Pigs, Gardens, & Church Announcements

At the church we attend the announcements at the end of the service are a continual source of amusement. Our pastor soldiers through as best he can, but there are regularly quite a few (since there are so many wonderful things going on), and the kids, and grown ups, are eager to get to the coffee and doughnuts waiting in the foyer. It was a historic occasion recently, when there were no announcements! There was great rejoicing throughout the land.

This is not a new problem. Churches in the Reformation also struggled with how to incorporate the mundane with the spiritual. Bruce Gordon, writing in Brill’s Companion to the Swiss Reformation, describes the merging of the secular and the mundane in the city of Bern:

“Ministers were required to make a series of announcements from the pulpit addressing the daily life of the community, such as a form of lost and found. Goods and belongings that had been lost were listed in case anyone should know where they were. Further, parishioners were told to control their dogs and pigs and not to bowl or ride horses in the graveyards. Apparently, these interventions became so lengthy that in 1548 the Bernese ministers were only required to announce that items over a certain value had been lost” (Gordon, “Polity and Worship,” 507).

It’s been a while since we last had anyone riding their horse through the church graveyard, so I guess we’re doing well!

Name-Calling Irony

As I reviewed Lee Palmer Wandel’s The Eucharist in the Reformation, something jumped out at me–the Calvinistic evangelicals of the sixteenth century were called “Sacramentarians” by their Roman Catholic and Lutheran opponents (Wandel, pg. 177).  Now, just type in “sacramentarian” + “federal vision” on Google, and see how the label has switched.  Funny how labels morph over time …

Featured Resource – Dr. Michael Horton on Weekly Communion

Dr. Michael Horton – “At Least Weekly:  The Reformed Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper and of Its Frequent Celebration,” (from the Mid-America Journal of Theology, no. 11)

Weekly Communion Project

As part of my dissertation research, I’ve fired up The Weekly Communion Project!  (I had started to put it together a couple years ago, but now it looks like I’ll actually be able to move forward.)

Please tell any pastors or elders you know about it!

Happy St. Paddy’s Day!

Articles on St. Patrick and Celtic Christianity from Christian History.

Interesting article on the traditions of Celtic Christianity.

Liturgical Notes 1

Here’s the first installment of what will (Lord willing) be a regular feature of this web-site.  I’m writing little tidbits on liturgy and music in order to help educate our local congregation as we grow in our use and understanding of liturgical music.  Since we use the Cantus Christi , most of the material will be drawn from there.

Liturgical Notes – Feb. 09

Christus Rex Study Center

I’m pleased to announce the opening of the Christus Rex Study Center!  Classes will be held in Cary, NC, and are open to those who are pursuing pastoral training, or would like to equip themselves for any level of service in the church and ministry to the world. 

We are unique in that we are seeking to combine seminary-level work with practical experience in the life of a local church.  Additionally, we plan to offer classes in both Liturgy and Music, which are typically not offered at most Reformed seminaries.

The Company of the Fathers

The Company of the Fathers is starting up again!  We are reading Tertullian’s Apology right now, and it is startling to realize that the Church has weathered all the same problems, hundreds of years ago.  Our economy may be in the tank, but the Church has been through all this many times before.  We suffer from a lack of perspective, and one of the best ways to gain a more balanced view of history (and our place in it) is to read the Church Fathers.  Join us!