http://forums.shipoffools.com/index.php?p=/ Tue, 02 Jun 2026 23:41:54 +0000 en #language — Ship of Fools http://forums.shipoffools.com/index.php?p=/discussion/6685/christ-the-king-shepherd-etc-as-a-church-name Thu, 04 Dec 2025 07:22:28 +0000 Purgatory LatchKeyKid 6685@/index.php?p=/discussions
God told Samuel that Israel's desire for a King did not mean they were rejecting Samuel, but that they were rejecting God. And Judah and Israel's kings were mostly that they did evil in the sight of the Lord, with only a few being seen as good.

Jesus did not accept that he was King of the Jews, and said his Kingdom was not of this world.

The quote from the OT of Jesus as a king riding on a donkey into Jerusalem specifically excludes the phrase "triumphant is he", though triumphalism has been associated with worship of Christ.

Another Church name is Christ the Good Shepherd.

In Matthew we have Jesus saying that he no longer calls us slaves, but calls us friends. I do not know of a church called Christ The Friend - That would seem to suit Quakers, though I don't know of any Meeting Places that have names, but I haven't been around much.

So what do you envisage in the use of your preferred "Christ The XXXX" name?]]> http://forums.shipoffools.com/index.php?p=/discussion/6634/wedding-vows Sat, 25 Oct 2025 21:26:29 +0000 Purgatory Rosalind 6634@/index.php?p=/discussions
The one thing that made me uncomfortable was the wedding vows... identical except that he promised to 'lead' and she to 'submit'.

Is this still common in religious ceremonies? Or is it generally confined to certain sorts of churches?]]> http://forums.shipoffools.com/index.php?p=/discussion/5968/outward-looking-liturgy Sun, 29 Sep 2024 20:56:35 +0000 Ecclesiantics Dave Haseldine 5968@/index.php?p=/discussions
Traditional Blessing:

And the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be upon you and remain with you for ever.
Amen.

It's a great to pray God's blessing on everyone in the congregation as each person there will be in need of God's blessing. But should that really be the final word in an act of worship? I remember reading David Watson quoting David Bosch who wrote the following reflecting on the state of Jesus' Church in Apartheid South Africa: "If evangelism doesn't begin with the individual it doesn't begin. But if it ends with the individual it ends." I think that is true not just for evangelism but for all aspects of discipleship/apprenticeship to Jesus.

So I have long been toying with how to mirror the "welcome and call to worship" start of worship services at the end, e.g. with a "blessing and call to discipleship". i.e. blessing "us" as individuals in need of God's grace, and then sending us out to "them" like lambs among wolves and to costly discipleship. My problem with ending worship with a traditional blessing like the one above is that it is unbelievably narrow. If the blessing of the Gospel ends with "us" individuals, it ends.

So here is the same blessing hopefully infected with some of the same disruptive grace that the Holy Spirit unleashed from the Upper Room in Acts:

And the blessing of God,
Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit,
be upon us, and remain with us;
And also fill us,
and forever overflow through us
to be upon, remain, fill,
and overflow to and through “them”,
all those “others” God sends us to.
Amen?]]>