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Hello – I’m Fr Grahame Bowland, an Anglican Priest in Perth, Western Australia. This is my theology blog. In my spare time I also dabble in software development; you can check out the things that I have made over at grahame.dev.

Lent 5 2024

This sermon was preached on the 17th of March 2024, the fifth Sunday in Lent, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: John 12.20-33 I’m going to begin this sermon with a reading from the Confessions of Saint Augustine: “Anxiety was making my heart palpitate and perspire with the destructive fever of worry, when I passed through a Milan street and noticed a destitute beggar. Already drunk, I think, he was joking and laughing....

March 19, 2024

Anglican Board of Mission - Long Table Lunch

This address was originally given at St Barnabas Church, Kalamunda at a long table lunch held in support of the Anglican Board of Mission Lenten Appeal. It draws upon the scholarship of The Reverend Doctor Lesley J. Borowitzka, and of The Reverend Doctor Bill Leadbetter. We’re gathered here today to support the Anglican Board of Mission’s Lent Appeal. I’m going to begin by sharing something of the complicated journey I’ve had with the idea of Christian mission....

March 10, 2024

Lent 4 2024

This sermon was preached on the 10th of March 2024, the fourth Sunday in Lent, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: John 3.14-21 I’m going to begin this sermon by quoting two of the first verses of Saint John’s Gospel. In him was life: and the light was the life of all people. The light shines in the darkness: and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5) The light shines in the darkness....

March 10, 2024

Lent 2 2024

This sermon was preached on the 25th of February 2024, the second Sunday in Lent. Text: Mark 8:31-38 “Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed…” Perhaps that’s all that Saint Peter and the other disciples heard that day, of what Jesus had said to them. Jesus told them that he would be killed, and then I imagine a feeling of visceral shock came upon them, leaving them stunned, dazed, grieved, uncomprehending....

February 25, 2024

Lent 1 2024

This sermon was preached on the 18th of February 2024, the first Sunday in Lent. Text: Genesis 9.8-17 I’m going to start today’s sermon by telling a story. So let’s take a moment to imagine. Imagine that you live in a village on a plain. You share your occupation with that of most of your friends and neighbours. You farm. Your life is tied to the seasons. You sow, you tend, you reap....

February 18, 2024

The Feast of the Transfiguration, 2024

This sermon was originally preached in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie, on the Last Sunday after Epiphany 2024. Texts: 2 Kings 2.1-12, 1 Kings 19.11-12, Mark 2.2-9 What would you do if God appeared to you… and told you emphatically that they are not the God that you believe in? What would you do if God told they are not your God, the God that you picture in your mind… they are so much greater, so much more wonderful than that....

February 15, 2024

Epihany +3 2024

This sermon was originally preached in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie, on the Third Sunday after Epiphany 2024. Texts: Jonah 3 My guess is that when most of us hear the word “Jonah”, the word whale comes into our minds. We remember that God sent Jonah to Nineveh, but instead, Jonah ran away. Jonah ran away, and a series of escalating events led to him being swallowed by a huge fish, in whose belly he spent three days....

January 24, 2024

The Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord 2024

This sermon was originally preached in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie, on The Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, 2024. Texts: Mark 1.4-11; Acts 19.1-7 Why was Jesus baptised? In our reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear Saint Paul tell us that John baptized with the baptism of repentance. What did Jesus have to repent of? We all know that Jesus was fully human, but without sin: that’s the doctrine of our Church....

January 7, 2024

Epiphany 2024

Here is the sermon I preached for Epiphany 2024 (we anticipated the feast by a few days and celebrated it on Sunday, 31 December, as the sometimes rather odd APBA Calendar suggested.) I don’t normally post my sermons, but a few people asked for a copy of this one. I drew upon Warren Carter’s Matthew and the Margins and upon James Crossley and Robert J. Myles' Jesus: A Life in Class Conflict in preparing this....

January 3, 2024

Preaching From the Heart

Australia is in the midst of a profundly important debate. We are considering whether or not we will support The Voice to Parliament. The Uniting Church, through the Creative Ministries Network congregation, have coordinated a collection of sermons reflecting upon this issue. To quote John Bottomley, the editor of the collection: ‘Preaching from the Heart’ is a project of the Creative Ministries Network congregation in response to the invitation from the Statement from the Heart to join Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on a movement of the Australian people to a better future....

September 10, 2023