Timothy Crowe. Credit: Boston Globe

There was a great story in Sunday’s Boston Globe about Timothy Crowe, an actor who was an altar boy at St. Gabriel the Archangel in south St. Louis, and later a St. Louis seminarian.

Crowe, 63, portrays Father Patrick Murphy in “The Savannah Disputation,” a play that just opened at the Boston Center for the Arts.

Crowe “attended parochial school and Catholic high school before entering a St. Louis seminary as a high school sophomore,” writes Globe religion reporter Michael Paulson. “It was another era in the church, when Mass was in Latin and Cardinal Glennon College had 400 young men studying for the priesthood.”

“This was the old days, when we studied Aquinas in Latin, had a monastic schedule and a very strict academic program,” Crowe said. “There were no newspapers, no radio, and no TV. There was silence during meals - we would be read to - and…

I’ve tried two or three times to write about women’s ordination, but I keep deleting my efforts rather than posting them. Too much baggage, too complicated a topic to address in a blog. The last thing I want is to play “dueling denominations.” I decided that in the spirit of ecumenism and keeping things “civil” I would refrain.

And then something happened that I just had to write about in order to begin to make sense of it. I don’t know how helpful personal anecdotes are in addressing a topic like this one; perhaps instead I should write about the Episcopal Church’s history of ordaining women. But for the moment this is what I have to offer.

My grandmother died last month. She was one of those matriarchs whose passing can shake a family to its foundation. When I was little I called her my “double mother” because she was more like a…

I have enjoyed reading the comments that have been made to my last post — Latter-day Saints examine racial history. I especially enjoyed the expressions of faith in the grace of God.

To clarify, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is built on the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe in a restored, not reformed gospel. We believe in living prophets and apostles and our doctrines are derived from an open cannon of continuing revelation from God. Our roots are in Christian teachings, but our doctrine is distinct relative to other Christian traditions because of our open cannon. If there are errors in our practice, those errors are of man.

Our open cannon makes us open for correction or clarifying revelations. It makes our church vibrant and responsive to challenges in our times. We often refer to the church as a “living church”.

We rejoiced in the clarifying revelation in 1978 that extended the…

Tim Townsend’s article on Monday touched on a topic close to my heart, that is: the experience of black members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To read his story, Black Mormons straddle two worlds on 30th anniversary – click here.

I have to admit, Tim’s story, while balanced and refreshing, was also hard to read. Especially hard for me to read was a comment made by my friend, Latter-day Saint (Mormon) convert, Nekisha Rhodes who says she is “comfortable being uncomfortable” as she struggles to learn more about the heritage of her new-found faith, a heritage that includes a church policy, lifted 30 years ago, prohibiting black male members from the priesthood.

Nekisha sounds much like many African American Latter-day Saints when they candidly express their faith and experience in the church. Catherine Stokes, Latter-day Saint and former assistant director, Office of Health Care Regulation,…

When I became a postulant for the priesthood, my bishop reminded me that I would need to be in contact with him on Ember Days. “Do you want me to write a real letter?” I asked, miming a hand moving across paper. He laughed and replied that e-mail would work just fine.

I promptly went home and began researching everything I could about Ember Days and the letters that accompany them, since I wasn’t terribly sure what was expected of me. Clergy friends offered everything from “oh, it’s not that big a deal” to “yes, you should take this very seriously.” Okey-dokey, then. My favorite comment was the advice not to write a “having-a-good-time, wish-you-were-here, postcard-from-summer-camp kind of letter.” At least that began to give me the hint of a direction.

The Prayer Book, usually the first place I turn for the inside scoop, told me when Ember Days were (more on that below)…