Category Archives: Liminal places

Christian Church, Liminal places, Religious architecture

More churches in Greenland

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I love churches in liminal places, so when I was fixing corrupted links in past blog posts, I found that the Greenland diocese of the (Lutheran) Church of Denmark has its own site: http://groenlandsstift.dk

There are few (in theory) resources in English, but the site reads in Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) or Danish. I thought “who do I know that knows Danish?” — I know nobody who reads Greenlandic — and realized the only one I know is (or was) Tim Jensen. This made me sad. So I muddled through using Germanic cognates.

The pictures of the Greenlandic kirker help. Exterior elevations and interior shots of little churches — some traditional and no bigger than sheds, but others 60s-modern and large — suggesting a familiar part of a public life otherwise wholly unknown to me.

I love that most have baptismal fonts front and center, topped not with a lid but a ewer. I love that many have seven-branched candelabra on their altars. I love how there could be a Celtic cross, Latin cross, Latin crucifix or even a picture of Christ behind the altar, suggesting different kinds of churchmanship.

Oh, and that would make Juaanna Platou the most northerly parish pastor in the world.

Church development, Liminal places, Mission and Polity, Religious architecture, Right living, Worship

Quiet worship in a public place

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Anglican priest and blogger Andii Bowsher (Nouslife) outlines a service of worship conducted around a table, say at a cafe or restaurant. The key is low-volume, shared participation. Which isn’t too strange: people hive off to coffee shops for meeting all the time here.

I don’t know if I’d come up with what he did, but the idea of worship in a shared public space is good theologically and practically, and may be an early way for bootstrapping congregations to get started, when even the cost of a room rental would inhibit it.  If you have experience in this kind of worship — or even practical tips for holding meetings in a restaurant — please comment.

(That said, I’ve preached to congregations in venerable churches that weren’t any larger than a kaffee klatch.)

Oh, but if you do that, plan on spending money on food or drink or both. And don’t forget the waitstaff. ‘Cause you know the difference between Christians and canoes, right?

Canoes tip.


Ethical shopping, Liminal places, Practical theology, Right living, Technology, Universalist history

Use your voice, less electricity to save mountains

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Cranky Cindy wrote about mountaintop coal mining, and the environmental disaster is causes.

Universalist fun fact: the much-reported town deluged by coal ash, Harriman, Tennessee, was the site of the church extension project of the Young People’s Christian Union, a predecessor to Unitarian Universalist young adult ministries.

Not-so-fun fact: coal is not clean. It pollutes the air, and in mining districts it pollutes the water and soil.

And if you use grid electricity in the United States, you’re probably a part of the system that allows this to happen. That includes the power that runs my computer. So I try to use less, and learn more about mountaintop mining. Next comes the advocacy.

Last week, I attended the Nonprofit Technology Conference in San Francisco for work. One of the sessions I attended was about online mapping tools. One of the presenters was from iLoveMountains.org, which uses maps and video to make the connections between mountaintop mining and your electricity.

Learn those connections. Use less electricity. Advocate for cleaner technologies and mining communities.

Liminal places

Wiki focuses on Shetland Islands

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No pony jokes.

Careful readers know I have an interest in far-away, sparsely inhabited areas. I’m grateful to the Internet — and before that shortwave radio and a childhood spent reading encyclopedia — to keep up with goings-on in the far corners of the world.

So I’m pleased to find a wiki dedicated to the Shetland Islands, the most northerly extent of the British Isles and home to 22,000 souls.

Shetlopedia

Cooperation, Food, Liminal places, Spiritual discipline

If you have some money, give

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To make the most impact, I give to only a few charitable organizations, and one is the Friends of the World Food Program. The World Food Program has a good history of food relief, with an excellent record of efficiency and the capacity to make a real difference. The Friends is the US support affiliate.

With the cost of staple crops pushing essential yet modest foodstuffs out of reach for so many people — this BBC news story gives some background — food relief giving is going to be a major need this year and (I’m worried) years to come.

Liminal places, Pastoral care

Uniting Church of Australia “patrol ministry”

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I’m looking at some major Christian united-uniting churches to see how they define church membership and turned to the ever-interesting Uniting Church of Australia. More about that later; I found something even more interesting.

As you may know, the Australian interior is multi-ethnic but very thinly populated, making for special social accommodations — like radio schools and flying doctors — and the Uniting Church has long been a part of that network, both in social services and worship opportunities.

Their spiritual and pastoral support services are organized as geographic “patrols” and you can read more about there here.

Liminal places, Worship

Old lay liturgy resource

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There’s a truism I heard at seminary of the ol’ days — Victorian, Edwardian eras — when women weren’t widely ordained that they could do overseas what they couldn’t do at home. Lay ministry meant more if you were a missionary.

A bit closer to North American and European shores — but not too close — you found respected lay ministry in the form of shipboard worship. Presumably every cruiser and fishing boat couldn’t have its own chaplain aboard, so the skipper or someone delegated would take over the duty, an image carried over in shipboard Hollywood pics where the captain would bury or marry someone at sea. Lay ministry is also alive in the U.S. seagoing services today. (I’ve written about this before; one such posting.)

See then this 1903 resource from the Church of Scotland Prayers for sailors and fisher-folk available for download in different formats at Archive.org

Liminal places, Sustainable living

Gift to the future says something about today

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The gold-plated record we sent into space in 1977 said more about the the people who sent it than any realistic hope that it would be found and interpreted.

Now we have coming a seed vault on Spitsbergen, in the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, to preserve the world’s agricultural genetic heritage, a.k.a. the “doomsday seed bank.” What does that say about us?  (BBC news story)

Of course, Bravo’s playing Waterworld, and that speaks badly of everyone, especially Kevin Costner.

Related blog entry: “Growing Hope“