Sermons

Easter 7CJune 1, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to God’s holy name.” That last verse from Psalm 97, which we said today, reminds us that people of faith are always supposed to rejoice and give thanks...

Easter 6CMay 25, 2025St. Dunstan'sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton Today is the 30th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. That is a milestone of sorts. I hope you'll indulge me for not preaching on the Biblical texts today, but instead reflecting on the path...

Easter 5CMay 18, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton It is the very first church controversy, and like the hundreds, if not thousands, since then, it threatens to tear apart the body of the faithful. The controversy is ancient, but its content could be pulled...

Easter 4CMay 11, 2025St. Dunstan'sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton Today is the fourth Sunday of the Easter season, a day that is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Every year on this Sunday the prayers and scripture readings reference shepherds and their flocks. We see that...

Easter 3CMay 4, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton Every Sunday one of the most dramatic moments of the Eucharist is the breaking of the bread. The loaf of bread is held up and broken, a symbol of Christ’s body broken for us.  For a long time here at...

Easter 2025April 20, 2025St. Dunstan'sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton Early this Holy Week a post showed up on my Facebook feed that has stayed in my mind all week. It was by Joel Webbon, the pastor of a large church in Texas. Webbon describes himself as a hard-core...

Good FridayApril 18, 2025St. Dunstan'sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This opening line of the 22nd psalm is one of the most plaintive cries in scripture. It's a cry of agony, despair, and abandonment. It is the cry of Jesus as...

Palm Sunday CSt. Dunstan’sApril 13, 2025The Rev. Patricia Templeton We entered church today at one of the highpoints of Jesus’ ministry – his entry into Jerusalem. Jesus is at long last coming into the city that is the political and religious center of life in his...

“There was a man who had two sons.”  Thus begins what is probably the best known of all of Jesus’ stories, usually known as the parable of the prodigal son. This tale of the son who takes his inheritance, squanders it, then comes home to be greeted with joy by...

They have almost made it. After almost 40 years of in the wilderness, the Israelites are gathered on the plains of Moab, on the verge of entering the land that has been promised to them so long ago. After almost four decades of feeling lost, unsure, discouraged, and...

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Those somber words are at the heart of our Ash Wednesday service, a sobering reminder of our mortality. No matter how rich or powerful or beloved we may be, our end is the same. We all return to dust. I’ve...

On the top of a mountain,  Jesus kneels in prayer as his friends struggle to stay awake. As he prays, Jesus is suddenly filled with radiant light, his very face aglow.  Then two figures from another time and place appear, Israel’s two greatest prophets Moses...

Have you ever picked up a book, opened it about three-fourths of the way through and started reading? You don't know the characters, the plot, the context. Even if you can tell that something important is happening it doesn't quite make sense.  To read only the...