Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
My church's news site recently noted a gathering down in Jamaica which was a consultation on believers' baptism. There were a couple of ministers from my church there, along with representatives of the World Council of Churches. I'm always nervous when our ministers get involved with WCC people and events. They are like young Siegfried, …
Continue reading "Why I Support the Idea of Believers' Baptism"
Who would have thunk it? "However, there are new discussions that stained glass is seen more favorably by younger generations." DeGroot cited recent research conducted by the Barna Group, which found that Millennials preferred more traditional looking sanctuaries instead of so-called trendy buildings. Stained glass windows are one of the fonder memories of the church …
@roddreher makes an interesting, if somewhat open-ended analysis of the subject: ...my general sense was the same I had when I lived in NYC for five years: that the region overall is cool to Christianity in a way that I have not seen anywhere else I’ve lived (except for South Florida). Needless to say, the …
Continue reading "My Thoughts on "Christianity's Decline in the Northeast""
It's been a bit since Ephraim Radner and Christopher Seitz "crossed the Rubicon" and set forth The Marriage Pledge, which calls ministers to stop officiating civil marriages.  Reactions have been mixed.  The fact that I can say that shows that the steady legalisation of same-sex civil marriage has forced Christians--who have been working to "preserve marriage", …
Continue reading "The Marriage Pledge: A Gratifying Step on Civil vs. Ecclesiastical Marriage"
I've not had the time lately to post in as timely fashion as I would like, mostly because of the semester-by-semester crapshoot which is my PhD pursuit. But there's a long-term issue that deserves some comment, and that concerns a long-overdue attitude adjustment that Evangelicals need to make because of events in the Middle East. …
Continue reading "The Evangelical Comeuppance in the Middle East"
Evidently Justin Welby stirred up more than this blog by his backhanded comments regarding the ACNA and the Anglican Communion. Â It's unsurprising that some of the provinces at least have taken offence to them. Â In Australia, with their interesting system of provinces, dioceses and extraprovincial diocese (Tasmania) we have the Diocese of Northwest Australia warmly …
That's apparently what Justin Welby is doing, or trying to do: At the start of his 3 October 2014 interview with the Church of Ireland Gazette Archbishop Welby noted that he was surprised to learn that “virtually everywhere I have gone the analysis is that the definition of being part of the Anglican Communion is …
Continue reading "Pulling Rank on Who's in the Anglican Communion and Who Isn't"
This evening I attended the dedication and consecration of this ACNA congregation in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Â Archbishop Foley Beach presided along with the Rector, the Rev. Brice Ullman. The "new" building is an old Presbyterian church. The congregation is about ten years old; it is not a parish type of secession that has occupied this blog, …
Continue reading "Dedication and Consecration of the Anglican Church of the Redeemer"
It's another week along the Southwest Freeway in Houston as Victoria Osteen has embroiled herself in a controversy over remarks about why we worship God. Â The usual people say the usual things, and the usual fracas ensues, just as it has over much of what her husband Joel says. I think we'd be better off, …
Continue reading "Victoria Osteen's Moment, or "What Are We Doing Here Anyway?""
@DaleMCoulter muses on his students: The task was not to defend the tributary of Christianity in which my students had first touched the waters of baptism, but to show them that it was fed by a vast river stretching back two millennia. In short, I defended Christianity by helping them swim upstream so that they could …
Continue reading "The Complicated Business of the "Tradition""
Positive Infinity 