Friday, July 11
The whole Brians clan flew through the night out of HNL to PHX. Thank you for all who prayed for us! The kids were great —almost all of them slept. The craziest thing that happened was an altercation between two passengers that almost got the plane turned around mid-flight. Praise God that did not happen!
Saturday, July 12
A sleepy gaggle of children, along with their two parents, clambered into the American Admirals Club in PHX to grab some coffee, juice, and yogurt. Our tired kids watched Wimbledon matches, mesmerized, and barely touched their food, before we shuttled them out and down to our gate for our flight to ORD.
Again the kids were great —mahalo nui for your prayers.
In Chicago, after a hasty meal, we separated: While the family went to spend a week with cousins at my in-laws farm, I flew to ATL where Fr. Tony picked me up and drove me to the Melton home for dinner. Melton hospitality was glorious, and I crashed hard.
In the morning I worshiped at Christ the King, in Marrietta, delivering the homily on Psalm 123 (they’re doing a series preaching on the psalter). You can watch the sermon video here if you want. It is always joyful worshiping with other Anglicans and recognizing, amidst all our various differences, the deep family resemblance of our communion.
After church I joined Michal Naka and his fiancée Courtney for an extended lunch. It was a joy to catch-up with them and to catch-them-up on all that has been going-on in our parish life. They think and pray for you often: continue to do the same for them.
In the evening, after dinner with the Meltons, Fr. Tony and Vandi, his wife, and I walked next door and fellowshipped with their neighbors who are also their friends and also their parishioners. More and more of their parish are purchasing homes near the church and doing life together. As this happens more and more of their neighborhood is getting to see the Gospel lived-out. I went to bed praying for a day when more of us can live within walking distance and so gather more and more prodigals to the kingdom by the witness of our love for one another.
Monday, July 13
Fr. Tony and I drove over from ATL to BHM in the morning, arriving for the Theopolis Ministry Conference. The time in the car with Tony was incredibly life-giving and gave me the chance to get Tony’s wisdom on all manner of church-life: church-planting, church-growth, spiritual life in a parish, disciplines for life in ministry, etc. All Saints remains forever grateful for our growing friendship with Christ the King.
Arriving at the conference is jumping-in to an ever-deepening family reunion. Many of the Theopolis Alumni from the past several years were there, coming from across traditions as various as Eastern Orthodox, Reformed Baptist, CREC, Anglican, non-denominational, and the PCA. I got to see many old friends and make many new ones. As with my travels last summer so it is the same this summer: more and more people are encouraged to hear of what God is doing among our network in the islands and more and more folks are praying for us.
In the evening after Vespers the alumni held our annual gathering at Trinity Presbyterian Church in the Cahaba neighborhood of BHM. It was exciting to see where the Lord has scattered us and what he is doing in each of our lives. it made me very grateful for our vestry and clergy team allowing me the space each summer to be here. Theopolis doesn’t aspire to shape men and women for leadership and service in the church, it is what is happening now.
Tuesday, July 14
Day two of the conference was exhilarating. I shared the lunch break with Pastor Joshua Appel who leads Trinity Church in Moscow Idaho. We have many overlapping friends —many of whom have sojourned in various seasons with us in Hawaii. Let me sum-up: Pastor Appel knows Robert Capon’s book The Super of the Lamb the way that I know The Office (USA). The whole lunch was a constellation of thoughts spinning like a solar system around one quote from Capon’s book: “One real thing is closer to God than all the diagrams in the world.”
I delivered the homily at the closing vespers of the conference on Luke 2:8-20 the concluding line of which ran something like: “God is not scared of your ugly stories, nor does his redemption mean redacting your sorrows from his account of what is real. No. God wants to enter your darkness and set your sorrows to music.”
In the evening, after the end of the conference, we held our annual Trinity Feast —a meal, string quartet, singing, chanting, toasts, etc. I was honored to give the keynote address for the evening. My theme was “I will lift up the cup of salvation: on Christian toasting.” In many ways it was the fruit of the life I have lived with you all: “A toast!” we say in our community and all of us —old and young— know what we are going to do. The speech was a confection of things I have learned in my toasting among you.
Wednesday, July 15 - Saturday, July 19
We began the 2025-26 Theopolis Fellows Program on Wednesday night. God has been so good to us and it has been a joy to host this new cohort of pastors and church-leaders. Some are pastors, some are discerning a call to ministry, one is a plumber, one a pilot, one was born into a Muslim household, one is a Kenyan pastor outside of Nairobi, one is a “Calvinistic Methodist.” Glorious how deep and wide is the body of Christ.
I’m teaching the following sections this year: Hermeneutics, Genesis 4-50, Song of Songs, Ezekiel, and Oikumene (“intertestamental period”). I’m also delivering two of the Vespers homilies, and giving one lecture to our music program fellows (the Te Deum Fellows) on “Liturgy and Life.”
Sunday, July 20
Alastair Roberts and I worshiped with our friends at the other Christ the King —this time the Birmingham one— under the leadership of Fr. Michael Novotny and Fr. Zachary Clemmons. He and I got to connect with a number of friends from CtK as well as getting to meet some new ones. Two lengthy car rides with Alastair Roberts is a special theological treat. People sometimes ask me “as someone who imbibes deeply of the Theopolis reading of scripture, what are some healthy guard-rails against mis-reading?” Here’s one: Alastair Roberts.
The rest of the afternoon was consumed with (1) a few phone calls home regarding church stuff; (2) prepping for our Sunday afternoon reception of the Te Deum Fellows (the music cohort that shows up for this week).
Rachel and the kiddos arrived in BHM along with Rachel’s parents, and we had a sweet reunion together before they went to our airbnb. I played two games of pool-basketball with some of the men from the fellows program —there were even a few moments I think which would have made Dawson proud —GO SPORTS!
After ten days apart I got to come “home” to my family and pray with my kids and tuck them in bed. We’re not fully home yet, but we are together, and that has been delightful.
Today begins the last week of the program: daily offices of prayer and psalm singing, lectures on biblical theology, chanting practicums, homilies, meals together, conversations late into the night, a keipi on Wednesday, a splash-park outing with some of us who have kids with us, and our annual talent show on Friday.
The Brianses will fly home on Saturday morning and will arrive before bedtime HST. I will see you all on Sunday and cannot wait hear God’s Word and approach his Table with you all. You remain ever in my prayers and in my affections.
he lanakila ma ke kea!