This week’s New Yorker features an interesting article by Peter Boyer on the crisis facing the Episcopalian Church in the United States after a New Hampshire diocese elected the openly-gay Gene Robinson as bishop. (This post, by the way, is not principally about gay issues.)
The organ
It was a historic day for our tiny Flemish branch when we replaced the old harmonium with a new electric organ. Nothing could better symbolize our progress, lift the morale of our handful of members, and prepare the way to convert the whole city.
When do you blog, and why?
I blog most on Tuesdays.
In Defense of Janice Kapp Perry
I have often heard or read conversations that go something like this:
Correlation Gone Mad!
BCC is hosting an all-star panel of academics on questions relating to correlation. Talking about correlation reminds me of a time from our history when doctrinal correlation efforts were incredibly restrictive.
An Interview with Valerie Hudson
BYU Political Science professor Valerie Hudson has been in the news lately as a result of her new book, Bare Branches.
What’s the Mormon-est Surname?
A while back I stumbled upon this website that allows you to map the prevalence of a given surname, by state, in the United States for the years 1850, 1890, 1920, and 1990.
A Mother in Heaven Sighting
Mother in Heaven recently made a cameo appearance in correlated materials.
He lives, and while He lives, I’ll sing
And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
From the Archives: The Silver Ring
This Easter, I have a story to tell, a story about the Atonement. (more . . . )
Sunday School Lesson #16
Lesson 16: Numbers 22-24; 31:1-16*
Agreeing to Disagree
Robert Aumann, a winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Economics, once published a paper in The Annals of Statistics titled “Agreeing to Disagree.” The basic idea of the paper is that two rational people should, by sharing their beliefs with each other, come to a common understanding about what is likely to be true.
Mormon Studies at Claremont
The LDS Council for Mormon Studies, which has been involved with the creation of a chair in Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University, has issued the following press release:
Sitting Down Together
The night before he was killed, Jesus ate the passover with his disciples.
A Mormon Image: Sweaters for the Penguins
This image was too good not to revive the Mormon Images feature of blessed memory.
I don’t know why you say goodbye
We give many thanks and a fond farewell to both John Fowles and John Payne. We were happy to have them around and enjoyed their posts. In an effort to keep up our streak of powerful yet ubiquitous names, we welcome Ed Johnson as a guest blogger.
Jews and Mormons
In some way, Jews and Mormons seem to be kin culturally, whatever the doctrine about our kinship.
The Inadequacy of Our Missionaries
With all the talk about missionaries around here lately, I have again pondered on something that concerned me both while a missionary and afterwards, teaching in the MTC and more generally as a non-full-time-missionary member of the Church. It is about the sheer inadequacy of our missionaries.
Marketing the Church
Over on Conglomerate, Elizabeth Brown links to an article about the “Scum of the Earth Church” as an example of niche marketing.
Sunday School Lesson #15
Lesson 15: Numbers 11-14; 21:1-9
The Last Door
We’ve all heard the stories about intrepid missionaries who faced rejection door after door only to be let in at the final house that they contacted.
On Earning the Right to Complain
“If you don’t pay your tithing and serve in the Church, you give up your right to bitch,”
In Defense of the Word “Gentile”
I like referring to non-Mormons as “Gentiles.”
An Open Letter to BYU Students
On Tuesday, gay rights activists will, according to news reports, hold a rally on or near the BYU campus. How might you respond to this?