Ttony recently tweeted asking when we would close the discussion on Sacrosanctum Concilium. I think he is right that now is the time to ask that and some other questions, including reviewing how it’s going so far.
Since the SC post was posted on 4 May, we have had 36 comments from 8 contributors. The 8 contributors are:
- Idle Rambler
- Part Time Pilgrim
- Ben Trovato
- Ttony
- Marc Puckett
- Lazarus
- Mark Lambert
- Patti Fordyce
We have had 556 visits to the site overall.
Some of the questions that present themselves:
1 Has this been a useful and/or interesting discussion?
2 Have we learned anything about having this kind of online reading group which might help us do it better next time (if there is a next time – see 3 below)?
3 Do we want to continue with another text?
4 If the answer to 3 is yes, what text? And who would like to write an introductory post (and take on joint moderator status to approve posts etc)?
5 Do we declare discussion on SC closed, or allow people to continue to contribute indefinitely?
I am sure there are other questions we would usefully consider, so please add them in the Comms Box.
Catholic Reading Group 
To answer my own questions….
1 I have found it both useful and interesting
2 – pass – I’ll await others’ comments with interest
3 I would be keen to do so
4 I have a number of ideas (eg continuing with the Council Documents, continuing with liturgical texts, looking at key encyclicals etc like Humanae Vitae, Familiaris Consortio, Veritatem Splendor), but am also keen to hear others’ and let others take a lead at this stage.
5 I would like us to move on, but aso (personally) want to continue my re-reading of SC: I feel I have unfinished learning there. I also think there is no need to declare the conversation closed, even though we may be moving on. Also we will need a week (at least) I imagine to read the next text, whatever that may be, so there may be further comments on SC during that time.
Firstly, I feel a bit of fraud to have been included in your list of ‘contributors’ as I have been very much an observer as opposed to a contributor, albeit a very interested one.
Nevertheless, you did ask for answers to your questions, so . . .
1. Yes, I’ve found it interesting and informative to follow the discussion of others on the post. It has also prompted me to go to the document and study it a bit more which is a good thing, I think. I’ve also enjoyed following suggested links to the interpretations and analysis offered by other scholars.
2. I think the format works well.
3/4. Yes, I’d be interested to look at another text. Any of the suggestions you mention above would be fine.
5. I agree that it’s good to move on but it’s probably not even possible to stop comment on SC. I think it will probably be quite natural to refer back to this document/discussion in any future related discussion concerning the Second Vatican Council.
Having expressed an interest in the group & then not contributed, I must appologise to you all. I have a punishing work schedule and busy home life & in recent months found myself to be struggling increasingly with low energy levels and poor concentration. Praise be to God, I found out this week I have an underactive thyroid! Even after 2 days on tablets I am feeling more like my old self… I am keen to be involved in the future, and so do hope the group continues. I may not contribute to the next topic, but hope to have the Mojo to add something useful to, maybe, the one after!
Blessings to you all, you’re all lovely!
Xxx
1 Has this been a useful and/or interesting discussion? Yes
2 Have we learned anything about having this kind of online reading group which might help us do it better next time (if there is a next time – see 3 below)? Yes
3 Do we want to continue with another text? Have we finished with SC?
4 If the answer to 3 is yes, what text? And who would like to write an introductory post (and take on joint moderator status to approve posts etc)? See above
5 Do we declare discussion on SC closed, or allow people to continue to contribute indefinitely? No, I think we should leave it open.
Many thanks, BT!
1. Yes indeed, an interesting discussion. 2. Some texts might be usefully presented in parts, over two or three weeks? but otherwise, I haven’t thought of anything. 3. By all means, continue with another text but, re the 2nd part and 5, I too think we should welcome additional comments/discussion from those who are inclined to continue to address SC. 4. Perhaps Dei Verbum together with Pope Benedict’s Verbum Domini? while I would be willing to moderate posts the writing of an introductory post, I don’t know.
Like Amanda, I expressed an interest and then failed to contribute (mainly because I am working full-time and finishing a PhD in the evenings!)
Nonetheless I followed the discussion with interest. I’d like to ask a question: will the texts always be drawn from the Church’s recent past? Would there be scope in this group to consider the enactments of earlier councils, say the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), the culmination of the pastoral transformation of the Church in the middle ages? Also, will we solely discuss conciliar texts, or might we turn to other genres: hagiography, letter collections, papal decretals, devotional literature?
Good questions! I think that’s for us to decide…!
1 Has this been a useful and/or interesting discussion? Yes, or at least yes-ish. It’s a pity that more people prepared to defend SC to the hilt didn’t join in.
2 Have we learned anything about having this kind of online reading group which might help us do it better next time (if there is a next time – see 3 below)? I think we’re learning, but it was interesting that WordPress allows separate simultaneous discussions – something worth watching. I’ve assumed that the moderator didn’t need to block anyone or delete anything. Let the experiment continue!
3 Do we want to continue with another text? Have we finished with SC? Yes!
4 If the answer to 3 is yes, what text? And who would like to write an introductory post (and take on joint moderator status to approve posts etc)? As SC was (sort of) my choice, I’ll stay out of offering suggestions for the next couple of texts. At some point in the future, and subject to the world of work, I’ll happily write an introductory post and moderate (etc).
5 Do we declare discussion on SC closed, or allow people to continue to contribute indefinitely? It can and might continue indefinitely anyway unless we declare it closed, but I’m in favour of a “let’s move on” post, if solely to stop me from having to try to remember whether there were 29 or 29 posts on that post lat time, or was that the one before (etc).
Question 6: How do we attract more people / a wider discussion? Sorry – don’t know!
1 Has this been a useful and/or interesting discussion? Yes
2 Have we learned anything about having this kind of online reading group which might help us do it better next time (if there is a next time – see 3 below)? I can’t think of any major changes I’d make. Perhaps slightly longer warning of the topic so that we’d have more time to read it? Generally, I’d aim for a steady, slow pace of reading rather than sudden spurts: perhaps listing a few topics in advance and setting aside a month each…?
3 Do we want to continue with another text? Yes.
4 If the answer to 3 is yes, what text? And who would like to write an introductory post (and take on joint moderator status to approve posts etc)? I thought any of your suggestions above would be good. But really I’m prepared to read anything other people think worth looking at. (The whole point of this for me is to investigate what others find interesting in order to expand my horizons.) And -subject only to being bone idle and occasionally having to do some other work- I’ll chip in to do whatever is necessary in terms of introductions etc.
5 Do we declare discussion on SC closed, or allow people to continue to contribute indefinitely? I’d tend towards leaving it open, but don’t have strong views here. (If leaving it open causes more work for moderators, then it should shut down.)
6. Expanding audience….? I suppose listing it separately on ‘British Catholic blogs’ would be a possibility, publicizing it on our own blogs etc. But I’m not sure expanding the audience is terribly important. Eight active people (plus lots of passive viewers) isn’t bad for a reading group.