krista Tippett to Lucille Clifton, Patrick Kavanagh to Emily Dickinson, Lorna Goodison to Arundhati Roy. Ó Tuama loves words — words that open up the mind, the heart, the life. For instance — poem: a created thing.

Ó Tuama's interests lie in language, violence, and religion. Growing up in a place with a long history of all three (Ireland, yes, but also Europe), he finds that language might be the most redeeming. In language, there is the possibility of vulnerability, of surprise, of the creative movement towards something as yet unseen. Any artist of words inspires him: from Krista Tippett to Lucille Clifton, Patrick Kavanagh to Emily Dickinson, Lorna Goodison to Arundhati Roy. Ó Tuama loves words — words that open up the mind, the heart, the life. For instance — poem: a created thing.

Davis is the 14th president of LeMoyne-Owen College. For the past 25 years, Davis has had the honor of pastoring St. Paul Baptist Church, Holmes Road, where he has witnessed the transformative power of faith in action. Alongside his pastoral work, he served for 17 years as both a faculty member and administrator at Memphis Theological Seminary, experiences that deepened his understanding of ministry within both church and academic contexts. In 2024, he was named the 14th president of LeMoyne-Owen College, a role he believes to be a divinely appointed extension of his calling. For Davis, faith is not confined to Sunday worship—it is a way of life, a guiding force in every season and every role he has held. Whether in the pulpit, the classroom, or now on the campus of a historically Black college, he has always viewed his work as ministry.

As Temple Israel's eighth senior rabbi, Greenstein's tenure and legacy live through intergenerational engagement and relevance of Reform Jewish values. In addition to serving as a pastoral anchor for his congregation, Greenstein is pouring his energy into innovating the pipeline for the next generation of Reform Jewish rabbis as well as building a healthy future for the religious and cultural fabric of post-October 7 Israel.

To taste and see and smell that we're loved like that can change us. It can heal us. It can raise dead parts of us into new life. And it can make us into people whose lives and loves keep expanding just like these gospel stories do, until they include more and more of the world around us and more and more of the worlds within us.

Prior to her election and ordination as bishop of Mississippi, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Dorothy Sanders Wells served as rector of St. George's Episcopal Church, Germantown, Tennessee, from 2013 until arriving in Mississippi in May 2024. Wells is committed to the work of community dialogue, racial healing, and justice and equity for all of God's people. She is an award-winning freelance essayist, and many of her works--most of which are centered around issues of justice and equity--can be found at muckrack.com/dorothy-wells.

Chu serves as an editor-at-large at Travel+Leisure, teacher in residence at Crosspointe Church in North Carolina, and parish associate for storytelling and witness at the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley in California. He is the author of Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America (Harper, 2013) and Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand (Convergent/Penguin Random House, 2025). He is also the co-author, with the late Rachel Held Evans, of the New York Times bestseller Wholehearted Faith. Chu is a former Time staff writer and Fast Company editor whose work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Modern Farmer. In his weekly newsletter, “Notes of a Make-Believe Farmer,” Chu writes about spirituality, gardening, food, travel, and culture. An ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, he lives with his husband, Tristan, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, teacher, and Episcopal priest. After serving three congregations—two in downtown Atlanta and one in rural Clarkesville, Georgia—she became the first Butman Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College, where she taught until 2017. Since then, she has spoken at events with wonderful names like Wild Goose, Evolving Faith, Awakening Soul, and Gladdening Light, but her favorite gig is being the full-time caretaker of a farm in the foothills of the Appalachians with her husband Ed and very many animals. Her new book, Coming Down to Earth, from Convergent Books, will be out in 2026. Chu serves as an editor-at-large at Travel+Leisure, teacher in residence at Crosspointe Church in North Carolina, and parish associate for storytelling and witness at the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley in California. He is the author of Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America and Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand. He is also the co-author, with the late Rachel Held Evans, of the New York Times bestseller Wholehearted Faith. Chu is a former Time staff writer and Fast Company editor whose work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Modern Farmer. In his weekly newsletter, “Notes of a Make-Believe Farmer,” Chu writes about spirituality, gardening, food, travel, and culture. An ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, he lives with his husband, Tristan, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, teacher, and Episcopal priest. After serving three congregations—two in downtown Atlanta and one in rural Clarkesville, Georgia—she became the first Butman Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College, where she taught until 2017. Since then, she has spoken at events with wonderful names like Wild Goose, Evolving Faith, Awakening Soul, and Gladdening Light, but her favorite gig is being the full-time caretaker of a farm in the foothills of the Appalachians with her husband Ed and very many animals. Her new book, Coming Down to Earth, from Convergent Books, will be out in 2026.

Like Jesus, the fatted calf nourishes and sustains others. Like the Eucharist, the meat from the fatted calf becomes a little part of all who partake in it. The fatted calf reminds us of the self-giving love of Jesus.

Fisher serves as the Senior Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Memphis, where he embraces the church's deep-rooted legacy in the community. With a background in computer science and theology, he founded #UPTheVote901 to empower voters and elevate political engagement. Faith is a guiding force in his life, inspiring him to champion justice and inclusivity. Earle finds joy in family, sharing life with his wife Denise, son Jalen, and granddaughter Karter Ann. Currently, he is exploring new avenues to inspire others and foster meaningful connections within the community.

Lammers (she/her) is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a third-generation clergy after her mother and grandfather – a fact that still surprises her more than anyone else! She has been a local church pastor, a divinity school administrator and adjunct faculty member, a hospital chaplain specializing in trauma and palliative medicine, and a student affairs administrator at several colleges and universities. Her professional and theological interests include the practice of public theology, social justice and radical inclusion, and encouraging individuals to use their theological imaginations to better connect with God. She has a passion for making church relevant and fun!

Tisby is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the Church's Complicity in Racism, How to Fight Racism, and How to Fight Racism: Young Reader's Edition. He is also a history professor at Simmons College of Kentucky in Louisville. Tisby has co-hosted the “Pass the Mic” podcast since its inception seven years ago. His writing has been featured in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and the New York Times. He is a frequent commentator on outlets such as NPR and CNN's New Day program. He speaks nationwide on racial justice, U.S. history, and Christianity. Tisby earned his PhD in history and studies race, religion, and social movements in the 20th century.

Tisby is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the Church's Complicity in Racism, How to Fight Racism, and How to Fight Racism: Young Reader's Edition. He is also a history professor at Simmons College of Kentucky in Louisville. Tisby has co-hosted the “Pass the Mic” podcast since its inception seven years ago. His writing has been featured in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and the New York Times. He is a frequent commentator on outlets such as NPR and CNN's New Day program. He speaks nationwide on racial justice, U.S. history, and Christianity. Tisby earned his PhD in history and studies race, religion, and social movements in the 20th century.

This is a God who looks upon us and sees that we aren't yet what we could be, we are not at full blossom, and so this God shows up not with an axe but with a shovel and a wheelbarrow full of mulch, patience, and hope.

Kat Gordon: March 21, 2025 by Calvary Episcopal Church

Kim-Kort, (she/they) is a doctoral candidate in Religious Studies at Indiana University. She juggles various jobs, including speaking, writing, and trying to maintain some semblance of sanity raising three athletic children who have games all over the DMV. She believes: “In all times, the Church, and especially the local church, gives me hope. Most days, I don't understand this hope, how it comes from something that seems so fallible, but I know in my cells that it is because God is present in the places I least expect and always the most human. These places and people teach me to keep looking and showing up—that always stays with me.”

Kim-Kort, (she/they) is a doctoral candidate in Religious Studies at Indiana University. She juggles various jobs, including speaking, writing, and trying to maintain some semblance of sanity raising three athletic children who have games all over the DMV. She believes: “In all times, the Church, and especially the local church, gives me hope. Most days, I don't understand this hope, how it comes from something that seems so fallible, but I know in my cells that it is because God is present in the places I least expect and always the most human. These places and people teach me to keep looking and showing up—that always stays with me.”

We have Abram in a world in which things die and bleed and nourish one another. A world in which one being is sacrificed for the life of another all the time and everywhere. That world, not one cleaned up of its wildness and its gore, is where God is met. This Earth, not the heavens, is what God gives to all of us as a sacred gift.

The Rev. Dr. Craig is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, community development nerd, wannabe poet, and personal photographer for her two-year-old identical twin girls. Growing up in rural Alabama as the only Asian kid other than her brother shaped her curiosity about marginalized places, community, and belonging. She's most at home in borderland spaces, whether that be leading an arts and literacy youth organization in North Philadelphia, participating in university civic engagement in Camden, New Jersey, or pastoring a Germantown church dedicated to serving their immigrant and Latinx neighbors. With the help of her church, she's practicing deep loving with folks in the midst of violence, homelessness, and hunger.

Brown is author of the The Tradition (Copper Canyon 2019), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and he is the winner of the Whiting Award. Brown's first book, Please (New Issues 2008), won the American Book Award. His second book, The New Testament (Copper Canyon 2014), won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. His third collection, The Tradition, won the Paterson Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His poems have appeared in The Bennington Review, Buzzfeed, Fence, jubilat, The New Republic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, TIME magazine, and several volumes of The Best American Poetry.

In addition to the noontime experience, Calvary offers Dialogue: The Lenten Preaching Series Podcast, recorded live at Calvary Episcopal Church, Memphis, each Wednesday. You are invited to these live podcast recordings with our guests each Wednesday evening.

Ekundayo Bandele is a renowned playwright and theater director whose work has significantly impacted the American theater landscape. His play “Judas Hands” premiered at Cleveland's Karamu House in 1997, and his subsequent works, such as “If Scrooge Was a Brother” and “Take the Soul Train to Christmas,” have been produced at theaters across the country, including Houston's Ensemble Theatre and Chicago's ETA Creative Arts Foundation. In 2006, Bandele founded Hattiloo Theatre in Memphis, TN. As its CEO, he curates annual seasons of plays and programs that celebrate Black culture. He successfully raised 10 million dollars to build and expand Hattiloo Theatre, including a state-of-the-art facility and an endowment. He has also led international initiatives, such as a theater management course in Sudan.

Dr. Gafney is the author of A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church and translator of its biblical selections. She is the author of Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to Women of the Torah and of the Throne, a commentary on Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah in the Wisdom series; Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel; and co-editor of The Peoples' Bible and The Peoples' Companion to the Bible. She is an Episcopal priest, and a former Army chaplain and congregational pastor in the AME Zion Church. She is a preacher, teacher, activist, published poet, and an amateur watercolorist.

A dedicated iconographer with over 24 years of experience, Fromberg is currently working on a commissioned series depicting twenty-six Anglican and Episcopal saints. Paul's research explores the fascinating intersection of liturgy, ritual, and expanded states of consciousness. He teaches liturgical leadership alongside his ministry, emphasizing the vital connection between culture, spirituality, and effective leadership. Paul is also the author of The Art of Transformation (Church Publishing, 2017) and The Art of Disruption (Seabury Books, 2021).

These ashes will not burn you, far from it. A surprising possibility is that the gritty, dark touch of these ashes may feel like a needed relief.

Don't live by Pharaoh's rules. Live as the gifted bearers of God's image that you are. Such was the deep wisdom of the Torah. Such is the life Moses and Elijah and Jesus kept calling people back to in different places, different times, is it not?

Down through the trapdoor, God's kingdom is a place where grace is an antidote to violence and retribution. It's a realm where tenderness and kindness are signs of strength and resistance because once we go down we understand that the love and generosity we show is a revelation of who we are and how we choose to live.

Jesus loved and sought out people on the margins. Foreigners and sinners. The unclean and the poor. Women and heretics and more. He sought them out because he wanted them to see they were beloved and blessed by God.

We often make the deep water a metaphor for going out on mission work to distant places or places we have never been. Peter and the disciples would later venture into places across Europe and Asia they never could have imagined. But I wonder if deep water could also be a metaphor for the uttermost places within our hearts, our minds, our souls.

Whether we noticed or not, Jesus was present to us today. And he will be tomorrow. Whether in the face of a neighbor who needs our compassion and our care, or whether in the Divine Love that asks us, in some moments, to set aside our striving and our doing and simply rest in its healing embrace.

Jesus came to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and to call us to believe all over again in the idea of Jubilee, even when you can't see it, even when you're not sure if it could happen or has ever happened.

Jesus saw nonviolence not as a passive response, but as a way of directly confronting evil in such a manner that he, and we, do not succumb to it. Instead, he, and we, show it for what it is to the world and to the perpetrators themselves. Jesus sought and still seeks to replace the way of violence with The Way of Love.

As we step into another year of life on Earth together, perhaps one resolution we could make is to take seriously what energies we let our lives be exposed to. And then commit to return, over and again, week after week, to be nourished and transformed by these living sacraments to the way, not of violence, but of love.

We've all got different ideas about what constitutes a disaster: everyday mishaps, personal tragedies, political nightmares, global catastrophes. But by definition, from its roots, a disaster is to be without a star. Dis-aster.

The incarnation was not a one-time event for Jesus. It is a springboard for entering relationships with us – relationships that are lasting, relationships that are timeless.

The grace of the Incarnation is not just that God's love became incarnate in Jesus. It's that some of it has become incarnate in you.

The Rev. Katherine Bush: The Fourth Sunday of Advent by Calvary Episcopal Church

Joy is something more profound and permanent than momentary happiness or temporary pleasure. It is bathed in the muck, mire, and tears of living a story – a shared story.

The Rev. Scott Walters: The Second Sunday of Advent by Calvary Episcopal Church

The Rev. Katherine Bush: December 1, 2024 by Calvary Episcopal Church

The Rt. Rev. Phoebe Roaf: The Last Sunday after Pentecost by Calvary Episcopal Church