Sarx

HE MOVEMENT “Community” is a Finnish ecumenical organisation that seeks to include members of sexual minorities (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer, etc) in the full life of the Church. I found out about them reading a report against them from a conservative group within the Finnish Orthodox Church, the Brotherhood of St Kosmas of Aitolia. [...]

1) There is a right way to do Christianity and a wrong way to do it. 2) This right and wrong has little to do with “doctrine” per se (debatable, iota-sized technicalities about begetting and essence and accident and que) and much to do with practice (do justice, love mercy, pray for enemies, forgive, etc). [...]

EEN A GOOD Day since my earlier post: UPDATE (1): Fr Peter responds in grace and love and keeping to the traditional teachings of his church. Amen! Update (2) Rick Warren does the right thing UPDATE (3) Rod’s on board. Update (4) The Vatican Chimes in today as well. They all hedge their bets but [...]

HINGS THAT MAKE You want to be an atheist… 1) I do, really, believe there is a right way to do CHristianity and a wrong way to do it. 2) I do, really, believe that this right and wrong has little to do with “doctrine” per se (iota sized technicalities about begetting and essence and [...]

OR Several years now I’ve posted a series of Meditations on the “Great O Antiphons” that were used in the western Church during Advent. There are enough of them to cover the entire season of the Nativity Fast (new calendar), if they are broken up into short periods of time and we use the odd [...]

ODAY the European Court of Human Rights ordered the schools in Italy to remove crucifixes from the classrooms. Roman Catholic reaction (and, I’m sure, others…) has been a predictable whinge about “removing religion from the public sphere” and religious rights and what have you. It is a huge historical irony that this should come on [...]

HE EASTERN RITE Church plant is co-hosting a discussion group this fall and doing other outreaches into the community here in the Allentown neighbourhood of Buffalo. On the third Friday of each month we have a discussion group, cosponsored by Lafayette Ave Presbyterian Church and Holy Apostles Episcopal Church. It is hosted here, at the [...]

NE OF MY Favourite lines is from St Maria of Paris. To paraphrase, she said God one ask her about her ritual or her prayers. God will, rather, ask her if she fed the poor he sent her way. This is rightfully read as a claim that those who show the trappings of religiosity but [...]

VER AT Religion-Dispatches, Pastor Candace Chellew-Hodge asks Does the President Need Churching? Seems the man still isn’t going to church on Sunday. Like the vast majority of Americans, I might add. She has this great paragraph in the middle… “Personally, I don’t care if President Obama goes to church. As a pastor I know first-hand [...]

Do slaves make your church stuff? In 2007, a case of crucifixes purchased by St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York was traced back to a factory in China where girls as young as 15 were forced to work up to 19-hour days, seven days a week. Today, Christian items from bible covers to t-shirts are [...]