Historic programs are facing trims, too. The cathedral plans to shut an adjacent building that houses Cathedral College — a closing date has not yet been set — and suspend its 84-year-old residential program for visiting preachers until it can be revived in better times, [Dean Sam] Lloyd said.

When cutbacks like this happen, people usually start to line up to blame the leader, especially after an expansion program. I don’t know much about the Cathedral and its recent history. I know that when I was a parishioner at Trinity, Copley Square in Boston, my impression was the Sam Lloyd was a good leader. So my assumption is that he’s a good leader at the Cathedral.

Mostly I hope the College of Preachers finds new life. The state of preaching in the Episcopal Church is not good these days, so any opportunity to improve preaching is very much needed! I haven’t had a chance to go to the College, but my colleages who have been offer universally good reports.

As for the Cathedral itself, it’s got to be a tough place. There are numerous constituencies, all of whom — in Washington power-and-entitlement mode — must surely demand that their vision be top priority. At the same time, there are mutually exclusive and competing requirements. They have to be the Church of the Establishment (think presidential funerals) and the House of Prayer for All People. They have to fit in with Virginia low-church Episcopalianism whilst carrying out grand liturgies befitting a Cathedral. They have to accommodate busloads of tourists and provide sustenance for their regular congregation. They have to welcome tourists and be a place of sacred pilgrimage. I don’t envy anyone setting the direction of the Cathedral.

So if they’re hitting a bump in the road, it’s sad but not surprising. I hope folks will kick in some cash soon, because their offerings are important to Washington, the the nation, and to the world. Hmm. Maybe I should go give them some money. Maybe you should too.

Image from AIA.

Have you ever gone out to eat at a restaurant and seen food on the floor, grease covering the walls, a very unsanitary look to the place? Let me ask you, would you eat there?

If your answer is no!!! Then think about how your church looks to the average visitor. Is the grass cut - Are the doors painted - Does your church look like someone cares? I invite you to take a walk around your church property and look at it from the eyes of a visitor.  Ask yourself, does this visual picture really represent my church? And, as a consumer would I visit this facility?

By this test, no one should come to the parish I serve. Paint is peeling off some of our doors (though not the main doors that we use for our worship space). The landscaping is a bit…tired. Our restrooms seem to have been updated in 1884, 1985, or 1958, depending on which one you visit. They need some help! Reading this has reminded me of the urgency with which we should approach this. Aside from ensuring spotlessness every Sunday, there are ways we could improve our restrooms — and our whole physical plant. If I encountered our restrooms in a restaurant, I would think twice about whether I’d want to return to eat there.

If you pop over to the linked blog post, read what they have to say about marketing within restrooms. These days lots of places have the sports page up in the men’s restroom. I can’t speak with much authority about the situation in the women’s room. Anyway, there seems to be a compelling case for having some material available for visitors to your restrooms. As the blog points out, you have someon’s undivided attention for a few minutes!

What it’s like in your church building, dear reader?

From the Mt. Holly Mayor’s Office, via bb.

This is my less than serious response:

I guess my answer doesn’t quite fit the question, but I felt that I should say something about these folks leaving. Since I lacked motivation to comment, I’d been quiet until now. Then this video came across my blogospheric radar today. Oh, and people were starting to get cranky for their 7WD fix. So, here it is.

With the buzz about the missional church, and a the desire to acquaint people in the congregations I serve on the topic, I decided to write a primer on today’s missional church. A primer is designed to introduce someone to a topic substantively but not exhaustively. I say today’s missional church, because the focus will be with the recent history of the church. My hope is that God might whet your appetite for further study and practice in missional living.

So start with Woodward and keep reading. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to make your own congregation a bit more missional in its outlook.

A quick PowerPoint slide goes to opensourcetheology for this one.

I don’t think I need to add anything here.

From Church Marketing Sucks.

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I find it refreshing and uplifting to read her claims that Obama’s spirit can lift the nation. A smile can be part of changing our world. In this I will put my hope.

Thanks, Peter, for the attribution info. It’s by Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

This map, showing states sized proportionally with their electoral college count, is from the BBC.

Tip of the Uncle Sam hat to Blogula rasa. This is a good followup to this graphic.

I feel your pain. It’s no fun to watch your guy (and gal, in this case) lose. We liberals felt this pain in 2000 and again in 2004. At least you’ve been spared the agony of a Supreme Court farce. But that’s a story for another blog post.

I’ve read a few of your facebook status updates. You are talking about “moving to Canada.” I can see why you’d say that. You’ve heard liberals talking this way for a couple of generations. So you thought it sounded good. But there are some problems.

Canada is more liberal than the US. You’ll have to pay US taxes after you leave, and high Canadian taxes to boot! You’ll have to pay for the health care of other Canadians. In fact, when you start getting into the details, you’re going to have trouble finding a place to live. I know this will be news to you. Most of you won’t have passports, and your interest in foreign countries was limited, until recently, to places with which we planned to fight or at least negotiate a coercive trade agreement.

There is good news. There is a place that will share your social values and live up to your high moral standards. You can move to Singapore. You won’t have to endure any pesky liberal speeches or rallies. No more “human rights” or “chewing gum.” Offenses are dealt with quickly, perhaps by the time-tested and Godly method of caning.

So pack your bags, if you can’t stand the thought of President Obama. There’s a place for you.

P.S. You’ll have to give up your notion of a Judeo-Christian nation, but at least there’s a healthy respect for entrepeneurial money-makers there! And the dollar is more important anyway, right?

I give Comedy Central the edge for three reasons. First, the “commentators” don’t talk down to the audience. Second, it avoids repetitive blather. Third, it’s funny.

It’s sad when a comedy channel competes with a so-called news channel at news delivery. It’s even more sad that the comedy show succeeds at being entertaining, where the news channel just seems hopelessly antiquated and relentlessly simple.

My vote is that Comedy Central have coverage for the whole of election night next time. I’ll be glued to the set.

This is a major swing state. There’s no possible way that McCain can win, given the way things are going tonight. By the time you add California and a few more solid Obama states to his current total, we’re looking at President-elect Barack Obama. Woot!

P.S. This exclusive is going out to Dave Walker, who helped pioneer the blogospheric exclusive.

Anyway, I digress. About every 87 seconds, Wolf Blitzer says, “We’re doing the math for you!” If I had a nickel for every time he said that tonight, I’d have about $372.15. I’m doing the math for myself on that one.

Does anyone know of a teevee network that is not broadcasting for toddlers?

Polls are closing as I write this, and a prophetic Word has just come upon me to announce that, as Bible-believing Christians have all expected, this election is going to be a landslide for Sarah Palin and the most perceptive pair of spectacles since Joseph Smith’s peep-stones gave the Mormons some wriggle-room on polygamy.

Read the rest, from Father Christian, Bible teacher unsurpassed.

Just as in Major League Baseball ™, I feel the need to do some wrap-up. After the election, I plan to enter a dual season of celebration and purification. I will celebrate a time of hope for America. Meanwhile, I will be engaging in some kind of mental purging ritual after these many hours of Wolf Blitzer, the reptillian James Carville, holograms, sound effects, and vapid analysis. I think I’m going to get a complete set of The Atlantic Monthly and start reading from 1857 onwards. I believe that many of the sentences will have more words than the combined IQ of CNN’s political “analysts.”

But stay tuned to 7WD for further commentary! Do not rebroadcast without permission of…well, do what you want.

• It’s early. There are lots of results to come.
• Even if Obama loses every single swing state, he’ll still win the election. He’s not going to lose every swing state.
• In Indiana, one of those swing states, Obama is outperforming Kerry in the 2004 election. This means that as numbers are coming in, they’re looking good for a potential Obama win. That’s a harbinger of great Obama performance.
• The same thing is happening in Virginia. As the rural counties are coming in, McCain is not doing as well as Bush did in 2004. Expect an even bigger jump once Richmond and the Washington suburbs report. It’s possible that Obama will win Virginia, which would be huge.

On another note. Wolf Blitzer can’t shut up about the technology. Suzanne Malveux (or something like that, since I can’t be bothered to look it up) is on screen. NOT as a hologram! That’s good, right? The only problem is that Wolf had to point out how great Suzanne’s microphone was. I’m not making this up. “Suzanne, we heard every word you said… These are the same microphones we used at the convention…” You can forget any actual analysis when the commentators are fixated on holographic microphones.

So we liberals may see a pyrrhic victory this evening. We’ll win the White House but lose the intellectual life of our nation.

If the BBC ever does something like this, the world will end. It’s bad enough with CNN. As soon as I can get a screen grab, I’ll post it here. See my other post on the dumbification of America.

By the way, I’m going to be the first to declare: “Wolf Blitzer is a chucklehead.”

Illustration courtesy of Gizmodo.

UPDATE: I got the screen grab from the always-witty Wonkette.