Now what’s up on the reading list. All but the last are re-reads, for refreshment.
The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter. Something I go back to every couple of years; hardly new but wiser than its seventeenth-century subheadings might suggest. [Online] Pia Desideria by Philip Jacob Spener Preaching by Fred Craddock Walking Together: Polity and Participation in Unitarian Universalist […]
I’ve been catching up today on my church reading, which, I’m afraid to say, I’ve let go for a while. I was within a single push of finishing two books, now done, and I can recommend both:
God for Us: the Trinity and Christian Life by Catherine Mowry LaCugna. (1991, HarperSanFrancisco) Transforming Congregational Culture by Anthony […]
Earlier, I mentioned the possibility of a Universalist church outside the UUA. As it happens, there are several, though not nearly as many (who opted out of joining the UUA) as there once were. Some died; some became Community Churches and lost their Universalist identity.
One of the survivors � Universalist and Christian, and dear to […]
There’s a rather nicely put together Catholic apostolate with ready to download material that has care/outreach material that might be good for deacons or deacon-like caring associates.
Link: Lay Pastor Society
In the comments section of my last entry, Derek Parker (Watch and Pray) asks:
In your polity quest, have you found any references to the office of deacon? I found that my own congregation’s by-laws have a provision for deacons. A deacon by the by-laws is defined as a consecrated lay person, under the authority of […]
Disclosure #1: In my hypothetical church planting exercises, I believe that UUA membership would be desirable, but not essential, to the welfare of the church.
Disclosure #2: Rules � in this case the UUA bylaws � are not made to be broken, but imagination must be applied to them, so as the negative parts of the […]
Well, I’m done typing the Universalist General Convention polity manual from 1891. Interesting stuff when you read between the lines. I’d like to see how it compares from one a generation later.
I’ll now shift to how historic Universalist polity might be brought into service for the formation of new Universalist Christian churches within the […]
I was telling a colleague-friend of some Navy resources I’ve found that might make a good basis for equipping and training lay worship leaders and assistants (there are so many names for this ministry, I scarcely know where to begin) and I thought I’d share them here, too.
On the other hand, I love to read […]
I’ve added four more 1891 Universalist polity documents — the bylaws of the UGC; model bylaws for churches and church-parishes, and information about deeding property, theological scholarships, and the like — from a period Universalist General Convention (UGC) polity manual. Interesting stuff.
See all at http://www.universalistchurch.net/polity/ugcmanual1891/.
As I’ve said before, UCA can mean Universalist Church of America. That said, I think I’ve found the Universalists (generally) a much-needed mascot.
My friend here is a male example of Uca pugnax, the mud fiddler, which, as it happens, is also native to the salt marshes of this region. Fiddler crabs are in the genus […]
