Rev Douglas Trouten

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Everything posted by Rev Douglas Trouten

  1. I believe one of the electronic copies I have is a scan of the 1928 version. Going to compare that to the 1952 version I just got, then the 1952 to the 2007 electronic copy I have.
  2. I know this is probably the wrong section, but had to share my find. Was taking my mom out today to garage sales and estate sales in the area before work. Went to one Estate Sale and when looking through a pile of books found a 1952 edition of the Book of Common Prayer in a box marked free. I have a couple copies of the Book of Common Prayer (all electronic book format, either kindle or pdf files). When I seen the book I was ecstatic, even though it is older the ceremonies in it such as the Solemnization of Marriage and Order for Burial of the Dead, Ministrations of Holy baptism, etc... will be fairly the same today as it was when this edition was printed. I have included a couple pictures, which don't do the book justice on how great the condition is.
  3. Welcome to the forums, and welcome to the ULC. The forums here can be slow at times. Though you do have members like me who while we dont post a lot, we do check the forums every couple days or so to see if theres anything new.
  4. Yup it uses the Fate RPG system from Evil Hat Production, in fact Evil Hat are the ones who produced the Dresden Files RPG, you can find info along with downloadable character sheets and some other goodies here Dresden Files RPG (character sheets and other downloadable goodies are under the downloads header on that page). As it looks like I will be the game master for the Dresden Files RPG I am currently working on creating my own campaign city based of of Flint, MI (right now I am drawing up my ideas for the city and they will also come up with theirs and we will then combine different items we all came up with, such as say instead of the local new age store being in the mall in Flint township it will be a cafe/bookstore downtown Flint that is an accorded neutral ground. or that GM world headquarters is located in Flint and the CEO is a White Counsel Wizard, the New Age store as a Cafe/Bookstore Downtown is actually one of the ideas a have written down, the GM one was just an example I made up on the fly probably wont be used or even brought up by me, in the end since they are helping "build" the city , instead of just me creating it, they will have an investment in the campaign beyond just being players). Plus for us, living here and most of us growing up here, we see Flint as being ripe for turning into a campaign setting, we can easily mention locations (both past and present) and most of use would be familiar with where it is, we can also use the headlines straight out of the news (water crisis, possible current mayor taking donations to help the crisis for use as her own campaign funds, city in financial troubles, high crime rate, numerous abandoned businesses and homes, etc...) for both the mundane and the supernatural (ie the serial stabbing in Flint a few years ago could have been done by say a Denarian {introduced in later books} looking to cause further strife or by vassals of one of the houses of the White Court {one of the Vampire Courts in the series} to help feed their Vampire masters, or the water crisis could have been actually caused by a corrupt politician with some knowledge of the fae mistakenly thinking the fae have a weakness to lead instead or iron after a deal he made with one didnt end how he was expecting {the fae are notorious for making deals that will be in their favor} while at the same time figuring that the water crisis might be a way to make a quick buck by creating a false environmental consulting firm and convincing the city to hire them to do all the water testing, with most the money that the city is paying the Firm for the tests going in his pocket, while pawning the actual tests off on a legit group who have volunteered to do the tests for free after he approached them to do the testing in return for a small donation ( the donation could be the part of the fee his fake firm is charging the city that he isnt putting into his pocket), or some of the murders in the city are actually the actions of a ghoul who works in Genesee County Medical Examiners office as a way to have a steady supply of food). The Books basically work out as Volume 1 Your Story being a combined Players handbook and Game Master manual. Volume 2 Old World is more akin to a Monster Manual/Whos who guide. While Volume 3 Paranet Papers gives you a couple new campaign/adventure locations along with some rule updates, new npcs and a few new rules.
  5. Good book series, rereading it right now, currently on book 4 Summer Knight myself. Also reading through a friends copy of the Dresden Files RPG books. If you havent read the Dresden Files series up Small Favor (Book 10) then might not want to look into the RPG, as Volume 2 Our World has some spoilers in it when it talks about characters from the novels, Volume 1 Your Story while containing some spoilers more focuses on the creation of your characters, city your campaign will be set in, npc creation, etc... Volume 3 Paranet Papers covers up through Changes (Book 12) with hints at some of the content of Ghost Story (Book 12). All three books for the RPG are written as IN universe draft of the books, ie they are written to seem like one of the Characters (Billy Borden, who is introduced in Book 2 Fool Moon) in the Dresdenverse wrote them, him Harry, and Bob make comments through out them. The comments might be something like Harry telling Billy to omit certain info in the final copy, or Billy asking Harry a question if the stats of so and so seem to be about right, to simple self reminders such as Harry saying that something reminds him to check out something else, etc... Even if you arent into playing RPGs the DFRPG Volume 2 Our World could be viewed as a Dresden Files companion guide as it has info on major characters (Harry Dresden, Karrin Murphy, Micheal Carpenter, John Malcone, The Winter Queen, etc...) and organizations (such as the White Counsel and the Senior Counsel that acts as heads of the White Counsel, Chicago PD S.I., the Vampire Courts, etc...). Though some info might be only a few sentences long saying something like the entry for the jade Court (one of the Vampire Courts), Located mostly in eastern Asia. Not much is known about them (this was paraphrased as I dont have the book in front of me at this time iirc the Jade Court's entry was a little longer then two sentences).
  6. It all depends on your state and/or local government on needing to register and needing a Letter of Good Standing if you wish to perform marriages. Beyond this (remember a marriage is viewed in most cases as a civil matter due to the legal ramifications of the marriage, such as joint ownership of property acquired during the marriage) the government has little to no say in the religious/spiritual aspect of your actions such as saying when or how you can perform a funeral, baptism, marriage (only thing they can dictate is, again, that you need to possibly be registered with the state/local government and that the couple will need to apply for the marriage license before hand and then you will have to fill out some of the information on the license that couple will have, and in most cases you are also responsible for insuring that the license is filed with the appropriate authority, typicaly the county clerk of the county the couple got the license from, beyond this they can't say how you are to perform the ceremony), etc... As for counseling, that can be a tricky area, I would seek legal help to insure you know what you can and can't do when it comes to pastoral counseling in your state, though most states I believe don't have any requirements for licensing as long as you are giving spiritual/religious advice, though I could be wrong, again I would suggest getting legal advice from a lawyer on what your state requires. As Meredog mentioned once the exchange of money for your services comes into the equation it then becomes a tax issue. Zondervans Tax Guides (theres one for Ministers and one for Churches, new editions are published yearly) are your go to source to help you start navigating through financial and tax related issues. of course a CPA can also help immensely. I a not an expert on what you can and cant to, these are my own personal opinions based on what I have been able to gather from various resources. As always the best and only real advice I can give you for anything legal related is to speak with a lawyer.
  7. Yes, its the ULC seal found on on the disc (had them remove the "starburst" from around it. I did purchase some small white candles and small candle holders for them from a local new age store that I have in my sick call kit (have 6 of the candle holders, 2 I have engraved a cross onto with a Dremel Rotary Tool clone (its a Chicago Electric Variable Speed Rotary Tool bought from Harbor Freight) then filled the cross in with gold paint I have for painting pewter gaming miniatures, the other 4 candle holders are currently plain), this is the same place I purchased my copy of "A pagan ritual Prayer Book" by Ceisiwr Serith. I also purchase pure olive oil from the grocery store for use as anointing oil, and for the blessing/making of holy water I purchase Kosher salt from the local Dollar Tree (Dollar store). For the anointing oil it is cheaper then going through a church supply store (the anointing oil you get through them will be pure olive), in fact I have talked to a couple of other ministers who have said their church does the same thing, instead of paying $14 for a 4oz bottle of unscented oil you can get 48oz bottle of olive oil for about the same price. If I want to have scented anointing oil such as Frankincense and Myrrh or Balsam I will add a couple drops of essential oil of the scent I would like to add to the oil, which is still cheaper then purchasing/ordering the scented anointing oil for a church supply store.
  8. The image I used is off the Wedding Words and More on Disc I did have them remove the "starburst" from around the image.
  9. I myself have placed orders for certificates (Title, Sainthood for someone, Ordination) from both the ULCHQ and here (ULC.net). For other supplies such as a Degree (Dr. of Divinity and Doctor of the Universe) I have went through here (again ULC.net). Books I have went through both here (ULC.net) and the ULCSeminary. Other supplies such as Wedding, Baptism, Vow Renewal, etc... I print off myself from the Wedding Words and More on Disc that I purchased from here at ULC.net, for a decorative seal I have an embosser i ordered on amazon and emboss my own gold foil seals. Other supplies are purchased from other sources such as Family Christian Bookstore and Michigan Church Supply (luckily both have a physical location here in the Flint, MI area) or even Amazon. Books I have purchased here are the Ultimate Wedding Workbook, and Weddings Funerals and Rites of Passage. From ULCSeminary I purchased an additional Ultimate Wedding Workbook, More Weddings, Funerals and Rites of Passage (both a physical copy and a digital download copy), along with Weddings, Funerals and Rites of Passage (digital download copy). I also purchased a couple of the ULC minister pins, ULC Minister patches, ULC Minister notepads from the ULCSeminary. I have one patch on the messenger bag that I use to carry my supplies (bible, ceremony books, small sick call kit, etc...), the pins I have on the lapel of a couple of jackets, the notepads I will use to jot down note when doing a consultation.
  10. I just finished carving these today for a friends mom who mentioned that she needs to get her a set of runestones to do castings/readings. She asked me if I could carve her a set out of river rocks that she had collected. I still have to finish up with a quick polish once the has fully dried. I did have mix in some of blood into the paint, so these have been stained with her lifeforce. She will of course be doing a further staining with her blood along with sealing them. Only reason she asked me to do what I have done is due to her primary hand currently being out of use after she slipped on ice and somehow cut a deep gash across her palm (we think she did it on an nail that was protruding through the wood of the deck she slipped on).
  11. Again welcome to the ULC. If you have any questions feel free to ask them hereon the forums, we have many friendly members who are always willing to help.

    1. REVPaigeStormblade

      REVPaigeStormblade

      Thank you much. Glade to have made a positive step to be a part of ULC.

  12. I have to agree the ULC here does have a Unity that one might not find elsewhere, we open our arms to members of any faith and we dont judge them just because their god(s) aren't the same as what each of our individual members believe in. We are a group where you can take people of differing faiths and get them together discussing religion without it becoming a pissing match about who's religion is better.
  13. Should post an update: Ordered the Purple Silk Stole from the store here back in February. It is a nice Stole, unfortunately the Purple and the White Stoles are no longer available, though the Red and the Green ones are still available. I did break down and order from Amazon.com a copy of "20 Simple and Elegant Vestment Patterns" by Rev. Cheryl L. Miner who also has the website www.VestmentPatterns.com where you can order individual patterns, I may order one or two of them to compliment the book. I am planning on getting together with a friend who knows her way around a sewing machine to make a Brown Hooded Alb for me to wear out to this years Michigan Renaissance Festival (the friends I go out there with like to try and wear costumes, last year they dressed themselves and their two youngest as Pirates with their oldest dressed up as a Dragon {in truth it was a Charizard {a Pokemon character} costume}, while the other two of our friends was dressed as a Gypsy and Robin Hood, though I was in regular street clothes as I there primarily as a photographer to do the one set of friends family portraits that weekend) so I can go dressed as a Monk/Friar. I am also planning on working with my friend who sews to make a couple of the Traveling/Visitation Stoles for me to keep in my car along with the emergency Clergy/Chaplaincy toolkit. Granted the book just arrived today 7JUL2015 so I haven't really went through it in detail, just skimmed through it, but so far it looks like a nice book of Vestment Patterns, and it does give you permission to reproduce the patterns for personal and church use, so if you were to order it and you have your own church you can use the patterns to make the vestments your church might want such as Choir Stoles, Deacon Stoles, Chasubles, etc... which should hopefully save you and/or your church money on the vestments, plus making your own will give them more personal value and meaning then if you were to purchase premade ones.
  14. Not sure if this is related to the "optimization" or not, but since they did that last optimization I am no longer seeing off to the right hand side of the screen under the calendar the list of the 5 or 6 (not sure the exact number that were listed) newest topics or the newest status updates that were there before.
  15. I think this would be a question for Pete. If he isnt here you can try over at the ULC in the UK forums here http://www.ulc.org.uk/forum/index.php Pete started that forum up primarily for our ULC brethren there in the UK, though there are non-UKers there (like me).
  16. Cool- You can order a replacement from the ULCHQ http://ulchqcom.ipower.com/osCommerce/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=8&products_id=33for $1, though they do have a $5 minimum if you want to pay by credit card. Not sure about here trough ULC.net though.
  17. Granted I haven't read every post in this thread, but here's my view in brief. First to say whether or not an Android could have a soul, you would need to be able to come to an agreement on what constitutes the soul. Some might say that it is the ability to think for ones self (ie your thinking allows for creative answers that don't follow a set program). Others could claim its the ability to feel pain and react to the pain or other external stimulus, though going this route one can argue that animals such as cats and dogs have souls. Same goes for the argument that the soul is the natural need to propagate the species. Another thing you need to consider when trying to define what makes up a soul is where it is located. Someone might argue it is located in the brain, others could argue its in another part of the body, iirc in the past wasn't it believed that the heart was the center of the soul? Yet if this was the case then a person receiving a heart transplant would be getting a new soul, yet this isn't the believed case. You could also debate whether an embryo/fetus has a soul upon conception, or if it gets the soul at a later time in development, or at birth. I for one cannot answer you on what constitutes a soul and truthfully I doubt anyone else can, everyone while have their own differing ideas on what makes up the soul or where its located in the body or when the being receives said soul. Edited to fix some grammatical and spelling errors.
  18. I believe the 1962 date is the date of incorporation for the ULCHQ.
  19. Congrats ULC Modesto for 53 hard fought years of Religious Freedom. I know my 7 year anniversary as a ULC minister was just yesterday (30APRIL), never realized it was so close to the ULC's Anniversary (2 days before).
  20. We (the ULC) according to the definition of Cult would be one using definition part 3. Then again as I pointed out if you go by the definition of Cult any and all religions are technically Cults. The real question to ask it the cult (the ULC, Catholic (excluding those bad apples in the group that have done shameful things and then tried to hide it}, Judaism, Hindu, Baptist {not counting those Westboro Baptist loons of course}, Islam {again not counting the nut jobs who taint the religions reputation}, etc...) an extremist cult such as the Thugee Cult from India, ISIS/Al Qaeda/Branch Dividians (David Koresh's group that dies in the Waco, TX incident in the 90's)/etc... Then again for a cult if you want to get down to it your sports fans or fans of a movie/book series/tv show (the term fan as in a fan of the New York Yankees or a fan of the tv show Top Gear comes from the word fanatic {though most people don't realize this they think fanatics are only people like the members of terrorist groups or cult members such as the Branch Dividians) who are willing to start fights when you insult their team could be considered cultists (and again Fanatics which the term fan comes from). It is funny that they are hiding behind the anonymity of a webpage and not posting any contact info. People seem to use the internet and the anonymity that it can provide to say things that they otherwise wouldn't have the courage to say in front of someone. They use the internet to hide and start things knowing that due to the fact that they post it anonymously they don't have to be responsible for their actions, which in fact they should be held accountable. These people like the author of that page are typically narrow minded individuals who even when presented with cold hard facts will still try to deny the facts and call you a liar since the truth doesn't fit into their idea of what they (erroneously) believe is true.
  21. What I find funny is by their reasoning wouldn't that mean that the Mormons, Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecosts, Lutherans, etc... are not "Churches" as they "don't teach the word of Christ" (as laid out by the Catholic Church), but pagan religions since they aren't part of the Catholic Church? What about for the Catholic Church you have the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox Catholics, which one is the real church and which one is a Pagan pretender, masquerading as a Church? Sad thing is whoever wrote that probably doesn't realize or they choose to ignore the fact that Jesus Christ wasn't a Christina but a Jew, and he was routinely refereed to by the title of Rabbi. Christianity is a off-shoot of the Jewish religion, based off of one Rabbi's teachings, one of which was the acceptance of others no matter what their beliefs. He says that because Kirby was Illiterate, and hints that because of that Kirby was a pagan, historically how many priests/preachers/Christian Holy Men (and women) were also illiterate? Probably more then you can count, Most of them probably preached and quoted the bible verses from memory. What about these "Christian" ministers who are actually leaders of a cult (David Koresh and Jim Jones just to name two), brainwashing their congregation and manipulating them into doing what they want? Or those "Christian" ministers who lie, cheat, steal, sexually molest, etc...? I also find it funny that the author of that page/site doesn't have any contact info on that page or even the site, though if they do it isn't easily found looking through the sites pages. When you get down to it any religious organization is a cult. According to Merriam- Webster: The Full Definition of CULT 1: formal religious veneration : worship2: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents3: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents4: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>5a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : the object of such devotion c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotionGoing by this Christianity is a cult based on definition 1, 2 and 5.
  22. According to the US Embassy website for Italy (heres the link http://italy.usembassy.gov/acs/marriage/general-marriage.html) the wedding has to be performs as a civil ceremony by a government official (Mayor, Judge, etc...) or by a Roman Catholic Priest.
  23. We are all chosen if you refer to John 15:16 "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." Each of us has answered and accepted our God(s) or Goddess(es) choosing of us. Some for right reasons, others for personal gain (though ultimately they find that what they initially seen as a way to skirt the system, such as not paying taxes, doesn't work like they wanted), or even for a laugh. The thing is I have seen those who have been ordained just for laughs turn around and take the ordination seriously, and vice versa. As Keystrikr said the ULC is about Religious Freedom, we won't turn someone away just because their god wears a different form/name/gender/etc... Ultimately no matter our religious faith, ethnicity, skin color, etc... we are one big family here. Yeah we might not all see eye to eye on ever thing, but then again what family ever does, you will always have some disagreements, and luckily ours are, almost always, handled in a civil manner, ultimately with all agreeing to disagree and carry on. While I haven't met any of our forum members personally (I have met a few ULC ministers that aren't members of the forum), I see them all as people I can talk to if I need someone to talk to, and I hope they feel the same. I would love to actually meet most of them, and if I had the time and money I would make trips to Modesto to the ULCHQ. we look forward to seeing more posts from you QWERTY, and welcome to the forums (if I haven't previously welcomed you).