Dr Robert Minchin
@robminchin.bsky.social
Radio astronomer at NRAO, posting on a personal basis. Affirming Christian (Episcopalian). Alumnus of Durham (MSci) & Cardiff (PhD). He/him.
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
“Er, well, actually, we saw a sign on a lamppost…’
“Er, well, actually, we saw a sign on a lamppost…’
December 4, 2025 at 7:31 AM
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
“Er, well, actually, we saw a sign on a lamppost…’
“Er, well, actually, we saw a sign on a lamppost…’
This would, of course, be followed by a final waving-off of everyone at the door.
Whoever coined the American phrase "Irish goodbye" presumably didn't go to many Irish parties, even though they were probably the sort who were keen to tell you that "one of my best friends is Irish"...
Whoever coined the American phrase "Irish goodbye" presumably didn't go to many Irish parties, even though they were probably the sort who were keen to tell you that "one of my best friends is Irish"...
December 3, 2025 at 3:20 PM
This would, of course, be followed by a final waving-off of everyone at the door.
Whoever coined the American phrase "Irish goodbye" presumably didn't go to many Irish parties, even though they were probably the sort who were keen to tell you that "one of my best friends is Irish"...
Whoever coined the American phrase "Irish goodbye" presumably didn't go to many Irish parties, even though they were probably the sort who were keen to tell you that "one of my best friends is Irish"...
As we only have a priest some Sundays, it’s normally done in place of a lay-lead MP on Sunday morning here.
December 1, 2025 at 7:04 PM
As we only have a priest some Sundays, it’s normally done in place of a lay-lead MP on Sunday morning here.
I led MP for the second time. I think we got away with it. We sang How great Thou art, Praise my soul the King of Heaven and Jerusalem my happy home, used canticles 11 and O (so quite a lot of Jerusalem there too), and @hminchin.bsky.social preached.
November 16, 2025 at 10:45 PM
I led MP for the second time. I think we got away with it. We sang How great Thou art, Praise my soul the King of Heaven and Jerusalem my happy home, used canticles 11 and O (so quite a lot of Jerusalem there too), and @hminchin.bsky.social preached.
It was worth telling again!
November 4, 2025 at 4:20 AM
It was worth telling again!
Oh absolutely. My point is that we need to look at the principle behind the tithe – that it falls on those who can afford to pay, which in the subsistence economy of the time meant the landowners but would have a different meaning today – rather than thinking of it as a flat rate.
November 4, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Oh absolutely. My point is that we need to look at the principle behind the tithe – that it falls on those who can afford to pay, which in the subsistence economy of the time meant the landowners but would have a different meaning today – rather than thinking of it as a flat rate.
I think there can be value in explicitly teaching how a doctrine applies in a specific situation, even though this doesn’t actually update doctrine as such.
As Title 4 only covers basic and essential teaching, I doubt that a teaching on how a doctrine applied would reach that standard
As Title 4 only covers basic and essential teaching, I doubt that a teaching on how a doctrine applied would reach that standard
October 26, 2025 at 5:26 AM
I think there can be value in explicitly teaching how a doctrine applies in a specific situation, even though this doesn’t actually update doctrine as such.
As Title 4 only covers basic and essential teaching, I doubt that a teaching on how a doctrine applied would reach that standard
As Title 4 only covers basic and essential teaching, I doubt that a teaching on how a doctrine applied would reach that standard
Building disciples, one water bottle at a time
October 23, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Building disciples, one water bottle at a time
$116.7k, per the latest AAUP Faculty Compensation Survey, rising to $160.8k for full professors.
data.aaup.org/fcs-ft-facul...
data.aaup.org/fcs-ft-facul...
Full-Time Faculty Avg. Salary, by Academic Rank | AAUP Data
The number of faculty and average projected salary expenditures for full-time faculty members on the payroll of institutions as of November 1 of each academic year.
data.aaup.org
October 8, 2025 at 3:52 AM
$116.7k, per the latest AAUP Faculty Compensation Survey, rising to $160.8k for full professors.
data.aaup.org/fcs-ft-facul...
data.aaup.org/fcs-ft-facul...
There is a fuller summary of TEC's position at www.episcopalchurch.org/ogr/summary-... (from 2024). This might be more reassuring than the 2022 statements.
Summary of General Convention Resolutions on Abortion and Women's Reproductive Health
Originally published 17 May, 2019; updated 23 February, 2024 Clergy throughout The Episcopal Church counsel those in their care who struggle with issues relating to infertility, family planning, pregn...
www.episcopalchurch.org
September 24, 2025 at 6:31 PM
There is a fuller summary of TEC's position at www.episcopalchurch.org/ogr/summary-... (from 2024). This might be more reassuring than the 2022 statements.
I think the 2022 statements were very much a response to the events at that time, and I know others (including my priest) who were upset by them not reflecting the full breadth of TEC's teaching as agreed by General Convention that “all human life is sacred … from its inception until death."
September 24, 2025 at 6:31 PM
I think the 2022 statements were very much a response to the events at that time, and I know others (including my priest) who were upset by them not reflecting the full breadth of TEC's teaching as agreed by General Convention that “all human life is sacred … from its inception until death."
The local TV station, KOAT, confirmed this was a scientific balloon launch from Fort Sumner
koat.com/article/scie...
koat.com/article/scie...
Scientific balloon spotted in the Albuquerque skies
National Weather Service confirms a scientific balloon in the Albuquerque sky.
koat.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:11 AM
The local TV station, KOAT, confirmed this was a scientific balloon launch from Fort Sumner
koat.com/article/scie...
koat.com/article/scie...
Probably – this was a mesquite wood barbecue,not a gas burner, so there is a fuel there that could be blessed (and gives a definite scent to the smoke)
September 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Probably – this was a mesquite wood barbecue,not a gas burner, so there is a fuel there that could be blessed (and gives a definite scent to the smoke)
It was our annual picnic/mass at a campground in a local National Forest. I played guitar (with others, not pictured). The question was raised as to whether barbecue smoke counts as incense.
September 8, 2025 at 3:25 AM
It was our annual picnic/mass at a campground in a local National Forest. I played guitar (with others, not pictured). The question was raised as to whether barbecue smoke counts as incense.
Interesting theo-practical note: three-legged stools are stable as long as you keep your centre of mass carefully within the small triangle of the legs. Move slightly outside of this and they become very unstable very quickly.
September 5, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Interesting theo-practical note: three-legged stools are stable as long as you keep your centre of mass carefully within the small triangle of the legs. Move slightly outside of this and they become very unstable very quickly.
I don't like the way it's done, with those replacements you mention, even if the idea of spending some time celebrating creation is good.
We're not making liturgical changes, but we're having an after-mass discussion series on science and religion:
www.eclasproject.org/resource/how...
We're not making liturgical changes, but we're having an after-mass discussion series on science and religion:
www.eclasproject.org/resource/how...
How has the Church engaged with science through history? A small group reflection – ECLAS
A small group reflection to explore how science and the Church have interacted over time.
www.eclasproject.org
September 5, 2025 at 12:34 PM
I don't like the way it's done, with those replacements you mention, even if the idea of spending some time celebrating creation is good.
We're not making liturgical changes, but we're having an after-mass discussion series on science and religion:
www.eclasproject.org/resource/how...
We're not making liturgical changes, but we're having an after-mass discussion series on science and religion:
www.eclasproject.org/resource/how...
Except it doesn’t feel dated – it’s the same sort of language still used today. NASA’s StarChild page on the universe, for example, opens with “The universe is a vast expanse of space”.
September 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Except it doesn’t feel dated – it’s the same sort of language still used today. NASA’s StarChild page on the universe, for example, opens with “The universe is a vast expanse of space”.
modern understanding of the Earth and the universe, that isn't something that looks likely to change.
Science isn't going away, and wasn't just a brief flurry in the 1970s.
Science isn't going away, and wasn't just a brief flurry in the 1970s.
September 1, 2025 at 8:43 PM
modern understanding of the Earth and the universe, that isn't something that looks likely to change.
Science isn't going away, and wasn't just a brief flurry in the 1970s.
Science isn't going away, and wasn't just a brief flurry in the 1970s.
If anything, I'd say that language is even more relevant today. Interstellar space hasn't become any less vast, and we are more aware as a society of just how fragile the Earth is. Having come to it fresh in the 2010s, the language doesn't seem in the least bit dated and if the language is tied to a
September 1, 2025 at 8:43 PM
If anything, I'd say that language is even more relevant today. Interstellar space hasn't become any less vast, and we are more aware as a society of just how fragile the Earth is. Having come to it fresh in the 2010s, the language doesn't seem in the least bit dated and if the language is tied to a
Rhymes with gone for me, as in the astronomers' lament:
Our funding was gone
But the stars still shone
Our funding was gone
But the stars still shone
August 30, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Rhymes with gone for me, as in the astronomers' lament:
Our funding was gone
But the stars still shone
Our funding was gone
But the stars still shone