Comments for Boy in the Bands

Comment on Preaching this Sunday by Derek

Derek — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:48:41 +0000

Wish I could be there. A double hitter!

Comment on This Obama mishegoss by Derek

Derek — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:25:30 +0000

I would also advise us to temper our expectations. There are power structures at work, and even one president’s position on marriage equality does not automatically yield new policy.

Comment on This Obama mishegoss by Tim Bartik

Tim Bartik — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:22:32 +0000

Your post overlooks the following:

1. Even before this, the Administration already eliminated Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and stopped trying to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court.

2. At this stage, Obama’s “evolved” position on same-sex marriage is hardly an obvious political winner. For example, some people have argued it could cost him North Carolina in the general election. So I think it took some political courage to do this, although obviously there was also some political calculation as well. But it is naive to expect politicians to not do some political calculation. FDR supposedly once told some activists meeting with him, “You’ve convinced me. Now go out and make me do it.” That reflects the fact that ANY democratic politician has to balance their own personal beliefs with what they think the political system will support. So certainly activists should always seek to pressure any President. But we should also recognize when there are significant steps forward, which I think this “evolved” position is.

Comment on Log Lady or chalice lighting ? by Katharine

Katharine — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:27:13 +0000

You know I appreciated this post. :)

Comment on Thinking about the blog by Steven Rowe

Steven Rowe — Sun, 06 May 2012 01:23:54 +0000

Whatever works for you works for us (if I can be bold and speak for “us”. Be Happy to read whatever you put on the web, and whatever size.

Comment on Thinking about the blog by Derek

Derek — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:49:30 +0000

Thank you for continuing. I even like the short pieces, especially if they provoke me to think more deeply about a topic.

Solid questions presented to your readers might fit well with this format. Provoke us to wonder about something!

Comment on Log Lady or chalice lighting ? by Scott Wells

Scott Wells — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:39:33 +0000

No, I didn’t see! Thanks.

Comment on Log Lady or chalice lighting ? by Anna

Anna — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:27:45 +0000

Hey Scott,

Nice Twin Peaks reference! Did you see the segment on Swedenborgianism on Finding our Roots the other night on PBS? http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/video/robert-downey-jr-and-maggie-gyllenhaal/
It was part of Maggie Gyllenhal’s genealogy. Thought you would be interested if you had not seen it yet.

Anna Hall

Comment on “Then best wood spoke these words” by peregrinato

peregrinato — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:53:16 +0000

I skipped out this year. I would’ve felt lazy reading it in contemporary English, and translating it would’ve felt like too much work.

Comment on “Then best wood spoke these words” by Scott Wells

Scott Wells — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:55:13 +0000

Ah, thanks. Malformed link. Fixed.

Comment on “Then best wood spoke these words” by DJD

DJD — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:36:47 +0000

The link seems to be broken.

Comment on The maundy in Maundy Thursday by Derek

Derek — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:46:19 +0000

Went to the communion service and meal at the Universalist Church in Muncie. A few echos of the Brethren Maunday Thursday love feast. But then, in the Mid-West there was a membership flow between Universalists and Brethren.

Comment on The maundy in Maundy Thursday by Scott Wells

Scott Wells — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:44:50 +0000

Not yet, only anecdotal tidbits now.

Comment on The maundy in Maundy Thursday by Bill Baar

Bill Baar — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:36:32 +0000

Thanks Scott… appreciate this one. Any sense a Thursday service is becoming more popular with people? I’ve just heard from some who will be going to Church today and it’s a bit out of the ordinary for them.

Comment on Your searchable hymnal bookshelf by Kit Ketcham

Kit Ketcham — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:19:06 +0000

What a great resource, Scott! Thanks for putting it out there. I love using old hymns to surprise my congregation.

Comment on If you got a huge amount of money earmarked for Unitarian Universalism… by Steven Rowe

Steven Rowe — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:37:56 +0000

I confess that we here briefly discussed what we would do – the lump sum vs yearly pay, and we came up with we’d have to save most of it for health care. If our one ticket proves the winning one, then I would take some of my share to help develop some sort of 21st century Missionary Rider – not sure if this means a visiting minister or a YouTube Evangelist. I look forward to being reminded of this after our number is drawn.

Comment on If you got a huge amount of money earmarked for Unitarian Universalism… by Derek

Derek — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 23:16:51 +0000

With $54-million I would endow a Home Mission Society, to fund church planting efforts in North America. And I would not entrust the funds to the UUA itself, but to an independent oversight board. I just don’t trust the UUA to use the funds wisely – their history is to pursue only one church extenstion model at any given time. And typically the model pursued is one that had peaked in other communities about 10 years prior.

Oh, and if I was being really pushy, I might require that the new churches funded by this Society be jointly affiliated with the UCC, NACCC, or ICCC. Just to push against the sectarian envelope!

Comment on Liberate your documents by choosing a better format by Boy in the Bands - Document Freedom Day 2012

Boy in the Bands - Document Freedom Day 2012 — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 22:13:21 +0000

[...] you create documents in closed or proprietary formats, at a basic level you do not control them. I wrote about it at length last year. Document Freedom Day [...]

Comment on Files from my presentation at Revival by C.W.S.

C.W.S. — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:07:36 +0000

Thanks for the link. Phebe Hanaford’s hymn was sung this past summer at the annual conference of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, in a hymn festival honoring the work of LGBT hymn writers and composers. The festival was then turned into an article in the Autumn 2011 issue of their journal, THE HYMN.

Comment on Gardiner, Maine Universalists disband by MARTI

MARTI — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:43:29 +0000

Does anyone know what happend to the church records from Gardiner? I’m trying to locate info on two relatives. John A. Leard born approx. 1836 and his father-in-law, Dr. Welcome Pincin. Dr. Pincin was among the original group of men in 1835 who organized the “the Christian Band.” Where might I find some of the oldest church membership rolls? Thanks for your help.