Sermons
A Holy Lent
Ash WednesdayFebruary 18, 2026St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton I came to church early this morning to prepare for our Ash Wednesday services and to write a sermon. I had something in mind. But when I went to my office and turned on my computer the first...
ICE, Bad Bunny, and Buddhist Monks
Epiphany Last AFebruary 15, 2026St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton Today is the last Sunday of the season of Epiphany. The next time we will be in church is Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Epiphany is known as the season of light. It begins and ends the same...
Jesus’ Inaugural Address
Epiphany 5AFebruary 8, 2026St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton “With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in,...
What the Lord Requires
Epiphany 4AFebruary 1, 2026St Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton “God had told you, O mortal what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” It is the 8th century BCE and God is not...
Is the Dream Still Alive?
Epiphany 2AJanuary 18, 2026St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton It is a scene that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King would find all too familiar – protests across the country against the brutality of law enforcement agents – the killing of Renee Good, and the...
Compassion, Not Cruelty
Epiphany 1AJanuary 11, 2026St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton One of the things that I learned in seminary many years ago is that in the Episcopal Church baptism is a one-time event. It doesn’t matter if you were baptized as an infant or an adult. It doesn’t...
Led by a Star
EpiphanyJanuary 4, 2026St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton Once again, the church’s calendar is out of sync with the culture. The 12 Days of Christmas may be a popular song, but in reality to most of the world Christmas is long over. Those Christmas...
Not the Empire’s Peace
Christmas 2025December 24, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton It is good to be gathered here with you on this most wondrous night of the year, the night we celebrate the birth of a baby who will change the world. Everything about this evening is special –...
The Forgotten Man
Advent 4ASt. Dunstan’sDecember 21, 2025The Rev. Patricia Templeton Every three years on this day, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, our gospel reading takes a few moments to remember a crucial character in the birth we are about to celebrate, a character who soon fades...
Light in the Darkness
Advent 1ANovember 30, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton On this first Sunday of Advent, the first day of the church year, we begin worship with this prayer: “Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”...
Re-Deciding Our Lives
Proper 28CNovember 16, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton The town of Chartres in France is famed for its Gothic cathedral, widely acknowledged to be one of the finest structures in Europe. The first cathedral was built in that town sometime in the fourth...
Faith’s Foundation
Proper 27CNovember 9, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton The words are said at the beginning of every funeral in the Episcopal Church. And no matter how many hundreds of times I have heard or spoken them, they never fail to move me with their powerful...
Holding Up the Ballroom
All Saints’ Sunday CNovember 2, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.” Sometimes, like today, I feel the need to explain why we are...
Terrible Things Are Happening
Proper 24COctober 19, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton “Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to...
Lord, Have Mercy
Proper 19CSeptember 14, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton The first time I ever heard of Charlie Kirk was earlier this summer, when our Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe announced that the Episcopal Church was severing its long history of working with the...