A nice chat with other member of Universalist National Memorial Church after services today, over coffee. As sometimes happens, the matter of books came up, which merged with another comment about Hosea Ballou, and from there to books about Universalism. I recommended two smallish, straight-forward books and a documentary history, if with reservations. Both are… Continue reading Introductions to Universalism
Category: Universalist history
Atlanta Universalist archive online
I was happy to find this archive, created and hosted by the Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation, of Unitarianism and Universalism in Atlanta, plus the congregation’s own archives. I’d love others to do likewise UU Digital Archive
Transcription workflow notes
So, it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post, but I’ve not been inactive. And since I have the day off today, I thought I’d catch you up. Over the next couple of days, I’ll be putting up two chapters from the 1946 Parish Practice in Universalist Churches as text; I’ve previously posted it as… Continue reading Transcription workflow notes
Universalist polity document from 1951
Since I earlier opined that some of our conflicted Unitarian Universalist polity is the product of Universalist and Unitarian inheritances, I thought it best to “show my work” — or rather, some original documents. 1951 Universalist Laws of Fellowship, Government and Discipline Some carryovers are obvious, and some fixes necessary. I recall a senior minister… Continue reading Universalist polity document from 1951
Universalist polity persists today
A couple of weeks ago, I was batting back and forth with an informed Unitarian Universalist friend about our polity, when at one point he zeroed in at the settled clergy vote at General Assembly, at which point I had to stand up for the Universalist contribution to our polity. This is my side of… Continue reading Universalist polity persists today
“A Fruitful Life”
It’s been a hard day, and seeking solace, turned to prayer. I pulled this book off my shelf because the title — Light and Peace — spoke to me. It’s a collection of prayers by Charles Hall Leonard, published by the Murray Press, a Universalist publisher, in 1915. Leonard (1822-1918) was an outsized figure in… Continue reading “A Fruitful Life”
The licenced minister application
This is the text of the form — it fits on two sides of half-sized piece of paper — used by applicants for a letter of license in the Universalist Church. I pulled this from a filled-in example from 1920 in Indiana, but variant date back to the 1880s and forward to the 1950s. Interesting… Continue reading The licenced minister application
Economics of Ministry, 1856 edition
Before the #sustainmininstry thread fades (presumably to revive at General Assembly) I wanted to meditate on how our ancestors coped. In my last blog post, I opined that ministerial shortages were practically a tradition. So is coping with meagre funds. This theme cropped up continuously when I worked on my never-finished master’s thesis — golly… Continue reading Economics of Ministry, 1856 edition
Embedding an Archive.org book
I got an aside from a Well-Respected Minister who liked “that little book video insert piece” in my last blog post. It’s the BookReader of Internet Archive, the source of the book. I think it’s the best desktop or laptop interface for reading books, and since the Internet Archives has a large number of public-domain… Continue reading Embedding an Archive.org book
The automated ministry
The prospect of job automation is more than a bit scary. Everyone likes a bit of help, provided that bit doesn’t help them out of a job. NPR ran a feature (“Will Your Job Be Done by a Machine?,” May 21) While some professions will almost certainly be automated to some degree, there’s only a… Continue reading The automated ministry