Join us at the Wilderness, Sundays at 6pm this Easter Season.

Wilderness will hold services at 6pm on Christmas Day and New Years Day. We look forward to seeing you!

Come enter into the wonder and beauty of the Wilderness as we explore the lives of the mystics.
Special moments of quiet prayer and walking meditation mark this experience of worship rooted in the Anglican tradition. 6pm Sunday nights.

Come Celebrate Easter in the Wilderness.

Jesus ROSE FOR ALL and Welcomes All. Straight or Gay, Young or Old, Goth or Prep, Disowned or Loved, Broken or Feeling Somewhere Closer to Whole. YOU are welcome in the Wilderness. Join us to explore the mystery of new life on Easter Sunday, April 24th at 6:00pm at St. John’s Cathedral, located at 14th and Washington.

Contemplative worship for the 21st century.

We will be holding wine and cheese gatherings outside of the sanctuary after the Wilderness service January 10, 17, 24, and 31st to ring in 2011 and meet other members and visitors in the Wilderness community. Join us!

A Season of Contemplation with the Christian Poets

Christianity overflows with poetry, and in this season we will explore it’s poetry in a healing and inviting liturgy.

Join us on a path of contemplation. It may be an unfamiliar path to you. But for both the experienced and the newcomer, the path of contemplation, like poetry, opens up new worlds that invite us to dwell in God’s presence and drink deeply of God’s life and love.

Come and allow the words to work in you, and let the poetry find a home in your heart.

A Pastoral Message

September 2010

Dear People of Saint John’s, Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

As you know well by now, it is not usually my practice to reflect directly on matters in the news. But the proposal by Pastor Terry Jones to burn copies of the Qur’an on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of 9/11, is an occasion to remind ourselves, as faithful Christians and as loyal citizens of this country, of several fundamental matters. While the planned desecration did not take place, there remain important issues for our attention.

First, we are not commanded to share the beliefs and practices of our neighbors, but we are commanded by Jesus in the Gospel to love our neighbor. Scripture is clear in its mandate to care for the stranger, the foreigner, the one who is “other” from us. This is the second great commandment.

Second, we are bound by our baptismal covenant to “respect the dignity of every human being.” This respect for our fellow human beings lies not just at the heart of our Christian faith and the doctrine of creation; it is fundamental to all human civilization worthy of that name. We share a common bond in the Abrahamic tradition with both Judaism and Islam, a bond that unites us in both a common history and a common destiny.

Third, we must learn the difference between the complex truths and practices of a noble religious tradition and those who seek to abuse or manipulate that tradition for their own ends. My Muslim friends and colleagues no more wish to be associated with those who justify terrorism by an appeal to Islam than I wish to be associated with a Christian pastor who disgraces my own tradition. Presidents Bush and Obama have reminded us that we are engaged in conflict with terrorists, not with Islam.

For over a decade now, since before the terrible events of September 11. 2001, the Cathedral has been committed to the hard work of inter-religious dialogue and common work through our Abrahamic Initiative. Here, in this sacred space Jews, Christians and Muslims have discovered each other for the first time, or discovered each other anew, and their lives and our common life have been transformed. The work is not done. The concern surrounding Pastor Jones and the proposed Islamic Center in New York, let alone attacks on Muslim places of worship and persistent outbreaks of anti-Semitism in various parts of this country, remind us that the work of transformative inter-religious dialogue and co-operation, both at the highest levels and at the levels of our own local communities, is as urgent as ever. And we have only begun.

As Christians in the Anglican (Episcopal) tradition, we live a Scriptural, historic, sacramental, thoughtful, vibrant life of faith that provides us with the theological and spiritual resources with which to find our way in the midst of debating voices and to live with determination in times of stress or uncertainty. And as citizens of our unique American democratic system, we enjoy privileges and submit ourselves to obligations that, in guaranteeing our individual freedom, at the same time guarantee the freedom of all our people.

May God bless the deepening relationships that we live with our Jewish and Muslim neighbors here in Denver and across our nation, and may God strengthen us always to live the highest values of our faith and the noblest ideals of our democracy.

With affection and prayers to you all,

Peter

Pentecost, June 13, 2010
Sermon for Proper 6, Year C
Preached at “The Wilderness,” Saint John’s Cathedral, Denver, CO by the Rev. Bret Hays

Download here

June 6, 2010
Sermon for the Feast of Corpus Christi
Preached at “The Wilderness,” Saint John’s Cathedral, Denver, CO by the Rev. Bret Hays

Download here

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