Daily & Weekly Devotionals
Daily & Weekly Devotionals and reflections by The Rev. Dr. Richard Miles and The Rev. Rob Banse
UPDATED July 2020 – The Rev. Rob Banse will send a weekly devotional on Mondays to share thoughts and reflections on Biblical passages. The Daily Devotionals were suspended after June 26 to allow the staff and lay leaders to focus on the return to in-person gatherings and worship.
March – June 2020: During the COVID-19 shutdown, the Interim Rector The Rev. Dr. Rick Miles (Mon. – Thurs.) and The Rev. Rob Banse (on Fridays beginning April 3) will be creating a daily devotion with their reflections which will be added to this website. Additional resources are included in the links below. The text of weekly sermons and video of virtual worship services are included in the Sermon and Video Archives section of the website.
Week of September 14, 2020
Good morning, Christ Church! The moment has come to conclude this series of weekly reflections. We are coming to the end of our season of transition. The Search Committee has completed their good work. The Vestry has extended the call. By God’s grace, John Kellogg+ is on his way. It is time to turn the page and focus our time, prayers, and energy on the next chapter in the life of Christ Church Washington Parish. I will say again that…
Week of Monday, September 7, 2020
Good morning, Christ Church! And welcome John+, Tait, and Alec. While we continue to pray for God’s peace that surpasses all understanding, we are painfully aware of the violence and hostility, the suspicion and division, that is surrounding us on all sides. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are always to be hopeful, searching for the light in the midst of any darkness. Our hope calls us to adopt a positive and constructive spirit no matter what the challenges are.…
Week of August 31, 2020
Good morning, Christ Church! While we await the official announcement, there is certainly a growing sense of anticipation as we prepare to welcome our next rector. We know that the Search Committee has made their recommendations and the Vestry is now in the process of finalizing a call. Thus, this is a very exciting moment for all of us. The time has come for our congregation to enter into the next chapter of our mission. We look forward to the…
Week of August 24, 2020
Good morning, Christ Church! For those of us who were around at the time, how can we ever forget the “Go Go Eighties?” Wolves were roaming Wall Street. There were “Barbarians at the Gate.” Self-proclaimed “Masters of the Universe” were presiding over Vanities’ bonfire. And a very different Madonna was singing, “You know that we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl.” Everything was “big,” from “big hair” to “big clothes” and big BMWs. According…
Week of August 17, 2020
Good morning, Christ Church! I must begin with a confession. While we continue to be very careful in regard to all the protocols (wearing masks whenever we leave home, washing hands regularly, staying six feet apart from others), Janie and I have been “out and about” a little bit these last several weeks. We have enjoyed seeing our neighbors socially distanced on backyard patios. And we actually took our children to a restaurant, where again we were out of doors…
Week of August 10, 2020
Good morning, Christ Church! One of the real concerns I have about our society’s present conversation is the lack of emphasis on ethics and the living of moral lives. Yes, we hear a great deal about “lies,” “fake news,” “draining the swamp,” and what it means to be an American from the perspective of competing ideological points of view. And it is heartening to witness the awakening to the racial injustices on which our nation is founded, that Black Lives…
Week of August 3, 2020
Good morning, Christ Church! We are fully in the midst of “the days between.” We continue to wait for the subsidence of COVID-19. The November elections are less than 100 days away. The start of the school year, in its various forms, will begin in the next several weeks. And here at Christ Church, Rick Miles+ has completed his term as our Interim. We now prayerfully await the announcement of The Vestry’s call and the arrival of the 29th Rector…
Week of July 27, 2020
Good morning, Christ Church! Before moving on to today’s reflection, I want to revisit a point made last week. Specifically, I would like to clarify the matter of using “purity” in describing one of the qualities of salt. Sadly, that term has taken on some negative connotations in our era, and rightly so. There are individuals and groups who use “purity” as a way of defining in order to exclude others whom they believe are inferior and therefore unworthy. This…
Week of July 20, 2020
Good morning, Christ Church! What I want to compose this week is a grace note. I know that over the last several months these daily devotions and weekly reflections have focused particularly on the many challenges we are currently facing in our world today. And that is certainly meet and right. Our faith, based on the Good News of Jesus Christ, is about giving us the strength and confidence to meet whatever comes our way. As Paul so powerfully wrote…
Week of July 13, 2020
Good Morning, Christ Church! I think one of the few things we can all agree upon at this moment is that our society is deeply divided. We have just celebrated the 4th of July, a day on which we are called to remember our national motto, “E pluribus unum” – out of many, we are one. And yet, on this past 4th, nothing seemed further from the truth. Many have expressed a variety of thoughts and opinions as to the…