All Recordings from The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
Dec 18, 2024 |
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 The Longest Night
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 The Longest Night
Join us on Wednesday, December 22, for The Longest Night, led by the Rev. Joyce Keeshin with special music by Jerika Hayes.
This gentle contemplative service is for those seeking comfort.
This worship service is available here and through our Online Worship podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify or simply ask your smart speaker to play the podcast “The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer Online Worship."
This gentle contemplative service is for those seeking comfort.
This worship service is available here and through our Online Worship podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify or simply ask your smart speaker to play the podcast “The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer Online Worship."
Dec 15, 2024 |
Advent Lessons and Carols 2024
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Advent Lessons and Carols 2024
On Christmas Eve in 1918, Eric Milner-White, Dean of King's College, Cambridge, offered a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols to the city of Cambridge. The service has since become a worldwide holiday tradition. The success of the Christmas Eve service prompted Milner-White to craft a service of Advent Lessons and Carols for the first Sunday of Advent in 1934. Our own service is adapted from this form, and it calls to mind through word and song the joyful expectation of Advent.
The Lessons and Carols service was for many years a staple at Church of the Redeemer, and we hope, as we return to this beautiful service, that it will become once again an annual tradition for our entire parish and for the city of Cincinnati.
Listen in during the week before Christmas and meditate on a series of carols, hymns, readings, and the seven great “O” Antiphons, one of the great Medieval inheritances of the Church. O come, Emmanuel!
The Lessons and Carols service was for many years a staple at Church of the Redeemer, and we hope, as we return to this beautiful service, that it will become once again an annual tradition for our entire parish and for the city of Cincinnati.
Listen in during the week before Christmas and meditate on a series of carols, hymns, readings, and the seven great “O” Antiphons, one of the great Medieval inheritances of the Church. O come, Emmanuel!
Dec 15, 2024 |
Sunday, December 15, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Sunday, December 15, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
Join us for worship this Sunday, December 15, for Holy Eucharist, Rite II with The Rev. Dr. Herschel Wade, Celebrant and The Rev. Philip DeVaul, Preacher.
This worship service is also available live at 9:00 am on Sunday, and as a video following that at https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/online-worship/
Dec 13, 2024 |
WLSU, What I Learned in 2024
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
WLSU, What I Learned in 2024
I want to do something I don’t normally do. I want to look back on this past year and name a few things I learned in 2024. I wouldn’t normally do this because, frankly, who the hell am I to tell you what I’ve learned, as if it could be relevant to you? It’s a little cocky. So when I say I learn them, please know I am guessing you probably already knew all these things yourself. So rather than learning anything from me, you get to just be proud of me for finally catching up with you!
It's also worth saying that most of the things I learned this year, I did not learn for the first time. At least I think I’ve thought them before. But in this last year, these four things sang out more loudly, more clearly than they ever have before. So this is more like four things I relearned. I tend to resist New Year’s resolutions, but I will say as I look forward to 2025, I am hoping to hold these things a little more closely than I have in the past. So without further ado, here are four things I learned in 2024.
Dec 08, 2024 |
Sunday, December 8, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin
Sunday, December 8, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
Join us for worship this Sunday, December 8, for Holy Eucharist, Rite II with The Rev. Philip DeVaul, Celebrant and The Rev. Joyce Keeshin, Preacher.
This worship service is also available live at 9:00 am on Sunday, and as a video following that at https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/online-worship/
Dec 06, 2024 |
WLSU, Useless Christmas
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
WLSU, Useless Christmas
Usually this
time of year, as we prepare for Christmas I try to write something about how
you should go easy on yourself, about how the holidays are stressful enough
without you having to add to that with a lot of judgment and self-criticism. I
always make a point of saying how much I hate New Year’s resolutions because,
one, you’re going to fail at them anyway, and two, becoming a better person should
not actually be your main goal. And of course all of this rests in the reality
that God loves you no matter what, and it would do your heart some good to rest
in that a little bit.
But not this year.
No, this year the other shoe drops. You’re not working hard enough. You could be doing more. It’s the end of the year and what do you have to show for it? Did you really give it your all? If Jesus showed up at your door today, how disappointed do you think he’d be on a scale of 1 to 10? Maybe you should be going all out to make Christmas perfect and set yourself up for a new you in the new year. You understand that God would love you more if you were just a better person, right?
Ok, fine, I don’t actually believe any of those things. But I wonder what it felt like to hear that. Did you buy any of it?
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But not this year.
No, this year the other shoe drops. You’re not working hard enough. You could be doing more. It’s the end of the year and what do you have to show for it? Did you really give it your all? If Jesus showed up at your door today, how disappointed do you think he’d be on a scale of 1 to 10? Maybe you should be going all out to make Christmas perfect and set yourself up for a new you in the new year. You understand that God would love you more if you were just a better person, right?
Ok, fine, I don’t actually believe any of those things. But I wonder what it felt like to hear that. Did you buy any of it?
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Dec 01, 2024 |
Sunday, December 1, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Sunday, December 1, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
Join us for worship this Sunday, December 1, for Holy Eucharist, Rite II with The Rev. Joyce Keeshin, Celebrant and The Rev. Philip DeVaul, Preacher.
This worship service is also available live at 9:00 am on Sunday, and as a video following that at https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/online-worship/
Nov 24, 2024 |
Sunday, November 24, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist with Baptism
| The Rev. Dr. Herschel Wade
Sunday, November 24, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist with Baptism
Join us for worship this Sunday, November 17, for Holy Eucharist, Rite II with Baptism with The Rev. Philip DeVaul, Celebrant and The Rev. Dr. Herschel Wade, Preacher.
This worship service is also available live at 9:00 am on Sunday, and as a video following that at https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/online-worship/
Nov 22, 2024 |
WLSU, After The Thing
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
WLSU, After The Thing
We read these stories of memorable moments. We call them defining. In many ways they are. The miracles define the lives of those who experience them. And the curses – the illnesses, and deaths of which Jesus cures people – they are themselves definitive. The bleeding woman, the dying child, the dead man. Is this life defined? A collection of maladies and miracles, of blessings and curses – bullet points and highlights, the things found in an obituary.
But my life is filled with so many unmemorable moments – daily, hourly, I am doing things the details of which get forgotten almost immediately. It’s the things that happens after the thing happens.
I have written and preached and spoken repeatedly about the day my father died. I have detailed at length my conversion experience on a seaside trail in Italy. I have gleaned my parents’ divorce, my wedding day, and the birth of my children for sermon material. A collection of curses and miracles that I call definitive. But right now I am thinking about picking my kids up from school.
The days I’ve done this bleed into one another, my memory of them is an amalgamation. I don’t remember any specific time I locked eyes with one of my children as they made their way out of the school building, any specific time they broke into a run toward me, any specific time they tried to knock me down with a hug. But it has happened so many times, so consistently, so unmemorably, that it has begun to define me.
But my life is filled with so many unmemorable moments – daily, hourly, I am doing things the details of which get forgotten almost immediately. It’s the things that happens after the thing happens.
I have written and preached and spoken repeatedly about the day my father died. I have detailed at length my conversion experience on a seaside trail in Italy. I have gleaned my parents’ divorce, my wedding day, and the birth of my children for sermon material. A collection of curses and miracles that I call definitive. But right now I am thinking about picking my kids up from school.
The days I’ve done this bleed into one another, my memory of them is an amalgamation. I don’t remember any specific time I locked eyes with one of my children as they made their way out of the school building, any specific time they broke into a run toward me, any specific time they tried to knock me down with a hug. But it has happened so many times, so consistently, so unmemorably, that it has begun to define me.
Nov 17, 2024 |
Sunday, November 17, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist with Baptism
| The Rev. Dr. Herschel Wade
Sunday, November 17, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist with Baptism
Join us for worship this Sunday, November 17, for Holy Eucharist, Rite II with Baptism with The Rev. Dr. Herschel Wade, Celebrant and The Rev. Philip DeVaul, Preacher.
This worship service is also available live at 9:00 am on Sunday, and as a video following that at https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/online-worship/
Nov 15, 2024 |
WLSU, Don't Let Go
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
WLSU, Don't Let Go
11 years ago my family and I walked into a theater and watched what would become one of the most significant movies of the last several decades. Of course I’m talking about Frozen. It became the highest grossing film of that year, the highest grossing animated film up to that point, and singlehandedly re-established the cultural relevance of Disney’s animated movies.
But more important than all that, Frozen brought the song “Let it Go” into the world. Everything else about Frozen’s impact pales in comparison to this. “Let it Go” won an Oscar, a Grammy, and sold nearly 11million copies in one year. Even if you have never seen Frozen you have heard this song. And if you have had a child, grandchild, godchild, or are friends with anyone who has had any of these in the last decade, you know this song. It is impossible to overstate its ubiquity in our culture.
Let me step back for a moment and acknowledge the obvious. Yes, I am still a priest and this is still my religious podcast. And yes, I am an adult. And yes, in the midst of some of the most interesting and trying times in recent memory, I am here talking/writing about a Disney movie and one of its songs. Stick with me. Jesus will be here soon.
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But more important than all that, Frozen brought the song “Let it Go” into the world. Everything else about Frozen’s impact pales in comparison to this. “Let it Go” won an Oscar, a Grammy, and sold nearly 11million copies in one year. Even if you have never seen Frozen you have heard this song. And if you have had a child, grandchild, godchild, or are friends with anyone who has had any of these in the last decade, you know this song. It is impossible to overstate its ubiquity in our culture.
Let me step back for a moment and acknowledge the obvious. Yes, I am still a priest and this is still my religious podcast. And yes, I am an adult. And yes, in the midst of some of the most interesting and trying times in recent memory, I am here talking/writing about a Disney movie and one of its songs. Stick with me. Jesus will be here soon.
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Nov 10, 2024 |
Sunday, November 10, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
| The Rev. Joanna Leiserson
Sunday, November 10, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
Join us for worship this Sunday, November 10, for Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music. with The Rev. Joyce Keeshin, Celebrant and The Rev. Joanna Leiserson, Preacher.
This worship service is also available live at 9:00 am on Sunday, and as a video following that at https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/online-worship/
Nov 08, 2024 |
WLSU: Work Hard. Be Kind
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
WLSU: Work Hard. Be Kind
Kindness is the conscious decision to humanize the person right in front of you, to at least seek to empathize with them, to insist that they matter even when you don’t want them to.
The temptation to hate is so strong. I am speaking about myself here as much as I am speaking about anyone. I do not believe kindness comes naturally when we feel threatened, when we are hurting. We are in a time of upheaval and great cultural division, fear, and animosity.
Some are grieving the results of this election, and some are celebrating – and if you look at the numbers, it’s a fairly equal portion of both. We cannot say that our country is united behind Donald Trump. That would be a lie. We could not have said the country was united behind Joe Biden after his election. That’s not how this works in real life. We know that politicians like to speak in sweeping terms about the electorate. I think those broad declarations about us are disingenuous – wishful thinking. “America has spoken!” they will often say. Have we? Our winner-take-all mentality insists on a narrative of unity that does not reflect our experience. And our binary thinking requires good guys and bad guys for us to be able to function. This is fertile ground for hatred to grow.
We are fractured, and the breach runs deep. I am not at all sure it is reparable. We all belong to each other, but we don’t act like it, and often we don’t even believe it.
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The temptation to hate is so strong. I am speaking about myself here as much as I am speaking about anyone. I do not believe kindness comes naturally when we feel threatened, when we are hurting. We are in a time of upheaval and great cultural division, fear, and animosity.
Some are grieving the results of this election, and some are celebrating – and if you look at the numbers, it’s a fairly equal portion of both. We cannot say that our country is united behind Donald Trump. That would be a lie. We could not have said the country was united behind Joe Biden after his election. That’s not how this works in real life. We know that politicians like to speak in sweeping terms about the electorate. I think those broad declarations about us are disingenuous – wishful thinking. “America has spoken!” they will often say. Have we? Our winner-take-all mentality insists on a narrative of unity that does not reflect our experience. And our binary thinking requires good guys and bad guys for us to be able to function. This is fertile ground for hatred to grow.
We are fractured, and the breach runs deep. I am not at all sure it is reparable. We all belong to each other, but we don’t act like it, and often we don’t even believe it.
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Nov 03, 2024 |
Sunday, November 3, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Sunday, November 3, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
Join us for worship this Sunday, November 3, for Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music. with The Rev. Joyce Keeshin, Celebrant and The Rev. Philip DeVaul, Preacher.
This worship service is also available live at 9:00 am on Sunday, and as a video following that at https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/online-worship/
Nov 01, 2024 |
WLSU, The Days After
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
WLSU, The Days After
Well, this
is the last blog I will publish before the election. I am aware that nothing I
could say at this point would sway your vote one way or the other. I think most
of you who know me and have read my writing have your own guesses about how I
will vote. And I don’t pretend that anything I’ve put out there has had much of
an influence on your vote. So I will not be using this platform to tell you for
whom you should vote, or even to tell you to vote at all.
But I am thinking a lot about November 5th. I believe it is the most consequential election of my lifetime so far. I care deeply about what happens. And also, beyond casting my vote, I have no control over the outcome.
What I also believe is that there will be a November 6th. And a November 7th. And hopefully many days after that. And I believe that, regardless of the outcome of the election, we will still all belong to each other. And we have some work to do in order to act like that’s true.
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But I am thinking a lot about November 5th. I believe it is the most consequential election of my lifetime so far. I care deeply about what happens. And also, beyond casting my vote, I have no control over the outcome.
What I also believe is that there will be a November 6th. And a November 7th. And hopefully many days after that. And I believe that, regardless of the outcome of the election, we will still all belong to each other. And we have some work to do in order to act like that’s true.
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Oct 27, 2024 |
Sunday, October 27, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane
Sunday, October 27, 2024 Rite II Holy Eucharist
Join us for worship this Sunday, October 27, for Holy Eucharist, Rite II with music. with The Rev. Philip DeVaul, Celebrant and The Rev. Melanie Slane, Preacher.
This worship service is also available live at 9:00 am on Sunday, and as a video following that at https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/online-worship/
Oct 25, 2024 |
WLSU, Believing Now
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
WLSU, Believing Now
Soon people began to arrive for the 9 o’clock service, which is our largest. They piled into our parish hall, all smiles and grace and understanding and playfulness. I was overwhelmed. This day started in disaster and was met with grace by every single person involved. There were so many opportunities for panic, sadness, or frustration – and I’m sure those feelings were felt here and there, but the overriding sense was that we have got this, that we’ve got each other, that we know what’s important.
And I know. I know we have insurance. I know what ended up happening was a tiny little thing: A pipe had burst. There was some water damage that was not catastrophic, that would be repaired, that would be covered. And it does not compare to the damage and disaster that has befallen our siblings in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee after the recent hurricanes. It amounted to a minor inconvenience. We are safe and sound and will be back to normal so quickly. We are a fortunate group. Even in our misfortune. We are privileged by our resources and insurance.
At the same time, our response to the trouble we faced was revelatory to me. I say revelatory, though it’s worth noting it didn’t reveal anything to me I didn’t already know about God. But we can forget so easily how love and grace work to transform our lives. I already knew how grateful I was to have the people of this church in my life, to be a part of theirs. I already knew that they are a good-hearted, flexible, loving, understanding, and resourceful bunch. None of this was new. But it was revealed to me all over again.
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Oct 20, 2024 |
Letting baggage go
| The Rev. Dr. Herschel Wade
Letting baggage go
Not long ago, in a spiritual direction session,
My companion and I spoke about the relinquishing of baggage.
Letting baggage go to give space to my future self.
Placing that baggage at the feet of Jesus.
Placing that baggage on the altar as a sacrifice of a part of myself to God.
Like a good and proper Gestalt pupil,
I spoke to the future, my future self.
It is a self that is not completely known.
It is a self, fraught with uncertainty.
But it is a self, pregnant with possibilities.
Great possibilities, Holy possibilities, Spirit-infused possibilities.
I don’t remember exactly what I said to my future self.
I do remember speaking about my fear of the unknown.
A fear so great. I was dragging my feet.
Sometimes I wanted to pick up my baggage and return to the place that I knew well.
Oct 18, 2024 |
WLSU, Your Voice, Your Place
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
WLSU, Your Voice, Your Place
That word enfranchised might seem out of place in a spiritual conversation. It’s a word we find in the political realm. We sometimes forget that political matters have spiritual elements and spiritual matters affect our politics. Enfranchisement in our current context is mostly about voting, but the primary thrust of the word is that a person’s presence and dignity is acknowledged as part of the larger community. They are not shut out. They are not kept quiet. This is what Jesus is doing in his healing. When he calls the woman daughter, he is publicly incorporating her into the shared life of her people. She is enfranchised, and that is spiritual and political at the same time.
I cannot unequivocally tell you that Jesus likes democracy. It never comes up in his teaching. What I can tell you is that Jesus is serious about leveling the playing field, about every person’s life mattering. He is serious about giving voice and dignity to the people he meets. The values Jesus embodies are, I believe, consistent with what we value about democracy. Everyone has a voice. Everyone has a place in the conversation. Nobody left out.
I do not live in a democracy. I live in Ohio.
Ohio, a place I have come to love very much, is one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. You’re welcome to do a Google image search of our districts if you are a fan of visual comedy. But for context I will tell you this: Ohio is 42% Republican and 40% Democrat, with 18% stating no affiliation. If people all voted on party lines and that 18% miraculously all voted Republican, you might feasibly expect our representation to be 60% Republican, 40% Democrat. In reality, 75% of our representatives are Republican. 75%. Our districts – which have been ruled unconstitutional but somehow still stand – are intentionally designed to engineer a one party supermajority.
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Oct 17, 2024 |
Impossible
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Impossible
Your salvation is not about you. It is about God.
Now maybe you're not wealthy. Maybe money is not the issue for you. I invite you to close your eyes for a second and think. Like think about what are the things that you lean on to make sure you know that you're okay.
What are they?
Probably is money for a lot of us. You can open your eyes when you want. I grew up, um, I didn't grow up very much. I grew up short. Um, I was, I was, I was always the shortest kid in my class, um, I was never very athletic, I was never like, like one of the cool kids in that way, right? But I could talk myself into and out of anything.
And I find myself even now trying to talk myself into and out of my own salvation. That's the way that I, that's the way that I know that I'm okay. So when I actually practice silent prayer, and I learn to shut up. God shows up and reminds me, I'm not talking my way into heaven. Heaven is showing up in my heart and in my life, if only I have eyes to see it and am willing to acknowledge my need for God.
Now maybe you're not wealthy. Maybe money is not the issue for you. I invite you to close your eyes for a second and think. Like think about what are the things that you lean on to make sure you know that you're okay.
What are they?
Probably is money for a lot of us. You can open your eyes when you want. I grew up, um, I didn't grow up very much. I grew up short. Um, I was, I was, I was always the shortest kid in my class, um, I was never very athletic, I was never like, like one of the cool kids in that way, right? But I could talk myself into and out of anything.
And I find myself even now trying to talk myself into and out of my own salvation. That's the way that I, that's the way that I know that I'm okay. So when I actually practice silent prayer, and I learn to shut up. God shows up and reminds me, I'm not talking my way into heaven. Heaven is showing up in my heart and in my life, if only I have eyes to see it and am willing to acknowledge my need for God.
