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Web wish list: a page about using turkey roasters

I know you must be thinking “Scott’s flipped his lid” or “The secrets of Universalism are encoded here somehow” — no, this is an appeal for institutionalizing folk knowledge about creating fellowship meals for smallish churches.

My current church has at least one electric 18-quart turkey roaster. So did my last church, and, in fact, nearly every church kitchen I’ve seen has evidence of the kind of white enamelled roaster — “the kind grandma used” — and evidentally bequeated to churches.

A lot of hot food can be made in one of those roasters, which is really more of a table-top oven. That food could be the anchor for a really fun church meal. The sad thing is that there is little online advice as to how to use them, particularly for low-fat, vegetarian, or any non-middle-American cookery. Think of this as a wish for some more very practical theology.

There is a link below to a few helpful recipes I’ve found, but here’s the real deal: I’ll offer a template and some space here at Universalistchurch.net for anyone who is willing to host a page, for at least a year and with a particular focus on church-friendliness, on “turkey roaster” cookery.

Add a comment if you’re interested.

Links:
Dinner for fifty

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If I was planting . . . . II

If I was planting a church, or rather, encouraging a culture of church planting in the UUA, I would encourage a gander at those smallish and medium-sized denominations that have a passion about extending the Gospel through new congregations. From there, we should take notes about their attitude, even more than their practices.

Like these:

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Seth Rogers Brooks, d. 1987

I was online looking up websites that include the phrase “Universalist National Memorial Church” (finding friends, finding slanderers, whatever) and found a nice biography of my predecessor (1939-1987) Seth Rogers Brooks, on the Beta Theta Pi website. He was the fraternity’s General Secretary from 1950 to 1960.

By coincidence, this is his death anniversary, and keeping with my practice of marking “the death of the saints” I make this link (also to be added to the church website at its next update):

Seth Rogers Brooks

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Modern liturgies

I’ve found two sources of modern liturgies I hadn’t seen before.

Neither makes me jump for joy; the UCC liturgies in particular are rather frosty and the gender-inclusive actions, however well intended, are a bit clunky. (And I detest the New Century Hymnal.

The WCC “Lima Liturgy” of 1982 was ground-breaking, liturgically interesting, but now seems a bit precious.

I think this is the first time they’ve each been available online.

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If I was planting . . . . I

Watch and Pray (Derek Parker) talks about church extension. I’ve been looking over the snippets of notes about a hypothetical church start, and helpful resources great and small that come from a few years of well, note taking. (Call it my mental hobby before blogging, and some are good for established churches, too.) Call this and other entries with the same title (numbered in series) links to helpful resources.

  • Open source LINUX programs for church administration. Healyourchurchwebsite.com outlines some that I would like to see in action. Article: “But if I move to Linux, what happens to all my sermons in Word?”
  • Printery House notecards. Inexpensive, none-too-flashy, made by monks, and can be custom imprinted. A good option for the quick pastoral note. I use them. Printery House notecards
  • Lee-style portable field altar. Used by the Armed Forces, I would love to know how a church-on-the-move could (legally) acquire such a useful item. The altar itself looks like a tall version of the aluminum folding tables our church has several of. Field Items. (dead link) (scroll half way down, though the page has several interesting items. Perhaps something from Southern Aluminum would do. (I’m guessing 30″x72″ with adjustable “H” legs would be useful for a new start.) 2006 November 18. Here’s a new link for the dead one above.

    • 2009 August 15. Now that link’s dead. This shows what a Lee field altar looks like.

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Chicago, the home of "jazz killers" and . . .

Apart from changing planes at O’Hare, I’ve never been to Chicago: never have been to the Art Institute, never have ridden the El, and never have visited much less attended a certain double-initialed Unitarian Universalist-related seminary.

Last night, in a new members’ orientation, I told a U of Chicago grad-soon to be new member that I didn’t go because of the weather. (We’re having the first touch of fall in Washington.)

Matthew Gatheringwater rather coveniently spells out one of the two more compelling reasons I chose against Meadville/Lombard in his entries, “Pardon Me, I’m a Unitarian” and “Mysteries.” (The other was the cost of attending.)

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To read and sing on October 5

I’ve gathered that some people � whether in metro Washington or not � are interested in “what we do” at Universalist National Memorial Church. Here are the readings and hymns for this Sunday.

Readings: Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 and Mark 10:1, 13-16 (updated, 2 October)
Responsive reading: Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17 (by verse, splitting v. 17 into two.)

Hymns, all found in Hymns of the Spirit (1937)

  • 483 Fairest Lord Jesus
  • 25 Sovereign and Transforming Grace
  • 213 He Who Would Valient Be

If someone else was doing a service like this, I would commend Hebrews 12:22-23, 28-29 as opening sentences.

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Two from PBS for preaching

No, I’m not one of those UU wonks who can’t watch television unless it is filtered through the Public Broadcasting Service, but there were two documentary programs I’ve seen recently that can nicely to preaching.

The first is a Nova episode about the Neanderthal. (Note: the Neander Thal, that is, the Neander Valley, is where the first of these persons’ remains were found. The valley was named for Joachim Neander, who wrote some hauntingly lovely hymns, including “All My Hope on God is Founded.”) It is easy to look into the motives and cultural cues that come from the two sides of the Neaderthal debate are they or are they not human as we understand it and see an attitude that upholds or denies human unity. Indeed, that was the theme of my sermon on September 14. (Not online.)

Show site: Nova: Neanderthals on Trial

The other show is good if you need resources for a sermon on Abraham’s decendents, the Old Testament, or anything relating to the Jewish nation. Sometimes it is nice to get a refresher on the timeline, extra-Biblical witnesses, and the like.

But The Kingdom of David has no real website as far as I can tell!

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One for the home team: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

This posting is mainly for the Universalist National Memorial Church members and attenders who visit this blog, but if you’re not one of those, there’s no need to avert your eyes.

Next week’s sermon is entitled, Jesus Christ, the Son of God which is already enough of a particular theological affirmation that Jesus is the Christ, and that he is the Son of God to make some UNMCers quaver and others swoon. After all, we run the gamut. My priniciple preaching text is Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 and there’s no doubt that it is heady stuff.

What I want to do in the pulpit is overcome the temptation to overlook this passage because it makes some people uncomfortable and actually deal with what the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews it getting at.

If you like, use the comments section to, well, make comments, while I will be using the “continue reading” section (nothing in it yet) to put tidbits that I find during the week’s sermon researching.