If Brandon Vogt’s CatholicHogwarts.com and call for a ‘Catholic Dumbledore’s Army were not sufficient evidence that we have entered a new era in the Potter Wars (or have been in one for several years), an Episcopal Church in Cumberland, Rhode Island, will be using Harry Potter to raise church pledges this year.
The [Emmanuel Church] campaign will begin with a celebratory dinner to announce the theme and prizes. Parishioners will be divided into four groups, to represent the four houses at the Hogwarts School of the books and movies. [The Rev Joan] Testin and a church member who normally tracks pledges are creating the teams to have a balance of current pledgers and nonpledgers.
“We’re planning to serve some of the foods talked about in the books — such as treacle tarts and knickerbocker glories (traditional British desserts),” she noted. “One of our members also is researching a way for us to play Quidditch (magical competitive sport involving flying contestants).”…
The campaign will use competition to build involvement. The team with the most pledging members will win “the house cup” (given at Hogwarts at the end of the school year to the house with the most points), which will be awarded at a mid-November celebration….
As the campaign goes on, progress will be tracked using big charts on the back of the wall in Emmanuel’s worship space. Big sequins will be used to add jewels to a cup each time someone pledges.
When a “banned book” that is supposedly the “Gateway to the Occult,” is used to secure pledges from a church congregation, I think we’re in the “clean-up” operations stage of the conflict.
Or is the ECUSA so liberal and in-step with the world that this pledge drive theme represents, at least to those convinced the Hogwarts Saga is anything but edifying reading, only a token of how far adrift from orthodox faith the Anglican Communion is in the United States? Does anyone know of evidence that more rigorous Christian communities and inspired individuals are still keeping the flame of resistance to the Wizarding World alive and alit today? Please share what you know by clicking on ‘Leave a Comment’ up by this post’s headline.
Watch Video #1 in my new 5-part series, “Why it’s Time for a Catholic Dumbledore’s Army (and Why You Need to Join)” 
Here’s what you’ll learn in this new series:![Untamed: The Psychology of Marvelâs Wolverine by [Flores, Suzana E.]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2B70Dk5-1L.jpg)
It’s no secret that most superheroes, whether in comics, on the screen, or both, are fairly complicated folks, psychologically speaking. Part of what draws us to these complex, bizarre people is that behind the masks, under the capes, and sans the superpowers, they are at least as confused as the rest of us. Some of them are even more troubled than others, and Marvel’s X-Men probably include more people with mental health issues than the average behavioral health ward (in high school, I learned the definition of the word “angst” not from language arts classes but from the students of Professor X).
so help with creating an alternate view of these subjects suitable for the alternate worlds in which these stories unfold. One subject that frequently manifests itself in unique ways is that of Death. While figures like Voldemort fear and flee death, it is an inevitable part of life, and no amount of Horcruxes or Invisibility of Cloaks will hide us from it forever. To personify Death, authors sometimes rely on the conventional imagery of the Grim Reaper, but when it comes to speculative fiction, on the page or on the screen, this image sometimes is conflated with another, that of Father Time, and, in the process of fusing Time and Death, these stories use creative imagery and unique symbolism to portray the brief candles that are all of our lives.
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