It has been some time since I have been able to post anything to this site. All of us have been battling the many consequences of the pandemic gripping our country. I would now like to take this work up again, but not exactly where I left off. I had been discussing various ways in which the Church has been affected by North American consumerism and I would like to bring that…

When I think of publicizing the presence and work of a parish, what I have in mind is that its members and clergy are going to be so excited by what they experience in the Church that they will go out and spontaneously talk to some of their neighbors, colleagues, and friends about what they have seen and heard. They won’t be able to help themselves. Some have called this “The Spontaneous…

In the world of the marketplace if you have products to sell you will, of course, have to make them known and available to potential customers. Commercial enterprise refers to this as Distribution. This is marketing proper and it involves advertising and branding, tools used to disseminate information about the products being made available. A brand is a combination of visual (logo), verbal (catch phrase), and personal (the CEO) information that allows…

Having established the idea of sacred space, this pattern of localized divine presence, God commanded Moses to prepare a place for His abiding presence among His people. So, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying… “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” (Ex 25.8) But this was not supposed to be just any ordinary space. God gave them a specific pattern for constructing the Tabernacle and asked…

From the vision of properly prepared worship mentioned in the previous post, it becomes clear that we need a suitable place in which to celebrate the Liturgy. Being able to prepare that venue involves our understanding of sacred space, beauty, and the language of architecture. If all the world has been created by God and exists in Him, then all of created space is in some sense sacred. There is no part…

As I have noted in this series of posts, we are under ever increasing pressure to incorporate elements of modern technology into the life of the Church. One reason for this is that the prevailing business model suggests that even though it may not produce products for sale, in order to succeed the Church does need to diligently prepare the things it does offer, mainly its services, for consumption by potential consumers.…

Production is another aspect of the commercial process that uses procedures, devices, and structures which could negatively affect the Church. Basically, production involves the design, creation, and preparation of the products that will later be presented for sale. Since the Church is not producing or selling any products, technologies designed to sell will not be needed and are not as easily adapted for use in the Church. If Christ is not a…