August 9, 2026
11th Sunday after Pentecost Proper 14A – The Rev. Mark S. Winward, MDiv,ThM
The Navy Hymn
I selected “Eternal Father” as our gradual hymn today because it’s based on today’s Gospel and because of its longstanding association with worship in the Navy and Marine Corps. That tradition, along with my Navy roots, may explain why this hymn resonates with me – and why you can count on me choosing it anytime this Gospel account pops up in the lectionary.
The Porter Memorial Window, shown in your bulletins, stands in the chancel of the United States Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis. This beautiful Tiffany window portrays Christ walking on the water. For more than a century, generations of midshipmen have conducted services beneath this image. I wonder how many returning naval officers have looked upon it and heard the words of the Navy Hymn echoing in their ears:
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Many of you may be unaware that I didn’t begin my Navy career as a chaplain. I started out on track to become a Surface Warfare Officer in 1986, serving as Navigator aboard one ship and later as Assistant Engineer aboard another. During those years,
July 26, 2026
9th Sunday after Pentecost – The Rev. Mark S. Winward MDiv, ThM
Proper 12A
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will hardship, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
—Romans 8:35
The Prayer Saul Could Not Forget
As Stephen stood resolutely before the Sanhedrin, accused of speaking against the Temple and the Law, his enemies expected him to cower in fear. Instead, he spoke boldly, reminding them how often God’s messengers had been rejected. Then his indictment erupted: “You always resist the Holy Spirit!” As the council responded with rage, Stephen looked upward and exclaimed, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
That was enough. They dragged him beyond the city walls, tossed him on the ground, and began to stone him, while a young Pharisee named Saul stood nearby, approving of his death. One by one, the stones struck Stephen, but he refused to curse his murderers. Sinking to his knees, he called out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Those were the final words of the Church’s first martyr—the first in a long line of faithful witnesses who would follow.
Those words must have haunted Saul. I cannot help but imagining that Stephen’s words rang in Saul’s ears for many years,
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.