KenCollins.com

There has been a discussion on a Mailing List That Shall Not Be Named about clericals and vestments. It is one of those confidential lists that I like to write on, but really want to recycle to material for the blog — so I’ll pull my own words and anonymize the rest. (More about that later.)

I was looking for photographs to demonstrate what I mean. And then I found — and explored — a site I’ve run into a few times over the last few years.

KenCollins.com is within two weeks as old (that is, nine and a half years) as my original “Evangelical Universalist” effort, but this makes me feel like a slacker.

The eponymous Ken Collins is a Disciples minister in the Virginia suburbs, and a Wesley grad. Who knew?

But I really, really like his illustrated glossary of clericals and vestments.

And his “prayer builder” application — where a service can be generated by clicking a few boxes and a few fill-in boxes. Note to self: figure out what application he used and build something with Universalist liturgy, integrating psalms.

But there is so much to love here. Essays galore, but if you have to start somewhere, check the reference sections and subordinate links.

By Scott Wells

Scott Wells, 46, is a Universalist Christian minister doing Universalist theology and church administration hacks in Washington, D.C.

2 comments

  1. Enjoyed the site and the fashion show. The Disciples talk about what to wear as much as the UUs do. My roommate in college (UGA) told me that the Disciples were originally opposed to vestments. However, somewhere in the middle of the nineteenth century Disciples clergy got into the habit of wearing suits with tails when they preached and Disciples churches expected the preacher to wear tails–a tradition that continued into the early twentieth century in some areas. At least the Unitarians and Universalists never had that one!

  2. Wow, that is an impressive little application. I also found the Vestments section very interesting, if somewhat dismissive of Geneva gowns: “I do not have a picture of a Geneva gown, because if you have graduated from school, you know what they look like. I do not wear a gown because I’m presiding at worship, not graduating from school.” and “People in robes are dressed like Calvin. People in albs are dressed like Jesus.” Of course he’s fully entitled to his opinion, and I haven’t even made up my mind about Geneva gowns, I would’ve preferred it if his opinion had been somewhere other than in the midst of mostly objective information. It is not a surprising opinion, but rather jarring–kind of like reading an encycledia and then finding a personal swipe in the middle of the article.

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