CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL An Episcopal Community in the Heart of Houston, Texas
FEBRUARY 2021 CHRISTCHURCHCATHEDRAL.ORG
AFTER-HOURS EMERGENCY CARE LINE | 713-826-5332
Two-dimensional living in a threedimensional world I watch a lot of college football, and I’ve done so during this weird COVID football season no less than any other. The play on the field is no different than in prior years. What is very different is the crowd. Due to the pandemic, where just a year ago stadiums were packed with fifty, sixty, one hundred thousand fans, this year’s playoff semi-final THE VERY REV. BARKLEY between Ohio State and THOMPSON Clemson in New Orleans included only three thousand fans in a Superdome that seats seventy-four thousand. Going to a football game these days is necessarily similar to the socially– distanced experience of going to church. Some sports franchises have compensated by piping in crowd noises through the loudspeakers and simulating attendance by filling the stands with two-dimensional cardboard cutouts of people. As a substitute for a crowded sporting event, this is, perhaps, an ingenious solution. As a metaphor for human interaction in our present day, it is an uncannily apt metaphor. In that regard, I’m not talking about coronavirus-required social distancing. Rather, I’m talking about the ways in which, long before the emergence of COVID-19, we had ceased to regard our fellows as fully-fleshed, three-dimensional, psychically and emotionally cavernous human beings and instead cast them as two-dimensional cardboard cutouts. This is, at the end of the day, the root of our social disease and the key to its cure. Whether politically right or left, theologically progressive or conservative; regardless of race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation; when we consider those who differ
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Cathedral website and app to enrich community Minister for Communications Brant Mills said that when he started at Christ Church Cathedral, one of his first directives was to redesign and upgrade the Cathedral’s website which launched in early February. As someone who has been through the process of creating a new site with other organizations, Mills said that the experience has come in handy as he engaged with the various Cathedral stakeholders and evaluated other church and community websites. “The main thing people said they wanted
was consistency and a design that was more updated. We’ve tried to find ways to ensure information is more efficiently organized and better representative of the visual style and personality of the Cathedral,” he said. “We wanted to design it intentionally to focus on and to promote relevant, timely content.” The goal for the new site was that it be intuitive, so people would be able to find the information they needed easily. This includes events, which are front and
Pancake Supper Virtual Extravaganza You know what sounds good? Pancakes! It’s almost that time again and we’ve been doing the online thing long enough that a virtual pancake supper doesn’t sound all that crazy. Join us on Tuesday, Feb- PANCAKE SUPPER ruary 16, at 6:30 p.m. for the Pancake VIRTUAL EXTRAVAGANZA Supper Virtual Extravaganza. There February 16, 6:30 p.m. will be food, games, music, and more! Visit the “Cathedral Events” page for the link to register for the event and to sign up to claim your Pancake Supper party
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