Matt Mardis-LeCroy

Pretty great start to the fall at College Hill Presbyterian Church!

I'm firing the ushers for telling me how few people attended church last Sunday!

Among the greatest promotional photos of all time are these for the 1990 television movie of IT, where it looks like a prestige legal drama about a firm of hot young lawyers and one associate who likes to dress up like a clown.

"Sadness is like a little bit of an emotional death but not a defeat if you can find a way to laugh about it. Because that laughter keeps you from having fear of it, and fear is the thing that keeps you turning to evil devices to save you from the sadness."

-- Stephen Colbert

What’s a shark’s favourite novel?
A Farewell to Arms

Oh dear...

Happy 4th of July, Batman.

Your Tired, Your Poor...

10 years of civil marriage equality!

And these rights are less secure right now than at any moment in the last ten years.

Celebration? Sure.

Complacency? Nope.

Reminds me of a parishioner in my first church -Little Neck, Queens, some 20 years ago- who would vent and grouch to me about all the Koreans "taking over the neighorhood."

He was deeply, proudly incredibly Irish.

The irony was not lost on me.

Pray for Minnesota.

Pray for our country.

Just...pray.

The Gospel reading for Morning Prayer is a little on the nose.

May all of us see, welcome and work for the things that make for peace...

Christian Singer Resumes Career, Relieved of a Secret (Published 2010) In 2004, the singer Ray Boltz faced a personal crisis that caused him to retreat and take stock of who he was.

Fun fact: Ray has since come out of the closet! www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/u...

Christian rock band respond to former member's drug abuse, sexual assault allegations Newsboys respond to troubling news regarding their former lead singer, Michael Tait. " If you are a victim, we urge you to come forward," they said.

Long, long, long ago -when Steve Taylor produced their records- the Newsboys were...kind of good, actually? But they stop collaborating w/Taylor, Tait comes in, they become a bland, boring cog in the CCM machine. With gross politics.

So...this tracks.

www.usatoday.com/story/entert...

Alasdair MacIntyre (1929-2025) - Daily Nous Alasdair MacIntyre, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and Duke University, well-known for his work in moral and political philosophy, has died. Professor MacIntyre wrote...

Rest in Peace and thank you!

dailynous.com/2025/05/22/a...

"I need a fashion opinion, even though you're a middle-aged man." -my daughter, to me, just now.

Name them! Shame them!

"Dah Pope."

Pope Francis could see the humanity of trans people. Why is it hard for so many American Christians?

How do mainline Protestants get outflanked...by the pope?

Χριστὸς ἀνέστη!

Here @trippfuller.bsky.social says what I was trying to say in my Good Friday sermon -but he does it better.

Worth a read.

Yesterday, College Hill Presbyterian Church had its best non-holiday Sunday attendance since before Covid.

It is so strange to see my congregation doing so well when so many things...aren't.

College Hill Presbyterian Church

It's Thursday morning, almost 11, and I know enough about this Sunday's sermon to tell you that it will be:

1. Brief.
2. Directed at myself (more than usual) and
3. Kinda scary?

Working Title: "The Secret to Great Comedy"

See you in church.

collegehillpc.org

God is not angry. God is sad.
And in God's grief lies our salvation.

More about that on Sunday...

I know that, in so many ways, the world is such a dumpster fire right.

And. Yet.

I get to do the best work with the best people. I am so grateful. And also kind of...embarassed?

It's weird.

YouTube video by Matt Mardis-LeCroy Sunday, March 9 2025

Sermon for the 1st Sunday of Lent:

Sinners in the Hands of a Curious God

youtu.be/mE8ZnGQGmUw?...

Hopped up on the good Sudafed, I have written the first draft of Sunday's sermon.

Working title?

"Sinners in the Hands of a Curious God."

Season 4 | Episode 1 - "Let’s Talk About Sin, Baby" with Rev. Dr. Matt Mardis-Lecroy YouTube video by Eastridge Presbyterian

Mardis Gras Eve: The Perfect Time to Talk About Sin!

www.youtube.com/live/zIbtLK4...

YouTube video by Matt Mardis-LeCroy February 23 2025

The real inspiration for this morning's sermon came from the "Stupid Piece of %#$!" episode of Bojack Horseman.

See for yourself:

youtu.be/kf-7wMoMv_A?...