Emmanuel Episcopal Church

The Reverend Peter Lane, rector of St Paul & The Redeemer, Hyde Park, preaches at the installation of the Reverend Andria Skornik as rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rockford. In our secular age where religion is often a matter of personal choice, we are encouraged to continue our regular worship, our outreach, and our good works for Rockford to the glory of God in Heaven.

As we think about how we welcome people, let's remember that there can be great benefit in examining and expanding our boundaries. Jesus' message of inclusiveness is that there is always "room for a few more" at God's Table.

Through Communion we can know what it means to live life in the fullest sense. Communion calls us back to God and to our neighbor; living a life of Communion isn't merely an ideal, but something that is available to us all. It was God's intention for us all along.

Celebrating the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are asked "What does it mean to be blessed?" Being blessed is about knowing that God is with us in all times and in all places. God is with each of us and blesses us with the resources we need for our journey: inner strength, love, generosity, and hope.

Emmanuel parishioner and 2015 Golden Apple recipient Becky Pelley shares her efforts to bring life giving and transformational experiences to students through over four decades of teaching and mentoring in Rockford high schools.

Jesus offered the crowd by the Sea of Galilee the true bread, the Bread of Life. He offers it to us, too.

The story of David & Bathsheba helps us see our own brokenness and look at other people’s brokenness with compassion.

The Reverend Bill Beers, Episcopal priest and preacher with Food For The Poor, shares with us the vital work being done by this interdenominational in the Caribbean and Latin America.

A sermon on the Beheading of John the Baptist.

In this sermon we consider what we actually need to get to where we want to go in life, what weighs us down, and what it would mean for us to "travel lightly."

The Reverend Doug Rogers, deacon of Emmanuel Episcopal church, tells us that God has promised two things: We will never be alone in our lives, through good or bad, and that He has made a resurrection. He will make all creation new, and each of us will be part of that creation.

What the story of David and Goliath teaches us about perceptions, and, in the wake of the Charleston shooting, about the misperception that we can't change the culture of racial violence.

The Reverend Clarence Langdon tells us that the fearlessness of the early Christian community is what led a small group of Jesus' followers to become the dominant faith of the Western World in a blink of history's eye. We continue this bold welcoming to this very day. Additional resource: Rodney Stark, "The Rise Of Christianity"

We have been given a Word that heals the brokenness of our world, and now is the time to use it. Influential sources: The Reverend Thomas Long, "What's The Gift"

Chad Senuta, Diocesan Associate for Youth Campus Ministry, reminds us that transition and change are a constant part of our human experience. In the story of the Ascension Jesus provides a model for how we face the many transitions in life.

Our spiritual birth isn’t an accomplishment we can point to, but a gift at which we can marvel and say thank you. Beholding the gift and its giver is what makes our spirits feel alive.

Graduating senior and Mary Kiefer Ward Scholar Corrine Berardi shares her experience of God's love through good times and dark times, and reminds us that with His love all things are possible.

This Earth Day, let's remember that as Christians our responsibility to the environment is deeply rooted in our faith.

Deacon Doug Rogers shows us that, while Thomas may have had his doubts, he certainly had no lack of faith.

The darker, more abrupt ending to Mark's Gospel is also the beginning of a new story that is meant to be continued by the followers of Christ in every age. We are called to be part of that great story...what will our verse be?