Ingredients for a Lifetime of Preaching
God spoke the cosmos into being through his word; God spoke to Abraham and fashioned a people for himself; the word of the LORD came to the prophets; and ultimately the word became flesh. While our liturgies are wordy, the liturgy has two climaxes: proclamation and sacrament. Word and Table stand in a mutually interpretive relationship. Neither is merely preparatory to the other, and neither exhausts the Church’s encounter with Christ. We Episcopalians ought to care deeply about preaching precisely because of our liturgical tradition, not despite it. Renewed preaching is necessary for the integrity of Anglican-Episcopal worship.
Hymn: Upon the Height of Tabor's Mount
I have worshipped in parishes in the almost forty years of my life, I have become increasingly aware that the wonders of our hymnal (TEC 1982) include a surprising lack of options for certain days of the year or biblical themes. The Transfiguration is one such story. Occurring twice in the lectionary with its own feast day and Last Epiphany, the hymnal has a rather thin set of offerings to commemorate this incredible hinge moment as Galilean ministry becomes Jerusalemite mission.