A cautionary tale. I’ve worshipped with Micah here in D.C. so I sawa little of what he described but I’m certainly no Quaker, and (happily) have since gone back to my old church. But the critical mass issue is one that Unitarian and Universalist Christians are going to have to grapple with, in part because… Continue reading Asking Micah Bales’s question: Are we capable of planting churches?
Category: Quakers
Notes from another church fellowship
American Unitarians and Universalists have, for about a century, kept and extended fellowship through a series of institutions, the largest and most notable today is the Church of the Larger Fellowship. The British (and independently the Scottish) Unitarians and Free Christians have a similar fellowship. And the Quakers have one globally. But when I discovered… Continue reading Notes from another church fellowship
On using that prayerbook
You could have knocked me over with a feather when I read that Quaker minister, blogger and friend Micah Bales had bought an Episcopal prayerbook. Let’s hear it for experimentation. I think I’ve said that I be an Episcopalian, provided I could find a liberal Morning Prayer parish. Oh, and no bishops. (So goes that… Continue reading On using that prayerbook
Universalism: not heresy
I’ve long ago rejected the tittering proclamation that Universalism is a heresy — said like this was a good thing. And also the self-servingĂ‚Â etymology; that since heresy is derived from the Greek word meaning to choose that this it’s necessarily, again, a good thing. The implication of the word is clearly and honestly one of… Continue reading Universalism: not heresy
Two blog posts on mission and ministry
If you don’t keep up with the Quaker blogosphere, you might miss two valuable blog posts about mission, ministry and how these speak to generational change, resources and burnout. “Bridging the Generational Divide in Ministry” (The Lamb’s War, Micah Bales) “Staying loose and open to new energy and God’s direction” (Quaker Ranter, Martin Kelley) Micah,… Continue reading Two blog posts on mission and ministry
A change in blogging (wherein I blame the Quakers)
After seven and a half years of blogging, it’s time again to rethink “The Boy in the Bands” — if only in a limited, experimental way. Blog is short for web log; so what of logging my thoughts first on paper, and then letting them ripen a bit before transferring them to the web? (Case… Continue reading A change in blogging (wherein I blame the Quakers)
Where two or three gather, there’s a worship group
I’ve been studying the Quakers more than usual lately. Not just the Friends General Conference — the main fellowship for liberal Quakers, including many who aren’t necessarily Christian — but others, including the Holiness pastoral Quakers, and the Conservatives, with whom I would likely be most at home, should I ever go to the Friends.… Continue reading Where two or three gather, there’s a worship group