Do Churches Need To Be De- And Re- Consecrated When A New Franchise Moves In?

[AB Editor]

Morning,

I was wondering how a new franchise takes over a church. For example, what if there was a little Baptist church run by a Baptist priest/vicar and then, for some reason, the church was sold to the Catholic church.

Naturally they want to get one of their team in behind the pulpit, so they give Jonny Baptists his/her marching orders.

And then what?

Do they take over "fully furnished" in the sense of continuing the consecration "ticket", or do they de-consecrate and reapply their own "ticket"? Or do they just paint over the top with their version, so there's overlap?

I'd like to know the answer, but would also like any little stories you know about this kind of thing :)

Thanks in advance,

Ed

[AB Editor]

"laughing at you Abed, your reading snobbery is showing..."

I just meant that you get introduced to a very many ideas on a broad scale with TP - but you find you don't get to drill down in the fiddly bits (unlike this thread, which I feel we have fully fracked the starting subject). This is really good for gathering a big clutch of ideas to bounce against one another, but it doesn't do much for feeling clever!

And I am a snob. So I'm glad it is showing!

The last book I read that really enjoyed was The Flame Alphabet:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Flame-Alphabet-Ben-Marcus/dp/1847086241

In it a Jewish family and community have to deal with the poison of language and he creates many systems in an attempt to be able to communicate without pain. In some ways these systems seem silly, but they interest me a great deal - in the same way the subject of this thread does.

[AB Editor]

This thread will be in the Sunday newsletter because I liked it so much. Not sure if it's ideal, but I thought some of the ideas and little stories expressed were really good :)

[woofgang]

I think you are right about TP but I would put if differently. I think he EXPECTS his readers to go off and explore the ideas he tosses out. Its,by me, a kind if intellectual teasing treasure hunt. He gives clues and allusions but no spoonfeeding.