Alison Kemper

Homily for June 12, 2016

June 12, 2016June 16, 2016
by Alison Kemper
Reflections, Sermons

Preached by Alison Kemper on June 12, 2016

The biggest concern for any organization should be when their most passionate people become quiet.

All three stories today look at the problem of who’s good enough to be in the circle of God’s love and approval. First, God gets Nathan to show David he’s being an outrageously arrogant, entitled jerk, a murderer and adulterer.Read More »Homily for June 12, 2016

Gaining a Community, Joining a Movement

May 7, 2014May 22, 2014
by Alison Kemper
Activities & Events, Reflections, Sermons, Worship

Baptism of Adam, Easter 3, Road to Emmaus

Homily delivered on May 4 by the Rev Alison Kemper

Today we hear one of the best stories in the Gospels: the appearance of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. We celebrate a baptism—one of the most wonderful things the church does. And we gather around wee Adam, as happy and bright and darling a baby you may ever see. A Christian hat trick.

april

15apr7:15 pm8:45 pmMoved OnlineVirtual EventLifting Spiritsmusic, poetry and cocktails

Event Details

music, poetry and cocktails

Cocktail hour is a state of mind. It is a little bit of ritual that helps unwind from a difficult day or can make us more ready to be with others. Booze is optional, but the time that is taken to make oneself a beautiful drink should be celebrated and cherished.

My vision in creating Lifting Spirits is to capture some of the good parts of church (and bar) culture and to bring it into a welcoming and non-dogmatic space where we celebrate art and beauty, take care of each other, listen, celebrate, mourn, and hold. Currently connected to Holy Trinity TO, this is not a religion, it is a way of being with each other with few rules: be kind, listen, seek joy.

We start with a little cocktail building session at 7:15pm for about 15 minutes. I’ll post the materials list a few days beforehand in my email broadcast. There is also a Lifting Spirits Channel on YouTube where cocktail information and some performances are collected for your later enjoyment.

Once we have equipped ourselves with a libation, we’ll wander up to my studio for a little open mic, poetry reading and conversation. If you’d like to play something or recite something, that would be fantastic. We can improvise, but it doesn’t hurt if I have some idea how many want to share something beforehand. In between performances we’ll chat. If the numbers grow enough that it’s hard to chat, then we’ll start to use the breakout rooms.

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