Sunday Sermons

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 vindi...

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 a...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Saturday, April 4th, at the Celtic Easter Vigil. Rev. Daniel Bentley reflects on the phrase “Easter is what God does with things that are buried,” connecting Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection to the image in John 12 of a grain of wheat that must fall into the earth and die to bear fruit. Speaking to the congregati...

Rev. Kristen Hawley welcomes congregants at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Good Friday and invites them to sit with darkness and suffering without resorting to clichés about God. Drawing on her experience accompanying people through grief and addiction, she challenges common atonement theories that portray Jesus’ death as a required payment to Satan or to an angry, transactional God, asking what...

Rev. Jim Quigley reflects with parishioners at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Maundy Thursday after meeting with Steven Rosen, a Jewish spiritual mentor, whose insights about Passover and the Seder deepen Quigley’s understanding of Christian Holy Week. He notes that synagogue attendance is declining similarly to churches and wonders what draws people away from shared ritual into individualism. Qu...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, 3/29, Palm Sunday. Rev. Jim Quigley reflects on the Palm Sunday liturgy’s chaotic movement from “Hosanna” to “Crucify him,” noting that the 1979 Book of Common Prayer introduced the Passion liturgy on this day following broader 1970s liturgical reforms. Drawing on his seminary work painting the Way of the Cross...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, 3/22, the Fifth Sunday in Lent. In this sermon, Rev. Kristen Hawley reflects on the Gospel story of Jesus raising Lazarus and asks the congregation to consider what “the glory of God” really looks like. Drawing on a story about her child Alec’s joy-filled Halloween costumes—especially dressing as a pizza delive...

Rev. Daniel Bentley preaches at St. David’s Episcopal Church on the Fourth Sunday in Lent about the question of suffering, recalling his chaplaincy internship at a nursing home where a resident asked him why God allows suffering and whether suffering is punishment. He notes that scripture contains differing perspectives on punishment and suffering, and connects this to the Gospel reading where the...

Rev. Kristen Hawley preaches at St. David’s Episcopal Church on the Third Sunday in Lent at the 5pm Celtic Service, reflecting on the Gospel story of the Samaritan woman and the overlooked detail that she leaves her water jar behind after encountering Jesus. She explores wells in scripture as powerful places where God starts something new and where human thirst meets God, noting Jacob’s well as de...

Rev. Kristen Hawley preaches at St. David’s Episcopal Church on the Third Sunday in Lent, centering the Israelites’ desert complaint in Exodus—“Is the Lord among us or not?”—and connecting it to congregants’ own moments of fear, loss, and uncertainty. She recalls a Mr. Rogers episode featuring 10-year-old Jeff Erlanger, whose sense of self blossomed when Fred Rogers asked him, unexpectedly, to pra...

On Sunday 3/1, the Second Sunday in Lent at the 5pm Celtic Service at St. David’s Episcopal Church, the Rev. Jim Quigley reflects on John’s Gospel and Nicodemus’ three appearances (John 3, 7, and 19) to describe a progressing faith: seeing the signs, being intellectually challenged by Jesus, breaking out of an old paradigm, dropping into a new one, and “doing a new truth.” He notes Jesus’ message...

On Sunday 3/1, the Second Sunday in Lent and St. David’s Day, the Rev. Kristen Hawley preached at St. David’s Episcopal Church, noting that not all churches celebrate the day and that St. David is often confused with King David, as depicted in the church’s stained glass. She shared “fun facts” about St. David, including traditions that he was born during a great storm, that a dove would rest on hi...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, 2/22, the First Sunday in Lent. In this sermon, seminarian Daniel Bentley addresses the unfashionable topic of sin in the Episcopal Church, arguing that avoiding honest reckoning with sin risks preaching what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls “cheap grace.” Drawing on Genesis, he challenges a simple Sunday school readi...

Rev. Kristen Hawley preaches an Ash Wednesday sermon at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., reflecting on the prophet Joel’s call to return to God, who is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. She contrasts the ways congregants may experience Ash Wednesday as either a joyful invitation or a daunting summons to repent, fast, pray, and give alms, emphasizi...

Rev. Kristen Hawley’s sermon at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. on February 15th, the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, invites congregants to reflect on their own “mountaintop moments,” both joyful and difficult, marked by awe and transformation. She connects a family conversation about Harry Potter’s “Divination” and “Transfiguration” to Transfiguration Sunday, describing Jesus’ t...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, February 8th, 2023, on the Fifth Sunday in Epiphany. In this sermon, Rev. Jim Quigley delves into challenging scriptures from Isaiah 58, the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel, and Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. He distills his reflection into two key points: the idea that the...

This recording is from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, February 1st, during the Fourth Sunday in Epiphany. In this sermon, Rev. Kristen Hawley explores two essential questions arising from the day's scripture readings: 'How then shall we live?' and 'Who is God and what is God like?' Drawing on the prophet Micah and Jesus's Beatitudes, Rev. Hawley teaches that God is...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Saturday, January 24th, for the Third Sunday in Epiphany. In this sermon, Rev. Kristen Hawley explores the profound significance of the Epiphany season and the story of the Magi. She reflects on the transformative power of encountering Christ and urges the congregation to embrace epiphanies in their lives. By incorpora...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, January 18th, on the Second Sunday After the Epiphany. In this sermon, Rev. Jim Quigley delves into the transformative power of the questions posed by Jesus in the Gospels, particularly focusing on the question 'What are you looking for?' The sermon encourages the congregation to reflect on their deepest desire...

In her sermon on the First Sunday after the Epiphany at St. David's Episcopal Church, the Rev. Kristen Hawley reflects on her journey from feeling like a 'fish out of water' during her seminary years to finding meaning in everyday occurrences. She shares a personal anecdote about placing nativity figures in her home and how her child's curiosity about the wise men's journey led her to deeper refle...

In this sermon delivered by the Rev. Jim Quigley on Sunday, January 4 during the Second Sunday of Christmas at St. David's Episcopal Church, the focus is on how to maintain the magic and message of Christmas even after the season ends. Rev. Quigley contemplates on the concept of 'bifurcating' life and faith, advocating instead for a consistent expression of one's Christian values in all aspects of...

In this sermon delivered on the First Sunday of Christmas at St. David's Episcopal Church, the Rev. Jordan Rippy reflects on the continuing celebration of Christmas, recounting the humorous confusion over the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' gifts. She then shares anecdotes from a recent nativity play, highlighting an unexpected encounter with a Flemish Giant Rabbit. Moving into deeper theological discu...

The Rev. Jim Quigley, during a Christmas Day sermon at St. David's Episcopal Church, reflects on why Christmas becomes more meaningful as one ages, emphasizing the shift from receiving to giving. He discusses the profound significance of Christ's birth and the intellectual insights from the Gospel of John. Jim shares personal anecdotes about his family's Christmas traditions, highlighting the impo...

Rev. Kristen Hawley welcomed the congregation to a Christmas Eve service at St. David's Episcopal Church. She introduced the concept of incarnation theology and emphasized that even children can grasp its essence. Using examples from recent baptisms and children's insights, she highlighted how children naturally understand and express theological truths. The sermon connected the ideas of baptism,...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, December 14th, the Third Sunday in Advent. In this sermon, Seminarian Daniel Bentley reflects on the significance of ‘Joyful Sunday’ during the penitential season of Advent. Bentley delves into the scriptural narrative, focusing on John the Baptist’s question about Jesus’ true identity. He explores themes of do...