Worship

Homilies 

Serving at Saint In Between | January 18, 2026

It may sound silly to say but am not Ginny.

I am Joani – your itinerant preacher for the next 8 weeks

I know that you have just come through the hectic high holy days of Christmas and a very long and intense goodbye with your rector of 8 years.  And the new year really has not given any of us much at all to celebrate. A “Soul Sinking Time,’ the powers-that-be have seized Venezuela and threatened Greenland with invasion. Gestapo-ICE-LIKE-thugs roam America’s streets; snatching, grabbing, detaining, and even murdering in cold blood a poet, a mother of three, a citizen. And so many other fresh horrors.

I promise that we will wrestle with these devils in the days and weeks ahead, but today I want to focus on you guys in the pews. How you’re doing. How you’re feeling. Lots of mixed emotions churning in your gut? Anxiety alongside excitement?  Grief tinged with hope? Feeling exhausted and energized, both at the same time?

Good news, folks. Look to your left. Look to your right. Behind you and in front of you too. You are far from alone. You are in this together. And God will show you that you are more enough to meet this moment, this time of transition, with grace, faith, kindness, and creativity.

Right now, Saint Anne’s is Saint In Between and that is more than okay.

Today’s gospel is an in between story.  It’s the story of the time between John the Baptizer and the emergence of Jesus. John is very humble, hemming and hawing about being so very unworthy to untie the thong of Jesus’ sandal.  But John is more than a prop in a morality play – put there just to move the plot along. John embodies the story, his call to the world to turn around, repent, and pay attention brings broken human beings to the banks of the Jordan. There is a deep, visceral desire to get right with God, to get right with one another. There is no Jesus, as we know him, without John.

Submerged in the water, Jesus does not do baptism alone. Jesus asked John for this. Emerging from the water, uplifted by John out of the water, Jesus is named and proclaimed the Beloved of God.

We Episcopalians sprinkle heads at baptism. Lucky me got to sprinkle three little people on Advent IV. The two-year-old and the six-month-old splashed their little hands in the font. Parents and godparents and the priest all got a little bit wet. It was a wonderful way to end my time as interim at the Church of the Ascension at Fork.

In between there and here, I have had three Sundays off. When clergy have a Sunday off, we often choose to worship at St. Mattress in the Springs, you know, The Church of the Holy Comforter. (I know you’ve worshiped there too!) But the other place I go on a Sunday off might surprise you. It surprised me. First Baptist on Fifth.

Not Southern Baptists these are the liturgical liberal Baptists.  I live in downtown Winston. I can literally wake up, brush my teeth, brush my hair, get dressed and be there in five minutes They have a badass pastor, Emily Hull McGhee: one of the best preachers I have ever heard. They are a force for good in the city and their music is to die for. They proudly march in the Pride Parade down West Fourth.

And when I worship at First on Fifth, all that I am required to do is to sit in a back pew.

I went last Sunday, the Baptism of the Lord.  (Yes, they follow the lectionary!)

Full immersion, I had never seen a Baptist baptism before. I was moved to tears.

Three candidates went down into the waters one by one. As they did, a sponsor read their personal statement of faith – written by their own hand. A few sentences from a sweet 10- year-old boy and a grownup’s moving tale of their spiritual journey with all its ups and downs –  both proclaiming what brought them to their baptism day.

Along the edges of the sanctuary, were bowls of cool clean baptismal water. Parishioners queued up in the aisles, to have a minister mark the sign of the cross on their brows.  A mark of renewal, a sign of remembrance.

And there was MORE. Ordination of DEACONS.  Deacons are kind of like vestry members; I am not sure of all their duties, but they assist in worship, spiritual formation, and the governance of the church.  As these lay ministers made their vows at the front of the church, the ENTIRE congregation came forward to lay hands on their shoulders. A very literal, outward, and visible sign of the Body of Christ.

Whenever I go, I am sorely tempted to walk down to the front of the church and answer the altar call. It’s very low key – it happens while the collection is taken up and music is playing. (In truth, I have not answered this particular call; I am still very much an Episcopalian!  Our weekly altar call is the invitation to the communion rail.)

Why do I tell you all this? Because in between times are fertile times. Times for exploration. Times for trial and error. Times to try new and crazy things – in our Episcopal corner of the kingdom – that we had not dreamed of before. Not to always do what we have always done. And if it doesn’t work out that’s okay. Failure can be a wonderful thing. It’s how God opens our eyes to what is possible, where to focus, where to go and what we might try next.

This in between time is a time of renewal for the priesthood of all believers – you guys in the pews. The catechism says that you are the PRINCIPAL and PRIMARY ministers of Christ in the world. The clergy are just backup, support staff for you guys on the front lines, doing the important reconciling work that you do.

So, doing my bit, as your supply priest and itinerant preacher, I took the liberty to shake up the liturgy.  I promise, it’s all kosher, we have not completely wandered off the farm. Wherever the BCP flexes we can flex and bring in prayer and praise from sister churches and other traditions.

And so today, instead of one of the usual six forms of the Prayers of the People, we will join in a Litany for the Mission of the Church, for the Mission of Saint Anne’s, the Mission of Saint In Between. It comes from the Book of Occasional Services 2018.

I will end here and let the prayers speak for themselves.

Litany for the Mission of the Church                     

Holy God, in whom all things in heaven and earth have their being. Bless us. Jesus the Christ, through whom the world is reconciled to the Father. Bless us. Holy Spirit, whose glory fills the world and searches the depths of God. Bless us. Blessed Trinity, source of both unity and diversity. Bless us. O God, we pray for the gifts of ministry; Inspire our minds with a vision of your kingdom in this time and place. Hear us, O Christ. Touch our eyes, that we may see your glory in all creation. Hear us, O Christ. Touch our ears, that we may hear from every mouth the hunger for hope and stories of refreshment. Hear us, O Christ. Touch our lips, that we may tell in every tongue and dialect the wonderful works of God. Hear us, O Christ. Touch our hearts, that we may discern the mission to which you call us. Hear us, O Christ. Touch our feet, that we may take your Good News into our neighborhoods, communities, and all parts of the world. Hear us, O Christ. Touch our hands, that we each accomplish the work you give us to do. Hear us, O Christ. Strengthen and encourage all who serve and volunteer. Hear us, O Christ. Open our hearts and hands to support our mission everywhere we go. We pray especially who struggle in body, mind, or soul.Hear us, O Christ. Strengthen and encourage all who minister in lonely, dangerous, and unresponsive places. Hear us, O Christ. O God the Creator and ruler of all things, your reign grows like a mustard seed into abundant life: Bless those who plant and tend new life in your Church, that it may be a place of welcome, a refuge of healing, a school for souls, and a life-giving spring; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ, our strength and our salvation. Amen.