After this many of his disciples drew back, and did not go about with him any longer. So Jesus said to the Twelve: “Do you also wish to leave me?” But Simon Peter answered: “Master, to whom shall we go? Immortal Life is in your teaching; And we have learned to believe and to know …
They Tell Us What To Do And We Do It: A Good Friday Reflection
Today is Good Friday. It's about as late as it gets in the year. As Lent winds up and we reflect on the Passion and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, it's also time for those of us in academia to wind up the semester (well, those of us on a semester system...) It's been …
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Doing the State's Bidding: The Church of England, Parliament, Women Bishops and Same Sex Civil Marriage
Andrew Goddard, once more with feeling, points out the obvious about Parliament's governance over the Church of England: The Church of England, wrestling with internal differences over provision for opponents of women bishops and over responses to same-sex relationships, could soon find a further contentious topic being added to the mix: the question of establishment, …
Katharine Jefferts-Schori: From Litigious to Practical, From Pathetic to Prophetic
This is what she tells the part of the Diocese of Pittsburgh she got to keep: Although the two churches battled over property in court, Jefferts Schori said she foresees a day when churches will become something different. "More faith communities will decide not to have a permanent dedicated structure in the coming years," she …
Tom Belt and God Unlimited
Every now and then a group comes along which represents the best of its genre. Its leadership, those who play and sing with it, everything seems to "click." Although picking an absolute best in the turbulent era of the 1960's and 1970's isn't easy, for college campus church based groups, it's hard to beat God …
Month of Sundays: Fruit
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my Name. (John 15:16) “I hope you are right.” The Chinese engineer across the table was sceptical about my claims. …
A Colorado Based Priest Becomes Rector at Bethesda
Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church has a new rector at last: After a year of searching, The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea has a new rector. Tapped by the search committee, the Rev. James R. Harlan of Denver has accepted the job and will begin work the second week of June. His first Sunday in the pulpit will …
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A Grim Reminder of the Importance of Machine Shop Safety
The tragic death of Yale University physics student Michele Dufault is a grim reminder of the importance of basic safety in the machine shop: A Yale University student nearing graduation was killed inside a school chemistry lab when her hair was pulled into a piece of machine-shop equipment, school officials said Wednesday. Michele Dufault, a …
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The Berets: The Mass for Peace
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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