Archive for April, 2004

The next big thing is . . .

Saturday, April 17th, 2004

Google Local

In Beta development. This thing is better than an online telephone directory (bye-bye, Yahoo!) because it includes entities that aren’t even listed in the telephone directory.

Not only is it already simplifying my life (found a place to donate clothes closer to home) but will help out churches that don’t have designated phone, provided […]

A plug for one of my favorite stores

Friday, April 16th, 2004

A quick plug if you need anything pertaining to Eastern Christianity - books, icons, incense, equipment, what have you including hard to get items from overseas - and good, honest, and helpful customer service.

I love this place, and they ship. Give them your custom. I do (and was there today.)

Icon and Book Service

Collect: when it is raining

Wednesday, April 14th, 2004

The weather has been very wet, and I fear we’re facing a Spring like last year. God, I hope not. But if we do, I have just the thing, a collect (prayer) from the old Universalist Gospel Liturgy (1861 edition). It is with the occasional collects, page 149, if you have a copy.

Raining. […]

“A Brief History of the Universalist Church”

Wednesday, April 14th, 2004

It seems recently I’ve run across a number of resources that make me say, “Jeez, if I had that ten years ago, I would have saced so much time.” In this case, the accomplishment would be figuring out how Universalist institutions worked together, and what the ethos is. The work: A Brief History of the […]

Online article about Elhanan Winchester

Tuesday, April 13th, 2004

I’m taking as much time as I can afford and going back to the roots. In the process, I found a good article about Elhanan Winchester, one of the more underappreciated ancestors of faith. What I like particularly is that the writer integrates the former’s American and London ministries.

Do note that a typo or […]

Presbyterian Lay Pastor pages expanded

Monday, April 12th, 2004

Back in October, I wrote about Presbyterian Church (USA) lay pastor training programs, and have since thought out loud how this might be a good model for meeting the needs of small Unitarian Universalist congregations without pastoral leadership (and are unlikely to get it the old-fashioned way.)

The suite of pages has since been greatly […]

The Easter Homily

Sunday, April 11th, 2004

To millions of Christians, “the Easter Homily” can only mean one thing: the Easter Homily of St. John Chrysostom, “the golden mouthed.” Let it be a lesson to all wiling preachers that this gem, from about the year 400, could be read aloud in a few scant minutes. But Easter wouldn’t be the same without […]

Mrs. Unitarian

Thursday, April 8th, 2004

Philocrites touches on a matter bothers me very much: the false appropriation of Universalism as a moniker for “Unitarianism lite.” Not that the Universalists didn’t originally collude in this arrangement; even in the nineteenth century liberal forces among the Universalists were cozying up along side the Unitarians. But they knew who they were.

Today, “neo-Universalists” pretend […]

Angus-phagy

Thursday, April 8th, 2004

Yes, I am an omnivore. No, unless my partner and I get a last-minute invitation for Easter dinner, I shall not be eating lamb.

Lamb of God, yes. Roasted baa-lamb, no.

And I love roasted baa-lamb. With red potatoes. And mint sauce.

Call me a tender-heart: Augustine called the universalists in his day such. I don’t mind, but on […]

Zero-sum doesn’t add up

Thursday, April 8th, 2004

Tom Schade, at Prophet Motive, asks his readers serious questions about the pointless zero-sum thinking that plagues current Unitarian Universalist internecine relationships.

Do read his article, and Philocrites’ follow-up.

Sure I agree with him, and must of my public ministry before a couple of years ago played into it. But then it dawned on me: who am […]