James Derkits

I recently finished a book called Liturgies of the Wild by Martin Shaw. The author is an Orthodox Christian, who leads wilderness trips for people of all ages. He is an excellent storyteller and uses fairy tales to help people orient to life, grow, and heal. He brings that experience to the book as he explores aspects of modern life from an ancient lens. He doesn't use the white washed "all flowers and light" fairy tales; he uses the originals that don't always have happy endings, and always have scary challenges, usually involving monsters.  I grew up going to a camp in the piney woods of East Texas. One of the priests who led a camp session was a masterful storyteller. Many people told the camp legend of "Mad Pierre", but he told it best. I won't go into the details, but it left us frightened and looking into the darkness with a new respect. Having hiked into the dark woods to hear the tale, we then hiked all back to our campsite intact, even though o...

Independence Day is the one of two secular holidays listed amongst our Holy Days, the other being Thanksgiving. It makes sense to me that as our church was established in the United States and our prayer book was gradually revised from the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer , that Independence Day would be included. I've heard stories of church goers taking a pen and scratching out prayers for the king once reestablished as, "The Episcopal Church," though I heard there were divisions amongst the clergy during the Revolution, as part of their ordination vows were to swear allegiance to the King of England, the head of the Church and State.  Our Prayer for July Fourth reads: Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ ou...

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...