st. michael’s blog

of servant ministry and inverted hierarchies

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:32:43 -0700

When I was a seminarian, the church I worked at listed the staff in its bulletins every week in a way that made a statement. The first person listed was the sexton (Episcopal speak for grounds keeper). The last person listed was the rector (or th...

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jesus was a jerk...

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:30:15 -0700

After a restful vacation, there’s nothing like getting back into the preaching rotation with a Gospel passage like the one we hear this morning. The story of the Syrophoenician woman, as it is known in the Gospel of Mark. In the Gospel of Mathew ...

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I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore...

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:59:58 -0700

“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” As I rolled this week’s gospel around in my mind, allowing it to percolate through my synapses toward sermon preparation, the image that kept recurring was that of Howard Beale, as played by...

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it's stewardship time...and pledging is good for YOUR soul!

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:50:24 -0700

Dear St. Michael’s Community Member: Open your mailbox any day and you’ll be deluged by bills—Cox, SoCal Ed, the Gas Company, Visa, DMV, insurance, and a host of others. Then the computer generated requests for money from charities and political...

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entering the thick of it all: a meditation on michael the archangel

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:32:43 -0700

Nearly sixty years ago, back when Isla Vista was a sleepy place with unpaved streets, inexpensive vacation cottages and ramshackle dwellings, a forward thinking priest from Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Santa Barbara challenged his paris...

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activate your "magic eye"...

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:08:16 -0700

Back when I was in middle school, Magic Eye books were all the rage. You might remember that these books are filled with page upon page of what appears at first glance to be an intricate computer generated colorful pattern. But when you take a c...

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la paix est un don de dieu :: peace is a gift from god

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:28:14 -0700

This summer the Episcopal Peace Fellowship sponsored a nonviolence training conference in the Episcopal Diocese of Haïti. Over 100 young adults gathered in Port au Prince from around Haïti for this four day seminar. I was privileged to tag alon...

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girl power @ lambeth...

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:09:51 -0700

Every ten years the 650+ bishops of the Anglican Communion gather at Lambeth (England) to commune. Last decade was the first time bishops who are women attended the Lambeth Conference. They were photographed on this same green overlooking the mot...

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uc workers strike...

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:13:52 -0700

Address to UC Regents 7.15.2008 My name is Nicole Janelle. I’m a member of Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice as well as the Episcopal Chaplain @ UCSB and priest of St. Michael’s University Church in Isla Vista. This morning, to help ori...

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fire prayer...

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:22:06 -0700

A Prayer for our Community in the Midst of the Gap Fire Gracious and holy God, Creator of life -- earth, wind and fire. May our prayers, entwined with the flames that ravage our mountainside, be set forth in your sight as incense, the lifting up...

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