Church of the Holy Comforter

06/11/2026

This week's Enews:

Email from Church Holy Comforter CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMFORTER June 11, 2026   BEGINNING NEXT WEEK Wednesday, June 17th and 24th at 12pm: Bring your lunch and join the conversation! We meet in the Pari

06/11/2026

"I'm starting a new church. Our mission statement is simply this: Don't be horrible to people. Don't treat them as less worthy of love, respect, dignity, joy, and opportunity than you are".

John Pavlovitz: Things that Need to be Said.

I serve and lead a Church like this. The Church of the Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Martinez, (Augusta) GA.

We exist in the heart of buckle of the Bible Belt. Our mission statement is Love God. Love People. Serve God. Serve People.
I approach this mission and my "people" with the same passions and Warrior Ethos I held as an active duty Army Chaplain.

Southern Baptists, who for generations have sheltered those who abuse woman and children want to outlaw same-sex marriage and ban women from serving as pastors. They ignore the fact that it was Mary Magdalene sharing the Good News that Jesus is Risen and that Jesus never mentioned same-sex marriage.

Can't those who claim to follow Jesus, at the very least, "do no harm?

06/10/2026

"Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will"

Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

A fellow Chaplain once made a comment about Soldiers sinning by drinking and "cussing".

I stopped him and said, "Dude, I don't care about swearing and drinking and smoking ci**rs etc. I do all those things, and I am a Christian".

Sin to me, is EGO, being the center of our own universe. The issue facing society is about systemic sin, which marginalizes and demeans and belittles and beats up and beats down, much of it supported by those who call themselves "Christian".

The Church at a minimum should "do no harm". People are tired of it. God's will is to love God, to build up the neighbor, to put skin on God's love, which leads to the flourishing of all.

06/09/2026

The "Call"

The Rev. Glenn A. Palmer

06/08/2026

"For we are the aroma of Christ". 2d Corinthians 2:15

In one of my favorite books, Marilynne Robinson's, "Gilead", the main character, Reverend Ames, doesn't expect to see his young son grow up.

He shares, "I'm writing this in part to tell you that if you ever wonder what you've done with your life, and everyone does wonder sooner or later, you have been God's grace to me, something more than a miracle".

God of all creation, the one who came to heal and save, not to judge, help the Church, those who claim to follow Jesus, not to be those who add to anger, vitriol and division. Use to put skin on God's love in all we say and do.

Help us to BE God's grace, God's aroma, God's life giving seasoning, salt and light, to and for ALL, especially as we are gathered around our Lord's welcome table. Amen

06/07/2026

Good morning and welcome to the Service!

06/07/2026

"Are you envious because I am generous?". Matthew 20:15

A mother of a gay son, commented on going to worship for the first time in years, in a Church, like Holy Comforter where I serve, which affirms and welcomes all; "It was nice to worship somewhere where I didn't feel like I didn't belong".

God's grace in Jesus was and is expansive and inclusive. Some don't like that and some still don't like that.

Sometimes however, "pruning" takes place when God's grace pushes boundaries. We should always err on the side of grace, wider doors, more openess at the Lord's Table, putting skin on God's love for all even if it means being nudged out of our comfort zones.

For it is the only thing which saves and heals any of us.

06/05/2026

One day in Iraq, I knelt over a friend of mine, just shot through the head, giving him mouth to mouth, wiping his blood and brains out my mouth. I could feel the air I pushed coming out of the gaping hole in his neck.No breath. No life.

The God of scriptures creates. God's "Ruach" רוּחַ, is air, breath, wind, spirit and Life. Life springs and the Holy Spirit into and flows from leaky vessels with broken hearts, filled again and again by grace.

One day a wise old Priest told his people that the words of God are placed upon their hearts. Someone asked, "Why are we not told to put them in our heart?" The Priest answered, "That is not within our power, all we can do is place them on the surface of the heart so that when the heart breaks they will drop in".

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.". Psalm 51:10

06/04/2026

This week's Enews:

Email from Church Holy Comforter CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMFORTER June 4, 2026   COMING IN AUGUST The Rector's Forum Forward Movement has released a new resource, Signs and Grace: An Introduction to the S

06/04/2026

"In all my life, I have never met a leader who did not possess good relational skills. They are the most important abilities in
leadership."
John Maxwell : Developing the Leaders Around You.

The Episcopal Church is grounded in the Book of Common Prayer, a treasure trove of devotional and teaching resources for individuals and congregations. It is also the primary symbol of our unity. It was designed for the people of the Church to lead with the Priest in support.

I'm at the Berkeley Divinity School (Episcopal) at Yale this week as a Leader's Way fellow, gathered with other 27 other spiritual leaders from around the country and the world discussing grace-filled ways to lead with grace and innovation during a time of churn and change.

Gracious God, Grace is about "letting go". Use your Holy Spirit to move in our hearts, minds, and lives, loving you and the people whom and with whom we are called to serve. Might those same people see relational servant leadership and the love of God modeled for ALL, in all we do.