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The Deacon's Bench

A journalist friend and former colleague sent this to me with the note: “You’ve got some company.”  Indeed!  It’s the story of another journalist-turned-clergyman:   On the first Sunday morning of October, pastor Steve Scott looked far beyond the surroundings of his western Wisconsin congregation to find worthy subjects for their prayers: recent natural disaster…

A company that sells clergy shirts offers this clever ad:

A producer in my office contacted well-known Anglican convert Fr. George Rutler to ask if he’d be interested in being interviewed on the big Anglican news.   He wasn’t available, but he e-mailed this statement, which he’s releasing to the media:  It is dramatic put down of  liberal Anglicanism and a total repudiation of the…

If evangelicals can climb on soap boxes, why not atheists?   A report from the AP:  Ads promoting atheism will be going up in New York City subway stations. The monthlong ad campaign begins next Monday in a dozen Manhattan stations. It features the slogan, “A Million New Yorkers Are Good Without God. Are You?”…

The big news, still unfolding:  The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict is setting up special provision for Anglicans, including married clergy, who want to convert to Rome together, preserving aspects of Anglican liturgy. They will be given their own pastoral supervision, according to this press release from the Vatican: “In this Apostolic Constitution the…

Several months ago, I blogged about Paul Wilkes’ remarkable book “In Due Season.”  (I even preached about it in one of my homilies.)   Now I’m pleased to see that Beliefnet has posted an exclusive excerpt.  Take a look.  You won’t regret it. And you might also want to check out this compelling clip about…

You sort of get that impression from the blogger American Papist, who takes note of a big briefing happening tomorrow at the Vatican:  We inform accredited journalists that tomorrow, Tuesday 20 October 2009, at 11am, in the John Paul II Hall of the Press Office of the Holy See, a briefing will be held on…

After all the hand-wringing over Senator Kennedy’s funeral, a reader decided to send me something altogether different. I thought I’d post it and see what folks think.  It’s the webscast of the funeral of a sister, held earlier this week at Loyola Marymount.  The person who sent this to me believes it to be both “faithful…

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more heartening and hope-filled story for a Monday: the tale of a lawyer who traded in the courtroom for the school room:  “Pick your head up, buddy,” Tom Dunn said to Darius Nash, who had fallen asleep during the morning’s reading drills. “Sabrieon, sit down, buddy,” he called to…

Anyone who needs a reminder of the price some missionaries have paid need only read a brief summary of what happened to the North American martyrs, whose feast we celebrate today:  The first Jesuit missionaries arrived in Quebec in 1625. Initially, their work was with the French settlers and traders and evangelizing the nearby Indians.…
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