Rector's Notes

I wrote this reflection to be read during Morning Prayer on a Sunday I was traveling and was unable to find a supply priest to visit St. Mary's Church. One of the earliest complaints against the Christians was that they were “turning the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). What an interesting phrase—turning the world upside down. Imagine a sheet of paper that you are holding up. It’s a colored-pencil drawing of a desert at night. I imagine a rocky, dusty desert. It has small shru

The Very Rev. Fr. Stephen Crawford What’s your favorite Christmas carol? This is one of my favorite questions to ask people this time of year. As a priest I have this great privilege where people open up to me about their lives, how things are going, what parts of their lives have been hard recently, hopes—disappointments. What an honor! I love these conversations. But also … I really like talking about Christmas carols. And I’m sometimes surprised by people’s favorite carols

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. At ease in any society. Always the flower of courtesy. ...

The Very Rev. Fr. Stephen Crawford June 26, 2022 (Year C, Proper 8) This sermon was preached the Sunday following a landmark Supreme...

The Magnificat, August 2022 Dear St. Mary’s Church and friends, I have recently asked folks around our congregation (especially the...

Below is the first newsletter I wrote to St. Mary's Church (at least, the first one we still have on file). It seemed worth revisiting,...

If you visit St. Mary’s Church for a weekday service of the Holy Eucharist, you might be surprised. Often during weekday worship in the...

What follows I mostly got from reading books written by people who have special ministries of praying for healing and, to a much lesser...

Below is a list of suggestions for how to pray for healing. I recommend printing these for easy reference (they fit easily on a...

Below is an excerpt from a message I recently sent a friend after he brought up the question of the history of Christmas. To give a...

Could we ever need Christmas more than we do this year? The coronavirus has certainly turned things upside down. It’s affected...

This is a sermon about the Virgin Birth and second chances. It was preached at St. Mary's Church in Franklin on December 20, 2020, the...

Dear St. Mary’s Church and friends, Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God. So St....

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Knock, knock, knock. “Who desires to enter?” No, this is not the...

Today (September 9) is the Lesser Feast of Constance, nun, and her Companions. Especially given our current circumstances, it's worth...

Early in the morning on July 18, I got a phone call letting me know that Angela Smith had died a few hours earlier. (Her name is Angelia...

The Magnificat, September 2020 Dear St. Mary’s Church and friends, A toddler throws his bowl of spaghetti on the floor—again. One morning...

The Magnificat, August 2020 Dear St. Mary's Church and friends, Do Christians have to do good things? The place of good works in the...

The Magnificat, July 2020 Dear St. Mary’s Church and friends, I was planning on writing about Franklin’s racial divide again this month...

Dear St. Mary’s Church and friends, Race can be a difficult topic to discuss, even when there’s so much encouragement to have the...