The Berets: The Mass for Peace (1969) Catholics have been composing musical settings for Mass since the days of Gregory the Great and before, but the 1960's and 1970's saw the introduction of entirely new styles of music for the sacred mysteries. One of the more innovative productions was the so-called "Mass for Peace" by …
Online Giving: Don't Go for the Hard Sell if You Don't Need To
I read with amusement this post from The Lead: As I have wrestled with this question with congregational leaders (and with members of the Net and Millenial Generations) one significant reality has emerged. It has to do with stewardship practices. The Net and Millenial Generation members do not use cash and they do not write …
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It's British Leyland Time at General Motors
Oh yes, it is: Imagine turning your car’s steering wheel, or giving it a gentle tug, and having it break away from the steering column. Now you’re speeding along holding the suddenly useless wheel. It sounds like a vision from a cartoon, or every driver’s nightmare. And it happened to at least one driver of a …
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Month of Sundays: Finding
A voice called, "Call out!" I asked, "What should I call out?" "Call out: All people are like grass, and all their beauty is like a flower in the field. Grass dries up, and flowers wither when the LORD'S breath blows on them. Yes, people are like grass. Grass dries up, and flowers wither, but …
Vested Choirs
While researching for another project, I came across this article in an 1896 issue of the National Magazine about vested choirs, which is now a well-established tradition on both sides of the Anglican/Episcopal world. It's hard to conceive of now, but even in Episcopal churches vested choirs were controversial. However, fashion changed, and this article …
Barack Obama's Energy Policy: Get on the Bus, Gus
It's the only logical conclusion: Obama needled one questioner who asked about gas prices, now averaging close to $3.70 a gallon nationwide, and suggested that the gentleman consider getting rid of his gas-guzzling vehicle. “If you’re complaining about the price of gas and you’re only getting 8 miles a gallon, you know,” Obama said laughingly. …
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Tertullian was Right About the Shape of the Cross
In the midst of the excitement about the discovery of the small lead books that date from the earliest days of Christianity, this of note: Philip Davies, Emeritus Professor of Old Testament Studies at Sheffield University, says the most powerful evidence for a Christian origin lies in plates cast into a picture map of the …
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Jeanne Geidel and the New Horizon: Living Force
Jeanne Geidel and the New Horizon: Living Force (1979) By the late 1970's, Catholic liturgical music was becoming dominated by the products of North American Liturgy Resources (now a part of OCP.) But there still were a few brave souls who ventured out to produce some interesting music for liturgy and just some great Catholic …
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The Old Time Family Outing: Not Quite What We Romanticised
I've been digging through the old family archives and came up with this gem of a photograph: It was probably taken around the turn of the last century at the Civil War monument in Washington Park in Michigan City, Indiana. At the top is my great-grandfather, George Warrington. At the bottom, with his tongue stuck …
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There's More to the Afghan Killings Than Terry Jones Buring the Qur'an
Retired Indian diplomat M K Bhadrakumar makes an important point in the midst of the idiotic blather over this tragedy: Following the Friday Prayer, a crowd that was leaving the famous Blue Mosque found another set of religious leaders in a Toyota Corolla fitted out with loudspeakers urging people to join them at the burning …
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Positive Infinity 