Sunday Sermons

Rev. Jordan Rippy preaches on Exodus at St. David’s Episcopal Church, recounting Israel’s journey from slavery through the Red Sea into the wilderness, where repeated crises over bitter water, food, and now thirst lead the people to quarrel with Moses and test God, asking, “Is the Lord among us or not?” He argues their fear is understandable and that the deeper issue, shared by congregants, is not...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, September 20th, on the Seventeenth Sunday in Pentecost. Rev. Jim Quigley introduces the congregation to Paul’s letter to the Philippians as a four-chapter love letter written from prison, centered on suffering and shaped by hope and humility. He outlines Paul’s call to see our stories as living expressions of J...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, September 13th, on the Sixteenth Sunday in Pentecost. Rev. Kristen Hawley shares a homecoming message shaped by attending Daniel Bentley’s ordination the day before, highlighting a baptismal prayer that begins with forgiveness and asks God to grant an inquiring heart, courage, love, and “joy and wonder” in all...

Rev. Jim Quigley preaches at St. David’s Episcopal Church on September 6th, the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, explaining his unease with challenging lectionary texts—especially Matthew’s guidance on addressing sin in the church—and recalling how confirmation students found Psalm 139 “creepy.” He urges congregants to trust scripture’s discomfort and offers three considerations: the gospel’s goa...

Rev. Kristen Hawley preaches at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Romans 12, continuing a summer journey from Genesis into Paul’s letter and its “therefore” in chapter 12: if God is merciful and faithful, how shall we live? She contrasts a transformed Christian life with a spiritual checklist, warning that congregants often turn love, hospitality, prayer, and generosity into scorekeeping for God’s a...

Rev. Jim Quigley preaches at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. on August 23 (Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost), reflecting on the day’s readings and seeking a responsible, helpful word about God. Noting disagreement about Jesus in “Who do you say that I am?” and Paul’s effort to unite believers in Rome, he highlights three marks of strong faith from Romans: don’t be ashamed or bash...

Rev. Kristen Hawley preaches at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. on the final Sunday of the summer Genesis series, culminating in Joseph’s reconciliation with the brothers who sold him into slavery. She invites congregants to imagine Joseph’s uncontrollable weeping—an embodied breaking of years of silence and unresolved family wound—making reconciliation possible when words could n...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, August 9th, on the Eleventh Sunday in Pentecost. Rev. Jordan Rippy revisits Genesis to set the scene from creation through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, arriving at Joseph and the brothers’ hostility toward him, including Joseph’s dreams of ruling over them and the choices of Reuben and Judah to put him in a well...

Rev. Jordan Rippy preaches at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. (July 26, Tenth Sunday after Pentecost) on Genesis’s ancestral narratives, focusing on Jacob before reconciling with Esau. Alone and anxious by the Jabbok River after sending his family, possessions, and gifts ahead, Jacob wrestles all night with a mysterious figure—man, angel, God, or himself—and refuses to let go unti...

Rev. Kristen Hawley preaches at St. David’s Episcopal Church on the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, reflecting on how people chase “Rachels”—idealized loves, jobs, achievements, or leaders—believing they will make life perfect, only to wake up to disappointment: “and in the morning, behold, it was Leah.” Using Jacob’s story of working seven years for Rachel but being given Leah, she argues the probl...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, July 21st, on the Eighth Sunday in Pentecost. In this sermon, Rev. Jim Quigley reflects on the Genesis story of Jacob at Bethel alongside the Gospel image of wheat and tares, focusing especially on Jacob’s fear and his dream of a staircase with angels ascending and descending. Rev. Quigley suggests Jacob uses a...

Rev. Kristen Hawley preaches at St. David’s Episcopal Church on the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, inviting congregants to reflect on what “soil” they are today in the parable of the sower and then turning to Genesis and the story of Jacob and Esau. She describes preparing a homily about staying together in family messiness, then personally wanting to “hand in her ticket” and cut off difficult re...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, July 12th, on the Sixth Sunday in Pentecost. Rev. Jim Quigley notes that Independence Day is a red-letter feast day in the Episcopal Church and uses it to reflect on loving God, country, and one another. Drawing on the day’s readings from Genesis, Romans, and Matthew, he recounts a family Fourth of July story o...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, June 28th, on the Fifth Sunday in Pentecost. In this sermon, Rev. Kristen Hawley invites the congregation to name where the story of Abraham and Isaac meets them emotionally, emphasizing that discomfort, anger, or confusion are all valid responses to this “dangerous text.” She notes the story’s foundational rol...

This is a recording from the sermon preached at St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, June 21st, on the Fourth Sunday in Pentecost. Rev. Jordan Rippy begins by acknowledging Father’s Day as both joyful and difficult, then turns to the challenging Genesis story of Hagar and Ishmael, emphasizing how Abraham and Sarah use, discard, and endanger them. Rev. Rippy asks why this “side story” remains in...

Rev. Daniel Bentley preaches his final Sunday at St. David’s Episcopal Church, thanking parishioners and expressing love while reflecting on the biblical pattern of God calling people and sending them, from Abram, Moses, and Isaiah’s “Hineni” (“Here I am”) to Mary and Jesus sending the disciples early in his ministry because “the harvest is plentiful.” He argues that calling and sending is the rhy...

This is a recording from the Children’s Sermon preached by Rev. Kristen Hawley at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, June 7th, on the Third Sunday in Pentecost, the First Sunday and last of the program year. Rev. Hawley teaches the congregation about God’s mercy, describing it as God’s help that enables people not only to think about what is right but to do what is right. Reflecting on the Go...

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 th...

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...

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 a...

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...

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 th...

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’...

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...

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...