Reason kicks in every week when we have to make the lessons of our Ministry apply to those around us and work with the many surprises that Liturgical Worship presents to us!  (Murphy's Law dictates that only really NOISY things get dropped in worship and while the water will never spill, the red wine will!)  Originally Acolytes were the most senior of the "Minor Orders" in the Church beginning as early as 251AD.  Now, Acolytes comprise the youth of the church who have "willing hearts and able hands."  At CHS we only require that they be physically able to carry on their duties with the dignity and responsibility due the office, and that they fulfill their duties with faith, love and enthusiasm.  We set no minimum age, and as many priests will attest - these are duties that even Bishops themselves must fulfill from time to time.  So as the Scriptures tell us "a little child shall lead them" - and during a CHS Procession on Sunday, a few rather tall ones lead us too!  We are pleased to note that our "ambitious" goal of recruiting 20 new acolytes within one year was met in only 8 weeks!  (Perhaps we should have been more ambitious?)  How do you become an Acolyte?  Simply volunteer. Contact the Acolyte Coordinator Todd Skiles at 703-361-5765 or mwcob@comcast.net 

 

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When I was much younger, I was shocked and offended when I heard the Lord's name used carelessly or in vain at school, on television, or in a movie. As I matured and was exposed to those utterances more frequently in college and the military, I would still wince inwardly when I heard it, but came to view it as unavoidable, especially when it happened at the movie theater. I justified it. How was I to know that was going to happen before I saw the movie? Even if I had known about it ahead of time, I wasn't about to not see a movie, just because it had one or two offensive scenes in it. I was convinced that I was 'mature' enough to not let it affect me spiritually.
 
Now that I have my own children, I have become re-sensitized to this issue. Movies on DVD have allowed me to sit down with my kids to enjoy some of my old favorites, but occasionally, I have been surprised by an inappropriate scene or offensive language that I didn't remember was there. After that happened a couple of times, I resolved to preview movies before I showed them to my kids. That worked well for about four movies. It took twice the time to get through one movie, and if there was an offensive scene to fast-forward through, I had to record the time it occurred, remember it during 'live' play, and manipulate the technology successfully. I messed that up more than once, most recently on Thumb Wars.
 
With the advent of review websites from para-church Christian ministries, like pluggedinonline.com, we can now review movies in theaters, videos, television, music, and video/computer games, and find out in detail what can be expected before it is viewed, listened to, or played, in categories including violence, spirituality, positive and negative influences, alcohol / drug use, violence, crude or profane language, and sexuality.
 
Once I found out about pluggedinonline.com, my tendency was to have a zero-tolerance policy if there was inappropriate material in any of the categories that are reviewed. As you can imagine, that policy has caused stress in our home.
 
It really makes me FRUSTRATED and ANGRY that an otherwise perfectly good movie is marred by one or two inappropriate words or scenes.
 
Enter ClearPlay (www.clearplay.com). ClearPlay is a wonderful technology that takes a standard DVD and applies filters to it, to mute or remove offensive scenes. You buy a ClearPlay DVD player and download filters online to a thumb drive. The thumb drive is then inserted into the DVD player. Based on your password-protected settings in six categories (violence, sex, nudity, vulgarity, bloodshed, substance abuse) on three levels (low, medium, high), the filters are applied as the movie is played. Because the original DVD is not altered, the copyright is not infringed. The way this would look, for instance, on The Blues Brothers, during the scene with "The (nun) Penguin", the first couple of responses to the smacks with the ruler are muted, but when the ruler really starts flying, the whole scene is removed, and the next thing you see is Jake and Elwood headed down the stairs. I am happy to report that the cop car pile up scene remains completely intact!
 
I would like to caution, however, that even with ClearPlay in place, your parental responsibilities are not diminished. Just because offensive language or scenes are deleted, sometimes there are innuendos and underlying themes which come through, that are still inappropriate for younger viewers. You still need to watch with your child, so you can discuss both the good and bad elements of the movie. Also, you need to frequently remind you child that even though they have seen the movie on ClearPlay at home, that doesn't mean that they can now watch it at a friend's house. Plus, if you ever hear my kids talking about a movie they saw that raises your eyebrow, you should assume they saw an edited version on ClearPlay!
 
I realize that, even using ClearPlay, some people will not agree with what I let my children watch. We can have different opinions about that and still be in fellowship. I have spent time with your middle school and high school kids, and I have to say that sometimes I am astonished at some of the R rated movies they are watching. I understand that I don't know the circumstances behind your decisions, so I am not (usually) quick to judge. If you are doing this intentionally, with aforethought, I commend you. Some R rated movies like The Passion of the Christ, Glory, or the Killing Fields might be appropriate for some under 18s to watch. However, if you are thoughtlessly or carelessly allowing your child to ingest whatever media they want, by not monitoring what your younger child is watching, reading, listening to, and playing, and/or you aren't talking with your older child on how to make good decisions about what media they take in, you are not doing your parenting job the way you should. I encourage you to prayerfully evaluate your 'performance' in this area, and make adjustments if necessary. If you have not done your job as well as you believe you should have, that becomes a perfect opportunity to take responsibility, talk it over with your child, model repentance, and change your actions. Do it now, before they get out of the house.
 
It is also a good practice to phone parents of visiting friends and ask them if it is OK to watch a title before you pop in the DVD.
 
I am happy to help in any way I can, by directing you to resources I have found, and discussing my own experiences, like the problem of "watching up", where younger siblings are watching what the older siblings watch, in place of, or in addition to their age-appropriate media.
 
I don't use ClearPlay every time I watch a movie on my own or with my wife Valerie, but I have found that I enjoy watching movies on ClearPlay even better than without it. It's also easier to respond to your child when they complain that they don't want to use ClearPlay. 

 

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Nicene and Apostles Creeds http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/articles/teaching/080730.html

 

39 Articles of Religion

 The Lausanne Covenant

 

The Jerusalem Declaration