This fascinating video from the Washington Post by Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori opens with this comment: ...and at some point it became necessary to shift approach and to say: "If you're going to stay as a leader in this organization, you have to be engaged, even if you don't like this decision over here. …
Mystagogy, Sacramental Theology and the Poker Playing Dog
This is the eleventh in a sporadic series on the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. The previous post was The End Times Without Revelation. The last five of Cyril's lectures are referred to as the “mystagogic” lectures. They were given after the catechumens were baptised and received their First Communion. They have given …
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Book Review: Jim Wallis' The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America
The last two years haven't been kind to Jim Wallis. First his man in the White House, Barack Obama, has spectacularly stumbled in his bid to reunify the country and get the economy going again (I don't think he was sincere about either, but that's another post). To use Sarah Palin's delightful phrase, that "hopey-changey …
Book Review: Finding God’s Frequency
When I came back to the Chattanooga area from Dallas in the late 1970's, it was something of a culture shock, even though I had lived here before. (I recently met a young lady who was raised in the Dominican Republic and on Manhattan and came here, I can't imagine the culture shock for her!) …
The Original Tea Party, Led by King David
The "man after God's own heart" started it all: David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was …
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Don't Burn the Qur'an. Study It!
I have to admit that the Dove World Outreach Church's plan to burn Qur'ans on Saturday is one of the stupidest things I have heard of in a long time. The reason is simple: it is impossible to share our Christian faith with Muslims (have meaningful dialogue, if you please) unless we have a knowledge …
Priest-in-Charge, Pastoral Woes and Authority in the Church
I found intriguing Elizabeth Kaeton's piece on priests-in-charge. It was interesting because it's one of those rare posts (in this case from a liberal) which transcends the left-right divide that defines just about everything these days. For my Evangelical readers, if you're interested in the whole business of "priest-in-charge" you'll need to read her post. …
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Some Thoughts on the Vote re Women Ordained Bishops at the Church of God 2010 General Assembly
With this post I resume with a topic that generated the most heated debate at the Church of God 2010 General Assembly: the admission of women to the rank of Ordained Bishops. (For my Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox friends, the term "Ordained Bishop" has a different meaning than a diocesan: in addition to including those …
Muslim, Christian or Citizen of Your Country First?
Take a look at the interesting graph on the right that appears in Chan Akya's article on why European countries want to ban the burqa and the US is in no hurry to do so. I have a few observations about this: It's ironic that France, where a larger proportion of Muslims consider themselves a …
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The Digital Age Underscores the Need for Grace
As the New York Times observes, in the digital world it's the end of forgetting, and in the midst of this Jeffrey Rosen draws from the Jewish world: In addition to exposing less for the Web to forget, it might be helpful for us to explore new ways of living in a world that is …
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Positive Infinity 