iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by emily elle

BCP Minus Context @bcpminuscontext.bsky.social · 12h

the Exsultet. It is desirable

Hey, clergy and lay preachers, especially in the Episcopal Church, do you have a favorite single-volume (or two-volume if that’s a thing) Bible Commentary for sermon prep? 📕

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 14h

At my co-housing community’s “Listening Conversations” circle, I shared about being in the formal process of discernment in TEC, and that’s how I found out that one of my older neighbors was raised Episcopalian, in TN, and went to summer camp in Sewanee every year as a kid.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I’m laughing at the Holy Spirit shenanigans in my life. Last year I was so overcome with a vision for a particular charism in religious life that I wrote an impassioned letter to our Bishop about it. It didn’t go anywhere but that was fine. Other things unfolded in their own time.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Church today included (along with the readings for St Francis) the priest deciding to “throw a curve ball” at us by having an unplanned renewal of baptismal vows, without anyone but him having access to prayer books. AKA Apostles’ Creed pop quiz fail for everyone! What an odd liturgical choice. ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I am so tired today, and left coffee hour sooner than I normally would, but only because I have a 2.5 hour facilitated “Community Listening Conversation” with my cohousing community now. I have such cohousing PTSD from the pandemic. We’ve never recovered. Lord, have mercy upon us.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I have just assured my cats that under no circumstances will I be requiring them to attend church today.

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Reposted by emily elle

Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

A great many white readers in 1967 were not ready to accept a brown-skinned hero. But they weren’t expecting one. I didn’t make an issue of it, and you have to be well into the book before you realize that Ged, like most of the characters, isn’t white.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I came home from the city and got in bed with the cats to watch videos for Liturgics class, and I’m SO GLAD that I already have as much experience with the Daily Office as I do, from multiple settings, convent to cathedral, in the pews and as a worship leader. I feel for those who are new!

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Got to attend ordinations at the Cathedral this morning, followed by an in-person meet & greet potluck lunch with my Diocesan Discernment Committee. It was an absolutely excellent combo. The 3 discerners on the committee stood around chatting after everyone else left. I feel SO FORTUNATE.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I’ve been signed up for weekly email newsletters from multiple TEC churches in our Diocese since before I started attending my own local parish. More and more, I have such “big church envy” or maybe “urban church envy”. Especially when I read our newsletter contrasted with the Cathedral’s.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Imagine if everyone lived as if they believed this was true?

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

In class tonight I suddenly remembered this am’s weird experience of having an unfamiliar guy show up on Zoom midway through MP. He was lying in bed, shirtless, with the sheets just above his waist, and his face never visible. He kept tossing & turning. I was the Zoom host and it was…odd.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

On Thursdays, the leaders of Morning Prayer invite readers to choose which canticles to use, and encourage supplemental resources. I’ve never chosen “A Song of Jonah” from Enriching Our Worship 1, but it spoke to me today. Abolish the death penalty. Lord in your mercy. 🕯️

Canticle I from Enriching Our Worship 1

A Song of Jonah
Jonah 2:2-7,9

I called to you, O God, out of my distress, and you answered me; *
out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, *
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and billows passed over me.
Then I said, "I am driven away from your sight; *
how shall I ever look again upon your holy temple?"
The waters closed in over me, the deep was round about me; *
weeds were wrapped around my head at the roots of the moun-tains.
I went down to the land beneath the earth, *
yet you brought up my life from the depths, O God.
As my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, O God, *
and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
With the voice of thanksgiving, I will sacrifice to you; *
what I have vowed I will pay, for deliverance belongs to the Lord!

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Reposted by emily elle

Laura Seay @texasinafrica.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I'm at the Ryman Auditorium tonight, where the Indigo Girls played their anti-death penalty anthem "Faye Tucker" while not knowing that the state of Tennessee was simultaneously botching another execution.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“Out of the mouths of infants and children your majesty is praised above the heavens.” Katie is usually the only child at our main 10:30 service. She’s four years old and has been there nearly every Sunday of her life. Kids these days 🥺 ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Being a small town/island lesbian means it’s never a bad time to drop by your ex-wife’s house to catch up, pet the cats, ask her what’s going on lately, and then interrupt her mid-sentence to interject that you still can’t believe she’s become a Christian. “Remember the naked Goddess camp days?!” 🤷‍♀️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

A thing I like to do to make studying take MUCH longer, besides basically word for word hand-copied notes of all texts & videos, is to check my phone for just a sec and then accidentally read through the entire MDiv course catalog on the Sewanee website. Also 37375 zip code real estate listings. ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I’m still sitting with yesterday’s Eucharistic Visit after church, and the truly holy work that it is. Yes, the delivery of the Eucharist is the central purpose, but also it’s the embrace of the church, sometimes in a moment when it’s deeply needed. I wish we could do more of it. ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I was working on a short first essay for Old Testament class on Friday, and perhaps nerding out a little too much by listening to various podcasts related to the topic while at work yesterday, because last night I dreamed that I had decided to rewrite the whole thing as a poem. Girl. Calm down. ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

One of our church photographers just sent this to me from this morning’s service. I burst out laughing because this is definitely my “concentration face”. Why? When I arrived our priest asked me to sub for his usual “assisting priest” all next month. I’m watching her every move and taking notes. ⚓️

A woman seated at a table, wearing a patterned dress, and looking over her reading glasses while taking notes, pressing her lips together in signature “concentration face”.

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Reposted by emily elle

BCP Minus Context @bcpminuscontext.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Today’s lesson from Acts prompted a whole reflection on my spiritual path, remembering the girl of 18 who got a scholarship to do a correspondence course, and how the first lesson included identifying with a Goddess from mythology, to focus on for a daily spiritual practice. Mine: Artemis.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Haha, I felt so crappy this morning that I neglected to notice that it was fully raining before I opened the front door to head to work. Now I’m sitting in my truck outside my client’s barn, and we’re just occasionally texting each other to check in about the weather. Must be fall!

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

At orientation for Diocesan Discernment we found out that there are 18 of us in this round. We’ll be spending the next 10 months working through the curriculum, grouped into 6 committees with 3 discerners in each. It was good to get a first glimpse of each other. Why do I feel so angsty today? ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Spending almost 2 hours under the kitchen sink tackling the clogged drain (which services my upstairs neighbor’s kitchen sink as well) after procrastinating for months wouldn’t be so bad IF IT HAD WORKED. Instead I’m gross and and frustrated and sore AND have to do it all again. Time for therapy!

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Today is brought to my household by Zoom: Morning Prayer, my first meeting with my Iona School mentor, therapy, and finally, orientation for the Diocesan Discernment Groups! It’s a big day.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I usually have a lot of thoughts and wonderings after Sunday services at my church, but one highlight from yesterday was getting cheek smooches from not one, but two old lady parishioner friends during the Peace, along with robust hugs and a couple of whacks on my back. Just like Grandma would 🥰 ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Transferring my EM/Acolyte notes into today’s bulletin before the service. I wonder how many times I’ll have to do this before it comes naturally?

A woman in a green and white print dress, sitting at a table copying notes into a bulletin.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Apropos of nothing, is there any expansive/inclusive/trial use etc instance in TEC where, “The Lord be with you” is legitimately replaced by “Creator be with you”? Is it a Season of Creation thing? Are we doing a First Nations adjacent thing? Or is it just the first person of the Modalist Trinity? ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I’m learning so much about my own biases/preferences in terms of liturgics and piety. Today’s example: our PiC has decided we’re going “low church” style for summer church this month, which means no vesting. I’m the EM/acolyte today, and I feel embarrassed about it. Yes, I know it’s not my call. ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

These two have been unimpressed by my attempts to do any amount of house chores today. When I gave in to their complaints and sat down, they were both on my lap within 15 seconds. Now if only the various neighbors would stop making noise so that they could relax in peace. #Caturday

Two tabby cats sharing their person’s lap.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I’ve been reading a lot of Amy Jill Levine’s work lately, including The Misunderstood Jew, and brought it up in a small group discussion about feminist hermeneutics last night for our OT class. And uh…it may have been a bit much for the particular context. I’m still feeling some way about it. ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

My co-housing community facilitation team is trying to schedule an all-community “listening session” and sent out a detailed Google form survey to identify a time that all 22 of us can be present during the first weekend in October. I’m laughing semi-hysterically in discernment-tide. Sure, sure.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

As an adult I have often intended to go back and read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, because I have vague memory that I read it as a very young reader, just a whisper of it, but I know it formed something deeply essential in me. I just put the audiobook on hold at Libby. Thank you for your voice. RiP.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I’m fondly reminiscing about a simpler and gentler time when good-hearted young Emily thought to herself with a twinkle in her eye, “Maybe I’ll go to Tuesday’s vestry meeting, just to be more involved and engaged.” Ah the freshness and naïveté of youth… Fuck, that was yesterday morning.

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BCP Minus Context @bcpminuscontext.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

O ye whales and all that move in the waters, bless ye the Lord

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Seems like a rough week to have abruptly discontinued HRT in reaction to a brief but terrifying breast cancer scare, and it’s only Monday. I can say this here because only 3 of you know me irl, none of whom know my mom. Anyhow, I’M FINE and it’s cool that I don’t have to give up discernment!

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Oh. My. God. Remember the planning meeting I didn’t want to go to this morning? Guess which committee (and upcoming event) was actually taken over by the new PiC as of August? Too bad nobody remembered to tell said committee before we spent 2 hours this morning planning our event! I can’t even.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Well that was a real fucking downer. I don’t even know what to think about anything right now except that I should never underestimate the possibility of being provoked to sudden tears in a committee meeting, no matter how mild the occasion. Can’t wait for discernment committee meetings! Sigh.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I have a 9:00 am planning meeting at church for a Newcomers’ event, on a committee I’m stepping down from at the end of the month. Nobody has mentioned the meeting in weeks, and the temptation to pretend I forgot about it is strong. Alas, even on a Monday morning, I’m far too responsible for that. ⚓️

Tabby and white cat, sleeping on the chest of her human.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It’s possible I have gone over an edge. I was looking for a way to listen to our assigned readings in the NOAB, and found this. But then I started trying out the various computer voices. Might I recommend EN-Whisper? I may have scared my cat. ⚓️ archive.org/details/the-...

archive.org

The New Oxford Annotated Bible With Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version

For over 50 years students, professors, clergy, and general readers have relied on The New Oxford Annotated Bible as an unparalleled authority in Study Bibles. This fifth edition of the Annotated rema...

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I’m not sure I have the right meds to handle the cognitive dissonance between spending Saturday nerding out about the minutiae of leading worship, and then hearing on Sunday that in my absence the lay worship leaders for Evensong prepared all the propers for the season, using alternative sources ⚓️

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Okay, to be fair, our fellowship hall IS a worthy space to worship in. We aren’t called St Augustine’s-in-the-Woods without reason. I’m so exhausted from my week that I parked myself at a table in the farthest back corner with a cup of coffee and put my feet up. Is that low enough? ⚓️

People sitting in a spacious fellowship hall with tall floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a green forest.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

After yesterday’s worship/church nerd extravaganza, and attending church elsewhere last week, I just remembered that our church is having “summer church” all month. Aka worship in the fellowship hall. AND that our PiC mentioned we were going “lower church” with no vesting 🫤

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

First monthly full-day session of the Iona School: check! It was awesome. We had morning Eucharist with our Bishop, student-led Noonday & Evening Prayer, Liturgics with our former Bishop Provisional, Intro to Preaching, Liturgy Lab x2, various orientation activities, and an all-around fabulous day.

A white table with an assortment of books, notebooks and “school supplies” on it aka reading glasses, water bottle and pens. There is a Book of Common Prayer, a New Oxford Annotated Bible, a small magenta notebook with “The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia”, and a black spiral notebook with a “Protect Trans Kids” sticker on it.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Tomorrow is the first in-person day for our Iona School program. Also the newly revised Diocesan Discernment Manual just dropped (all 99 pages of it). Weird that I’m still supposed to work today.

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emily elle @emilyelle.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

We just started reading Howard Galley’s Ceremonies of the Eucharist for Liturgics class and I already feel like this has the potential to turn me into the most annoying, “So I noticed that on Sundays we do/don’t do xyz thing, and I’m curious why?” person ever. Pray for my humility and flexibility. ⚓️

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