A minor

Connec†ed is the new joint presence at ULM of Lutheran Campus Ministry and the Canterbury Fellowship, cosponsored by Messiah Lutheran Church (ELCA), St Thomas Episcopal Church, and the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana.

Connec†ed meets each Wednesday evening at the ULM Canterbury Center, St Thomas Episcopal Church, beginning at 5:30 p.m. by worshipping together and celebrating the Holy Eucharist.* A light supper provided by Messiah and St Thomas will usually be served, followed by an activity or program.

* This has been a longstanding service at St Thomas, with a variety of parishioners and visitors present, not just students. All are welcome.

Frame on Seminary

Just saw this on Mark Traphagen's blog. I had no idea Frame had written something along these lines. I've grown up in churches with similar thoughts: the Dabney Center here in Monroe, Greyfriars Hall in Moscow, ID, etc. As Mark points out, though, note Frame's 1979 and 2001 postscripts.

Speaking of seminary, I have to say I find this a bit tempting!

Holy Trinity Jackson

Went to Holy Trinity (AMiA) tonight. The service was unusual and long, but we happened to be there at a pretty significant moment in the life of the parish.

The drive home was unbelievable, though. Three words: hurricane evacuation route. Driving home took twice as long as driving there. Lord, have mercy.

Multiracial Churches

The cover stories of Christianity Today, April 2005:

- "All Churches Should Be Multiracial"
The biblical case.
An excerpt from United by Faith by Curtiss Paul DeYoung, Michael O. Emerson, George Yancey, and Karen Chai Kim.

- "Harder Than Anyone Can Imagine"
Four working pastors—Latino, Asian, black, and white—respond to the bracing thesis of United by Faith.

- "Big Dream in Little Rock"
What multiracial church looks like in the town formerly infamous for segregation.

I'm losing weight like crazy with this diabetic diet. In three weeks, I've shed eleven pounds (not counting the pound or two I usually gain every week or so). At this rate, I joke that I just might lose my pregnancy weight before the baby is even born :)

Visiting the New Library

Ethan has been waiting for the new library to open all summer. He's been watching the construction excitedly as we drive by on the way to Hollie's parents'. It opened a few days ago, and we went today. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more: Ethan or me.

St Andrews MLitt in Bible & the Contemporary World

I wonder if an online program like this would be worth the time and money? I just learned about it today at the library via an ad in Christianity Today. I've always thought it would be cool to have a Master of Letters degree.

Deacons' Signatures & Crosses

Along the lines of this recent post and the parenthetical at the end of this post, does anyone know why deacons don't sign their names with a cross? Also, do you know of any sources on this convention in general - its history, examples from the past, etc?

"The Dress and Address of Deacons" doesn't answer my question, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Do any of you have any positive experience with Churches Uniting in Christ activities? I'm wondering if there's room for theological conservatives in this big tent.

I'm always trying to think of effective local ecumenical endeavors. There's so much work to do, it's hard to know where to begin. I wonder if it might be simplest to work with an existing organization like CUIC, thus narrowing the focus a bit (e.g. CUIC doesn't have many Baptist members) and not trying to reinvent the wheel. Or would it be better to start fresh and do something tailored more to the local situation (e.g. where the majority of churches are Baptist)?

Tentative Movie Recommendation

Jon, my sisters, and I watched The Machinist* Wednesday night. I didn't know a whole lot about the movie other than a very general idea of the plot and the fact that Christian Bale lost 30,000 pounds for the role. The movie ended up being slow moving but oddly compelling. I found it hard to walk away for my many bathroom breaks (darn pregnancy!). It was reminiscent of Memento only darker and sadder. I'm not sure how much more I can say without giving away the story. Anyway, if you don't mind leaving a film with a less-than-cheerful disposition, I'd say you should catch this one. Plus, if nothing else, I feel that Christian Bale's sickly body morphing deserves some sort of attention. I kept wondering how the man was able to walk around. Crazy.

*Directed by Brad Anderson who also made another creepy psychological film, Session 9. You should see that too.

First of all, I wasn't there, but Pastor Wilson has already factually slam-dunked Joan Opyr's nasty article, so that's out of the way.

My suggestion to Joan: Stick to slapstick satire and leave the slander to others.

My confession to all: For the last few months, whenever I needed a laugh all I had to do was pull up Joan's Da Froot Loops Fest 2005 page.

My encouragement to all: Lighten up and have some fun. I mean, come on, "Trinity Fest" is a damn funny name to begin with. The incongruity alone is enough to elicit snickering (or wincing). Maybe "Trinity Festival"...but "Trinity Fest"? As it's been said, "Who're the ad wizards who came up with that one?!" Again, folks, lighten up and have some fun. What would the Trinity do? WWTTD?

Gettin' Some Edjamacation

My mom has kindly offered to homeschool Ethan at her house a few days a week. He already knows his colors, shapes, numbers, and letters so we opted for the K-4 curriculum. For weeks now, Ethan has been drooling over his school supplies (just like his mother!) and eagerly awaiting the opening of the books. Today his time finally came. From all reports, he did great and didn't want the morning to end. Sniff, my little baby is growing up too fast!

Carlton Draught Big Ad

This ad is great. (Make sure your speakers are on.)

AMiA Chief Officers

Here's an interesting announcement from the AMiA (via Currents, August 2005). I'm excited about the former CEO, the Rev Canon Dr Tim Smith's move to Jackson as Rector of Holy Trinity.

Also, note that Anglican deacons - like the new Chief Operating Officer, Rev Paul Briggs - bear the title, "Reverend." This is an indication of the fact that the diaconate is, in the words of Barnett, "a full and equal order."

By the way, speaking of the title, am I the only one who finds it distasteful when ministers refer to themselves as "Reverend" in introductions, signatures, etc? It's like a judge introducing himself or herself as, "Hello, I'm the Honorabale So-and-So." Bad form. Thankfully, the culture of the AMiA is such that it's one of the last places where ministers would be guilty of this.

Women's Ordination Pro & Cons

- Women's Service in the Church: The Biblical Basis - a conference paper by the Bishop of Durham, Dr NT Wright, for the 2004 Christians for Biblical Equality International Symposium, 'Men, Women and the Church' [PDF]

- A Report of the Study Concerning the Ordination of Women Undertaken by the Anglican Mission in America (July 2003) [PDF]

- Women in the Life of the Church: A Position Paper Approved by the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, June 2005 (scroll down) [PDF]

I wanted to see the new Exorcist movie but still haven't. Hollie was telling me about this Entertainment Weekly article the other day. Based on it and the couple other reviews I read, I think I might skip Exorcist: The Beginning and watch Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist instead - or maybe I'll just skip both of them.

Catholic Dilemmas

If you had to chose between joining a more-or-less faithful Southern Baptist church and a more-or-less faithful Roman Catholic church, which would you choose? For me, this is a tough question, to which I would give a cop-out answer like, "It would depend on the particulars of the individual parishes."

To me, this would be a much tougher dilemma than the following scenario: You're a college student, and there are only two student ministries on campus. There's a Roman Catholic ministry that's full of worship, the Bible, the Holy Spirit and tradition, and a Southern Baptist ministry that's full of good parties with wannabe Greeks and/or cool kids who just "don't drink or chew or go with those who do." Which campus ministry would you participate in? For me, that one's a no-brainer.

Please note: I'm not being crypto-Roman. The hardest part about being an Anglican for me is that most conservative Episcopalians, at least around here, are Anglo-Catholics, and I'm just not. I'm far too much of a Reformational Catholic to ever feel at home in Anglo- or Roman Catholicism, much less in the Baptist world. And yet I long that we might all be one, even as Jesus and the Father are one.