Over the last year I’ve written about the young and growing Megabus service; my UK readers will be better acquainted with this company. See 1, 2, and 3. Now they’ve begun service on the West Coast.
Yoohoo! How about the Atlantic states, or the South? Please? (I’m in no way related to this company.)
After the strong response to my words about debt — and thank you all for replying — I was going to write about the logjam which is ministerial formation in the Unitarian Universalist Association
If you can pay for school, you might not get the needed internship. If you get fellowship, you might never get a pastorate or ministerial position. If you get a pastorate or position, it might not pay a living wage or offer adequate benefits. In case you wonder why I work for a D.C. nonprofit.
I was going to go into some detail. But David Soliday (Facilitating Paradox) today put it into rather poignant, personal detail.
Like a lot of ministers, I borrowed a lot of money to get my Master of Divinity degree and early on served churches that didn’t let me pay it down. And should I even mention paying for a car engine rebuilt with a credit card or living without medical insurance? I know a lot of you understand this implicitly, ordained or not.
Well, in recent years I’ve hammered away at my credit cards (plural), loan against my life insurance and student debt. Now I’m down to just the student debt.
But something happened today that let me know I’ve made peace with my debt and have my eyes on a new target, namely co-home ownership.
The event? I was watching a game show and the host asked the finalist what he would do if he won the big prize of $5,000. For the first time, I did not fill in the answer “Pay off my debt.”
That’s all. If you have something to add about your feelings about debt, feel free to comment. For this post, you may be anonymous as long as you leave a legitimate email address and — as usual — I’ll keep your identity private.
Seems people are looking for heaven but finding hell. Not a theological statement but a use of Google Trends — news keyword tracking — and includes links to representative (or responsible?) news stories.
Fun, and perhaps useful for preachers looking for an illustration.
Unitarian Universalist minister Kit Ketcham (a.k.a. Miss Kitty; Miss Kitty’s Saloon and Road Show) points out the universalist-themed Opus comic strip in her local paper today. Very nice.
That link looks like it will only be good for the week, so if you find this later, look to the Washington Post Writers Group page for Opus for August 19, 2007 here after this week passes.
This is the time some church people plan for all of the next year (if not earlier.) I noticed that Easter is coming very early next year; if one tends to plan just a bit at a time, better to know it now.
The last time Easter fell on March 23 was 1913 and it won’t come again until 2160, so enjoy it while it lasts.
The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22, but that’s very rare, with the next occurrence in 2285.
I’ve written from time to time about federated and multi-denominational Unitarian Universalist churches, in part because that’s where you find many of the Christians in the UUA and also because they are an interesting polity situation that makes for illuminating case studies.
Continue reading Leicester, Mass. Unitarians end federation relationship
A logistical question.
While I had the pleasure of assisting the Transylvanian Unitarian bishop and his provost distribute Communion at the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship Revival conference that my former pastorate hosted, the church’s architecture is unlike those in Transylvania so I don’t know how the distribution would take place there.
To recap, from what I’ve read and the pictures I’ve seen, the Unitarian churches there use a circular or polygonal table set back from a wall, in an open space in front of the (high) pulpit, and not in a chancel. The communicants encircle the table, not unlike Continental Reformed churches, though they do not sit as you might find historically in the Dutch churches. (Reception seated in pews is English Puritan from what I understand.)
Some pictures: 1, 2. [More as I find them.]
How far do the communicants stand from the table and in which direction? Where is the minister? What are the respective roles of two or more ministers? Where do they stand at various points of the service?
Details about the ceremonial — the “stage direction” — would be very helpful and much appreciated.
There were two recent blog posts others wrote that I wanted to lift up respecting Communion.
1. Cee Jay (Cee Jay’s Cyber Space) notes how the interim minister of her church recommends a monthly communion service — either before or after the main service — and she suggests this might fill a liturgical and pastoral void. Her recollection of Brethren services match what others have said about their beauty and simplicity. Here, of course, I should note that Southern and some Ohio Valley (the old “Far West”) Universalist churches were descended from Brethren churches.
As I’ve written before, despite how an off-main-service communion might be interpreted as (1) the Christians hiving off or (2) the Christians being boxed up, this is how communion was actually practiced in the then still-Christian Unitarian and Universalist churches going back centuries. Indeed, in my last pastorate, a Christian church, post-main-service Communion was the norm up to a generation ago.
And given the rhythm of the liturgy, it really ought to be post not pre.
I would also recommend the officiant be the minister, a regularly invited guest minister or a lay officiant appointed by the whole congregation. This is, after all, a ministry of the whole congregation and not of a rump. Wiser policy and politics, I’d think.
2. Stephen Lingwood (Reignite) writes about a stacking chalice, plate, basin and oil lamp. When stacked — sans plate — it looks very much like the flaming chalice well known in Unitarian Universalist circles. But the individual pieces then can be reconfigured for communion (with plate) and baptism (chalice and basin).
OK — basin might be an overstatement. Soup plate is closer, but I wanted to highlight these liturgical multitaskers. I only wish you could get them in something lighter, like silverplate.
Even after showing pictures of my Transylvanian Unitarian stole, I could have hardly expected the Apartment Therapy blog — that directory for so many lovely items — to identify Transylvanian hemp and linen cloth.