Originally posted November 2004. In the early part of the new millennium, a large Evangelical church set itself to build a new sanctuary, tripling its seating capacity in the process. It had the usual capital stewardship programme and, having lined up financing for the rest, began construction. One of the features of the new sanctuary …
Book Review: Bishop Claude Payne’s Reclaiming the Great Commission
Church growth books, even with the present crisis Evangelical Christianity finds itself in, are still in good supply. But one from an Episcopalian, whose church's ASA has been dropping the entire decade? That's the idea of retired Bishop of Texas Claude Payne's Reclaiming the Great Commission. Written before much of the excitement in TEC (The …
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The Strange Anglican Response to Father Alberto Cutié’s Switch to TEC
The Archdiocese of Miami's response to Father Cutié's bailing out on the RCC is understandable: According to our canon law, with this very act Father Cutié is separating himself from the communion of the Roman Catholic Church (c. 1364, §1) by professing erroneous faith and morals, and refusing submission to the Holy Father (canon 751). …
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Book Review: N.T. Wright’s The Resurrection of the Son of God
N.T. Wright, Anglican scholar and Bishop of Durham, has gained for himself the reputation as a strong "reasserting" scholar, especially with his massive book series Christian Origins and the Question of God. The Resurrection of the Son of God-dealing with the most important point of the debate-is the third book of the series. The Resurrection …
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The Answer is Jesus Christ Coffeehouse Rehearsal
Recorded 29 August 1975 These are unreleased recordings as opposed to a polished production. But some explanation is necessary. The Answer is Jesus Christ was started by M.B. Flippen (that's right, "Flip" Flippen, the motivational speaker) as a Christian counselling centre in College Station, Texas, in 1972. At the same time it was a coffeehouse …
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Rowan Williams, Golf, Miserable and Glorious Failure at the ACC and Elsewhere
In his own wrap of the Anglican Consultative Council, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams made a statement that, for me, stuck out like a sore thumb: Drawing upon a phrase coined by the English Roman Catholic nun, Maria Boulding, Dr Williams stated “the alternatives for Christians were not success or failure, but glorious failure and …
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A Church to Believe In, A Country to Believe In
Two events this past weekend ran together to illustrate what is, for me, the central dilemma of living in this world--the fact that authority no longer reflects what we know to be true. Let's start with the church. In reaction to my posting of George Conger and Kevin Kallsen Put a Wrap on the Anglican …
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George Conger and Kevin Kallsen Put a Wrap on the Anglican Consultative Council’s Process About the Covenant
http://blip.tv/play/AYGAtzOUogk This is about a succinct take on the failure of the Covenant (for which few tears are shed here, for this reason) as I've seen. In addition to the subject matter, I'm posting this for two reasons. The first is that I find myself lost in many of the parliamentary and procedural reports I …
Getting Rid of TEC Money Favouring, and Apologising to Ridiculed Persons
Mark Harris transmits a splendid proposed resolution for GC 2009 about TEC's participation in the Anglican Communion: Given our current relation to the Anglican Communion, a proper application of PAP (Principle of Anglican Progress) would require that The Episcopal Church declare a moratorium on funding the Anglican Communion until such time as the mind of …
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Book Review: John Stott’s Basic Christianity, and Where Was I When This Was Being Passed Out?
This book review is a little different than some of the other's I've done lately. Not only is Basic Christianity well known (it was first published in 1958, I read the 50th anniversary edition) but reading it brought up some thoughts and emotions that I'd like to spend time on. But first the book itself: …
Positive Infinity 