July 19, 2026
8th Sunday after Pentecost – The Rev. Mark S. Winward, MDiv, ThM
Proper 11A
A Beautiful Mess
This past Wednesday marked one year since we moved into our home in Talking Rock, just over the Gilmer County line. Our house is in a water-skiing community—even though we’re not water-skiers—and sits on the side of a hill looking across two long ponds. On a clear evening, those ponds beautifully reflect the warm orange glow of the sunset.
Between our back patio and our pond-side lawn is a steep berm dotted with black-eyed Susans—and an equal number of every kind of weed North Georgia has to offer. While the weeds are a bit annoying, the black-eyed Susans lend the property a kind of wild beauty. So I’ve given up trying to sort through this beautiful mess myself.
Wheat and Weeds
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the servants not to pull the weeds because they might uproot the wheat as well. He concludes, “Let both of them grow together until the harvest.”
This is hard for us because we want things to be clear-cut. We want to know who’s right and who’s wrong, who’s faithful and who’s unfaithful, who belongs and who doesn’t. We want a field in which every plant is clearly labeled—a berm full of nothing but pretty black-eyed Susans.
But in reality, wheat and weeds grow side by side, their roots tangled beneath the soil in a less-than-idyllic field.
July 12, 2026
7th Sunday after Pentecost – The Rev. Mark S. Winward MDiv, ThM
The Parable of the Sower
“…as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” – Matthew 13:23, NRSV
When Jesus told this Parable of the Sower, he was painting a picture that anyone living in ancient Palestine would have immediately recognized. To say the farmland in Galilee was challenging to cultivate would be an understatement. In fact, an old Jewish legend holds that at creation, an angel flying over Israel accidentally dropped a giant bag full of rocks that were strewn across the countryside. Besides the rocky ground, in many places only a thin layer of soil covers solid limestone. Seeds can sprout quickly, but without deep roots they wither under the hot desert sun. Everyone knew that growing a good crop required patience, persistence, and constant care.
That setting became the backdrop for one of Jesus’ most important teachings about discipleship and the Kingdom of God. In the parable, Jesus describes a sower scattering seed. Some fell on the hard path, where the birds quickly ate it. Some landed on rocky ground, where it sprang up quickly but withered just as fast because it had no deep roots. Other seed fell among thorns, which gradually choked out the young plants.
July 5, 2026
Independence Day (Observed) – The Rev. Mark S. Winward, MDiv,ThM
Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” – Matthew 5:43-44, NRSV
The Mood of Our 250th Anniversary
Is it me, or does this 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation seem a bit subdued – especially compared to what I remember of our 200th anniversary? I was 15 years old during our Bicentennial in 1976, and you couldn’t get away from it. I remember parades, tall ships, fireworks, television specials, and a sense of anticipation and excitement that, to my young eyes, seemed to last for months. This year, as we celebrate our 250th anniversary – a quarter of a millennium of our nation’s life, and arguably an even more significant milestone than our Bicentennial – the mood feels very different. One of the things that saddens me most is that even flying the flag of the nation I dedicated most of my life to defending can now be interpreted as a political statement. I pray we can recover a sense of shared civic identity that rises above our political differences.
When Disagreement Becomes Enmity
Whether because of politics, media, social change, or simply the pace of modern life, many of us have the sense that we no longer know how to disagree without questioning one another’s motives.
June 28, 2026
5th Sunday After Pentecost – Proper 8A – Mark S. Winward
“…thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” – Romans 6:17, NRSV
The Meaning of the Clergy Collar
People often wonder what the clergy collar I wear means. I once had a waitress ask me if my collar was a new style! (I told her, “Actually, it is a very old style!”) But seriously, there are several ways to answer that question—and, for me, it comes down to being a visible reminder that I am a servant of Christ—more specifically, a bond servant of Christ. In antiquity, a bond servant, sometimes called a bond-slave, was someone who voluntarily bound themselves to serve another person, often for life.
In the Bible, the term carries two important meanings. Under the Old Testament law, a Hebrew servant who loved his master could choose not to go free. Instead, he voluntarily stayed in his master’s service, and that lifelong commitment was symbolized by having his ear pierced (Exodus 21:5–6). In the New Testament, Paul, James, and Peter all describe themselves as bond servants—the Greek word is doulos—of Jesus Christ. While slavery in the ancient world was overwhelmingly brutal, the apostles turned it around to express complete devotion,