The efforts beginning in this part of the Joseph Priestley District (JPD) of the Unitarian Universalist Association deserve some notice. About a year ago, there was a meeting to organize a “Baltimore-Washington metro strategy” for growth. Another was held to the north for Philadelphia and Wilmington. These follow distinct efforts in Dallas-Fort Worth and most [...]
30 April. Extra links added to Wikipedia articles. James asks: What are your thoughts on the psalms of lament, particularly for their expression of faithful anger? This evening, my partner Jonathan and I each had headphones on, attached to our own portable CD players, listening to Morrissey CDs. (He’s back on tour after several years.) [...]
Except for the King’s Chapel (Boston) prayerbook, I can’t think of a prayer book or hymnal, Universalist or Unitarian, that has the full psalter. What you get are partial set of psalms, and very often, you get tightly edited and amalgamated psalms “arranged for worship.” As if the psalms were not intended for worship as-is. [...]
. . . and we come full circle. The article in the Unitarian Universalist World about blogging, in which I am featured, is now online. And so I can blog about it. See it, if you didn’t see it and click through to come here. “Blogs gain popularity among UUs” Share this article Hide Sites [...]
Matthew Gatheringwater relays his experience with real, live Sufis and ruminates on why, if they don’t practice the to-the-ends-of-the-earth-and-then-some tolerance that many Unitarian Universalists (though a reading of Rumi) assume they do, then why do we try to appropriate them? Loneliness, I think. By erecting outselves as a tiny world religion, mainline Unitarian Universalists have [...]
Ceres asked in the comments: Hi Scott, How can I get a copy of the 1894 universalist book of common prayer? Ah! saw that in the World didn’t you? The Book of Prayer for the Church and the Home was one of a surprisingly large group of Universalist prayer books. This one, in an abridged [...]
So, why and when should we sing in worship? I suppose there’s no theological reason why the whole worship service couldn’t be sung. Sermons in plainsong, anyone? It seems the further east one goes, the more of the service get sung. Take, for instance, the many fine Coptic websites dedicated to improving liturgical hymnody, by [...]
The blog is about 90% well. Individual archives need to be improved, and some more entries need to be added, but I think we’re well on our way to health. An email from an old friend prompts me to remind readers that St. Lawrence Universalist Church is a model, and despite the language, it doesn’t [...]
I’ve been building websites since 1995, and have learned a lot in that time. Some standards have improved, and changed. Often, ugly and bloated commercial uses have crept into not-for-profits sites: end-users be damned. Also, Unitarian Universalists, who were at the forefront of congregational websites seem to be resting on their laurels. Pioneering sites grow [...]
Since the Anglicans write about liturgy with verve, understanding, and zeal, I read them, and then make up my mind about the merit of the arguement. But one charge I’ve seen in a couple of different forms stings because the more I think about it the more it rings true: that worship in the “free [...]
