🎙️ Everyday Monks — “Gratitude, Providence, and the God Who Gives the Increase”

In this Feast of Thanksgiving episode, the clergy of St. Benedict’s gather around the table—pipes lit, coffee steaming, laughter in the air—to talk about the kind of gratitude that goes far deeper than a holiday.

Canon Michael Vinson, Dcn. Timothy Wilson, Fr. Michael Templin, and Fr. Marq Toombs reflect on the goodness of God in the ordinary rhythms of life: food, fellowship, loss, memory, beauty, harvest, and hope. What emerges is a rich meditation on providence—the God who sees, sustains, provides, and surprises His people again and again.

In this warm and spirited conversation, the monks explore:

🍂 Thanksgiving as a Feast, Not a FeelingHow the Prayer Book captures gratitude not as sentiment, but as worship—an offering of humility, confession, and joy.

🌾 “The God Who Gives the Increase”Stories of provision in lean times, unexpected blessings, answered prayers, and the quiet ways God tends His children.

📖 Scripture’s Call to RememberWhy Thanksgiving is woven through Israel’s story—and why forgetting God is always the first step toward fear.

🕯 The Eucharistic VisionHow the Church teaches us to see all of life—land, labor, bread, wine, family, community—as God’s gifts, returned to Him in praise.

👥 Ordinary Life, Extraordinary GraceLaughter about pipe tobacco, gratitude for parish friendships, and reflections on the people God uses to shape, steady, and feed His flock.

Whether you come with gratitude overflowing or a heart that’s limping to the table this year, this conversation invites you into something bigger:a life of thanksgiving rooted in the God who never ceases to be good.

🎧 Listen now on Everyday Monks—the parish podcast of St. Benedict’s Anglican Church in Rockwall, Texas.

During this Fall Women’s Bible Study, we are looking for Jesus and his Mothers from Eve to Mary. This series will proclaim the good news of Jesus from the Scriptures, praise women in the gate (then and now), and prepare us for Advent and Christmas.

This study is intended for all women, regardless of age or stage, whether seekers or believers. Come join us on this pilgrimage as we revisit our mothers, relive their stories, and rejoice in the faith of Jesus Christ. Everyday Monks is the parish Podcast of St. Benedict’s Anglican Church in Rockwall, Texas: Belong - Believe - Become.

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During this Fall Women’s Bible Study, we are looking for Jesus and his Mothers from Eve to Mary. This series will proclaim the good news of Jesus from the Scriptures, praise women in the gate (then and now), and prepare us for Advent and Christmas.

This study is intended for all women, regardless of age or stage, whether seekers or believers. Come join us on this pilgrimage as we revisit our mothers, relive their stories, and rejoice in the faith of Jesus Christ. Everyday Monks is the parish Podcast of St. Benedict’s Anglican Church in Rockwall, Texas: Belong - Believe - Become.

During this Fall Women’s Bible Study, we are looking for Jesus and his Mothers from Eve to Mary. This series will proclaim the good news of Jesus from the Scriptures, praise women in the gate (then and now), and prepare us for Advent and Christmas.

This study is intended for all women, regardless of age or stage, whether seekers or believers. Come join us on this pilgrimage as we revisit our mothers, relive their stories, and rejoice in the faith of Jesus Christ. Everyday Monks is the parish Podcast of St. Benedict’s Anglican Church in Rockwall, Texas: Belong - Believe - Become.

During this Fall Women’s Bible Study, we are looking for Jesus and his Mothers from Eve to Mary. This series will proclaim the good news of Jesus from the Scriptures, praise women in the gate (then and now), and prepare us for Advent and Christmas.

This study is intended for all women, regardless of age or stage, whether seekers or believers. Come join us on this pilgrimage as we revisit our mothers, relive their stories, and rejoice in the faith of Jesus Christ. Everyday Monks is the parish Podcast of St. Benedict’s Anglican Church in Rockwall, Texas: Belong - Believe - Become.

On this episode from the Everyday Monks, the clergy of St. Benedict’s Anglican Church (REC) sit down with pipes lit, prayer books open, and hearts turned toward eternity.

Canon Michael Vinson (Rector of St. Benedict’s) is joined by Dcn. Timothy Wilson, Fr. Michael Templin, and Fr. Marq Toombs for a wide-ranging, joyful, and surprisingly comforting conversation about All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and what it really means to belong to “the communion of saints.”

In this episode:

Is Halloween really “the devil’s holiday”?We trace Halloween back to its real roots — All Hallows’ Eve — the vigil before All Saints. You’ll hear why Christians once mocked death in the streets, not celebrated it.

Ghosts, graves, and the “thin veil”Why the Church has always prayed in the presence of the departed, and why that isn’t weird, pagan, or superstitious — it’s Christian hope.

Revelation 7 and the BeatitudesWe open the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and walk through the readings for All Saints:– The white-robed multitude before the throne in Revelation 7– Jesus on the mountain in Matthew 5– How the Beatitudes describe the path that leads to that vision — and why sainthood actually hurts.

Death, grief, and real comfortWhat does it mean that God will “wipe away all tears from their eyes”?How do we keep living when someone we love has died?And why do Anglicans say we’re still in communion with them?

Holy Communion and the saintsThe guys talk about how, in the Eucharist, heaven and earth are brought together — the Church militant and the Church triumphant worshipping one Lord, one Lamb, one Table.

Practical All Saints spirituality– Visiting graves and praying during All Hallows’ tide– Reading the parish necrology– Teaching your people that the dead in Christ are not “gone,” they are alive in Him.

Also in this episode:

Pipe Talk ReturnsDeacon Timothy breaks down Haunted Bookshop (Cornell & Diehl) — Burley, Virginia, Perique, hauntings optional — and why pipe tobacco and theology just seem to go together around here.

New Music DebutWe celebrate the debut single from Fr. Michael Templin & The Lone Star Sound:“The Clearest Mornings Are the Coldest.”Yes, members of the parish (including Canon Vinson on bass and producer Dustin on pedal steel) are literally playing on the track. You’ll hear it at the end of the episode.

Why you should listen:

Because this isn’t theory. This is pastoral.It’s grieving parents at the altar.It’s a widow at the rail.It’s a church that refuses to believe that death gets the last word.

Join in the conversation.

During this Fall Women’s Bible Study, we are looking for Jesus and his Mothers from Eve to Mary. This series will proclaim the good news of Jesus from the Scriptures, praise women in the gate (then and now), and prepare us for Advent and Christmas.

This study is intended for all women, regardless of age or stage, whether seekers or believers. Come join us on this pilgrimage as we revisit our mothers, reliv

e their stories, and rejoice in the faith of Jesus Christ. Everyday Monks is the parish Podcast of St. Benedict’s Anglican Church in Rockwall, Texas: Belong - Believe - Become.

When the Church says “contend,” does it mean to be contentious—or courageous?On this episode, the Everyday Monks roundtable (Fr. Michael Vinson, Dcn. Timothy Wilson, Fr. Michael Templin, and Fr. Mark Toombs) opens the 1928 Book of Common Prayer for the Feast of St. Simon & St. Jude and traces a compelling line from Jude 3 (“the faith once delivered”) to Ephesians 2 (built on the apostles and prophets, with Christ as the cornerstone)—all the way to life in your parish this week.

In this conversation:

* Zeal without frenzy: What Simon the Zealot teaches about holy courage vs. misdirected heat

* Jude’s charge: How to contend for the faith with truth, patience, and charity

* The living temple: Why ordered vocations and unity in the Spirit build a house God inhabits

* Comfort in conflict: Rethinking the Holy Spirit as Comforter amid real opposition

* History & hope: Early martyr traditions, a nod to Psalm 118, and the 1928 BCP Collect’s bold petition

Lighthearted parish life is here too—birthday shout-outs, an anniversary, and a quick Synod recap—set against the serious call to faithful witness.

Listen now and be strengthened to love, to build, and to contend—without becoming contentious.

The Collect.

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast built thy Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner-stone; Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made an holy temple acceptable unto thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle. Ephesians ii. 19.

NOW therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the house-hold of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

The Gospel. St. John xv. 17.

THESE things I command you, that ye love I one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep your’s also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

During this Fall Women’s Bible Study, we are looking for Jesus and his Mothers from Eve to Mary. This series will proclaim the good news of Jesus from the Scriptures, praise women in the gate (then and now), and prepare us for Advent and Christmas.

This study is intended for all women, regardless of age or stage, whether seekers or believers. Come join us on this pilgrimage as we revisit our mothers, reliv

e their stories, and rejoice in the faith of Jesus Christ. Everyday Monks is the parish Podcast of St. Benedict’s Anglican Church in Rockwall, Texas: Belong - Believe - Become.

The Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist

How does the Gospel’s beloved physician still tend the wounds of the world? In this episode of Everyday Monks, we open the 1928 Book of Common Prayer to the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist—a day that binds together Scripture, healing, and the missionary heart of the Church.

Join us as we explore:

* The rich imagery of Luke as healer and historian of the Holy Spirit

* The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel appointed for his feast—and what they reveal about divine compassion

* The BCP’s enduring theology of wholeness: body, mind, and soul

* How the prayerbook’s rhythms form us as “everyday physicians” of mercy in a fractured age

Come discover how St. Luke’s witness calls us to practice the art of spiritual healing—through prayer, presence, and the slow restoration of love. Listen now wherever you find your podcasts—and join the quiet revival of Anglican spirituality.

The Propers for the Feast of St. Luke

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY God, who didst inspire thy servant Saint Luke the Physician, to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of thy Son; Manifest in thy Church the like power and love, to the healing of our bodies and our souls; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle. 2 Tim. iv. 5.

WATCH thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. Alexander the copper-smith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

The Gospel. St. Luke x. 1.

THE Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it; if not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give; for the labourer is worthy of his hire.