Month: September 2025

Prayers and liturgy

Saint Matthew the Apostle

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Matthew, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O ALMIGHTY God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an Apostle and Evangelist: Grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires and inordinate love of riches, and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
The Gospel: St. Matthew 9:9-13

Titian, St. MatthewArtwork: Titian, St. Matthew, first half of 16th century. Oil on panel, Santa Maria della Salute, Venice.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Fourteenth Sunday After Trinity

Pieter de Jode I, The Healing of the LeperThe collect for today, the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Galatians 5:25-6:5
The Gospel: St. Luke 17:11-19

Artwork: Pieter de Jode I, The Healing of the Leper, c. 1600-34. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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Prayers and liturgy

John Coleridge Patteson, Bishop and Martyr

The collect for today, the commemoration of John Coleridge Patteson (1827-71), Missionary, First Bishop of Melanesia, Martyr (source):

O God of all tribes and peoples and tongues,
who didst call thy servant John Coleridge Patteson
to witness in life and death to the gospel of Christ
amongst the peoples of Melanesia:
grant us to hear thy call to service
and to respond with trust and joy
to Jesus Christ our redeemer,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 4:12-19
The Gospel: St. Mark 8:34-38

John Coleridge Patteson, Bishop of MelanesiaJohn Coleridge Patteson was a curate in Devon when Bishop of New Zealand George A. Selwyn persuaded him to go to the South Pacific as a missionary. In 1856 he journeyed to Melanesia. He encouraged boys to study at a school Selwyn had founded in New Zealand and later set up a school in Melanesia. He was very proficient in languages and eventually learned twenty-three different languages and dialects spoken in Melanesia and Polynesia.

In 1861 Patteson was consecrated Bishop of Melanesia; he travelled across his diocese constantly, preaching, teaching, baptising, confirming, building churches, and living among the people. On the main island of Mota most of the population were converted.

The Melanesian Mission of Bishop Patteson was a great success, until he encountered the slave traders. Laws against the slave trade were poorly enforced, and traders frequently raided the islands to kidnap or entice young men to work on plantations in Fiji and Queensland.

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Prayers and liturgy

Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Theodore of Tarsus (602-690), Archbishop of Canterbury (source):

St. Theodore of TarsusAlmighty God,
by the faithful ministry of your bishop Theodore
you bound up the wounds of the English Church
and renewed its vigour in the works of peace.
Teach us, we pray,
the art of your healing grace,
that we may know the true balm and remedy
for the divisions which afflict your Church;
through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 2 Timothy 2:1-5,10
The Gospel: St. Matthew 8:23-27

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Prayers and liturgy

Ninian, Missionary and Bishop

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Ninian (c. 360 – c. 432), Bishop of Galloway, Apostle to the Picts (source):

Almighty and everlasting God,
who didst call thy servant Ninian to preach the gospel
to the people of northern Britain:
raise up, we beseech thee, in this and every land,
heralds and evangelists of thy kingdom,
that thy Church may make known the immeasurable riches
of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Lesson: Isaiah 49:1-6
The Gospel: St. Matthew 28:16-20

Saint Margaret’s Chapel, Saint Ninian windowNinian was the first apostle of Christianity in Scotland. Born in Cumbria to Christian parents, he went to Rome for his education. After being ordained a priest and then a bishop, Ninian was commissioned by Pope Siricus to return to Britain to preach the Christian faith.

Tradition holds that Ninian’s mission to Scotland began in 397, when he landed at Whithorn on Solway Firth. The stone church he built there was known as Candida Casa (“White House”). Recent archaeological excavations in that area have found white masonry from what could be an ancient church.

Saint Ninian’s ministry was centred in the Whithorn and Galloway areas of Scotland, but he is also remembered for bringing the gospel to the “southern Picts”—people living in the areas now known as Perth, Fife, Stirling, Dundee, and Forfar.

As early as the 7th century, Christians were making pilgrimages to St. Ninian’s shrine. By the 12th century, a large cathedral had been built at Whithorn, but it fell into ruins after the Reformation. Yet today, pilgrims still travel there to visit St. Ninian’s Cave, where the saint would go when he needed to pray in solitude.

During his 2010 visit to the United Kingdom, Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Scotland on Saint Ninian’s Day.

Saint Ninian’s Cathedral, Antigonish, Nova Scotia (“New Scotland”), is the Episcopal Seat for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish.

Artwork: Saint Ninian, stained glass, Saint Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh Castle. Photograph taken by admin, 24 July 2004.

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Prayers and liturgy

Audio file of 8:00am Holy Communion service, Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Click here to listen to an audio recording of the 8:00am service of Holy Communion at Christ Church on the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

“How readest thou?”

This is one of my favourite texts, I have to admit, though not simply for personal reasons, but because it speaks so strongly to the nature of the theological enterprise in itself and certainly in our times of uncertainty. The gathering of all things into the unity of God is the summary of the law and belongs to the highest dignity of our humanity; that gathering is our thinking and our doing as shaped by God’s thinking and loving at work in us. It means theology as prayer and sacrifice in service and compassion; in short, the harmony of intellect and will, of mind and heart. Our living to and for God necessitates our living to and for one another. How we read is about how we think and act. It is quite telling that the Gospel story that follows is about Martha and Mary understood in their complementary relation; contemplation and action go together.

Today marks a kind of mid-point in the pageant of sanctification. They show the unity of the love of God and the love of neighbour most fully in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It is an illustration of the fruits of the Spirit manifest in our lives with one another. Yet, at first glance, the Epistle and the Gospel seem opposed. Paul says that “if we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law,” whereas the Gospel argues for the law as summed up in the love of God and the love of neighbour and as essential to life. But Paul is not an antinominian, someone who believes they are freed by grace from the moral law. Quite the opposite. He is arguing for our being freed from the condemnation of the law by grace, our being freed for our life in the Spirit. Love is the fulfilling of the law not its negation. This is the real meaning of our being Christ’s, namely, those who: ”have crucified the flesh.” Love is sacrifice precisely in terms of the Cross. Today too marks the Feast of the Holy Cross.

The works of the flesh are not the moral law but precisely its opposite, works of immorality, rather summarily and clearly laid out in a list that comprehends the various disorders and misdirections of human desire that ultimately harm ourselves and one another. In a way, the works of the flesh counter the good that the law seeks: adultery for instance, which betrays the law and the good of marriage, or fornication which is lust for lust’s sake, idolatry which confuses God with the things of creation, witchcraft which is a misuse of power for other ends than the good, and so on. They are negative and life-destroying and stand in stark contrast to the fruits of the Spirit that are positive, life-fulfilling and life-enhancing. They are the qualities of grace that belong to the good and perfection of our humanity for ourselves and for one another and that overcome through love as forgiveness all our failings and short-comings, all of which belong to desires of the flesh.

In other words, it has more to do with our relation to the world and the flesh in terms of our relation to God. In baptism there is the renunciation of “the world and the flesh and the devil” in order to affirm the things of the Spirit. But that affirmation is really about entering into the redemption of our desires through the gathering and ordering of all things to God, the proper task of theology as prayer.

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Music

Owen Stephens on his retirement as organist at Christ Church

To Rev. David Curry and all Parishioners of Christ Church:

I wish to extend my thanks to the Christ Church Family for the wonderful retirement reception held for me last Sunday. Your words of thanks and lovely gifts mean a great deal to me. Throughout my twenty-five years as Organist I have always felt the same warmth, appreciation and goodwill which was expressed both in person and on the card. I offer a special thank you for all who contributed to the food and other efforts that made the Reception such a success. I regret that I was not able to speak to everyone but I certainly appreciated the attendance of all.

I must add here a couple “extra special thank yous” – one to members of the Choir – your faithfulness and assistance with the music for the Services has always been appreciated, even though I have not told you often enough; and a very, very special one to Fr. David Curry – words cannot express – your assistance with the music, your wonderful discussions, your knowledge, your help in difficult situations, your friendship etc, etc. etc. – it has been an inspiration!!! (Even if you did turn on the alarm and leave me in the Church a couple times – after all – no one is perfect, although some people come close!)

It has become evident that physical conditions that I have developed in recent years have contributed greatly to the need to retire at this time. I know that I am going to regret it frequently and I very much appreciate the privilege you have given me of continuing to come in and play the Organ. It means so much to be able to do this – thank you.

May God bless you all, individually and collectively, and may His Love continue to inspire the work of Christ Church.

Very Sincerely,

Owen Stephens

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Events, Month at a Glance

Month at a Glance, September 2025

Sunday, September 14th, Trinity 13
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

(Fr. Curry away Monday, Sept. 15th – Friday, Sept. 19th, SSC conference in Dunwoody, Georgia)

Sunday, September 21st, St. Matthew / Trinity 14
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion
(We welcome Michael Gnemmi as our new organist!)

Tuesday, September 23rd
7:00pm Christ Church Book Club: ‘Reading Genesis’ by Marilynne Robinson (2024) & ‘Sacred Causes’ by Michael Burleigh (2006)

Sunday, September 28th, Trinity 15
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

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Prayers and liturgy

The Thirteenth Sunday After Trinity

The collect for today, the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service: Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Galatians 5:16-24
The Gospel: St. Luke 10:25-37

Joachim von Sandrart, The Good SamaritanArtwork: Joachim von Sandrart, The Good Samaritan, 1632. Oil on canvas, Brera, Milan.

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