David R. Bains

Today's the first anniversary of the publication of Spaces for Worship. Check it out! magiccityreligion.org/spaces-for-wor…

The new pope is announced: Cardinal Robert F. Prevost takes the name Leo XIV.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on his planned meeting with Pope Francis in Nicaea: “I believe that his successor will come, & we will go together to Nicaea to send a message of unity, love, brotherhood, and shared path toward the future of Christianity.” …-ecumenical-patriarchate.visitlink.me/aPmFA1

Today at Duke Divinity’s chapel, we sang all 150 psalms in a day! Using Ellen Davis’s translation, it took from 8 am to 7 pm!

The official schedule has the Carter family boarding the plane for Georgia in 13 minutes, but President Biden just started his eulogy. Clearly the schedule underestimated the length of this funeral. #carter jtfncr.mdw.army.mil/News/Articles/…

Suggestions for this weekend from 5 years ago. chasingchurches.org/2019/01/11/epi…

A note on the official explanation for why Carter’s funeral is an Episcopal cathedral and for First Baptist. chasingchurches.org/2025/01/04/why…

100 years ago Woodrow Wilson was buried in Washington National Cathedral. There hasn’t been another funeral of a Democratic president there since. (But reports are that Carter’s will be.) more background here chasingchurches.org/2024/12/29/the…

More and more folks report that they have no religious affiliation. But are those Nones less religious on other metrics, too? In terms of religious attendance, yes - they clearly are. 57% never attended in 1972. It's 71% today.

@MaterializingB Wow, that Witnesses of Jehovah! What is its angle?

@goodacre Our shared cultural references are so few. I encounter this in the classroom every week. I’m having to adjust to assuming no students will know the reference and then I can focus on celebrating the when they do.

I referenced a continuity error in Bridgerton in my response to papers in the session on Fatigue in the Synoptics, illustrated from an old tweet. No one in the room appeared to have watched Bridgerton! Tough crowd! :D #SBLAAR24

St. George.

The dome over the nave at St George’s.

Grateful for the hospitality of Fr. Bratso at St George Serbian Orthodox Church yesterday during the tour I co-lead at #AARSBL2024 #SBLAAR24

LBJ's notes for his first Cabinet meeting as President, yesterday 1963:

My 126th post in this series on my blog is off the beaten path in Bessemer, AL. chasingchurches.org/2024/11/17/new…

Thanks to @SamfordCWA for promoting this new resource I wrote! magiccityreligion.org/spaces-for-wor… #worship #architecture

The inaugural worship service of the academic year for faculty and staff of Samford University @samfordu was held today in Hodges Chapel. Here is my discussion of the spaces as part of my "Spaces for Worship" resource composed with support from @SamfordCWA magiccityreligion.org/spaces-for-wor…