Sermons from weekly worship services at St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church in Louisville, Ky.
We habitually misread the parable of the wheat and the weeds, assuming it's asking, "How do I end up in the right group?" The real question instead is, "How we can believe God is good in a world so full of suffering?" Its answer: evil is real, insidious, and beyond our power to fix, but it cannot prevail against the kingdom of the crucified Lord. Using D-Day as its central image — the decisive victory already won, though the battle rages on — Mthr. Barbara White reframes Christ's coming judgment not as condemnation, but as restoration.Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 (NRSV)Preacher: The Rev. Barbara WhiteSt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
Fr. Nathan Dearen takes up the familiar parable of the sower and asks what the fruit of God's word actually is — and finds the answer in Isaiah 55: the word that goes out from God's mouth will not return to him empty, but will return in praise. Like rain that waters the earth before rising again, God's word comes down, gives life, and inevitably draws creation back to him in worship. Fr. Nathan traces this "going out and coming back" pattern through the shape of the Sunday liturgy itself, culminating in the Eucharist.Scripture: Isaiah 55:10-13, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23Preacher: The Rev. Nathan DearenSt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
Why would God hide "these things" from the wise and intelligent and reveal them to infants, and why is that a good thing? The Rev. Nathan Dearen, drawing on his own late-night image of his 11-month-old daughter finally resting her head against his chest, argues that God reveals himself only through a relationship of dependency: we are all infants, and it's in admitting our dependence on Jesus — taking his easy yoke — that we find true rest for our souls.Scripture: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30Preacher: The Rev. Nathan DearenSt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
When multiple voices all claim to speak truth — like Jeremiah and Hananiah both prophesying "in the name of the Lord" — how do we know which one to trust? Fr. Nathan Dearen extends this ancient dilemma to our present moment of information overload, spam, competing media narratives, and AI, asking how we sift through the noise to recognize the authentic voice of God. His answer, drawn from Jeremiah 28, is to trust the voice that stands within the tradition and whose word of peace actually comes true.Scripture: Jeremiah 28:5-9 (NRSV) | Preacher: The Rev. Nathan Dearen | Date: June 28, 2026
This is one of the hardest passages in the Gospels. Jesus talks about swords, divided families, and losing your life to find it. What do we do with that? Mthr. Barbara White takes on Matthew 10:24–39 and argues that Jesus isn't threatening us, he's liberating us. The freedom he offers isn't the modern kind: the ability to choose whatever we want. It's something deeper and more radical — the freedom to become who God made us to be, released from the fear of what it might cost us. Scripture: Matthew 10:24–39 (NRSV)Preacher: The Rev. Barbara WhiteSt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
What kind of hope survives when circumstances don't improve? The hope Paul describes in Romans isn't just wishful thinking, it a hope grounded not in what's happening around us but in the infinite God who is at work within us. Fr. Nathan Dearen preaches on Romans 5:1–8 and how suffering, endurance, and character become the unlikely path to a hope that does not disappoint.Scripture: Romans 5:1–8 (NRSV)Preacher: The Rev. Nathan DearenSt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
We think of remembering as something that happens in the mind when we meditate on a fact or a moment in time. ,But in Scripture, remembrance is something else entirely. On the Feast of Corpus Christi, Mthr. Barbara White preaches on Deuteronomy 8:2–3, where God tells Israel to remember forty years of wilderness wandering, not as nostalgia, but as formation. Christian remembrance is not mental recollection; it is spiritual transformation. And that's what happens every time we gather at the altar. Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:2–3 (NRSV)Preacher: The Rev. Barbara WhiteThe Feast of Corpus Christi • St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
Is real unity possible? What does it look to go beyond politeness to genuine oneness among people who are genuinely different? On Trinity Sunday, Fr. Nathan Dearen makes the case that unity is at the heart of who God is. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: three persons, one God, eternally distinct and eternally one. If that's who God is, then the church doesn't have to choose between diversity and unity.Scripture: Genesis 1:1–2:4a; 2 Corinthians 13:11–13 (NRSV)Preacher: The Rev. Nathan DearenTrinity Sunday • St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
The disciples were hiding behind locked doors. Then the risen Christ appeared, breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” On the Feast of Pentecost, The Rt. Rev. Joseph Galgalo, visiting St. Francis in the Fields from Nairobi, Kenya, preaches on John 20:19–23 and our partnership with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit doesn't just comfort us; the Spirit moves us from fear to faith and from faith to action. Scripture: John 20:19–23 (NRSV)Preacher: The Rt. Rev. Joseph GalgaloSt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
Mthr. Barbara closes out this semester of TBS by lecturing on the Seventh Sign: the raising of Lazarus.
If God is good, why do we suffer? It's one of the oldest questions in the faith, and one of the most personal. Fr. Clint Wilson preaches on 1 Peter 4:12–14; 5:6–11 and offers a theology of suffering that is both honest and hopeful: God does not cause our suffering, but God can use it. Scripture: 1 Peter 4:12–14; 5:6–11 (NRSV)Preacher: The Rev. Clint WilsonSt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
On the Feast of the Ascension, as St. Francis in the Fields celebrated the ordination of Nathan Dearen to the priesthood, Mthr. Barbara White preaches on Ephesians 1:15–23 and the apostle Paul's prayer that the church would know three things: the truth, the hope, and the power of the gospel. This isn't a sermon just for the newly ordained, it's a call for every Christian to be grounded in what Christ has already accomplished—and to live accordingly.
What does it look like to answer God's call, not once, but with your whole life? On a Sunday that included the celebration of Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows, Bishop Terry White of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky preaches on John 14:15–21 and what it means to live as Christ in the world. The call isn't just for the newly confirmed, it is for every Christian answers again and again: to love, to obey, and to trust the Spirit that makes it possible.What does it look like to answer God's call, not once, but with your whole life? On a Sunday that included the celebration of Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows, Bishop Terry White of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky preaches on John 14:15–21 and what it means to live as Christ in the world. The call isn't just for the newly confirmed, it is for every Christian answers again and again: to love, to obey, and to trust the Spirit that makes it possible. Scripture: John 14:15–21 (NRSV)Preacher: The Rt. Rev. Terry White, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of KentuckySt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
Mthr. Barbara lectures on the Sixth Sign: The Healing of the Man Born Blind.
Fr. Clint speaks about his recent trip to witness the installation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and lessons for the Anglican Communion.
In a culture that can't stop fighting, what is the church actually supposed to be? Not a group of people bound by what they agree on, but something Peter calls a house of “living stones,” built on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. Mthr. Barbara White preaches on 1 Peter 2:1–10 and how the apostle lays out Christ's own vision for the church: what it is, why it exists, and how it holds together when everything around it is falling apart. In a time of deep polarization, this passage is an invitation to rediscover what we are made for.Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1–10 (NRSV)Preacher: The Rev. Barbara WhiteSt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
Mthr. Barbara lectures on John 8:31-59.
We live in a world full of competing voices, and every day we have to decide which ones to listen to. How do you know who to trust? Dcn. Nathan Dearen preaches on John 10:1–10, the Good Shepherd passage, and offers three reasons we can know and trust Jesus: he enters by the door, the sheep recognize his voice, and he leads them to life. In a culture that rewards the loudest voice in the room, Jesus offers something different: a shepherd who calls his own by name and walks ahead of them into whatever comes next.Scripture: John 10:1–10 (NRSV)Preacher: Dcn. Nathan DearenSt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Harrods Creek, Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
Mthr. Barbara White lectures on "Doubting" Thomas.
Mthr. Barbara lectures on the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11.
What does it mean to be living your real life? On the road to Emmaus, two disciples walked side by side with the risen Jesus and didn't recognize him until he was at the table with them. Mthr. Barbara White draws on Margery Williams' The Velveteen Rabbit to explore the difference between the "reality" we try to build for ourselves through accomplishment, status, or accumulation, and the reality that comes only from being known and loved by Christ. Easter doesn't just change what happened on a Sunday morning two thousand years ago. It changes what is real, and who we are inside it. Scripture: Luke 24:13–35Preacher: The Rev. Barbara WhiteSt. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church | Harrods Creek, Louisville, KYhttps://www.sfitf.org
Guest teacher, Canon Amy Coultas, teaches us about Jesus appearance to the disciples on the Road to Emmaus.
Mthr. Barbara completes the 2026 Catechumeante discussing the end of all things in Jesus Christ.
Mthr. Barbara lectures on John 7:1-52.
Dr. Aaron Calhoun leads this week's class on the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ — not as two separate events, but as one seamless movement in the story of salvation. Drawing on C. S. Lewis, Philippians 2, and Daniel 7, we explore what it means that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God as the rightful Lord of all creation.
A week after Easter, the disciples are still behind locked doors, and Thomas still hasn't seen the risen Christ. When Jesus finally appears, he doesn't rebuke Thomas. He shows up, offers his wounds, and then pronounces a blessing on everyone who will believe without seeing. What does it look like to trust God when the proof runs out?Seminarian Kevin Picklesimer preaches on John 20:19–31 and what he calls “eighth day faith” — the faith God invites us into after he's given us enough to step out on our own.Scripture: John 20:19–31Preacher: Mr. Kevin PicklesimerDate: April 12, 2026Second Sunday of Easter
Fr. Clint kicks off a two-week series studying the resurrection appearances in Holy Scripture.
Mthr. Barbara White, Good Friday, April 3, 2026. St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church.
Fr. Clint Wilson, Maundy Thursday, April 2, 2026.
Mthr Barbara lectures on John 6:25-59.
Mthr. Barbara lectures on the Atonement of Christ on the Cross.
Who is the man on the cross? A failed revolutionary? A moral teacher? A victim? On Palm Sunday, the crowds cheered for a king — but by Friday they watched him die. Dcn. Nathan Dearen preaches on Matthew's Passion narrative and the question at the heart of Holy Week: when you look at Jesus on the cross, who do you see? Because the answer to that question changes everything.Scripture: Matthew 21:1–11; Matthew 27:11–54Preacher: Dcn. Nathan DearenDate: March 29, 2026Series: Holy Week 2026
Mthr. Barbara lectures on John 4 and 5.
Mthr. Barbara lectures on the Incarnation in our 2026 St. Francis Catechumenate.
Fr. Clint continues our series on the classical Christian teaching on virtues and vices.
Mthr. Barbara preaches on 1 Samuel 16 on March 15, 2026.
Mthr. Barbara talks about what we mean when we say that our world is fallen.
Fr. Clint continues our series on the classical Christian understanding of virtues and vices.
Mthr. Barbara lectures on Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.
Welcome to the first week of the St. Francis Catechumenante, 2026.
Fr. Clint lectures on Envy and Love in our series exploring the Christian virtues.
Mthr. Barbara lectures on John 3:1-36.
Mthr. Barbara lectures on the vice of pride and the virtue of humility.
Mthr. Barbara White, Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
Mthr. Barbara lectures on John 2:1-25.
Laura Kellow talks about the vice of acedia and the virtue of fortitude.
Mthr. Barbara lectures on John 1:19-39.
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