ST JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH HEBBRONVILLE

06/03/2026

06/01/2026

The Visitation: “From now on, all generations shall call me blessed.” “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

May 31 commemorates the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth. This meeting of two pregnant women is filled with prophetic significance. Mary’s prophetic statement that “all generations” would call her “blessed” was first realized when she was greeted by Elizabeth. Both women bore children in their wombs whose births had been prophesied. The Prophet Malachi had said, centuries before, that Elizabeth’s son, John the Baptist, was to “prepare the way of the Lord.” John, it was prophesied, would “be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15). Even before his birth, Scripture records that John began to fulfill this prophetic mission. As Elizabeth greeted Mary, John sensed the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb and proclaimed the coming of the Messiah by leaping in Elizabeth’s womb. In response to these significant events, Mary proclaimed her hymn, “The Magnificat” (“My soul magnifies the Lord,” Luke 1:42-45). This hymn continues to be sung by Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Lutherans and many other Chrisians every day at Evening Prayer.

Almighty God, by whose grace Elizabeth rejoiced with the blessed Virgin Mary and greeted her as the mother of the Lord: Look with favor on your lowly servants, that, with Mary, we may magnify your holy Name and rejoice to acclaim her Son as our Savior; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Art & history by Ben Lansing

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05/31/2026

Trinity Sunday

From the Athanasian Creed: “We worship one God in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity; Neither confusing the Persons, / nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, / another of the Holy Ghost; But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one, / the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.”

On the Sunday after Pentecost, the church devotes its attention to the mysteries of the Trinity. In both the Old and New Testaments, God reveals that he is One God in three persons and throughout Scripture we are given insights into the eternal relationship of love within the Godhead. Christians since the 1st century have marveled at this intricate revelation and have carefully defined what Scripture says about this loving God we worship. In the Nicene Creed, the word ‘Trinity’ is used to describe God’s revelation of himself and, later, the much longer Athanasian Creed was written to elaborate on the truths defined by the Nicene Creed. In many churches, the Athanasian Creed is read or sung in the Sunday liturgy as an act of praise and recognition of the profound and glorious nature of the God we serve.

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Art & history by Ben Lansing

Book and prints available now - ourchurchspeaks.com

Listen to the Our Church Speaks podcast for a two-part series on the Nicene Creed and the theology of the Trinity.

05/26/2026

“Let us entreat God, who makes men to be of one mind in His Father’s house.” - Augustine of Canterbury (534–604), First Archbishop of Canterbury

Christianity has had a native presence in the British isles since the earliest centuries. The 6th century Scottish historian, Gildas, recorded that the faith first reached England within 5 years of Jesus’ resurrection. A Celtic tradition of Christianity, with unique worship and customs, developed in England over this 500 year age. The islands produced famous saints like Alban, Patrick, and Ninian. But by Gildas’ time, Christianity was in decline. The Celtic church was increasingly weakened by invasions from pagan Anglo-Saxons. Many wondered if Christianity in England would disappear altogether. In 595, Pope Gregory the Great commissioned an Italian monk named Augustine (not to be confused with the 4th century African saint) to re-launch the Gospel by ministering to the Anglo-Saxons. Augustine established the center of his ministry in Canterbury, England. As the first Archbishop of Canterbury, Augustine converted the Anglo-Saxon King of Kent to Christianity and, thereby, regained a foothold of the faith in a critical region of the British Isles. Augustine is now considered the “Apostle to the English” and his ministry marks a turning point for the faith in the British isles. Under the first Archbishops of Canterbury, English Chrisitanity would become more centralized and distanced from many of its unique Celtic practices, and increasingly conformed to catholic practices shared with Christians throughout the world.

O God, our heavenly Father, you raised up your faithful servant Augustine of Canterbury to be a Bishop and pastor in your Church and to feed your flock: Give abundantly to all pastors the gifts of your Holy Spirit, that they may minister in your household as true servants of Christ and stewards of your divine mysteries; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Art & bio by Ben Lansing

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05/25/2026

“Send forth missionary bishops to Africa and Texas. Let the leaven spread - the grain of mustard grow - let the net be cast into the deepest waters. God will give the increase. It is for us to plant and water.” - Jackson Kemper (1789-1870), First Missionary Bishop in the United States

Jackson Kemper was born in New York to a father who had served in the Continental army under George Washington. He was educated at Columbia and ordained an Episcopal priest in 1814. In the 1830’s, the Episcopal Church named Kemper the first missionary bishop to the western frontier. He was assigned to shepherd a vast area, including what is now the states of Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Iowa. He traveled by foot, by stage coach, by steamboat, and on horseback to reach the widely dispersed parishes under his care. Kemper found it challenging to convince Eastern clergymen to leave the comforts of civilization to join him in his frontier mission. He decided to raise up leaders from among those who were already in the west. To this end, he established a college in St. Louis along with Nashotah House Seminary and Racine College, both in Wisconsin. Kemper was devoted to outreach to indigenous peoples and he oversaw the translation of Scripture and liturgy into indigenous languages. Kemper valued the Oxford movement’s emphasis of ancient church practice. His seminary, Nashotah House, remains a bulwark of Anglo-Catholic formation to this day.

O God, our heavenly Father, you raised up your faithful servant Jackson Kemper to be a Bishop and pastor in your Church and to feed your flock: Give abundantly to all pastors the gifts of your Holy Spirit, that they may minister in your household as true servants of Christ and stewards of your divine mysteries; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Art & bio by Ben Lansing

ORDER the book - www.ourchurchspeaks.com

05/22/2026

“In the catholic church itself... we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all.” - Vincent of Lérins (3??-c. 445), Monk

A classic definition of catholicity was articulated by Vincent of Lérins, a 4th/5th century French monk. While Scripture was complete and sufficient in itself, different interpretations of Scripture could exist. When faced with conflicting interpretations, the church should evaluate them according to a basic rule, now called “The Vincentian Canon”: what “has been believed always, everywhere, by all”? Vincent pointed to an example - the A***n teaching gained traction for a time among Western bishops, but it was rejected because it conflicted with Scripture and with the majority of Biblical interpretations of the early church. “All novelty in faith is a sure mark of heresy,” Vincent noted. Yet Vincent didn’t necessarily equate change with novelty. He was not opposed to progress in Christian doctrine, but progress could never be contrary to the standard set by the consensus of earlier generations. As times change and ministerial realities develop, the church must always look to Scripture and the consensus of the historic church’s interpretation of Scripture as the guardrails of orthodoxy. Vincent’s logic has been echoed through the centuries by writers like G.K. Chesterton, who reminded us to consult the “democracy of the dead” and C.S. Lewis who said to “keep the clean, sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds” as we evaluate modern interpretations and applications of Scripture.

O God, who by your Holy Spirit moved Vincent of Lérins to manifest to your church the way of perfection: Grant us, we pray, to be nourished by his teaching, and enkindle within us a keen and unquenchable longing for true holiness; through Jesus Christ, the joy of loving hearts, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Art & history by Ben Lansing

Order the book - www.ourchurchspeaks.com

05/16/2026

“Hear the prayer of our souls in the wilderness. Hear the prayer of our bones in the wilderness. Hear our prayer as we call out to you. Look upon us, O Creator who has made us.” - Hymn of the Sudanese Children, Martyrs of Sudan, 2011

Christianity first reached Sudan through the Ethiopian Eu**ch, baptized by the Deacon Philip. The faith had an indigenous presence in Sudan under centuries of kingdoms and empires. In 1983, the government of Sudan declared an Islamic Caliphate over the entire country. All citizens were ordered to convert to Islam or face extermination. On May 16, 1983, the churches of South Sudan made a public declaration that “they would not abandon God as God had revealed Himself to them.” The bishops, priests, and lay people who signed this agreement knew that it would almost certainly result in their deaths. Over the decades that followed, Christians suffered torture, death, violence, and severe suffering at the hands of jihadists. As in the early church, the blood of these martyrs has been the seed of the church in South Sudan, where Christianity has increased from 10% of the population in 1990 to 60% in 2012. Even in 2026, the violence in Sudan continues, where Christians are caught in the crosshairs of a violent conflict between Islamic factions. Pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Sudan and consider donating to organizations like that support the suffering Sudanese church.

Almighty God, you gave your servants the martyrs of the Sudan boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Art & bio by Ben Lansing

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05/16/2026

From Word on Fire:

John 16:23b–28
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us this assurance about answered prayer: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”

If God cannot change, what is the point of asking him for anything? And if God is omniscient, what is the point of telling him what you need? The same Jesus who told us to ask and ask again also informed us that God “knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt 6:8).

One way to shed light on this problem is to refer to the biblical master-metaphor for God—namely, the parent. Parents hear petitions from their children constantly, persistent requests for things, some good and some quite bad—and decent parents know what their child needs long before she asks for it.

God indeed knows everything about everything and so obviously is aware of what we need before we ask; yet still, like a good parent, he delights in hearing our requests—and like a good parent, he does not always respond the way we would like him to.

05/15/2026

“Humility is the least among men but precious and glorious before God. If we acquire it we shall trample the whole force of the enemy underfoot.” - Pachomius (292-348), Abbot and Organizer of Monasticism

Pachomius was born in southern Egypt in the late 200’s. As a young man, he was forced into the military against his will and sent away from home with other conscripted soldiers. During his captivity, he was given food by a community of Christians. Pachomius vowed to investigate the faith further. After his military service, he joined a group of Christian pilgrims living in the desert within the proximity of the great hermit, Anthony of Egypt. Over time, Pachomius discerned a need to better organize the large community of hermits living in the caves of the desert. He created the first monastic rule of life in history, organized to provided discipline and care for isolated hermits so they could live within community.

O God, your blessed Son became poor for our sake, and chose the Cross over the kingdoms of this world: Deliver us from an inordinate love of worldly things, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Pachomius, may seek you with singleness of heart, behold your glory by faith, and attain to the riches of your everlasting kingdom, where we shall be united with our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Order the book 📚 - Our Church Speaks: An Illustrated Devotional of Saints from Every Era and Place www.ourchurchspeaks.com
Art & history by Ben Lansing,
www.ourchurchspeaks.com