Elements of Faith at a Catholic Funeral

Tuesday, I attended the funeral of a close friend, Rocky. My family and their family have been very close for more than 30 years. Rocky and I were "dad-pals". Our wives were roommates in college. Our children are close friends.  We were very much on the interior of the formalized grieving process through Rocky's traditional Catholic funeral and wake, where specific elements of tradition and faith were employed to palliative effect, often to the point of "laughter through tears."* This coming Sunday, we'll have a look at those elements, and discuss their merits. Please be warmly welcome. We'll be happy to see you.

*"Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion. (Truvey Jones)" -- Robert Harling, Steel Magnolias

Meet the author, Father Harry Shaefer

This coming Sunday, January 20th, we're in for a treat. We'll play host to retired Episcopalian priest, the Rev. Harry Shaefer. Enjoying retirement, Harry has returned to his love of New Testament study, and he has just authored the soon-to-be released book, The Hidden History of the Pauline Churches: First Thessalonians. This is our chance for a conversation with the author. In an email, Father Shaefer notes that, "The book is addressed to highly educated and intelligent laypeople. Parts of it will be too difficult for some." We'll take that as both a complement and a challenge. If you want to brush up on your Thessalonians, try the link: It's an easy listen.
Please join us for an engaging session. We'll be delighted to see you.

David Galston and Religious Literacy

This coming Sunday, January 13th, we'll listen to John Shuck's interview of David Galston. Galston head the Quest Learning Centre for Religious Literacy in Hamilton, Ontario. The Centre focuses on studies of the historical Jesus, and Galston notes that, when you take the historical Jesus to church, not everybody likes him. And further, between the two sides of Jesus, the wisdom teacher and the apocalyptic preacher, the apocalytic firebrand is much more popular, as always has been. (Preview here)
Please join us Sunday morning at 9:45. We'll be happy to see you.

Spong approaches post-atheism

This coming Sunday, January 6, we'll view an interview with retired Bishop John Shelby Spong on interpreting the Gospels (preview here). Spong talks about how we read the gospels and why. His approach seems remarkably consistent with David Galston in John Shuck's recent interview (heard here).

Please join us for some interesting listening and discussion. We'll be delighted to see you. 

Christmas...How'd we do?

So, we did it. We celebrated another Christmas, the big kahuna of Christian holidays. I wondering how it was for everyone. Over the past several decades, my Christmases have gone from morose to meaningful. I'm glad. We seem to be getting a handle on a better celebration. We've all heard the phrase, "the true meaning of Christmas." But what exactly is that? The Wikipedia entry says that is "is a phrase with a long history in American pop culture. It first appears in the mid-19th century, and is often given vaguely religious overtones, suggesting that the "true meaning of Christmas" is the celebration of the Nativity of Christ. But in pop culture usage, overt religious references are mostly avoided, and the "true meaning" is taken to be a sort of introspective and benevolent attitude as opposed to the commercialization of Christmas which has been lamented since at least the 1850s." Please join us for some friendly conversation and exploration. We'll be delighted to see you.

Belief, Faith and Knowledge in the light of Intellectual Honesty

"Belief, Faith and Knowledge in the Light of Intellectual Honesty." Now there's a catchy title. Each of these terms potentially represents volumes of philosophical discourse. This coming Sunday, December 23rd, with the benefit of several on-line experts who provide workable definitions, we'll try to distill each of these down to manageable size and condense them into a coherent epistemological proposition that is meaningful to our spiritual growth. This could be fun, and easier than it sounds. If not, we'll just share some favorite stories.
Please join us. You'll be warmly welcome.

Your verse...

This Sunday we'll talk about Bible verses that have personal meaning to us as individuals.

My pick is Psalms 100 (KJV):

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.² Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. ³ Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. ⁴ Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. ⁵ For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

I was taught to memorize this psalm in my first grade Sunday School class. 

I took some time last week and spent a lot of it outdoors, watching glorious sunsets over a lake, being awestruck by crystal clear starry nights, sharing the break of dawn deep in a remote southern swamp, listening to the sound of nature beyond the human hum, being in the presence of people I love. At times, I felt the close presence of the majesty of the universe, and the reality of the fact that we are stardust become conscious, and Psalms 100 made sense for every one of the planet's children that would have it.

Please be warmly welcome at 9:45 on Sunday morning. Bring your verse. Share your story.