Blessed Beyond My Expectations
By The Reverend Arnoldo L. Romero MLA As some of you may be aware, God willing, I will be ordained to the priesthood in less than six weeks. Mike and our Vestry at St. Philip’s approved the latter, so now I’m…
Where We Stand With Further Resuming Congregational Life?
At its most recent meeting the vestry discussed resuming childcare in the nursery and in-person Sunday School classes for children and adults. The consensus is that we want to do this but we want to do so in a way…
Loving our Neighbors During an Election
“I want us to have a conversation about the upcoming election.” That’s what I told the vestry at our September meeting about a week and a half ago. As soon as I said those words the anxiety level went up…
A Conversation I Didn’t Think We Could Have
Let me tell you about an amazing conversation the Vestry had. It was important and meaningful to me personally and, I think, to the Vestry as a whole. If I hadn’t been there I wouldn’t have believed it possible to…
Church in the Digital World: What does this mean for St. Philip’s?
What does it mean to be the church in this new digital world? This is a question many are asking. I recently attended a webinar entitled “Welcoming and Belonging in the Digital Sphere.” This is a two-part webinar hosted by…
Updated Guidelines for Congregational Life
Late last week Bishop Reed updated the COVID-19 guidelines for a Modified Return to Congregational Life. Churches that have resumed in-person worship are still required to adhere to the previous guidelines: wear face masks; maintain social distance of six feet;…
What is a Deacon?
Deacons are members of the ordained Christian ministry, along with priests and bishops. The word deacon is a derivative of the Greek word diákonos, which means servant, minister, or messenger. Hence, in the Episcopal Church a deacon exercises a special ministry of…
We’ve Adopted two Pots!
As you may know Main Street Uvalde is asking for help in keeping our downtown area attractive and inviting. Their new project "Adopt a Pot" is asking businesses, families, or individuals to help care for the 72 flower pots in the downtown…
My Apostleship Journey
By: The Rev. Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA In retrospect, my journey to apostleship began during childhood. Not only did I play priest as a child, but as I got older I did everything from teaching Sunday School for children to leading…
A Talk About Racism: New Reading and Discussion Group
I’m inviting you to join me for a difficult conversation - a conversation most of us have not had, and do not want to have. It’s about racism. Racism has been a part of my preaching the last several weeks (I…