St. Ed Said

SAINT OF THE DAY: Holy Men & Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints Chad of Lichfield  Bishop 672  Collect for Chad of Lichfield Heavenly Father, whose son our Lord Jesus Christ took the form of a servant for the sake of his brothers and sisters: Strengthen us with the prayers and example of your servant Chad, who became the least of all to minister to all; through the same Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns, with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Chad was born in Northern England around 634, one of four brothers dedicated to service in the church. Chad was trained by Aidan of Lindisfarne as a follower of the Celtic tradition in ritual. His elder brother Cedd had built a monastery at Lastingham, where he governed as abbot.  At his death, Cedd left the abbacy to Chad. According to Bede, Chad was “a holy man, modest in his ways, learned in the Scriptures, and zealous in carrying out their teaching.” Impressed by Chad’s qualities, the king appointed ...

Happenings Lead Article March 3, 2026 The Rev. Aron Kramer Many of my reading resources this week have been filled with the idea of Beauty. At first I was a little annoyed, because it is Lent, and I know I have been a little more uplifting this Lent than I have been in the past. Not that I have been down in Lent, I just tend to focus, I think, more on self discipline and the penitential nature of the Season. But then I came across this little gem from Rumi: “Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” At first I thought Rumi was comparing ideas. The idea of the beauty we love being the beauty we do was inspiring. But having hundreds of way to kneel and kiss the ground seemed to minimize or shrink the idea of beauty. But then I saw it a little differently, beauty in our world tends to be held by the few, the powerful and the elite. There is a standard and an expectation about what beauty is. You have to look a certain way, behave in a ...

The Rev. Aron Kramer 2 Lent Sunday, March 1, 2026 When I was growing up, the Stillwater High School Football coach, George Thole, showed up to Church every February for a month to do his duty as an usher. It was his moment to try and recruit me to be the field goal kicker for the high school team. In hindsight, I should have taken him up on the opportunity. Shortly after I was ordained I was invited to preach at Ascension, and it happened to be a Sunday in February. Having been ordained for a minute, I was testing my chops with some of the old guard at Ascension. I was walking up to George when one of the long time members, someone who had had a long history in the military, walked up next to me and said to George, “It’s good to see you today, George, but you my friend, need to belong more regularly to the army of the Lord!” My mouth kind of dropped at that approach, I had a different quip in mind, but George responded without missing a beat, “Bill, I already belong to the army of the ...

“You must be really busy at Christmas time.” This is a common question I receive when I have a conversation with someone who has just found out I am an Episcopal Priest. It always makes me chuckle. Because while Christmas is one of our two biggest services, it generally isn’t all that busy, compared to Holy Week and Easter it’s a breeze. I say that, but I always add a caveat. Because, for whatever reason, people find Christmastide a really good time to die. It makes sense, it is one of those moments in the year when families all gather, and the effort to meet an come together is a little higher than it normally us. Kids have breaks, so are back from college, or at home with no school work to do. Work has slowed down a bit, and it becomes important to gather as a family. Oftentimes our elders, grandparents and other matriarchs and patriarchs wait until these moments to leave this mortal earth. Now, please, don’t take this as me telling you, a member or friend of St. Ed’s that you should...

On Slime Mold Sunday last week, I said something that triggered my brain, I said we have accomplished all we have because you all show up. Showing up is important, because any given Sunday you could be doing anything else but joining us for the morning. There’s a lot of pressure this time of year. Pressure to be joyful, to be organized, to be present for everyone in your life, to hold things together even when you’re tired or stretched thin. I want to name something gently: nobody shows up to church by accident. Whether you come every Sunday or wander in once during Advent, every act of showing up is a small act of courage, hope, and trust. Because when we walk through the doors, we’re taking a risk. A risk that we might be met with silence when what we need is connection. A risk that the words or music might not land the way we hope. A risk that we’ll bring our questions or grief or weariness and not know how they’ll be held. And yet we come. We come because something in us knows that...

RICHARD HOOKER, ANGLICAN PRIEST & THEOLOGIAN In any list of Anglican theologians, Richard Hooker’s name would stand high, if not first.  He was born in 1553 near Exeter, and was admitted in 1567 to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, of which he became a Fellow ten years later. After ordination and marriage in 1581, he held a living in Buckinghamshire. In 1586, he became Master of the Temple in London. Later, he served country parishes in Boscombe, Salisbury, and Bishopsbourne near Canterbury. A controversy with a noted Puritan led Hooker to prepare a comprehensive defense of the Reformation settlement under Queen Elizabeth I. This work, his masterpiece, was entitled The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. Its philosophical base is Aristotelian, with a strong emphasis upon the natural law eternally plante by God in creation.  On this foundation, all positive laws of church and state are grounded—upon Scriptural revelation, tradition, and reason. Book Five of the Laws is a massive d...