funeral – Storied Grace

In Memoriam: Catherine Stokes Baran

A sermon at the Burial of the Dead
August 30, 2025, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR

Readings: Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 23; Romans 8:14-19, 34-35, 37-39; John 14:1-6

Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heav’ns joy,
Sphear-born harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Vers

Those words belong to John Milton’s poem “At a Solemn Music.” The poem, later set to music by Hubert Parry, describes the power of music. Milton takes us to the heights of heaven where the music flows unabated and uncompromised. Milton also dives into our own hearts, where that music, once pure, is so often discordant and corrupted by sin, death, and the sorrows of this life. Milton goes on:

Wed your divine sounds, and mixt power employ
Dead things with inbreath’d sense able to pierce,
And to our high-rais’d phantasie present,
That undisturbèd Song of pure content,
Ay sung before the saphire-colour’d throne
To him that sits theron
With Saintly shout, and solemn Jubily…
Singing everlastingly;

In Memoriam: Gary Morrison

A sermon for the funeral of Gary Morrison
April 5, 2025, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR

Readings: Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 11:21-27

There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.

Today we gather to give thanks to God for our friend Gary. We gather in this church he loved so much to remember him, his quiet and kind faith, his perseverance in the face of adversity. We gather to support his family and friends and those who mourn. But most of all, we gather because St. Paul tells us that nothing in this world or in the world to come will ever be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because Gary was baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he belongs to Christ forever. Nothing can take that away.

In Memoriam: Carol Caldwell Hollingshead

A sermon for the funeral of Carol Hollingshead
February 22, 2025

Readings: John 14:1-6

Today we gather to give thanks to God for a wonderful lady, a faithful woman who sat just over there. We gather to pray in this church that she loved and that she worked for and supported. We gather to lift up her family, friends, and all who mourn. And we gather because we have a sure and certain hope that nothing, not even death, will separate Carol or any of us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because Carol was baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, she is with Christ even now, held in his arms of mercy, peace, and love. Death is not strong enough to take that away; God can never lie.

In Memoriam: Mary Andrews

A sermon for the funeral of Mary Andrews
January 18, 2025

Readings: Psalm 23, Matthew 5:1-10

Today we gather to give thanks to God for a wonderful lady. We gather to pray; to support her family, friends, and all who mourn. And we gather because we have a sure and certain hope that nothing, not even death, will separate Mary or any of us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because Mary was baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, she is with Christ even now, held in his arms of mercy, peace, and love.

In Memoriam: Joe Mouton

A sermon for the Funeral of Alexandre “Joe” Bruce Mouton
November 30, 2024

Readings: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; Revelation 21:2-7; Matthew 5:1-10

A joyful man. A gracious host. Someone with a twinkle in his eye that betrayed his mischievousness. A funny, funny person who probably wouldn’t mind if I started today with a Boudreaux and Thibodeaux joke (but don’t worry, I decided not to–if you want to know which one I would use, come see me after). A loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Today we gather to give thanks for the life of such a man. We give thanks for the gift he was in our lives–the gift he will continue to be. Today we commend him to God, the giver of all good gifts, confident that God will pull Joe to himself in grace, mercy, and love. Because Joe was baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, he is marked as God’s child forever.

In Memoriam: Gary Wayne Murphy

A sermon for the funeral of Gary Murphy
October 5, 2024, at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Stuttgart, AR

Readings: Joshua 1:5-9; Revelation 21:2-7; John 6:37-40

What I remember about the first time I met Gary is his smile. His smile captured his kindness, his generosity, his happiness. He served for a time on the vestry here right after I arrived, but before he and Elaine moved to be closer to Lee. He smiled, and he was welcoming, and he had a little bit of a crush on Molly.