Mary Ailes has done it again.
I have been View free for the past three days and oddly enough I haven't missed it a bit.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Follow Up on Remain Episcopal
ENS has an interesting article on developments in California's San Joaquin valley. It appears that those who are remaining Episcopalian will be organizing a new diocese next month. I reckon 815 is willing to spend what it takes, as it were, to maintain an Episcopalian presence in central California.
One tidbit caught my eye out of the ENS article:
The website for those who are Remaining Episcopal now shows eight actual congregations (counting St Nicholas which is homeless). This is an increase of two from my prior post. I had previously estimated the 2006 ASA of Remain Episcopal churches at about 470. The two new members bring the total to around 610 or 140 more. If we do not include St. Nicholas (I did not previously) then the ASA is about 570 or so.
The big question remains, who is still going to their former church? Neither ENS nor Remain Episcopal are crowing about booming attendance, so it seems safe to venture that attendance has either remained the same or declined in the Schori churches. Likewise the Schofieldistas do not seem to be celebrating overcrowded pews so the true winners may well be the churches in the neighborhood that are not affiliated with either faction.
One tidbit caught my eye out of the ENS article:
Moore noted as signs of progress the appointment of a 26-member steering committee to help continue the diocese (see roster below); 17 congregations who have opted to remain with tec; the anticipated March 29 special convention to elect a provisional bishop; establishment of new diocesan headquarters in Stockton and a partnership with Episcopal Life Media to facilitate dissemination of information and to provide a new diocesan newspaper edition. {Emphasis added}
The website for those who are Remaining Episcopal now shows eight actual congregations (counting St Nicholas which is homeless). This is an increase of two from my prior post. I had previously estimated the 2006 ASA of Remain Episcopal churches at about 470. The two new members bring the total to around 610 or 140 more. If we do not include St. Nicholas (I did not previously) then the ASA is about 570 or so.
The big question remains, who is still going to their former church? Neither ENS nor Remain Episcopal are crowing about booming attendance, so it seems safe to venture that attendance has either remained the same or declined in the Schori churches. Likewise the Schofieldistas do not seem to be celebrating overcrowded pews so the true winners may well be the churches in the neighborhood that are not affiliated with either faction.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Bachelor Life
Mrs. Ockham is off visiting her cousin until Sunday, so I'm living the bachelor life here at Nominalism Manor. Some men would waste their valuable free time on strippers and liquor. Your friend Matthew prefers doing laundry his way, watching Fiddler on the Roof and spending some time at the range.
As part of the preparations for a day at the shooting range, I ordered a target hanger from Amazon.com. Amazon sells it themselves and we're Prime customers so two day shipping is free. Ordered on Tuesday and should have arrived today.
The pistol case I also ordered arrived. As did the Mezzo Wore Mink (I told you we live the wild bachelor life). And a four foot by two foot by four foot box. Which when opened was stuffed full of brown packing paper and nothing else. The cats are enjoying their new toy immensely.
The good news is that the young man with the indeterminate accent at Amazon customer service said they would be sending my target hanger out via one day delivery. I really have no complaints. These things do happen. And he couldn't have been nicer.
My only remaining question is whether that is 'one day' meaning Friday, 'one day' meaning Saturday or 'one business day', which might be Monday. My money is on Monday.
And our four cats are greatly entertained. If Amazon had rubbed the paper in catnip I doubt it would have enthralled our pets more.
As part of the preparations for a day at the shooting range, I ordered a target hanger from Amazon.com. Amazon sells it themselves and we're Prime customers so two day shipping is free. Ordered on Tuesday and should have arrived today.
The pistol case I also ordered arrived. As did the Mezzo Wore Mink (I told you we live the wild bachelor life). And a four foot by two foot by four foot box. Which when opened was stuffed full of brown packing paper and nothing else. The cats are enjoying their new toy immensely.
The good news is that the young man with the indeterminate accent at Amazon customer service said they would be sending my target hanger out via one day delivery. I really have no complaints. These things do happen. And he couldn't have been nicer.
My only remaining question is whether that is 'one day' meaning Friday, 'one day' meaning Saturday or 'one business day', which might be Monday. My money is on Monday.
And our four cats are greatly entertained. If Amazon had rubbed the paper in catnip I doubt it would have enthralled our pets more.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
This Means War!
I certainly hope not, but if relations with our northern neighbour deteriorate I certainly hope that our State government does the right thing rather than resort to violence.
I say we post State Troopers with sling shots at all the border crossings. When a car with Tennessee plates comes over the troopers pelt them with peaches until Tennessee surrenders.
That 'll learn 'em.
I say we post State Troopers with sling shots at all the border crossings. When a car with Tennessee plates comes over the troopers pelt them with peaches until Tennessee surrenders.
That 'll learn 'em.
Wrong on so many levels
An Austrian diver hires a company to take him on a 'shark adventure'. The company advertises that they chum the waters and do not use shark cages. Guy gets bitten, Coast Guard is summoned. Guy gets airlifted to a hospital where he dies. I'm sorry the guy is dead, but that pretty much sets the bar for the Darwin Awards right there.
I'd love to know what other adventures the company runs though. Do they have an 'arctic adventure' where the tourists smear themselves with salmon and run naked past the polar bears? Or perhaps a 'jungle adventure' where the tourists jump into the Amazon River accompanied by hunks of beef and try to pet the piranha.
/sarcasm
I'd love to know what other adventures the company runs though. Do they have an 'arctic adventure' where the tourists smear themselves with salmon and run naked past the polar bears? Or perhaps a 'jungle adventure' where the tourists jump into the Amazon River accompanied by hunks of beef and try to pet the piranha.
/sarcasm
Monday, February 25, 2008
Comfort in odd places
My sister posted about our cousin's suicide (She is the smart one of the family). As a result of her post, we had a fairly lengthy discussion about it. So imagine my surprise when I read this. I have found great comfort in that reply tonight.
For the record, my prior post on suicide was written in grief and anger (I really do not remember being that angry in quite a while). Please do not assume that because I write dogmatically, I think dogmatically. I do not have many answers and I seem to have less the older I get.
For the record, my prior post on suicide was written in grief and anger (I really do not remember being that angry in quite a while). Please do not assume that because I write dogmatically, I think dogmatically. I do not have many answers and I seem to have less the older I get.
Calisthenics in Church
Episcopal Life has a lovely article about an exercise down by the Rev. Tom Woodward out in Santa Fe. His congregation said the Nicene Creed and each person sat during the bits they didn't understand or believe in.
The now rudderless Episcopal Life thinks the exercise was a wonderful celebration of the diversity that is the modern Episcopal Church. Hills of the North hits closer to the mark in terming it an exercise in heterodoxy. I think it's a damning indictment of the Episcopal church's total failure to teach the Gospel and the Christian faith.
It also makes me wonder why we say creeds in church that no one believes in. I don't mind saying them because I do believe. But why recite something you disagree with or don't feel to be true?
The now rudderless Episcopal Life thinks the exercise was a wonderful celebration of the diversity that is the modern Episcopal Church. Hills of the North hits closer to the mark in terming it an exercise in heterodoxy. I think it's a damning indictment of the Episcopal church's total failure to teach the Gospel and the Christian faith.
It also makes me wonder why we say creeds in church that no one believes in. I don't mind saying them because I do believe. But why recite something you disagree with or don't feel to be true?
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