Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

Worshiping God, living in community, reaching out to the world.

Category: Bulletin Inserts

The bulletin insert for June 23, 2024
This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Your Guide to the DFMS, Part 4

Throughout the summer, our bulletin inserts will feature resources from the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (DFMS) available to:
- You
- Your ministry
- Your congregation
- Your diocese
The DFMS is the formal, incorporated name for The Episcopal Church. Learn more by scanning each department’s QR code or visit iam.ec/tecguide.

Office of Development

Giving to help others is an essential part of how Episcopalians express their faith. We are blessed—so that we may become a blessing. Here you will discover opportunities from the Office of Development to support churchwide ministries. Here generous hearts meet the work of Christ in the world.
- Learn about the grants, programs, and ministries made possible with your support.
- Bless others as you have been blessed. Respond to Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s call to support the BLESS Annual Appeal.
- Join our growing circle of sustaining monthly donors by becoming a member of the Shield Society.
- Partner with The Episcopal Church in your estate planning by joining the 1789 Society. We are here to work with you on making a legacy gift to the church.
- Subscribe to “The Church at Work” newsletter from the Office of Development. Give and your heart will grow!
The Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations

The Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations supports ecumenical and interreligious engagement throughout our church, promoting understanding among all God’s people and unity among the churches. We do this through supporting the public commitments of this church; ecumenical dialogues; and providing resources.
- Identify your diocese’s Episcopal diocesan ecumenical and interreligious officer.
- Learn about the work of ecumenical and interreligious relations in The Episcopal Church by downloading our packet of quick fact one-pagers.
- Engage the “Past Reckoning” adult educational resources, which explore the racial histories of The Episcopal Church and the Moravian Church.
- Sign up for our mailing list to stay up to date on ecumenical and interreligious news and offerings from The Episcopal Church.
- Visit our ecumenical shared ministries across The Episcopal Church on the Episcopal Asset Map.
- Explore trainings for combating anti-Muslim bias with the Faith Over Fear Campaign.
The Episcopal Asset Map, a ministry of The Episcopal Church and Episcopal Relief & Development, is a website that helps you learn about Episcopal communities by reading about and sharing the story of your local congregations, schools, and other institutions. Are you trying to find a community where you can worship? The site shows the ways that the Jesus Movement is active in our local communities through worship, ministry, and service. With the Episcopal Asset Map, you have the opportunity to tell the church and the world about how your congregation is being called to serve God and neighbor.
- Visit the Episcopal Asset Map to learn about Episcopal congregations, schools, and ministries.
- Learn how to update your pin on the Asset Map.
- Check out a custom map created by Episcopal map administrators overlaying publicly available data on a congregational map.
- See how one diocese has embedded the Episcopal Asset Map in its website as a church finder.
Next week: Episcopal Migration Ministries, Episcopal News Service, Episcopal Service Corps

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
June 21, 2024
The bulletin insert for June 16, 2024
This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Your Guide to the DFMS, Part 3

Throughout the summer, our bulletin inserts will feature resources from the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (DFMS) available to:
- You
- Your ministry
- Your congregation
- Your diocese
The DFMS is the formal, incorporated name for The Episcopal Church. Learn more by scanning each department’s QR code or visit iam.ec/tecguide.

The Camino Project

The Camino Project comes out of a Lilly Foundation Grant that was awarded to the Department of Faith Formation of The Episcopal Church. This is to address the global needs of our culturally diverse family structures and congregations.

Our hope is to invite parents, caregivers, and congregations to explore “camino experiences.” We intentionally chose the Spanish word “camino” (the road, the path, the way) as a fitting, bilingual metaphor for the often unpredictable journey of Christian parenting.

The word “camino” also encompasses a broader context for experiential faith journeys. These pilgrimages or camino experiences can be done locally, regionally, or in sacred places throughout the world.

The project will engage, gather, and equip parents, caregivers, and congregations with caminos/pilgrimages, resources, and parent/caregiver cohorts. The Camino Project will connect through strategic experiences and faith-formed practices.
- Become a Camino Congregation or a Camino Group within your congregation that invests intentionally in supporting and resourcing English- and Spanish-speaking families of all configurations to build spiritually formative practices into the rhythm of their homes.
- Learn more about a doing a camino or Holy Expedition.
- Explore our resources!
The Concert for the Human Family

The Concert for the Human Family is an inspiring collaborative between award-winning musicians and church leaders who believe in the power of music and storytelling to foster Beloved Community.

Experience genre-bending original music that bridges jazz, hip-hop, and bluegrass. It is performed by a multicultural team led by Nashville pianist and composer Kory Caudill. This is all woven with sacred stories to launch conversation around reconciliation, healing, and justice in the communities we call home.

It’s the power of music, for the sake of love.
- Experience the music of the Concert for the Human Family by accessing multiple albums of original songs created for these events.
- Join the conversation by finding out when the Concert for the Human Family tour will be in your town.
- Find the complete story of the Concert for the Human Family series, including media clips, behind-the-scenes videos, artist bios, tour dates, a full press kit, and much more.
- Watch “In These Uncertain Times—A Concert for the Human Family Event,” an award-winning digital concert experience, filmed live at Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral.
Creation Care

In Jesus, God so loved the whole world. We follow Jesus, so we love the world God loves.

Concerned for the global climate emergency, drawing on diverse approaches for our diverse contexts, we commit to form and restore right relationship with all of creation through loving formation, liberating advocacy, and life-giving stewardship.

Learn more about Creation Care:
- Explore the Episcopal Covenant to Care of Creation for inspiration and resources on how to take action as individuals, congregations, dioceses, and as the whole church.
- Start the conversation about climate change and eco-justice in your community with this simple guide to creation care StorySharing.
- Worship with creation care liturgies, including prayers of the people, confessions of sin, rogation days resources, and more.
- Use the online carbon tracker to measure your carbon footprint, make sustainable changes, and work with others in your congregation and diocese.
- Complete an online training on climate change and how to take action in your congregation and community to ensure a just and secure future for all.
- Form a small group to take this nine-session course on creation care and climate justice in your congregation and community.
Next week: Development, Ecumenical-Interreligious Relations, and The Episcopal Asset Map

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
June 14, 2024
The bulletin insert for June 9, 2024
This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Your Guide to the DFMS, Part 2

Throughout the summer, our bulletin inserts will feature resources from the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (DFMS) available to:
- You
- Your ministry
- Your congregation
- Your diocese
The DFMS is the formal, incorporated name for The Episcopal Church. Learn more by scanning each department’s QR code or visit iam.ec/tecguide.

Episcopal Asiamerica Ministries

Episcopal Asiamerica Ministries offers resources and training for clergy and lay leadership, as well as tools for congregational development. Asian language liturgy and worship are also available.

We are an umbrella of several ethnically and culturally diverse convocations: Arab-Middle Eastern, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Pacific Islander, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Asian American Young Adults.
- Download or order our “Being Episcopalian” (PDF) booklet.
- Learn more about the ANDREWS program [Asiamerica Network of Disciples, Revivalists, Evangelists, Witnesses and Servant Leaders].
- Join our ethnic convocation meetings.
- Use Episcopal liturgies in various Asian languages.
- Attend the triennial Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry (EAM) Consultation.
Church Planting and Redevelopment

Church Planting and Redevelopment engages leaders who are either visioning a new faith community from scratch, or re-imagining ways of “being church” with their existing community. We are especially committed to supporting communities that have historically been underrepresented in The Episcopal Church, and parishes that are committed to knowing, loving, and learning from their neighbors.

We provide leadership discernment, training, coaching and co-learning opportunities for point leaders and teams who feel called to undertake this brave work.
- Read our guides to the leadership gifts of successful church planters and congregational redevelopers.
- Find out what to expect when you’re starting a new Episcopal community.
- Explore Genesis II: Re-Vision and Renew
- Listen to “The Genesis Podcast.”
- Stay in touch through our monthly connection points.
The Office of Communication

The Office of Communication serves The Episcopal Church’s ministries, congregations, dioceses, and churchwide offices by amplifying our core messages and mission through a broad array of the following:
- Professional digital tools
- Creative services
- News reporting
- Public affairs communications
Our stories and productions are created from a desire to share Jesus’ Way of Love with the whole world. They highlight the work of God’s people—in the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement and beyond.
- Keep up to date on news from the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society and subscribe to the Daily Scan.
- Create visual resources with inspiring styles and standard looks consistent with The Episcopal Church’s visual identity.
- Listen to our growing library of podcasts produced by The Episcopal Church and our ministry partners.
- Elevate your writing with clarity and consistency through our writing style guide.
- Contact our office to share ideas for new and expanded offerings from your ministry, congregation, or diocese.
Next week: The Camino Project, Concert for the Human Family, Creation Care

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
June 7, 2024
The bulletin insert for June 2, 2024
This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Your Guide to the DFMS, Part 1

Throughout the summer, our bulletin inserts will feature resources from the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (DFMS) available to:
- You
- Your ministry
- Your congregation
- Your diocese
The DFMS is the formal, incorporated name for The Episcopal Church. Learn more by scanning each department’s QR code or visit iam.ec/tecguide.

The Office of African Descent Ministries

The Office of African Descent Ministries seeks to inspire, transform and empower people of African descent to live fully into the Jesus Movement. The history of contributions to The Episcopal Church by people of African descent is long and inspiring.

The church pays tribute to this legacy by supporting and fostering the growth and development of Black communities. This is through partnerships that reach across ethnic and racial boundaries, from Episcopal provinces, dioceses, and deaneries to local worshipping communities.
- Engage the “Healing from Internalized Oppression” curriculum and its invitation to a journey toward wholeness.
- Attend a meeting of Diocesan Leaders for African Descent Ministries.
- Explore Congregational Programs for Revitalization to strengthen congregational leadership and ministry.
- Learn more about African Descent Ministries Black Congregational Leadership Initiative (BCLI).
The Archives

The Archives is the research center of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. It serves The Episcopal Church’s governing bodies, dioceses, parishes, and churchwide organizations.

The Archives provides historical research on official statements, programs, publications, and activities of the church.

The Archives advises local church entities on archival retention, digital preservation, and records management for legal compliance.

The Archives’ website (episcopalarchives.org) offers historical resources in the Digital Archives and the Episcopal Text Center.
- Explore the Digital Archives to discover more about The Episcopal Church.
- Discover the process for amending church records.
- Learn about the historic contributions of the women of the church through the Archives’ latest online exhibit, “For the Extension of the Kingdom.”
- Manage archives and records for your congregation.
Armed Forces and Federal Ministries

Armed Forces and Federal Ministries and its chaplains provide spiritual and day-to-day support to the following:
- Service members overseas and stateside
- Veterans requiring medical services
- Those incarcerated in federal prisons
In addition, Coast Guard Auxiliary and Civil Air Patrol chaplains provide spiritual support to local communities outside federal installations.

They bring spiritual healing and comfort to those with no other faith resources.
- Discover how and where we serve.
- Become an Episcopal military or federal chaplain.
- Visit the Military Chaplains Just War Education Project.
- Watch our Armed Forces and Federal Chaplains video series.
- Discover the history of the Armed Forces bishops.
Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
May 31, 2024
The bulletin insert for May 26, 2024
This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

The First Book of Common Prayer

This bulletin insert was very lightly adapted from the entry from A Great Cloud of Witnesses for the First Book of Common Prayer. This feast of the church can be observed on a weekday after Pentecost.

Title page of the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549.

The first Book of Common Prayer, the forerunner of those well-worn books in your pew rack, came into use on the Day of Pentecost, June 9, 1549, in the second year of the reign of King Edward VI. From it have descended all subsequent editions and revisions of the book in the churches of the Anglican Communion.

Though prepared by a commission of learned bishops and priests, the format, substance, and style of the Prayer Book were primarily the work of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1533–1556.

Sources for the first Book of Common Prayer

These were the principal sources employed in the compilation of the first Book of Common Prayer:
- The medieval Latin service books of the Use of Sarum (Salisbury)
- Enrichments from the Greek liturgies
- Certain ancient Gallican rites
- The vernacular German forms prepared by Luther
- A revised Latin liturgy of the reforming Archbishop Hermann of Cologne
The Psalter and other biblical passages were drawn from the English “Great Bible” authorized by King Henry VIII in 1539. The Litany was taken from the English form issued as early as 1544.

The result of creating the Book of Common Prayer

The originality of the Book of Common Prayer, apart from the felicitous translations and paraphrases of the old Latin forms, lay in its simplification of the complicated liturgical usages of the medieval Church. This made it suitable for use by the laity as well as by the clergy. The book thus became both a manual of common worship for Anglicans and a primary resource for their personal spirituality.

A Collect to Mark the First Book of Common Prayer

Almighty and everliving God, whose servant Thomas Cranmer, with others, did restore the language of the people in the prayers of thy Church: Make us always thankful for this heritage; and help us so to pray in the Spirit and with the understanding, that we may worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
May 24, 2024
The bulletin insert for May 19, 2024

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Pentecost

Today, we mark Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit among the apostles and followers of Jesus. Celebrated 50 days after Easter (including the day of Easter itself), the name of the holiday comes from the Greek Pentēkostē, which literally means “the 50th day.”

The events of the day are foretold by Jesus in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, just before his Ascension. While his followers were with the risen Christ, he tells them, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5, NRSV). He goes on to say to them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

An untold number of origami cranes suspended from the ceiling in a church, representative of the Holy Spirit descending on Pentecost.

The followers would not wait long for the promised Spirit. The author of Acts, traditionally believed to be Luke, recounts:

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each” (Acts 2:1-6).

We celebrate Pentecost as the inauguration of the Church’s mission in the world. Empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are to go out into our neighborhoods and the wider world—to Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth—witnessing to the risen Christ.

The Day of Pentecost is identified by the Book of Common Prayer as one of the feast days “especially appropriate” for baptism (Book of Common Prayer, p. 312). Because of this, Pentecost is also known as “Whitsun” or “Whitsunday” (“White Sunday”), a term used to describe the white baptismal garments worn by those who were baptized at the Vigil of Pentecost and then worn to church on the Day of Pentecost.

Collect for Pentecost

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (Book of Common Prayer, p. 227).

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

May 17, 2024
The bulletin insert for May 12, 2024

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Ascension Day

The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ is celebrated 40 days after Easter Day, marking the conclusion of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances and his ascension into heaven. This year, Ascension Day fell last Thursday, May 9, 2024.

Celebration of this holy day dates back at least to the late fourth century, and scriptural references to Jesus’ ascension occur in both The Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Mark:

The Ascension. Hans Suss von Kulmbach, 1513. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, N.Y.

“So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven’” (Acts 1: 6-11, NRSV).

“So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19, NRSV).

The Ascension of Jesus is also professed in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed: “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father” (Book of Common Prayer, pp.120, 358).

Collect for Ascension Day

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen (Book of Common Prayer, p. 226).

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

May 10, 2024
The bulletin insert for May 5, 2024
This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

The Episcopal Church’s Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop on April 2 announced the names of the bishops it will nominate to succeed Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.
- The Rt. Rev. J. Scott Barker, Bishop of Nebraska
- The Rt. Rev. Daniel G. P. Gutiérrez, Bishop of Pennsylvania
- The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, Bishop of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York
- The Rt. Rev. Robert Wright, Bishop of Atlanta
After the April 3-15 petition nomination period closed, the JNCPB announced that it had received one nomination. The bishop below was vetted through the same process of background and reference checks used for its nominees, as required by Canon I.2.1.d. The Episcopal Church’s canons do not allow for nominations from the floor of General Convention.
- The Rt. Rev. Dede Duncan-Probe, Bishop of Central New York
Committee members began working together in the fall of 2021. They surveyed the church in May 2022 about the skills, qualities, and gifts most desired in its next presiding bishop, considering what the church and the world may look like in the next decade. The members used the 6,092 responses, along with hours of conversation and prayers, to develop the “Profile for the Election of the 28th Presiding Bishop.”

In May 2023, the committee invited the members of the church to suggest bishops they ought to consider. Between May 15 and July 15, 111 Episcopalians submitted bishops’ names. There were some duplications among the suggestions. Bishops could also nominate themselves. None did.

The committee invited all the bishops named to enter the discernment process. Those who agreed provided biographical information, references, and written and video responses to several questions. They were interviewed via Zoom. In January the members decided which of the bishops to invite to meet with them during an in-person retreat March 18-23 at the Lake Logan Conference Center in the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina. The committee discerned its slate at the close of that gathering.

“We appreciate the many Episcopalians who prayerfully set us on our way to discerning this slate of nominees,” said the Rt. Rev. Mark Lattime, bishop of Alaska, who co-chairs the committee with Canon Dr. Steve Nishibayashi of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

For more information, contact the committee at pb28@episcopalchurch.org. Read more at https://generalconvention.org/nominees-for-the-28th-presiding-bishop/.

Published by the Office of Formation of The Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017

© 2024 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
May 3, 2024
The bulletin insert for April 28, 2024
This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

General Convention Young Adult Festival

Registration is open online for The Episcopal Church Young Adult Festival, scheduled to run during six days of the 81st General Convention this summer in Louisville, Kentucky. The deadline for participants needing housing is May 6, 2024. Commuter registration deadline is May 31, 2024. Apply here: iam.ec/yaf2024.

The Young Adult Festival is designed for those ages 18-30 to meet peers from across the globe, pray and learn together, engage in the church’s legislative process, and help discern God’s call for The Episcopal Church.

“This is a wonderful way for young adults to get to know more about General Convention, to understand more how our church creates priorities and budgets, to meet other young adults, to learn more about ministries across the church, to meet the presiding bishop and the president of the House of Deputies, to worship together, and to explore together,” said the Rev. Shannon Kelly. She is the staff officer for Young Adult and Campus Ministries. “We look forward to welcoming everyone to Louisville.”

Young Adult Festival details

General Convention is June 23-28, 2024, at the Kentucky International Convention Center. The Young Adult Festival runs from June 21-26, with programming events at the Galt House Hotel.

The festival cost ranges between $135 and $595, depending on housing choice. Registration for those traveling to Louisville includes the following:
- Five nights of housing at the Galt House Hotel
- Dinner on June 22
- General Convention registration
- All Young Adult Festival programming and activities.
Space is limited for housing.

Registration for commuters includes dinner, convention registration, and all festival programming and activities.

For more information, contact the Rev. Shannon Kelly, skelly@episcopalchurch.org.

Published by the Office of Formation of The Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017

© 2024 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Young Adults and Campus Ministries

The Office of Young Adult and Campus Ministries supports ministries of, to, and with young adults (ages 18-30). This is both on and off college campuses through the communities, resources and networks of the Episcopal Church. Through leadership development, networking across the church, gathering online and in person, and offering support through each diocese and province, they strive to create a community of leaders and young adults engaged in mission and ministry together.

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
April 26, 2024
The bulletin insert for April 21, 2024

This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

During the Easter season, Sermons That Work is pleased to present reflections from some of the newest bishops of The Episcopal Church on the resurrection of our Lord. Check back each week for a brief exploration of how Jesus Christ’s rising from the grave changes everything.

To listen to this reflection, scan the QR code on this page and subscribe to the Sermons That Work podcast.

Reflections on the Resurrection: Week 4

Rather than minimize grief, Jesus experiences it and comforts others in it. But mourning is not the final word. Resurrection is. He gives a word of comfort to those in distress. The knowledge of his resurrection is our hope and a major way of dealing with sorrow: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

The Bible teaches that our suffering is a place to experience God’s sustaining grace in our weakness (2 Cor. 1:8-9). It is clearly taught that grief is a natural response when one experiences loss, but it can be tempered by the knowledge of Christ and the resurrection.

The loss that causes grief is very real, but it is temporary. The knowledge that softens the blow of grief is not an abstract platitude but the real resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor. 15). Our grief now is in the context of a future hope (1 Thess. 4:13-18). The hope of the new creation frames, but does not erase our present mourning: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:3-4).

Jesus Christ calls himself “the light of the world” and entered into the darkness of this world to bring light and eternal life to sinners who are dwelling in the darkness of their rebellion and sin: “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned” (Matt. 4:16).

Where darkness, death, and decay had reigned, Jesus breaks in with light, liberation, and love. A picture of this comes from Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island, who lived in Scotland in the nineteenth century. As a boy, his family lived on a hillside overlooking a small town. Robert was intrigued by the work of the old lamplighters who went about with a ladder and a torch, lighting the streetlights for the night. One evening, as Robert stood watching with fascination, his nurse asked him, “Robert, what in the world are you looking at out there?” With great excitement he exclaimed: “Look at that man! He’s punching holes in the darkness!”

The light of the world has entered into the world’s darkness in order to punch holes in it and bring those who dwell in darkness into the dawn of his grace and truth. None of this would be possible apart from Christ’s incarnation, life, death, and resurrection.

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb is the bishop of the Diocese of Central Florida, a seminary professor, and an author or editor of more than twenty books on theology, abuse, and biblical studies.

Published by the Office of Formation of The Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017

© 2024 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Weekly bulletin inserts

This weekly bulletin insert provides information about the history, music, liturgy, mission, and ministry of The Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact us at stw@episcopalchurch.org.

Sermons That Work

For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

April 19, 2024

Maundy Thursday, April 2, 2026. Services at 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm. Gethsemane Watch Vigil from about 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

Good Friday, April 3, 2026: Services at 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm.

Holy Saturday worship at 9:30 am.

The Great Vigil of Easter, Saturday, April 4, 2025. Service at 8:00 pm. This is the night....

The 3rd Sunday of Easter (Year A), April 19, 2026. Services at 8:00 am (no music) and 10:30 (music). Education classes for adults (9:15 am) and children (9:30 am).