Christ's Beauty Woven Through the World: A Funeral Homily for Dr. Thomas Kramer
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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. ...
Stephen Crawford+
Aug 11, 20227 min read
All Human Life is Sacred
The Very Rev. Fr. Stephen Crawford June 26, 2022 (Year C, Proper 8) This sermon was preached the Sunday following a landmark Supreme...
St Marys Franklin
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Enjoying God
The Magnificat, August 2022 Dear St. Mary’s Church and friends, I have recently asked folks around our congregation (especially the...
St Marys Franklin
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Aging with Grace, and the Supreme Usefulness of Prayer
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,...
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Mar 3, 20215 min read
When the Priest Turns His Back on You
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...
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Jan 26, 20218 min read
How to Pray for Healing EXPLAINED
What follows I mostly got from reading books written by people who have special ministries of praying for healing and, to a much lesser...
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Jan 26, 20212 min read
How to Pray for Healing
Below is a list of suggestions for how to pray for healing. I recommend printing these for easy reference (they fit easily on a...
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Dec 31, 20204 min read
What's Behind our Christian Feasts?
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...
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Dec 31, 20203 min read
Touched by God: A Christmas Reflection
Could we ever need Christmas more than we do this year? The coronavirus has certainly turned things upside down. It’s affected...
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Dec 30, 202010 min read
Do-Over
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...
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Oct 13, 20204 min read
Walk In Love: Stewardship 2021 (Magnificat, October 2020)
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....
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Oct 13, 20204 min read
A Sinner and a Son: A Funeral Homily for Governor Mike Foster
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...
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Sep 9, 20202 min read
Saints and Epidemics
Today (September 9) is the Lesser Feast of Constance, nun, and her Companions. Especially given our current circumstances, it's worth...
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Sep 1, 20206 min read
The Death of Angelia Johnson and How to Think about the Pandemic
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...
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Sep 1, 20203 min read
Wise Parenting, Loving Discipline
The Magnificat, September 2020 Dear St. Mary’s Church and friends, A toddler throws his bowl of spaghetti on the floor—again. One morning...
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Aug 13, 20204 min read
Good News! Some Guy Is Giving Away Holiness--for Free!
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...
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Aug 13, 20205 min read
The Tender and Tending Mother: The Gospel Vision of St. Mary's Church
The Magnificat, July 2020 Dear St. Mary’s Church and friends, I was planning on writing about Franklin’s racial divide again this month...
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Aug 13, 20205 min read
Race: The Challenges and the Healing
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...
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Aug 13, 20204 min read
The Feast in God's Household
Dear St. Mary’s Church and friends, He is risen! (You should shout in response, “He is risen, indeed!” Don’t worry about what your family...
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Aug 13, 20204 min read
Fasting: Going Without, But Not Without the Lord
Dear St. Mary’s Church and friends, There have been several years here on Easter Sunday at St. Mary’s Church that we’ve read the famous...
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