Month: November 2020

The painting is a combination of apocalyptic images from the thirteenth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. I don’t find Mark’s apocalypse especially dire, and I hope the painting reflects a basic optimism, and an alignment with what I see as Jesus’s hope that the world might be renewed.

We have a rich tradition of prayer at St. Stephen’s and have been blessed over the years with talented lay leaders who have kept that tradition alive. Our current leader is Rae Fellows, who keeps our weekly prayer list. When you make a prayer request, by emailing it to parishoffice@karls246.sg-host.com with “Prayer Request” in the…

As I painted this, I realized that it could form a kind of triptych with my two other paintings from the previous weeks, all of which are drawn from Matthew 25. As I said in my sermon on Sunday, the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins and the Parable of the Talents can best…

St.Stephen’s centering prayer group meets weekly on Wednesdays at 8:00 AM. Centering Prayer is a Christian approach to meditation where the individual sits in stillness to dwell with the Inner Divine for 20 minutes. Everyone is welcome and no previous experience is required! We will begin with some training on the practice and it is…

Now is a time for complaint. Our world remains in the grip of a pandemic, and all of our lives are deeply effected. One of the great graces of scripture is that it welcomes complaint. It’s full of people who are pleading with God, expressing heartfelt anguish and loss, shouting their frustration at the disruption…

As I painted this, I thought mostly of the isolation of the man who buries the one talent (coin) that he’s been given. The other two servants who receive coins use them in some engagement with the world, which is how anything we receive is supposed to be used. Ultimately, whatever we’ve been given should…

These prayer practices can be used at any time during the week. They are meant for personal devotion and contemplation. If you would like to download a .pdf version of this page, click here. Anglican Rosary Prayers The Anglican Rosary consists of a cross or crucifix (✝︎), an invitatory bead (☉), four cruciform beads (❖…

The time has come again to help NSI bring joy to children on Christmas morning! You have a chance to “adopt” a child or more than one child. From this list provided by NSI (list updated 11/17/20), choose one child or more. Check with Carolyn Vander Stouw (614-316-7367 or cvanderstouw1@gmail.com) to make sure someone else hasn’t chosen that same child. Once approved,…

I don’t have much to say about this painting, except that I like it a lot. The choices I made while painting it were about balance and color, and there’s not a lot of inherent symbolism, although the circles could be read as the seven days of the week (the big moon-like circles being the…