Oops, Brian McLaren has a lovely typographical error on page 226 of A Generous Orthodoxy.  In talking about Baptism and its variants he observes in brackets...

This.. does not take into account various modes of baptism, such as full immersion, infusion or pouring, or sprinkling.

 

Infusion?  That's what you do with tea leaves/bags!  I'm pretty sure he means affusion, and that this isn't a Transatlantic shift in meaning.  Try as might, I cannot think how to make infusion as a method of Baptism work - immersion looks the same outwardly but the meaning would be quite different.

Made me smile anyway.

I am currently reading A Generous Orthodoxy, and thoroughly enjoying it.  It is one of those books I almost wish I'd found years ago, one of those books that is somehow a 'friend' where you keep finding yourself nodding quietly and smiling as you think 'you too.'  I don't agree with absolutely everything I've read in it, but it has such wonderful resonances that I am thankful to have discovered it.  Whilst Mclaren's list of what he is becomes complex, I am happy either to say 'I don't do labels' or to be known as a 'happy heretic' or 'whacky Bappy', either of which is a little more snappy.  I guess I am even a bit of a theological chameleon, in imitation of the apostle Paul (all things to all people).

At first I thought, I wish I'd found this book years ago, it might have saved the heartache and struggle of trying to be what various denominations/persuasions expected me to be.  But actually, when I think a little harder, it is precisely the wrestling, struggling, praying, failing, succeeding, wondering, doubting, encountering... (I'm starting to sound like him now!) that has brought me to where I am and who I am.  I don't regret any part of the 'journey' and have gained so much from the various experiences I have known.

I do think that the book ought to be mandatory reading for anyone entering ministerial formation in any denomination, partly because it is a gentle introduction to having your boundaries stretched, but also because for all his almost total absence of references, Mclaren has actually read a lot of important authors.  Anyone who cites Bosch, Brother Lawrence and Grenz (to name but three; haven't found any Barth or Moltmann yet but I'm waiting hopefully...) must be alright in my view.  It's also a book I feel I could with integrity to give to my non- or anti-Christian friends as it is neither patronising or prescriptive. 

I have just read his little chapter on the role of the Bible and found stuff that sort of relates to my thinking about use of historical resources.  Made me smile, this is so often the way I experience God at work.  My categorising brain gathers and sorts various bit and pieces to make nice neat stacks of information that might come in useful... and I mutter that all my best ideas have been thought of by someone else first.

Now this could land me in seriously deep water with copyright law, to say nothing of the more serious matter of offending Mr Clever and Little Miss Brainy...

Last night Little Miss Bossy (LMB) wrote a story in the syle of (well, -ish) the Mr Men which can be found here (sorry I don't have the necessary to turn it into a PDF.  Had to copy it to Word from Publisher because it seems the latter gets srambled in translation, hence pagination is not quite right if you print it off).  'Mr Clever and The Mysterious Transfiguration' may sound more Potteresque, but it is definitely not in the style of Rowling.  LMB is not renowned for her skills in writing fiction but now and then Mr Mischief sneaks into her brain and this is the result.  Btw, if anyone can find me a better picture for the last page to replace the cobbled together one based on a book cover, I'd be grateful.

 Still in preparation - 'Little Miss Bossy and the DPT Literature Review' - no pre-orders being taken.

This is me.  It must be true, I have a statuette of her on my desk given to me as parting gift by one of colleagues back in 1999 (though that was in part an 'in' joke becuase he and I had assigned Mr Men to everybody in our office).

Today I had an email correctly addressed!

One of these people was called John, the other was a Celtic equivalent.  Their portrait follows....

Just had an alert for the Journal of Religious History March 2007 edition.  This article sounds interesting...

JENNIFER CLARK

“This Special Shell”: The Church Building and the Embodiment of Memory

Religious, congregational, individual, and community memories are embodied in church buildings. Under normal circumstances these memories sit harmoniously together. Once the church building is destined for closure, however, the equilibrium of the memory platforms is disrupted, often causing conflict. The value of associating memory with a building is questioned, especially when such attachments are seen to impede the rationalisation of church assets. Through the process of closure and afterwards, the memory patterns and associations are reorganised, redrawn, and reprioritised. This article examines these memory shifts in the context of Australian religious history from the 1970s to the present day. Special attention is given to the Uniting Church in Australia.

 Will have a read and see what I should have done differently when we closed our building!