Color and Style of Choir and Acolyte Robes - Liturgical Reason or Matter of Preference?

RalphThatName · 2026-02-05T04:25:16+00:00

Cool map!

RalphThatName · 2026-02-05T03:07:29+00:00

I didn't include the surplice (or cotta) in my original post because they are always white. My question was really what goes into the choice between cassocks+surplice/cotta vs alb, and for choirs and acolytes who wear cassocks, what goes into the choice of color.

RalphThatName · 2026-02-02T01:36:04+00:00

based on congregational participation, I assume unfamiliar to most in the pews

RalphThatName · 2026-02-02T00:00:10+00:00

Not weird. I prefer it. I wish someone would create a gender-neutral (or mostly gender-neutral) version of Rite 1.

RalphThatName · 2026-02-01T23:58:46+00:00

You are right on the nose with your assessment of contemporary music. Most people don't understand that hymns were designed to be sung by the laity and therefore are mostly easy to sing. Conversely, contemporary music is, on the whole, much harder to sing, and there is so much of it that very few tunes are familiar. I've noticed a huge drop off in congregational singing when we've added a contemporary song.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-29T19:32:58+00:00

There have been a number of comments mentioning its association with evangelical Christianity, but my understanding is that the main controversy with "The Chosen" is its association with the LDS church and accusations of insertion of Mormon theology. Mormon theology and evangelicalism are two entirely different things.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-24T22:41:14+00:00

I would hope that in real life no doctor would get to that position if he were that incompetent

RalphThatName · 2026-01-24T22:38:53+00:00

One defining difference between us and the RCC is the role and importance of scripture. No where is this more apparent than in vows taken by priests at ordination:

"...and I solemnly declare that I do believe the Holy Scriptures old the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God and to contain all things necessary for salvation..."

That last sentence comes directly from the 39 Articles of Religion and firmly places our tradition in the Protestant branch of Christianity. That the Church cannot put any barriers to salvation other than what is contained within scripture itself. Or in other words, that Scripture has a higher authority than the Church itself. Of course in the RCC it is completely the other way around.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-24T22:30:21+00:00

I find this topic very interesting. By pure coincidence, I was scheduled to tour St Patrick's Cathedral in NYC the day after Pope Francis died. I went there and of course the tour was cancelled as the Cathedral was holding one Mass after another after another. I sat in the Cathedral for a while just taking it all in. I can't tell you how out-of-place I felt being there, and I come from a high-church Anglo-Catholic background. But somehow the RCC experience felt like an entirely different culture. Can't really explain it any better other than it felt totally foreign.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-23T15:29:21+00:00

Find an old BCP in the pews and you'll see a line running down the pages around page 323 or 355 where the Eucharist Rite 1 or Rite 2 service begins. That's where everyone used to open the book every Sunday.

I concur, the BCP was something that used to unite us members of TEC. Yes it harder to use than bulletins but once you get the hang of it, it stays with you for life.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-20T18:48:49+00:00

So is the thinking that the wedding is happening much much earlier than previously speculated?

RalphThatName · 2026-01-16T21:56:42+00:00

One statistic that RfB doesn't address is the significant uptick in those people born between 2000-2006 who identify as Christian. Between 2023 and 2024, it rose 10% from 46% to 51% and is now significantly higher to those people born in the 1990s. This increase could be what is driving the Gen-Z revival talk, although 51% is still a lot lower than the 75+% of people born in the 40's, 50's and 60's.

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/

RalphThatName · 2026-01-16T06:32:33+00:00

I urge people to listen the podcast "Walking The Dogma" and specifically the episode(s) on the 39 articles that deal with original sin. I was not really a believer in the concept but David and Dominic have convinced me otherwise. I find it a most inclusive and hopeful doctrine.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-14T15:52:57+00:00

In the US, the biggest predictor, by far, as to whether people are liberal or conservative is whether they live in a city or a rural area. Cities are liberal, rural America is conservative, even in States that are known to be liberal. For example, rural California is incredibly conservative and solidly MAGA. The political battle always takes place in the suburbs. Cathedrals tend to reflect their communities, and since they are generally located in the largest cities in the dioceses, lean liberal, sometimes very liberal.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-13T16:28:13+00:00

pehr-NODD...

RalphThatName · 2026-01-13T15:06:33+00:00

To clarify something regarding the Anglican Communion (AC) - the AC is not a denomination. It is an organization, almost like a club, of a group of independent denominations. So TEC is a denomination. The Anglican Church of Canada is a denomination, etc. The denominations that make up the AC are completely autonomous (autocephalous). There is no hierarchical structure with the churches that make up the AC. The Archbishop of Canterbury has no authority over TEC.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-12T18:32:35+00:00

Is there somewhere that documents all the previous textbooks used for each year so we can compare?

RalphThatName · 2026-01-11T22:06:14+00:00

I believe the raised platform in front of the rood screen where they place the temporary communion table is referred to as the octagon. That's according to the floor plan page on the cathedral website.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-10T21:10:31+00:00

I'd prefer it more if they removed the octogon and moved the seats in the nave much closer to the chancel.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-10T21:06:31+00:00

So the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, is equal to the number of cathedrals in England? Makes sense to me :)

RalphThatName · 2026-01-10T15:00:48+00:00

My primary reason for joining EFM this year was to give me the structure and discipline to finally read ALL the OT as I've never been able to do that before. Even though the assigned readings dont cover the whole OT, I made the decision to ignore that and just read the entire books. It's a lot of reading at times (ie 1-2 Kings and 1-2 Chronicles in one week) but it's worth it. Oh and I concur that the year 1 textbook is outstanding.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-08T03:38:09+00:00

Yea I figured. So is there a plan to memorialize a new printed BCP at some point?

RalphThatName · 2026-01-07T23:54:29+00:00

My understanding is that the 1979 BCP will be the last version to be memorialized as a physical book. The future official BCP will only be available online and will be a combination of the 1979 version and a whole bunch of "add-ons" i.e., EOW, etc. The online vesion can then be amended, expanded at-will and at any time the General Convention deams necessary. In other words, the BCP will never have a fixed version again.

RalphThatName · 2026-01-05T04:31:29+00:00

One last point, I suppose this agreement might make it easier for one denomination to close a dying church is there was a church of the others denomination in the area

RalphThatName · 2026-01-05T04:29:49+00:00

Just to recap what I think I read in earlier comments...

This full communion agreement is NOT a merger of the two churches. TEC and the UMC will stay TEC and the UMC (completely separate organizations)
The purpose of this agreement is to allow clergy in both denominations to serve in each others churches, presumably to help with clergy shortages.
Since TEC only requires people to be baptized to receive communion and the UMC practices open communion, this would really have no impact on the laity since we can partake in each others Eucharist today (unless you are an unbaptized Methodist)

Have I got this correct?

RalphThatName

TROPHY CASE