Rowland Croucher
Disbelief in the pulpit
What should pastors do if they no longer hold the defining beliefs of their denomination? Do clergy have a moral obligation not to challenge the sincere faith of their parishioners? If this requires them to dissemble from the pulpit, doesn’t this create systematic hypocrisy at the center of religion? What would you want your pastor […]
Religion and Australia’s political leaders
Here’s an opinion piece from today’s Australian. It was written by editor-at-large Paul Kelly, a veteran political journalist. It offers some interesting reflections on the reporting of Christian matters in the media. 20 March 2010 TONY Abbott is a phenomenon, a former trainee priest who wears his conservative Catholicism on his sleeve; Abbott is an […]
Episcopal Church approves second gay bishop
March 17, 2010 The Episcopal Church has approved the election of a lesbian assistant bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles, making her the second openly gay bishop in the Anglican global fellowship. READ ON
Asking Questions in Church
As an educator it has always amused/astonished/annoyed me that sermons/homilies in most churches are the only public pedagogical occasions in the Western world where no one is expected/allowed to ask questions. This phenomenon is not only inimical to responsible learning, it is also incompatible with the example of Jesus and the apostles. Anyone else share […]
Pacifists’ Protest – not guilty
Friends, 17th March 2010 Today a jury in New Zealand found three Christian friends – Sam Land, Adi Leason, and Fr. Peter Murnane – not guilty on nine charges including burglary and wilful damage after just two hours’ deliberation. They had deflated a dome on a spybase in Waihopai on the South Island to stop […]
Leaders Who Last
LEADERS WHO LAST (Margaret J. Marcuson, 2009). Here’s one of the best little (150 pages) books on pastoral leadership with an American mainline church /Alban Institute flavor to emerge in the last decade. They say every sermon/book should be summarizable in one sentence. Here’s mine for this one: ‘Your pastoral leadership style/conflicts can’t be understood […]
Atheistic And Christian Faiths — A Contest Of Delusions?
March 10, 2010 It will be interesting to see whether this weekend’s Global Atheistic Convention in Melbourne will shed any new light on the atheistic faith and those who practise it. I use the word “faith” because it’s impossible to conclusively prove there is no God, just as atheists assert that no-one can prove there […]
An Essay on one of my favourite sociologists, Robert K Merton
On the Shoulders of Giants Essay by Michael Dirda Robert K. Merton (1910-2003) is chiefly remembered as a prominent American sociologist, author of the magisterial Social Theory and Social Structure and a longtime eminence at Columbia University. In the course of a distinguished career, Merton invented the phrase “self-fulfilling prophecy,” popularized the term “role model,” […]
Gay Marriage in California (March 2010)
Sightings 3/11/10 Failing to Talk about Proposition 8 Gregory C. Syler The trial in California to determine the fate of Proposition 8 – that state’s 2008 referendum which defines marriage as a compact between a man and woman – rested in late January, although final arguments and a ruling might not come until later in […]
Counselling and Hope
‘It’s never too late to have a happy childhood!’ (motto of some Christian and other Counselling Centres). “‘Nothing is too hard for the Lord’ may be the most important statement in the Bible” (Walter Brueggemann). What do you make of all that?
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