Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
From the 1928 BCP, it's the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard: For the Kingdom of Heaven is like an employer who went out in the early morning to hire labourers for his vineyards. He agreed with the labourers to pay them two shillings a day, and sent them into his vineyard. On going …
Continue reading "The Gospel for Septuagesima: Christians Need to Stop Pining for the Big Payoff"
I see that The Times' Ruth Gledhill is on the trail of this issue: The charity is in the process of doing research into why men don't come to church, and their questionnaire makes, for this woman anway, pretty reading. Read on for some of the reasons they suggest why real men might not like …
On the first day of this decade, one Muslim extremist broke into the apartment of Danish political cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, whose “Muhammad-in-a-bomb” cartoon’s publication in Jyllands-Posten ignited another round of rage in the Islamic world. Westergaard joins Salman Rushdie, Geert Wilders and others who are forced to live underground because they have drawn the ire …
In the midst of all of the conservative dancing in the streets about Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts, the tragedy unfolding in Haïti continues to require both prayer and assistance. It isn't without controversy either; we're still batting about Pat Robertson's remarks about a pact with the Devil and its consequences. There's no doubt that's …
Continue reading "Katharine Jefferts Schori and the Bois Caïman Ceremony"
I've made this point before, but the Anglican Curmudgeon does it very eloquently here: I have been thinking about a comment made here some time ago, in connection with a post about the polity of the Church. "Polity" comes from the same Greek root as does "politics": the root is polis, meaning the unique form …
Continue reading "Blind Authoritarianism Isn't God's Way for the Church"
And, in case, you forget this, there's a sign, like the one at the right, to remind you... Photo taken at Ft. Monroe, Virginia. Actually, the chapel was built by the Episcopalians, so I supposed they should have first dibs on the place. Superior financial resources--both personal and ecclesiastical--has always been an advantage for the …
With this, I wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas. Beyond that, anyone whose is or was in a liturgical church knows that part of the liturgy is to read appropriate scriptures (like this one for this time of year.) The idea is that the scriptures be really appropriate. However, when the liturgy …
Continue reading "Merry Christmas: When the Scripture Readings Don’t Quite Cut It"
Only in the UK... The children detained in the Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre are lost somewhere in the UK's asylum system. There more about this strange business here. "Santa Claus" is in reality the Rev. Canon James Rosenthal, a world class authority on the original "St. Nick," St. Nicholas of Myra. I love the …
VirtueOnline chronicles the adventures of the Rev. Marta Weeks in her quest for same sex marriage: The American Anglican Council blew the whistle on the "Listening process" revealing that a $1.5 million gift came from The Rev. Marta Weeks, a retired Episcopal priest. Now Meeks openly advocates same-sex blessings. The money given by the Episcopal …
Continue reading "The Millionaire Episcopal Minister Makes an Impact"
The Ugley Vicar tells us that the Archbishop of Canterbury is calling Rome's bluff: For a man hardly renowned for his robustness, the recent speech given in Rome by the Archbishop of Canterbury was remarkably robust. Of course, it was given partly in response to the announcement from Rome on October 20th of effectively a …
Continue reading "Rowan Williams, the Pope, and the Nature of the Church"
Positive Infinity 