This Week at Brent House: Come to Afternoon Tea for a space to study, chat, relax

Fall 2026, Fourth Week

Unless otherwise noted, events will be held in person at Brent House.

In this email

Prayer of the Week: A sonnet for St. Luke (commemorated October 18)
Events this Week: Bible study, Thursday Church
Upcoming Events: All Saints / All Souls / Day of the Dead commemorations
Other Events and Opportunities: retreat with monks, Province V winter retreat
Quote of the Week: Annie Dillard on creation and freedom
Brent House Playlists

Prayer of the Week

Luke

His gospel is itself a living creature

A ground and glory round the throne of God,

Where earth and heaven breathe through human nature

And One upon the throne sees it is good.

Luke is the living pillar of our healing,

A lowly ox, the servant of the four,

We turn his page to find his face revealing

The wonder, and the welcome of the poor.

He breathes good news to all who bear a burden

Good news to all who turn and try again,

The meek rejoice and prodigals find pardon,

A lost thief reaches paradise through pain,

The voiceless find their voice in every word

And, with Our Lady, magnify Our Lord.

—Malcolm Guite

Image: Allan Rohan Crite, from “The Nativity According to St. Luke”

Events This Week

Afternoon Tea

Wednesday, October 21, 2-5 pm

Stop by the House for a cup of tea and an open time for conversation, studying, chatting, or resting. Drop in when you can, stay as long as you like.

Evening Prayer

Wednesday, September 21, 5:30 pm

A simple service of Evening Prayer. All are welcome.

Brentsday: Bible Study

Wednesday, October 21, 6 pm

Join us for a lovely vegetarian supper (cooked by Lilia!), followed by an exploration of the texts for next Sunday (found here).

Thursday Church

Thursday, October 22,, 12:30-1:15 pm

Chapel of the Holy Grail, Disciples Divinity House

1156 East 57th Street

Go to the back of the courtyard to enter the chapel directly.

A simple celebration of the Eucharist in DDH's beautiful Chapel of the Holy Grail. Join us for lunch afterwards on campus, if you can.

Sunday Church

Sunday, October 25, 5:30 pm

Join us for our weekly Sunday Eucharist, followed by our usual vegetarian supper. Lilia Ellis will be preaching.

Vigil for the Eve of All Hallows

Saturday, October 31, 8 pm

Join Brent House (The Episcopal Center at the University of Chicago) for the Vigil of All Hallows at 8pm on Halloween—candlelight, spooky readings (featuring witches, dragons, angels, bones, and more!), hymns, and chants. We conclude the service by chanting the Litany of the Saints around a bonfire, with treats to follow. We always need readers and candle-lighters. Contact Jacob Perkins if you'd like to help with either of these roles.

All Saints Sunday

Sunday, November 1, 5:30 pm

Come and celebrate the faithful who have gone before us! We'll have a festive Eucharist, followed by a delicious vegetarian supper. All are welcome.

Día de los Muertos / All Souls Commemoration

Wednesday, November 4, 6 pm

Tonight we'll mark the Day of the Dead (All Souls Day), a day when we remember loved ones who have died. We'll begin with Evening Prayer at 5:30 pm, then we'll enjoy a festive meal (vegetarian, as usual) and the sharing of stories of those have gone before. You are invited to bring something that represents someone you wish to remember. We will use those objects to create a Mexican-style "ofrenda" and tell stories to commemorate those who have gone before. Your RSVP will help us plan.

Other Events and Opportunities

COMPASS: Spiritual Direction for Discernment

Are you at a turning point in your education or career?
Are you trying to listen for God’s voice, but not sure how to tell what God is saying?

Join COMPASS, a discernment journey over the course of the academic year. Facilitated by Brent House’s chaplain, the Rev. Stacy Alan, the COMPASS group will meet once monthly to explore identity, vocation, and where God is calling each of us. Through discussion, reflection, Bible study, and prayer, you will discover your own gifts and find ways to use them in service to the world.

Interested? Contact Stacy by October 15 at stacyalan@brenthouse.org.

Retreat with Monks!

Friday, November 6 - Sunday, November 8, 2026 - St. Paul's, Flint

We will join together with the brothers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, an Episcopal religious order, to pray, learn, and reflect on the practice of intercessory prayer and how it might move us toward radical hospitality, empathy, and solidarity.

Cost: $50 Registration Fee. Food & lodging are covered.

Registration Link: Province V 2026 Young Adult Ministry Retreat

Please let Stacy know if you plan to attend. I will be going, so can provide transportation there and back. If cost is an issue, please let me know. We don’t want cost to be a barrier.

Mark Your Calendars: Province V Student and Young Adult Retreat

Our annual retreat with young adults across Province V (the Dioceses in the Midwest) will be February 12-14. Watch for more information and registration link.

House Blessings

If you're in a new place this year, Stacy is available to do a house/apartment/dorm room blessing.

Other Important Information

Brent House Chat

If you would like to be part of our group chat (on FB Messenger), where opportunities are shared, questions are asked, and memes are exchanged, email Stacy.

Brent House Calendar

Want to know what's going on at Brent House? You'll find it all on our calendar and on our Facebook page!

Meet with the Chaplain

If you would like to meet with our chaplain, you can make an appointment here.

Interested in cooking or preaching?

Maybe they're not so different! We are nourished by our students' talents both from the pulpit and in the kitchen. If you are interested in either, please speak with Stacy.

House Blessings

If you're in a new place this year, Stacy is available to do a house/apartment/dorm room blessing.

Quote of the Week

The creator goes off on one wild, specific tangent after another, or millions simultaneously, with an exuberance that would seem to be unwarranted, and with an abandoned energy sprung from an unfathomable font. What is going on here? The point of the dragonfly's terrible lip, the giant water bug, birdsong, or the beautiful dazzle and flash of sunlighted minnows, is not that it all fits together like clockwork—for it doesn't, particularly, not even inside the goldfish bowl—but that it all flows so freely wild, like the creek, that it all surges in such a free fringed tangle. Freedom is the world's water and weather, the world's nourishment freely given, its soil and sap: and the creator loves pizzazz.

—Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk