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Saint Matthews Episcopal Church, 302 Church Street, Enosburg Falls, VT (2026)

03/21/2026

MORNING PRAYER ON SUNDAY, MARCH 22, AS WE HEAR THE STORY OF THE RAISING OF LAZARUS

Dear Friends,

Worship at St. Matthew’s this Sunday, March 22, will be Morning Prayer at 9am – both in person and online. Leading worship will be Junior Warden Ferdinand Lauffer, who is also our parish musician. Ferdinand grew up as a Roman Catholic in Germany and has had a long association with St. Matthew’s, first as musician, then as member and parish leader. Last Sunday, when we heard the story about Jesus restoring sight to a man born blind, Ferdinand shared during coffee hour how the previous weekend he had once again spent a day helping guide blind skiers at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, yet another way in which St. Matthew’s parishioners serve the wider community.

On this Fifth Sunday in Lent, we hear the story of Jesus raising from the dead his friend Lazarus, brother to Mary and Martha of Bethany. This is the climax of a number of familiar stories we’ve heard from the gospel of John – Jesus’ reflection on Living Water with the woman at the well in Samaria, Jesus’ conversation about being born again with Nicodemus, the healing of the man born blind. The raising of Lazarus is a prelude to the resurrection of Jesus himself on Easter morning. And it’s paired with the story Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones, when in a vision the bones come together a form up a company of people

– Where in your life do you feel a deadness?
– What kind of renewal to new life do you long for?
– Spend some time meditating on that with God.
– Where in society do you feel a need for new life?
– How can you work with God on that?

Lent culminates in Holy Week. Please include these observances in your planning:

Palm Sunday, with Palms & Passion Story – March 29 at 9am
Maundy Thursday, with Last Supper Observance – April 2 at 6pm
Good Friday on March 3 –
Liturgy & Stations of the Cross at 12 noon
Ecumenical Service with Seven Last Words at 7pm
at First Baptist Church in Richford
Easter Sunday – Festival Eucharist at 9am on March 5
followed by Easter Egg Hunt for children

Zoom connection information:
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Meeting ID: 847 5546 3578
Passcode: ChurchNow

Blessings,
Titus

01/24/2026

MORNING PRAYER THIS SUNDAY, JAN. 25, AT 9AM – ONLINE ONLY BECAUSE OF SEVERE WINTER WEATHER!

Dear Friends,

Change of plans: The winter weather predicted for this weekend has prompted us to shift in several ways for Sunday:

– Worship will be Morning Prayer offered by me, not Eucharist
– We’ll gather only online via Zoom, instead of in person (remember the pandemic?)
– Annual Parish Meeting has been postponed to Sunday, Feb. 1
–Worship time will be the usual 9am

Please join from the warm coziness of your homes! Bring your prayerbook to your computer. Here's the meeting ID: 3901534577. No password – you'll be admitted from the Waiting Room.

Monday was the Martin Luther King holiday, when we recalled the birth of the Civil Rights leader on 15 January 1929. At Tuesday’s meeting of the diocese’s Executive Council, of which I’m a member, Bishop Shannon recalled the rule of life that King set forth for people involved in the movement. Here it is:

1. Meditate daily on Jesus' teachings.
2. Remember the movement seeks justice and reconciliation, not victory.
3. Walk and talk in love.
4. Pray daily to be used by God.
5. Sacrifice personal wishes for others' freedom.
6. Observe courtesy with everyone.
7. Perform regular service for others.
8. Refrain from violence (fist, tongue, heart).
9. Strive for good health.
10, Follow movement leadership.

I’m struck by several features: The emphasis on Jesus and God (1 & 4) – remember, King was first a Christian and pastor, then a movement leader. The centrality of love and non-violence (3 & 8), which accords so well with Jesus’ teaching and lifestyle. The point that justice and reconciliation are the aims, not victory – oh, how tempting it is to turn our righteous causes into drives for victory! Hence the highlighting of service and self-sacrifice (5 & 7). The two bits that surprise me are the ones that emphasize courtesy and good health – very wholistic!

That rule of life, which appeared on King’s ‘Pledge Card’ in 1963, is a good one for us in these days of chaos brought on by disregard for the rule of law, oppression of racial and ethnic minorities, and a desperate drive for domination in world affairs. We are Jesus’ people. We must live out Jesus’ ethic with both courage and humility.

Blessings,
Titus

01/03/2026

COME TO MORNING PRAYER ON SUNDAY, JAN. 4: 1st SUNDAY OF 2026 & 2nd SUNDAY IN CHRISTMASTIDE

Dear Friends,

On this first Sunday of the New Year, Jan. 4, worship at St. Matthew’s will be Morning Prayer at 9am – both in person and online. Treasurer Dinny Hawksworth will lead the worship. On this Second Sunday in Christmastide we hear the stories of the Magi, the Flight into Egypt and Luke’s story about the 12-year-old Jesus astonishing the rabbis in the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Christmas Eve Festival Eucharist was lovely and heartening with many attending. You can see the Christmas Tableau above. Thanks to Dinny for the photos!

‘Christmas: Jesus Gets Us’ was the theme of the Christmas sermon (attached), in which I riffed off the global He Gets Us ad campaign to emphasize that through becoming human at Christmas Jesus experienced all the highs and lows of the human condition and so is able to ‘get us’ – understand us, resonate with us, walk with us, be our companion on life’s journey.

Later, our daughter Charlotte responded, ‘Yes, but do people get him?’ that is, understand who Jesus is and take in the magnitude of what God has done with us and for us in Jesus? So on the First Sunday of Christmastide I preached on ‘Getting Jesus,’ a meditation on that day’s prologue to the Gospel of John: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Words was with God, and the Word was God. All things were created through him. . . . And the Word was made flesh and lived among us.’ Here we encounter the Cosmic Christ – eternal, creative, integral to the very being of God.

‘Jesus Gets Us’ emphasizes God’s movement toward us in Jesus. ‘Getting Jesus’ emphasizes our response to that movement as we receive God’s gift, grow in that gift and move toward God in Jesus. A dance of communion!

Zoom connection information:
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Meeting ID: 847 5546 3578
Passcode: ChurchNow

Blessings,
Titus

12/21/2025

'GOD OF THE WOMB.' MORNING PRAYER THIS SUNDAY, DEC. 21 – ADVENT IV

Dear Friends,

Worship at St. Matthew’s this Sunday, Dec. 21, will be Morning Prayer at 9am – both in person and online. This is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, which brings us to the threshold of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on Wednesday and Thursday.

We will celebrate Christ’s birth on Christmas Eve: Carols at 4:30pm, followed by Festival Eucharist at 5pm. Invite family and friends! Neighbors over the back fence! Strangers! And it’ll be on Zoom as usual.

We’re used to hearing the story of the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary about Jesus being conceived in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. But on this fourth Sunday in this lectionary year we hear the story about an angel appearing to Joseph to advise him to take Mary as his wife, ‘for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’

The story is a helpful complement to Mary’s story, for it brings in the perspective of the husband and his faithful response to God’s bidding. The angel goes on to explain that one name for the child will be Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ That is indeed the overall significance of Jesus’ birth, the deeply assuring gift of knowing that God is with us – with us in both anguish and exultation, grief and celebration, joy and grief, vitality and death.

For your meditation in these days, I share with you the prayer Bishop Shannon shared at the close of this past week’s Executive Council meeting:

God of the womb,
It is not lost on us that you submitted to the body of a woman,
trusting in it to protect and grow you.
As we remember the nine months you dwelt in the womb,
the body of God being nurtured and carried,
remind us that our own bodies are worthy
of such care and tenderness.
May this be a season of sacred pause,
as we allow time to be near to our bodies,
to protect and strengthen them.
In a world that demands so much of us,
remind us that Christ did not come in physical
independence,
allowing the world to take and use him without limitation.
Show us the face of the Christ who was gravely dependent,
who needed to be held, fed, washed.
Who needed to be soothed and rocked to sleep.
If we are to honor the divine in us,
may it be this divinity –
fully embodied, fully dignified in the body. Amen.

by Cole Arthur Riley, in Black Liturgies

Zoom connection information:
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Meeting ID: 861 0530 2200
Passcode: 666941

Blessings,
Titus

12/06/2025

LEARN FROM JOHN THE BAPTIZER THIS SUNDAY, DEC. 7, AT MORNING PRAYER AT 9AM

Dear Friends,

Worship at St. Matthew’s this Sunday, Dec. 7, will be Morning Prayer – both in person and online.

On this Second Sunday of Advent we hear about John the Baptizer preparing the way for Jesus by calling people to repent of their sins and be baptized in the river Jordan. We can hear his words as directed to ourselves as we prepare in this season to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child – a birth 2,000 year ago, but also a rebirth in our spiritual life right now.

Thank you to all who have contributed to the offering for Christmas gifts to the children at the Brookhaven Home in Chelsea. The gifts will be healing balm in the lives of those young people who come from terribly traumatized backgrounds.

Upcoming times of worship:
Dec. 14, Advent 3: Eucharist at 9am
Dec. 21, Advent 4: Morning Prayer a 9am
Dec. 24, Christmas Eve: Carol Sing at 4:30pm and Festival Eucharist at 5pm
Dec. 28, Christmas 1: Morning Prayer at 9am

Here’s an invitation from Darcey Mercier, pastor of neighboring Grace Church in Sheldon and St. Luke’s Church in St. Albans: ‘I am starting a book group with both Grace Church and St Luke's and wondered if your people would like to join. We will meet on Dec 15, 6:30-7:45 on Zoom and every other week for 6 sessions. We are reading Walk in Love, by Scott Gunn and Melody Wilson Shobe. People are just getting their books now, so it is not too late for folks to join.’ If you’d like to join, please be in touch with Darcey: [email protected].

Information for this Sunday:
Zoom connection information:
• Go to your Zoom application and enter:
Meeting ID: 861 0530 2200
Passcode: 666941

Blessings,
Titus

The picture of John the Baptizer is a rendering by the Mafa people of Cameroon.

11/30/2025

CELEBRATE ADVENT 1 THIS SUNDAY, NOV. 30!

Dear Friends,

The season of Advent begins this Sunday, Nov. 30. The word advent comes from the Latin verb ve**re, which means ‘to come,’ to which is prefixed the preposition ad, meaning ‘to.’ So Advent signals a coming to. But who is coming? And to whom? Of course you already know the answer: It is Jesus who is coming. And to whom? To us: the whole human family, planet Earth and, indeed, the whole cosmos. In Jesus the God of the cosmos took flesh and came to us as one of us.

The actual event is celebrated at Christmas, but in the season of Advent we prepare for that celebration. As we begin a new church year – in Year A focusing on the gospel of Matthew – we circle back to the start of the Christ event. Advent has four Sundays. On the first we hear about the end of the world, the message being that we best prepare to celebrate Jesus’ first coming by preparing for his second coming to renew the cosmos. On the second and third Sundays we hear about John the Baptizer, the one sent to prepare the way for the Jesus. And on the fourth Sunday we hear Matthew’s version of Jesus’ birth.

So come to church this Sunday – 9am both in person and online:
to renew your church-going habit
to reflect on the past year and make plans for the new year
to begin your Christmas preparation in prayer and worship with God’s people

Here’s the Advent service schedule:
Nov. 30, Advent 1: Eucharist
Dec. 7, Advent 2: Morning Prayeer
Dec. 13, Advent 3: Eucharist
Dec. 20, Advent 4: Morning Prayer
Dec. 24, Christmas Eve: Festival Eucharist at 5pm

Financial Donations for Gifts for Brookhaven Children are still being received. Please put a check in the offering plate or send it to St. Matthew’s at PO Box 276, Enosburg 05450. Thanks to Emily Grims who organizes this annual outreach to traumatized children at Brookhaven.

The Community Thanksgiving Service on Tuesday went very well with about 75 people attending from seven congregations. The $300 collection is going to the Enosburg Food Shelf, the Richford Foodshelf and the Montgomery Heart Full Food Shelf. And I hope you all have had joyful Thanksgiving celebrations with family and friends.

Zoom connection information:
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Meeting ID: 861 0530 2200
Passcode: 666941

Blessings,
Titus

11/22/2025

MORNING PRAYER WITH CANON JANE THIS SUNDAY, NOV. 23. REMEMBER THANKSGIVING SERVICE TUESDAY AT 7PM

Dear Friends,

Worship at St. Matthew’s this Sunday, Nov. 23, will be Morning Prayer at 9am – both in person and online. Canon Jane Butterfield will lead the service, which will include scripture, reflection, prayer and maybe even some singing! This Sunday is the last of the liturgical year. Its theme is the Reign of Christ, the Christ who – amazingly and ironically – reigns from the cross.

The Community Thanksgiving Service will be held at St. Matthew’s this year! – Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 7pm. This is one of the two main annual occasions that local congregations get together for worship, the other being on Good Friday. Please come and welcome folks from other churches into our space for the ecumenical service. Participating are the local Methodists, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Congregationalists, Pentecostals and independent Evangelicals. There will be scripture, familiar hymns, a sermon from Dan Jordan of St. John’s Roman Catholic, prayers and historical readings – one from 1622 about the Thanksgiving at Plimoth Plantation, the other Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation in 1863.

All this highlights the central importance of giving thanks. When, upon receiving a gift on a birthday or at Christmas, we say, ‘Thank you!’ we’re acknowledging the generosity of the giver and expressing gratitude for how our life is enhanced by that gift. So it is with cosmic, spiritual thanks. At Thanksgiving we’re recognizing that amid whatever challenges and griefs we experience, our lives are yet chockful of gifts and blessings that have their origin in God. We may have health challenges, but we’re alive! We may feel care-worn, but every day is an opportunity to receive and offer blessing! There may be relational challenges, but the people in our lives all bear the image of God! Giving thanks turns our attention from deficits to assets, from constraints to opportunities, from complaining to celebrating. Thanks be to God!

The Christmas Stocking Gift Fund for the Brookhaven children is still open as we gather resources to give joy to children who have experienced dreadful trauma. Checks with the memo line ‘Brookhaven’ can be sent to the church: PO Box 276, Enosburg 05450.

This is the time of year for the Annual Pledge Appeal for 2026. You’ll soon be receiving a letter from Senior Warden Judy Rogers asking you to make a commitment to support St. Matthew’s financially next year. Please be thinking and praying about that. Meanwhile, last Sunday’s sermon addressing that topic was entitled ‘Stewarding the Temple' – let me know if you'd like me to email it to you.

Zoom connection information:
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Meeting ID: 861 0530 2200
Passcode: 666941

Blessings,
Titus

11/09/2025

NEWS FROM DIOCESAN CONVENTION
+ WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY, NOV. 9

Dear Friends,

WORSHIP at St. Matthew’s this Sunday, Nov. 9, will be Morning Prayer at 9am – both in person and online. Officiating will be Titus Henry Presler, who also serves as secretary to the Vestry. As usual, this will be a time of reflecting on scripture and being with God and one another in prayer.

The COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING SERVICE will be held at St. Matthew’s this year on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 7pm. This is a service offered jointly by the local congregations: the Methodists, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Congregationalists and Abundant Life Fellowship. Please come! And bring some refreshments for the reception that will follow in the Parish Hall.

Here’s a review of the 2025 ANNUAL CONVENTION of the Diocese of Vermont, of which we are a part. A diocese is a subdivision of the Episcopal Church, which has 110 dioceses altogether. Many dioceses are coterminous with state lines, as in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut, but larger states have more than one diocese. For instance, Massachusetts has 2, New York and California each have 6, and so on. There are also dioceses in other countries: Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Taiwan, and a convocation covering congregations in 8 countries in Europe.

Attending Convention from St. Matthew’s were senior warden Judy Rogers, Gloria Bergeron, Titus Henry, Linda Maloney and myself. Judy and Titus Henry gave a verbal report to the congregation last Sunday. The day-long, in-person portion of convocation was held Oct. 25, at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the business meeting was held online on Thursday, Oct. 30.

Here are some highlights:

– A Jesus-focused inspirational sermon by Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown.

– A presentation on the Essex-Underhill constellation of 2 parishes, served by one pastor. This is one of five or six constellations around the diocese, altogether involving about 18 congregations. The constellation closest to us is one the includes Grace Church in Sheldon and St. Luke’s Church in St. Albans, pastored by Darcey Mercier.

– A presentation on the revival of St. Andrew’s Church. St. Johnsbury, which was down to about 8 people and now has about 24 attending on a Sunday. One of their keys was connecting with civic and arts groups in their community.

– A seminar on how to achieve net-zero parish emissions, which Judy and I attended. This relates a passed resolution committing the diocese to end use of fossil fuels in church buildings by 2034. Judy and Dinny Hawksworth plan to attend a daylong workshop on this topic at Mission Farm near Killington on Nov. 15.

– A presentation on the diocese’s approach with distressed parishes. A new canon was added that cites the criteria for parish vitality that congregations must meet. The diocese seeks to revive distressed parishes, but sometimes closure becomes necessary. Recent instances in our area are St. Anne’s in Richford and the parish in Alburg. Currently there are 4 congregations in Franklin County: Enosburg, Swanton, Sheldon and St. Albans.

– An excellent address by Bp. Shannon on the strengths and challenges of the diocese.

– Approval of a diocesan budget of about $1.2 million, a bit less than in 2025. 61% of that will come from assessments from the 40 or so parishes. St. Matthew’s assessment is usually around $4,000 out of our budget of about $36,000.

– Changes to the canons – Episco-speak for bylaws! – to improve diocesan efficiency and collaboration on the basis of the experience of the past three years.

– Passage of resolutions advocating and end to the violence in Gaza, opposing Christian nationalism, and supporting sanctuary for the vulnerable.

Information for this Sunday:
Zoom connection information:
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Meeting ID: 861 0530 2200
Passcode: 666941

Blessings,
Titus

09/05/2025

COME BE WITH BISHOP SHANNON AS SHE PRESIDES & PREACHES THIS SUNDAY AT EUCHARIST – AT 11AM – WITH RECEPTION FOLLOWING IN THE PARISH HALL

Dear Friends,

Worship this Sunday, Sept. 7, at St. Matthew’s will be at 11am, not our usual 9am. Why? – because Bishop Shannon MacVean Brown (at left) will be visiting the parish to preside at worship, preach and visit with parishioners. So please make a point of coming so that she gets a sense of the breadth of our membership, so that you can get to know her a bit, and so that you can participate in the conversation with her during the Reception that will follow in the Parish Hall.

Last week I gave you an overview of Bp. Shannon’s background and experience.

This week I reflect with you about the roles of diocese and bishop.

First, you may wonder: Why have a diocese and a bishop? Why not simply be a local congregation? That’s a natural question in our individualistic, non-joining age. But the Episcopal Church is a connectional church, meaning all congregations are united in a common identity and mission. The local congregation is enriched by the diverse experiences of identity and mission that other Episcopalians have around the country – Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, rural, urban and so on. Being connected also strengthens our role in society as the church speaks out on public issues – like racism, violence, injustice – and reaches out in ministry to people’s needs. In other words, being connected strengthens us as a community and strengthen our voice. Other connectional churches are the Roman Catholic, United Methodist, Lutheran and Presbyterian churches. Baptists tend to be more local, and there are many independent, stand-alone churches as well.

Okay, but what does St. Matthew’s have to do with the Diocese of Vermont? A lot, actually! Senior warden Judy Rogers is a member of the diocese’s Standing Committee, which is the diocese’s legal authority alongside the bishop, and she attended that group’s meeting on Tuesday. I’m a member of the diocese’s Executive Council, which considers the budget and policy matters, and we had a meeting yesterday. I’m also the Global Mission Advocate for the diocese and in the past have promoted evangelism around the state. We’re active at Diocesan Convention in the fall. Overall, it’s helpful to be connected with the other 40 or so Episcopal congregations in Vermont. The diocese is headquartered at Rock Point in Burlington, but all of us constitute the diocese.

And what’s a bishop? A bishop is an ancient form of leader in the church, going back to the earliest centuries, even to the New Testament – take a look at 1 Timothy 3.1-7 and Titus 1.5-9. What is a leader? I define a leader as one whose commitment and action inspire commitment and action in others. The Greek word for bishop, episkopos, means one who oversees, that is, one with authority to ensure good overall operation – in our case the overall ministry of the Episcopal Church in Vermont. The word episkopos is obviously behind the name of the Episcopal Church: we’re a church with bishops! The Catechism describes the work of a bishop this way:

The ministry of a bishop is to represent Christ and his Church, particularly as apostle, chief priest and pastor of a diocese; to guard the faith, unity and discipline of the whole Church; to proclaim the Word of God; to act in Christ’s name for the reconciliation of the world and the building up of the Church; and to ordain others to continue Christ’s ministry.

So when we welcome Bishop Shannon on Sunday, that’s who we’re welcoming! Please come and be a part of it! And remember: 11am!

Zoom connection information:
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Meeting ID: 861 0530 2200
Passcode: 666941

Blessings,
Titus Presler, Vicar

08/16/2025

COME TO EUCHARIST AT ST. MATTHEW'S THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, AT 9AM

Dear Friends,

Worship at St. Matthew’s this Sunday, August 17, will be Eucharist at 9am – both in person and online.

The collect – or theme prayer – for this Sunday begins: Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life. . .’ It’s relatively easy to relate to Jesus as an example of godly life. Even most non-Christians acknowledge the edifying of example of Jesus as a virtuous, wise and courageous person. But what about the ‘sacrifice for sin’?

That brings us to the question of what happened on the cross, which is a mystery of cosmic dimension. Sacrifice is a difficult concept. Certainly we can see that the Incarnation itself was a sacrifice on God’s part – the second person of the Trinity taking on all the limitations of being a human being. Jesus was likewise making a sacrifice in refusing the compromises that would have avoided such a wretched and ignominious death.

But ‘a sacrifice for sin’? I see what happened as God in Christ intervening in the world’s cycle of sin. Intervening how? By absorbing into God’s very self the world’s suffering and sin – all the personal suffering and sin, all the familial suffering and sin, all the societal suffering and sin. Through that absorption, God turns away from punishing and instead forgives. And loves. And heals, making whole what has been wounded. That’s God’s mysterious and redeeming work – work that God invites us to share.

I’m interested in how that way of understanding the cross strikes you. Feel free to reply with your thoughts.

Bishop to Visit on Sept. 7: Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown will visit St. Matthew’s on Sunday, Sept. 7, the first Sunday after Labor Day. That will be a good start to the fall ministry season. Note that because of the geographical extent of the state of Vermont, all visits that the bishop makes to parishes occur at 11am, so that will be the time of our worship that day. The liturgy will be followed by a fellowship time with the bishop in the Parish Hall. Details will follow, but please mark the visit on your calendars now.

This Sunday we will take up a collection for Episcopal Relief & Development. As its name suggests, ERD is the Episcopal Church’s major channel for responding to national and international disasters such as floods, fires, earthquakes and also the effects of war on populations. It also promotes human flourishing to alleviate the poverty that affects so many. For instance, its Early Childhood Development program is active in six African countries, including Mozambique and Zambia. ERD equally helps with the effects of hurricanes, wildfires and floods in the USA. Contributing to ERD is a way our parish can contribute to this work. Please come with an additional contribution this Sunday for this work – checks can be marked ERD on the memo line.

Zoom connection information:
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Meeting ID: 861 0530 2200
Passcode: 666941

Blessings,
Titus Presler, Vicar

08/02/2025

JOIN US AT EUCHARIST AT 9AM THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3

Dear Friends,

Worship at St. Matthew’s this Sunday, August 3, will be Eucharist at 9am – both in person and online. This weekend promises to be lovely, with sunshine not only today but right through Monday. It will be so good to be together and perhaps even sing one of the hymns outside!

A line from the Letter to the Colossians this Sunday catches my attention in the current political climate in our country:

"Now you must get rid of all such things as anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator."

We’re living in a time when many people are being, at the least, unkind to one another because of political differences. Worse, lots of abusive language is being used, both in person and online, with people nursing malice against those who differ from themselves. This is shredding relationships and weakening the bonds that create the community that we cherish.

The writer to the Colossians is not simply offering up moral advice. Rather, his vision is that ‘your life is hidden with Christ in God,’ and that you ‘have clothed yourselves with the new self.’ In other words, our spiritual union with Jesus has made all the difference, or at least it should.

Last week’s Seven Days, the free Burlington weekly, had a good article about Braver Angels, the nationwide network of groups of people across the political spectrum who are committed to fostering respectful conversation about the issues of the day. The first such group in Vermont was in St. Albans, and there are groups in other parts of the state as well. The reflections offered by participants are encouraging. You might be interested in checking out their website and signing up for their emails – I’ve been on their list for a couple of years. Whether or not you formally join the effort, it’s inspiring that people are working hard to overcome ‘abusive language,’ listen to one another and learn from one another.

Zoom connection information:
• Go to your Zoom application and enter:
Meeting ID: 861 0530 2200
Passcode: 666941

Blessings,
Titus Presler, Vicar

Saint Matthews Episcopal Church

03/21/2026

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