Observer Article: "Defunct WonderCafe site is reborn"

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AaronMcGallegos

Active Member
There's a short news piece in the December Observer about the end of WonderCafe and the launch of WonderCafe2. I don't see it online, but those of you who get a print version can check it out on page 41. It's good (imo).

Aaron
 
I'll look forward to reading it.

(I haven't gotten my Dec Observer in the mail yet.)
 
You are for sure chansen!! You could subscribe ... just sayin' ... it's a bargain @ 20 bucks.

Thanks for letting us know about this Aaron ... I usually read online, but have gone back to print version for the coming year.
 
Thanks for the heads up Aaron. Most times I check out the Observer online but get frustrated because it isn't all posted. If you buy the print version do you get to see the entire thing online (thereby saving the paper and postage?). Basically, I have chosen to not buy paper magazines and don't want to change my mind -particularly not for something issued by a national church that spends a lot of time talking 'environmentally. .
 
A full-on, paid-for electronic Observer would be nice. My family still prefer paper magazines but I'm cool with electronic. My wife has access to both with The Economist. She and Little M (yes, he reads The Economist) read the paper, I tend to use the electronic edition on the tablet. Personally, if 'twere just me, I'd ditch the paper and just start using Zinio to get all my subs electronically. If the Observer doesn't want to invest in their own app and infrastructure, they could talk to Zinio, which is now being offered by many libraries.
 
KayTheCurler, I don't think the full Observer is available online, though I imagine they are considering it. It is an independent organization, and the magazine isn't put out by the national church. (But Mandate, which is put out by the General Council Office, is now available as a full digital edition.) I've worked for magazines in the past and know the stress publications like the Observer are under in this time of change, so I'm personally not comfortable posting material online that they haven't shared there themselves. Hopefully, the article about WC2 will be one of those they post on their website.
 
I read the little article, and it was nice to see WC2 acknowledged, and people will read it is still going.

But the article about the mosaic in Kingston caught my attention more.
Chalmers United Church in Kingston was my church for four years when I was a Queen's student (25 years ago now? Wow.)
I had often been in that hall, well before the church sold it to Queen's University.
And yet I have no memory of that mosaic. I stared at the photo in the Observer and could not access any memory about
that mosaic.
 
I read the little article, and it was nice to see WC2 acknowledged, and people will read it is still going.

But the article about the mosaic in Kingston caught my attention more.
Chalmers United Church in Kingston was my church for four years when I was a Queen's student (25 years ago now? Wow.)
I had often been in that hall, well before the church sold it to Queen's University.
And yet I have no memory of that mosaic. I stared at the photo in the Observer and could not access any memory about
that mosaic.

What is the mosaic in Kingston? Is that a new church?
 
Ι'd love to read the Observer article - but I'm not going to pay the subscription price for a denomination's magazine. :(
 
I can learn more from dialoguing with others than I can from any steam-powered search mechanical ;)

I agree with you on that one, Jae.

(And there I was extolling the virtues of inclusive language on another thread, and I wasn't being very inclusive to mention the mosaic article here as though everyone had access to the article.)

Chalmers United Church in Kingston had a tile mosaic of the 4 gospels. It was in warm neutrals (browns, creams, bronze, gold, etc.)
This mosaic was in the building opposite the church (which the church owned at the time.) It was there from its completion (1957),
until 1997 when Chalmers (probably downsizing like most churches) sold that building to Queen's University, and the mosaic got bricked up.
The article was about how Chalmers congregation worked together to recover their unique artwork, dismantling it tile by tile and then putting back together tile by tile in the church, where the congregation could see it again after it was bricked up in 1997.

My point was that I had been in that building many times from 1988 to 1993, and I had absolutely no memory of that mosaic.
For some reason, I guess I never noticed it. And I was embarrassed, because I had such wonderful memories of that Church and the congregation. (How could I have not remembered the mosiac?)
 
I agree with you on that one, Jae.

(And there I was extolling the virtues of inclusive language on another thread, and I wasn't being very inclusive to mention the mosaic article here as though everyone had access to the article.)

Chalmers United Church in Kingston had a tile mosaic of the 4 gospels. It was in warm neutrals (browns, creams, bronze, gold, etc.)
This mosaic was in the building opposite the church (which the church owned at the time.) It was there from its completion (1957),
until 1997 when Chalmers (probably downsizing like most churches) sold that building to Queen's University, and the mosaic got bricked up.
The article was about how Chalmers congregation worked together to recover their unique artwork, dismantling it tile by tile and then putting back together tile by tile in the church, where the congregation could see it again after it was bricked up in 1997.

My point was that I had been in that building many times from 1988 to 1993, and I had absolutely no memory of that mosaic.
For some reason, I guess I never noticed it. And I was embarrassed, because I had such wonderful memories of that Church and the congregation. (How could I have not remembered the mosiac?)

Thank you for your response GO3838. Wow - that's so heart-touching that the Chalmers United community laboriously rebuilt their mosaic. Art - I feel - is a neglected mode of worship in our protestant churches. I know that some artwork is done - indeed I'm the leader of an art ministry at my own church - but in my heart not nearly enough. Somehow in the history of the church we have held on to music - but largely let other art forms go.
 
I think I mentioned this in another thread, but we had a Kitchener artist and art teacher in my family United Church and he did a huge mural for the back of the sanctuary. I wasn't totally enamoured of all of the theology that he reflected in it but the imagery was certainly thought-provoking.
 
I think I mentioned this in another thread, but we had a Kitchener artist and art teacher in my family United Church and he did a huge mural for the back of the sanctuary. I wasn't totally enamoured of all of the theology that he reflected in it but the imagery was certainly thought-provoking.

Yes - I've encountered similar artworks myself - where I wasn't on track with the theology I believe was being portrayed - but I was touched by the passion and devotion I felt invested in it. Some of these were icons and sculptures at The St. Francis Center - where my seminary cohort goes for a retreat once a year.
 
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