Rev. Kristen Hawley preaches for Trinity Sunday at St. David’s Episcopal Church, noting the Church’s long, often confusing attempts to explain the Trinity (including the Athanasian Creed) and emphasizing that people come to understanding in different ways. She connects the Trinity to delight, inspiration, and praise, referencing a staff Easter project in which each person wrote about what helps them notice and engage God (from biscuits and words to trains, shoes, gardening, dance, and music). Describing the Trinity as a never-ending relational “dance” and current, she urges congregants to find their way into it through what moves them. She offers the musical key change as an image of Trinity and creation, using Beyoncé’s “Love on Top” and the repetitive, building pattern of Genesis—God said, saw, created, blessed, and it was good—as examples of “home” and surprise. She encourages parishioners to listen for life’s key changes that draw them into deeper connectivity and remind them “it is good.”00:22 Trinity Sunday Explained00:58 Athanasius Creed Deep Dive01:58 Is Trinitarian Language Helpful01:18 Different Paths to Truth03:10 Praise and What Moves Us03:20 Easter Staff Reflections04:01 Delightful Examples and Takeaway05:00 Entering the Trinity Current05:44 Delight as Spiritual Compass00:05 Trinity as Key Change06:30 How Key Changes Work07:29 Beyoncé Demo Love on Top09:35 Genesis as Refrain and Shift11:18 Finding Your Holy Spirit Stride12:43 Music Memories and Everyday Modulations14:26 Listen for the Key Change

On Pentecost Sunday at the Celtic Service at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., Rev. Kristen Hawley reflects on why people come to church by comparing church identity to honest branding and slogans. She recounts teaching the Pentecost story in children’s chapel, where a child defines church as “whenever two or three are gathered” with God, and connects this to the Pentecost reading in which the Holy Spirit breaks down barriers of language and division. Drawing on Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, she emphasizes that many different gifts come from one Spirit and are meant to complete, not compete with, one another. She points to congregants stepping in when staff were absent as evidence of Spirit-filled community marked by love, shared burdens, welcome, and joy, and offers a simple slogan: “St. David’s, not perfect, working on it together.”00:00 Welcome and Pentecost00:33 Church Branding Ideas02:09 Kids Chapel Definition04:22 Pentecost Story and Unity05:39 Corinth and Many Gifts07:40 Spirit in Action Today10:35 Love Across Divisions12:09 Our Slogan and Sending

Rev. Jordan Rippy describes Pentecost as a principal feast rooted in a Jewish harvest festival and as the fulfillment of Eastertide and the Ascension promise that the Holy Spirit (paraclete, a helper alongside) will be with the church. Noting biblical images of the Spirit—especially fire—Rev. Rippy emphasizes that at Pentecost the fire falls on people, then and now. Through a story about a child asking if one must go to church to be a Christian, he explains that Christian life is communal worship, service, and mutual help so congregants can be changed for the sake of the world. The Spirit gives fearful disciples, especially Peter, a voice and empowers ordinary people. He closes with a Desert Fathers saying urging believers to “become all flame.”

00:00 Pentecost Feastday

01:10 Easter Promise Fulfilled

01:53 Paraclete Helper Spirit

02:41 Spirit as Fire

03:56 Why Church Matters

04:54 Family Story Answer

06:29 Changed for World

07:20 Spirit Gives Voice

08:35 Church Beyond Opinions

09:25 Become All Flame

10:36 Pentecost Sending Prayer

Rev. Daniel Bentley’s sermon at St. David’s Episcopal Church (Washington, D.C.) on the Seventh Sunday of Easter reflects on Acts 1, where the disciples ask Jesus when Israel’s kingdom will be restored, and Jesus instead promises the Holy Spirit and names their identity as his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. He emphasizes that Christian life is not primarily a checklist of deeds; faithful actions flow from first knowing who we are and whose we are. Congregants become witnesses through encountering the risen Christ in baptism, Scripture, prayer, and the Eucharistic table, and then live that witness in ordinary acts of patience, presence, and care, illustrated by a marathon runner’s “being” and the life remembered at Carolyn Bail’s funeral.

00:00 Power to Witness

00:21 Disciples Ask When

01:14 Identity Over Timeline

02:08 Being Before Doing

03:13 What Makes a Witness

04:07 Meeting Christ Today

05:06 Marathon Runner Analogy

06:47 What Witness Looks Like

08:24 Come to Table

00:13 Closing Amen

In: Abiding in Christ Through Life’s TransitionsRev. Kristen Hawley greets parishioners on Mother’s Day and reflects on last year’s sermon word “with,” introducing this year’s word from the Gospel: “in,” or “abide.” Drawing from Jesus’ promises (“I am in my Father,” “the Spirit will be in you”) and Paul (“In him we live and move and have our being”), she describes “being in” as the central lens through which life is interpreted, like a marriage serving as the nucleus that steadies everything else. She situates the Gospel in the disciples’ anxious transition before the Ascension, noting Jesus offers not a “spiritual GPS” but presence through the Holy Spirit, continuing Christ’s life among them. Using C.S. Lewis and nesting dolls, she emphasizes God’s indwelling closeness and invites congregants to remember they are already in God, live in love, and be a welcoming, life-giving church amid life’s changes.00:00 Mothers Day Welcome00:12 Last Years Word With01:24 Todays Word In02:33 What It Means To Be In03:36 Marriage As The Center04:36 No Map Just Presence05:21 Gospel Context And Transition07:26 Promise Of The Advocate09:08 Indwelling Not Distance10:55 C S Lewis And Nesting Dolls13:03 Abide In Me Looks Like Love14:11 Steadiness Through Transitions15:02 A Church Alive In Christ17:25 Final Invitation To Live In

Rev. Jim Quigley offers a children’s sermon at St. David’s Episcopal Church (May 3, Fifth Sunday of Easter) using an object lesson about a priest’s stole. He shows a stole made for his ordination by South Sudanese boys, decorated with small feet to remember the “Lost Boys of the South Sudan,” who walked for three years to reach safety; he explains they disliked the label because, though they didn’t know where home was, they were “never lost to God.” Connecting this to Jesus as “the way and the truth and the life” and to Isaiah (“I have called you by name… I have written your name on the palm of my hand”), he gives congregants a “roadmap” home with five routes: Forgiveness Place, Generosity Boulevard, Compassion Avenue, Prayer Street, and Kindness Lane, encouraging them to practice these paths when they feel lost to God.00:00 Welcome and Setup00:14 What Is an Object Lesson01:03 Why Priests Wear Stoles02:24 The Stole With Feet03:50 Lost Boys Journey05:03 Never Lost to God06:14 Roadmap to Home07:34 Five Roads to Jesus08:23 Practice the Five Roads09:32 Handing Out Maps10:33 Closing Blessing

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, April 26th, on the Fourth Sunday in Easter. On Good Shepherd Sunday, Rev. Kristen Hawley reflects on John 10’s image of Jesus not yet as “the good shepherd” but as “the gate,” setting it alongside the earlier story of Jesus healing the man born blind and the Pharisees’ fearful exclusion of him. Using the theme “grace under pressure,” Rev. Hawley contrasts systems that manage access and create chaos with Jesus’ “vulgar grace”—an offensively generous openness that refuses credential-checking and offers abundant life. Through everyday stories about family dynamics and a recent car accident, she invites the congregation to resist blame and gatekeeping and instead “be the gate” by extending God’s grace under pressure.00:00 Welcome Good Shepherd Sunday00:51 I Am the Gate01:42 Seminary Story Setup03:49 Grace Under Pressure Theme05:36 Healing the Blind Man07:48 Pharisees and Exclusion10:12 Everyday Pressure Seltzer13:13 Vulgar Grace Explained15:31 Car Crash Compassion17:25 Be the Gate Closing

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, April 19th, on the Third Sunday in Easter. Rev. Jim Quigley reflects on Luke’s Walk to Emmaus, emphasizing that the Christian story must be known “by heart,” not merely by intellect. He describes Cleopas and his companion walking away in sadness until the risen Christ joins them as an unrecognized stranger who questions them, interprets scripture, and is finally known in hospitality and the breaking of bread—then vanishes. Rev. Quigley connects this fleeting recognition to moments of insight and argues that faith is “recognition” that comes when trust is offered through hospitality, even amid fear. He shares a personal seven-mile walk where he noticed strangers he did not stop to engage, challenging the congregation to see Christ in others.00:00 Love From the Heart00:29 Why This Story Matters02:16 Walking Away to Emmaus03:04 The Stranger Explains04:46 Scripture and the Least06:31 Stay With Us07:18 Recognized in the Breaking07:59 When Insight Vanishes09:10 Recognition Through Hospitality10:15 A Seven Mile Challenge00:16 Closing Blessing

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, April 12th, on the Second Sunday in Easter. In this sermon, Rev. Daniel Bentley argues for “Justice for Thomas,” challenging the “Doubting Thomas” label and presenting Thomas as an exemplar of faith who insists the risen Jesus’ wounds matter, showing that Easter does not undo Good Friday but glorifies and vindicates it. Rev. Bentley notes Thomas’ confession, “My Lord and my God,” and links Thomas’ discernment to a story attributed to St. Martin of Tours about recognizing a false vision of Christ without wounds. He then addresses doubt as normal and generative for faith, offering a “doubt toolkit” for the congregation: talk with clergy, look to martyrs, and read writers like Rachel Held Evans on faith as risk and continued trust.00:00 Justice for Thomas01:31 Wounds and Resurrection02:40 My Lord and My God03:14 St Martin’s Vision04:42 Why Doubt Matters06:21 Doubt as Companion07:24 A Toolkit for Doubt08:22 Rachel Held Evans on Risk09:53 Jesus Meets Our Doubts00:03 Final Blessing

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, April 5th, Easter Sunday. In this sermon, Rev. Kristen Hawley welcomes the congregation and reflects on the challenge of preaching Easter anew, anchoring the message in a House Beautiful quote: “You can’t land at fabulous. You have to experience fabulous all the way through.” Drawing on Matthew’s resurrection account, Rev. Hawley highlights the angel’s first word to the women at the tomb—“Do not be afraid”—as a blessing that makes room for joy and new life. Citing John O’Donohue, she invites parishioners to let old fears and habits fall away and to live Easter daily by receiving God’s blessing and becoming people who bless others, seeing God’s abundance amid anxiety, war, and scarcity.00:00 Easter Welcome00:59 Fabulous Quote01:58 Renovation Metaphor02:55 Easter All Through03:52 Tomb Scene04:48 Do Not Fear05:47 Blessing Begins06:20 O'Donohue Wisdom07:19 Be People Who Bless08:26 Scarcity vs Abundance09:40 Practicing Blessing10:52 Easter Changes Everything11:43 Live Easter Daily