Church during Social Distancing

A pastor in the State of Louisiana (USA) is defying his state's Coronavirus social distancing guidelines and holding Sunday church services attended by as many as a thousand people. The church is even bussing in people from other parishes. He says asking churches to close down while essential businesses like grocery stores may remain open is offensive.  I think he is offended to be told that church services are not essential gatherings. I think he is totally missing the point. This is not persecution of the church, it is a major health crisis and he is probably endangering members of his flock by having them gather together in such large groups.

I am not going to trash the man because I believe he is sincere. I just think he is wrong. Knowing what Jesus and Paul said on the subject I believe that the proper understanding is this: we are to respect and cooperate with the government even if we do not personally approve of the government. All leaders are in place only by the permission of God. Their duties are two-fold: to protect the people and to punish the evildoers. I believe that in the current pandemic situation the world's leaders are being forced to perform the first function.

There are ways for us to get around the forced separation under which we are currently living. This Sunday morning, the Sunday School class I attend met and discussed Acts 9 even though we were all in our own homes. We used the Zoom app.

Let me say that I have no connection to the Zoom company and receive no financial compensation from them.What we used was the basic (and free) software which allows up to 100 people to become a video group for 40 minute session. Everyone can see everyone else and everyone can hear each other talk. The company has other software for sale which can accommodate longer sessions and up to 1000 people. The software only costs about $20.00 per month, which most churches should be able to afford. Where the Church is gathered, the Spirit is there. The Bible does not say the Church must be gathered in the same room or even the same building.

This situation may even be an opportunity once the pandemic is resolved. If a member, or several members of a class,are physically unable to attend class meetings, they may still be included by using the application.

Zoom is just one of the companies offering services like this.

Feticide Laws

On Tuesday, 23 October 2012, police in Walker, Louisiana (USA) responded to a 911 call to find that a man, possibly under the influence of psychoactive drugs, had stabbed his seven month pregnant wife and cut the baby out of her body.  There is an unconfirmed report that the child was stabbed in the head. 

The mother survived but the baby died.  The father has been charged with one charge of feticide and one charge of attempted second degree murder.  Second degree murder is a non-premeditated killing from an attack so dangerous that a result of death is a real possibility.

Thirty-eight of the fifty United States recognize the “unborn child” as a human homicide victim.  The laws vary in their details, with some covering differing periods of a pregnancy.

In 2004, then United States President George W. Bush signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act which views unborn children as humans if they are injured or killed during the commission of a list of specific federal crimes, including terrorism.

The United States courts have declared that these laws do not apply to legal abortions.  My question is, “Why not?”  Is the only difference that the murdered child is wanted and the aborted child is not? 

Southern Baptists Elect First Black President

On 19 June 2012 the Southern Baptist Convention unanimously elected the extremely popular Pastor Fred Luter (b. 1956, Louisiana, USA) as its president.  This had national significance because Pastor Luter is black. 

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the world’s largest Baptist group and is the largest Protestant body in the United States. The SBC is evangelical, congregational, and  insists on only believer’s baptism (they are anti-pedobaptists). The Convention was founded in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia (USA) during a dispute with Northern Baptists over slave ownership.  The Northerners refused to allow the appointment of slaveholders to positions of authority.

After the United States Civil War , most of the black Baptists in the American South withdrew to form their own organizations, culminating in 1895 with the National Baptist Convention.

Though the majority of Southern Baptists have long since left behind their embarrassing origins, it was not until 1995 that the group officially renounced and apologized for its racist origins.  By 2008, the SBC had over one million black members.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

John Wooden: (b. 1910, Indiana, USA – d. 2010) John Wooden was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1961 and as a coach in 1973.  His University of California at Los Angeles team won 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association championships.

Jonas Michaelius:  in 1628, Michaelius organized the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in New Amsterdam (the modern New York, New York, USA)

Beatrix of the Netherlands: (b. 1938, Netherlands, aka: Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgaard) Queen of the Netherlands.  Protestant.

Jacques Dupre (b. 1773, Louisiana –d. 1846) Louisiana State Representative and Senator, Governor of Louisiana (1830-1831).  Roman Catholic.

Julian Wellshausen: (b. 1844, Germany – d. 1918) Bible scholar, orientalist, university professor. Protestant.

Mardi Gras

Today is Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday).  The celebration is named for the eating of rich, fatty foods before the fasting of the Lent season beginning on Ash Wednesday.  The idea is of a cycle a feast before a fast.  The celebration is associated especially with Roman Catholicism but many non-Catholics participate.  There are annual celebrations in the following countries; Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States.  In the United States there are major celebrations in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.

The celebrations include, of course, overeating, but also dances, parades, the wearing of masks, sporting events, and the wearing of costumes.  Sadly, some also bring binge drinking of alcohol, drugs, and promiscuous sexuality into the mix.

Mardi Gras was brought to the future United States by the Lemoyne brothers, Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptise LeMoyne de Bienville.  The brothers were sent by King Louis XIV to claim Louisiana (modern Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana) for France.

The brothers founded several cities along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico: Biloxi, Mississippi in 1699 by Pierre; Mobile, Alabama in 1702 by Jean-Baptiste; and New Orleans, Louisiana in 1718, also by Jean-Baptiste.  Mobile became the capital of New France and today has the longest-celebrated Mardis Gras festival in the United States.

I must confess that I personally do not understand this holiday.
 

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Jeremy Shu-How Lin: (b.1988, California, USA) Professional NBA basketball player.  Lin is the first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese dexcent in the history of the National Basketball Association.

Mahalia Jacson: (b. 1911, Louisiana, USA – d. 1972; aka: Mahala Jackson; Halie Jackson; “the Queen of Gospel”) Gospel Music singer, civil rights activist.  Louisiana Music Hall of Fasme (2008), Gospe; Music Hall of Fame (1978), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1997), Grammy Hall of Fame (1973).  Baptist.

John Ambrose Fleming: (b. 1849, England – d. 1945) Electrical engineer, physicist, photographer, philanthropist, anti-evolutionist.  Fleming invented the first vacuum tube.  Congregationalist.

Catherine of Aragon: (b. 1485, Spain – d. 1536) Youngest daughter of King Ferdinand and his wife, Queen Isabella.  Bethrothed at age three to Arthur, the Prince of Wales (aged two), a son of King Henry VII of England.  After Arthur and Catherine were married in 1501, he died six months later.  She was then betrothed to marry Arthur’s brother, the future King Henry VIII.  She became the first of his six wives.  Roman Catholic.

Pam Bondi: (b. 1965, Florida, USA) In 2010, Pam Bondi was elected as the Attorney General of the State of Florida (USA).

A Choctaw Hymn

The Choctaw (alternatively spelt as Chahta, Chactas, Chato, Tchakta, Chocktaw, and Chactaw) are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States (Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana). The Choctaw language belongs to the Muskogean linguistic group.  There are about 160,000 Choctaws today. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are the two primary Choctaw associations today, although smaller Choctaw groups are located in Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. In World War I, they served in the U.S. military as the first Native American codetalkers, using the Choctaw language as a natural code.

The most notable Choctaw from history is Pushmataha (ca, 1764, Mississippi – d. 1824) Actual Choctaw name: Apushamatahahubi.

World's Smallest Church

Madonna Chapel , near Bayou Goula, Louisiana (USA), is claimed to be the smallest church in the world.  Roman Catholic mass is held in the chapel each August 15, but there are no seats or pews and there is only room for one priest and an altar boy (two if the boys are quite small).   Attendees to the mass must stand outside.

The settlement, Bayou Goula, is named for an Italian sugar farmer, Anthony Gullo (aka Goula or Goullo).  In 1890, Gullo prayed to the Virgin Mary to cure his son who was threatened by a life-threatening illness.  Gullo and other residents began to build the church in 1903.

Does anyone know of a smaller church in active use, or now inactive but once in use?

The Genealogical Value of Tracing the Historical Development of Religious Denominations: Part 1

     The same principles used in preparing and interpreting genealogical descent charts can be applied to organizations (ie. churches, religious denominations, businesses, political movements, etc).  It is possible to trace persons as they followed their leaders from place to place, because, wherever the leaders went, the followers, and often, the group's organizational records, accompanied them.  Sometimes, especially in the case of contentious splits, the records were left behind when the move occurred.

     When individual church congregations dissolved, the records sometimes ended up in the possession of individual families who had been prominent in the church.  One example of this is the Presbyterian Record Book of Carolina Church, 1837-1845 (Coosa County, Alabama), which was carried to Sibley, Louisiana by the Graham family.  The final home of this book became Louisiana Tech University, in Ruston. 

     The level and nature of document retention varies greatly from group to group.  The smaller, more congregational, religious groups may have kept no information at all.  Others will have a mixture of local and denominational record keeping.  A few of the more highly structured denominations will have at least copies of almost everything collected into one central archive.

Part 2 of this article will be posted tomorrow.