James Derkits

Later this month I will celebrate being ordained for 20 years, which is staggering to me until I remember the churches I've served, and the many life-giving relationships I've had over the years. There have been challenges of course. As Sturgill Simpson sings, "Ain't all flowers...ain't all light."  That's true in any work, and ultimately I feel fortunate and that it is a privilege to have been called into this work of tending a cure of soul. One of my mentors advised me when I was discerning my calling: "You can't be a young priest if you wait until later in life to go to seminary..." He had been a young priest, which informed how he lived out his vocation as an older priest. I understood his meaning, so off I went.  Canterbury Cathedral When I graduated from seminary, I was interested in liturgical reform and finding fresh expressions of our ancient form of worship. I was never really into big flashy bands or use of the newest technology in...

          The recent death of my mentor The Rev. Murray Powell has led me to reminisce about the way he shaped me, along with other mentors in my life, including many teachers and professors along my earthly pilgrimage so far.  I met Murray in a smoky diner on the North Side of Houston before I went to seminary and I spent a lot more time with him after my ordination when I served at two parishes back in Houston.            The Rev. Murray Powell was ordained the same year I was born, so he had a lot of wisdom to share with me by the time I was ordained 29 years later.  He was never preachy or arrogant about it the wisdom he shared. It was much more about his welcoming presence and Murray just being himself. He was creative, a poetic sermon writer, and helped me see God at work in the midst of the world. When he served as vicar of Lord of the Streets, he taught me about respecting the dignity of every human bein...

I'm grateful for my field education parish and to The Rev. Betty McWhorter, the rector of St. Patrick's for teaching me so many things about living a faithful life as a parish priest. Of the many things that has stuck with me is remembering some of the Sundays of Easter. That's right, Easter Sunday is the first of seven Sundays in the 50-day-long season of Easter, and really there are eight, because Pentecost Sunday is the 50th day of Easter, when we remember the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church (the community called-out to be Christ followers.) Around Easter, she would grill me: "What is the fourth week of Easter?...What is the second week of Easter?" I came up with a simple little device: week 4 is Good Shepherd Sunday (sheep walk on 4 legs) and week 2 is Thomas Sunday (Thomas walks on 2 legs... ). It's silly, but it helped me remember. The whole beautiful season is about understanding the unbelievable experience of the disciples and others coming into ...

  Music has been central to my spiritual life since before I learned to play guitar. Both the songs we sang at camp each summer (and then introduced to my home church in East Texas) and discovering new bands, learning a different spiritual language that wasn't always churchy. music was formative to my young worldview helping me to grow in my understanding of God in my life and in our world.  I have been in several bands since I was in high school, and when I moved to Port Aransas in 2012, besides getting to know our congregations, I wanted to get to know the music scene, and find my place in it. I was fortunate to get to play at the Tarpon Ice House while it still existed, and on some of those late nights I learned the owner was  one of my flock!  I knew that in order to be myself and follow my calling, I needed to continue to play music not just in church as part of my life as a priest, but outside of church. I discovered I especially enjoy playing at that little pi...

Whether you are taking on a spiritual practice, or abstaining from something for the 40 days of lent, the season is about spending more time with God so that we can share Christ's love with others. Our Ash Wednesday service invites the church to self examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, self denial, reading and meditating on scripture, or alms giving. ( Book of Common Prayer p. 265) That list is offered to the whole church; I would encourage choosing one thing to adhere or holdfast to during the entire season. When you miss a day, or fall off your practice, simply start fresh the next day.  Often times we try to take on too many things at once, or feel shame when we stray from our practice. The point of the season is not to try to earn God's love or blessing, we have already been given that by virtue of our existence and Christ's sacrifice for the whole world. In the knowledge of God's love for us then, this season is a time to clear our some of the clutter and noi...

Sermon preached at Trinity by the Sea  Epiphany IV (Feb 1, 2026)Year A Eucharist Vision There are weeks when I wish I could preach a sermon that changes the world. I wish I could so craft a sermon, bearing the fruit of prayer and study, that I could open a window so that what Jesus taught would be seen so clearly that we might join in his vision of reality of existence called God’s kingdom, and realize his teaching in our lives, then so caught up in that new way to see the world we would go out from here as a body of visionary Jesus followers; we would heal the divisions of our country, and make sense of the absolute madness we seem to have descended into. There are weeks, and it seems there are seasons and perhaps years that I want to preach so, and then I remember I’m only human, that there’s a lot of competition out there and a lot of money marketing for our attention, and I sometimes from there, I fall into despair, and wonder if I even want to preach at all.  Such i...