I’ve only written one blog post since before General Assembly, and is was of a “what do you think” format. It’s been for a number of reasons: There’s been lots of work at work, and sometimes writing this blog seems like added work. This is my family’s season for birthday and anniversary celebrations, plus a… Continue reading Harder to return to blogging
Category: Core ideas
After the killings in Charleston
The grief and horror Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church must now be facing is hard to get my head around, but the killings are not themselves inconceivable. Brother Roger, Oscar Romero, and the “troublesome priest” Thomas Becket were each murdered in worship. When I was in seminary (and just after) there was a spate of… Continue reading After the killings in Charleston
A page full of handbooks!
So, I was talking with a couple of people: what would we do if the Unitarian Universalist Association ceased to exist? Not a death wish, but contingency planning. And a way of identifying what’s a must-have and not just a might-want. Someone mulled, “what does the NACCC do?” That’s the National Association of Congregational Christian… Continue reading A page full of handbooks!
Why Sunday?
A quick thought. Why should the principal worship service be on a Sunday, particularly late Sunday morning? There are reasonable arguments for Christians, as it commemorates Christ’s resurrection. But that argues for a weekly sunrise service, and — let me tell you — if that were an option, I’d gladly take it. I don’t have… Continue reading Why Sunday?
A Unitarian Universalist wish list
Sometimes it helps to ask: “what would you like to see? what resources do you wish could exist? what connections do you wish existed? what problem would you like to resolve?” Think about issues that might concern many congregations, but may or may not be normally handled by denominational staff. I’m thinking within the Unitarian… Continue reading A Unitarian Universalist wish list
What do you think churches should do?
While some of your favorite sites are down — a very severe storm blew through metro Washington, D.C. last night, disabling an Amazon cloud computing center in the ‘burbs — let me ask a question that has been bothering me since the UUA General Assembly: just what do you think the purpose of a church… Continue reading What do you think churches should do?
If you got a huge amount of money earmarked for Unitarian Universalism…
The pop news is buzzing about the current $540 million Mega Millions jackpot so many people hope to win. I don’t play the lottery because the odds are stacked against you and the life stories of those who win never seem that happy. But in our imaginations, we can imagine that much fresh money arriving… Continue reading If you got a huge amount of money earmarked for Unitarian Universalism…
A good (humanistic?) “sermon” with fish and loaves
Software Freedom Law Center executive director Eben Moglen lays it down about the freedom of ideas and the stewardship of human minds and the free access those minds need to information. Also, a fascinating review of the development of United States copyright law with respect to early immigration and religious freedom. (Made me think about… Continue reading A good (humanistic?) “sermon” with fish and loaves
Who’s really central in the UUA?
After a quarter-century as a Unitarian Universalist, I can say with conviction that our largest problems have little to do with money or even membership, but with deep unresolved issue of identity. The continual plaints — and curiously distributed — circle about who is or is not welcome, with tones more fitting for a Dickensian… Continue reading Who’s really central in the UUA?
On curation
The historical approach to data the liberal churhes take — certainly an approach I’ve seen in my own life — begins and ends with collection. The liberal religionist is commonly described as a seeker, and the faithful life of such a seeker is to collect. Collect ideas about other religions, collect experiences, collect options and… Continue reading On curation