Sermons

All Saints’ Sunday CNovember 2, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.” Sometimes, like today, I feel the need to explain why we are...

Proper 24COctober 19, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton “Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to...

Proper 19CSeptember 14, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton The first time I ever heard of Charlie Kirk was earlier this summer, when our Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe announced that the Episcopal Church was severing its long history of working with the...

Proper 18CSeptember 7, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton Today we hear a story about a slave named Onesimus who was owned by a man named Philemon. After enduring years of slavery, Onesimus sees his chance for escape. He runs away from Philemon and heads to...

Proper 17CAugust 31, 2025St. Dunstan'sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton It is one of the most basic tenets of scripture in both the Old and New Testaments -- hospitality to the stranger. Abraham and Sarah are the first in scripture to model it. Abraham is sitting at the...

Proper 16CAugust 24, 2025St. Dunstan'sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton Eighteen years. For 18 years the woman has not been able to stand up straight. For 18 years she has been hunched over, her back so bent that all she can see is the ground around her. For 18 years she...

Proper 12cJuly 27, 2025St. Dunstan’s The Rev. Patricia Templeton Years ago, a woman’s magazine, one of those that you could see at the supermarket checkout line, had a regular feature entitled “Can this marriage be saved?” In effect, that is the question posed in the...

Independence Day 2025July 6, 2025St. Dunstan'sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton "The Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords ... who executes justice for the orphan and widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the...

Proper 8CJune 29, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton Many years ago, I worked in a refugee camp in Southeast Asia that housed people who had escaped from horrendous persecution in Laos and Cambodia. My job was to help prepare them for a new life in America....

Proper 7CJune 22, 2025St. Dunstan'sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton I had a sermon all ready for today. Here it is. But when I woke up this morning I realized that this sermon didn't really fit what I am thinking and how I am feeling today. So I made a page of notes (you...

Proper 7CJune 22, 2025St. Dunstan'sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton I had a sermon all ready for today. Here it is. But when I woke up this morning I realized that this sermon didn't really fit what I am thinking and how I am feeling today. So I made a page of notes (you...

Trinity Sunday CJune 15, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton   “Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” For much of the church year, we begin our worship service with those words, as Christians have done since the first century. Today is Trinity...

Pentecost CJune 8, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton It’s a dangerous moment for Christianity. The disciple are gathered together in a locked room. It’s a familiar place to them. They locked themselves away from the world after Jesus’ arrest and...

Easter 7CJune 1, 2025St. Dunstan’sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to God’s holy name.” That last verse from Psalm 97, which we said today, reminds us that people of faith are always supposed to rejoice and give thanks...

Easter 6CMay 25, 2025St. Dunstan'sThe Rev. Patricia Templeton Today is the 30th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. That is a milestone of sorts. I hope you'll indulge me for not preaching on the Biblical texts today, but instead reflecting on the path...