Today was my last day as seminarian and deacon at Santa Fe Episcopal Church. Santa Fe is one of the most amazing communities I’ve ever experienced and I am so, so grateful to have served here. I will deeply miss this community. Santa Fe will always go wherever I go in my heart. Santa Fe es familia. Gracias familia Santa Fe!
Author: Derek Michael Larson
Derek is a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, a Franciscan tertiary in the Third Order, Society of St. Francis, and a seminarian at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX. Most recently Derek worked as a chaplain and religious studies teacher at St. George’s Episcopal School in Milner, GA. As part of his seminary field education, Derek currently serves at Santa Fe Episcopal Church/ La Iglesia Episcopal de Santa Fe in south San Antonio. Derek currently lives in Austin, TX with his wife, LauraAnn, their toddler son, Bear, and their two kittens, Woo and Whiskey Jack.
Graduation
Thanks be to God! I graduated from the Seminary of the Southwest with a Master of Divinity. What a challenging and beautiful three years!
Announcement
I’m very excited to announce I have accepted a call to serve as Assistant Rector for Pastoral Care and Community Engagement at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and School in Tequesta/ Jupiter, FL.
Over the last six months or so I’ve been praying this mantra with my family: “God, prepare a place for us, and prepare us for a place.” And now that prayer is being answered through the unofficial motto of Good Shepherd, “We have a place for YOU!”
LauraAnn, Bear, I are so excited to move back home to Florida (less than 3hrs to Lakeland), and becoming part of this amazing community! Start date is July 15. Yay!
Celebrate with me!
Celebrate with me! I’m graduating from seminary and being ordained as priest! Services live streamed!
Commencement Evening Worship: May 18, 2021 at 5:30pm (Central)
Live Stream: ssw.edu/commencement-2021
Commencement Ceremony: May 19, 2021 at 10:00am (Central)
Live Stream: ssw.edu/commencement-2021
Ordination to the Priesthood: June 26, 2021 at 2:00pm (Eastern)
Live Stream: https://episcopalatlanta.org/event/june-26-2021-ordination/
New Homily: The Wolf Scatters, but the Shepherd Gathers (Español)
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter from the Larsons!
Alleluia.
Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us; *
therefore let us keep the feast,
Not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, *
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Alleluia.
Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; * death no longer has dominion over him.
The death that he died, he died to sin, once for all; * but the life he lives, he lives to God.
So also consider yourselves dead to sin, *
and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia.
Christ has been raised from the dead, *
the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since by a man came death, *
by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, *
so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Alleluia.
Walking the Way of the Cross
Walking the way of the cross through downtown Austin this Good Friday beginning and ending at the Capitol, and praying for all who suffer as Christ suffered on this day, especially those who suffer at our hands or at our neglect. Praying for our city, state, nation, and world. Christ knows our suffering. Christ creates our healing.
(Check out the map to see how I actually walked the shape of the cross through the city!)
A Guided Meditation for Palm and Passion Sunday
The Feast of San Óscar Romero
Today is the feast of San Óscar Romero who was an archbishop assassinated at the altar of his church in El Salvador in 1980 for speaking out for the defense and liberation of the poor who were being killed by the government-backed death squads protecting the power and influence of the elite. In Óscar Romero we have a holy example of the Church who cares not just for itself but for the lost and hurting amidst it.
This morning I had the honor of helping organize our morning prayer service in honor of San Óscar Romero and preaching for professors, students, and staff at the end of service. Below you can find a video of the whole bilingual service. My sermon begins at minute 20:25.
And above the video you can find a link to the service bulletin.
You can read the whole text of my sermon and watch a video with better sound quality here.
A Service for Economic Justice
This evening I had the great opportunity to organize a beautiful service for economic justice with my friend and peer Ryan here at the Seminary of the Southwest. It was a powerful invitation for us to remember how important care of the poor and economic equity is in Scripture and in the Christian tradition. I especially loved the opportunity to pray the Franciscan Litany written by Vida Scudder published in the 1930 edition of the Manual for the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross.
Find the bulletin here:
The service was also an opportunity to experiment with an idea for contemporary chant I’ve been working on, a fusion of chant and contemporary Christian music. Here’s the Psalm I put together for the service:
