Keeping up with the Jones

Well, first, I think Verbum SHOULD be tailored;

 I have no problem with tailored features as long as people understand the actual relationships e.g.

• Catholics and Orthodox needs differ only in that the Orthodox do note  need the Western Church resources while the Western Church needs the Eastern and Oriental Church materials.
• Anglican use a 3-legged stool model so Tradition is also critical for them. They have both confessions and church documents.
• Lutheran interpret from a confessional perspective and use church position papers
• Methodists use a quadrilateral also recognizing Tradition as critical
• All of the above use multiple lectionaries, have a cycle of saints, use a broad canon liturgically . . .
• Moravians have a liturgical calendar and lectionary (and a wonderful Holy Week tradition)

My problem is the labeling of Verbum as Catholic when it is the better fit for more than 80% of Christianity. As for what Verbum should look like - I trust Louis St. Hilaire, Andrew Jones and Gabe Martini. What I don't trust is the Protestant side of Logos to see the needs as a continuum and encouraging the Verbum team to take the broader view. And as a Catholic with many Eastern Rite friends and a couple of Anglican-usage firneds, I need all the Orthodox, Catholic and Angican material to work together as a broadly Catholic, i.e. the complete Church connected to Rome. And with a Lutheran grandmother and daughter-in-law, I want similar support for Lutherans (or at least high Lutherans) and just because I love the Moravian music and Holy Week . . .

On the other hand, there is a chunk of Christianity that is Logos historic base for which lectionaries, Tradition, saints, church documents, creeds/confessions/documents are absent or minimal concerns.  But there is no firm dividing line - its a continuum of a cluster of practices.

First, I am not so sure that the owners of Logos  fit into the "Protestant" side of your division.

This is not my division, it is the division that I am protesting. The last time I knew the owners of Logos considered themselves to be "not Catholic."

Are you wishing the Vatican would buy Verbum?

Quite the opposite - I'm pushing for more inclusivity. It is my observation from such things as how lectionaries were first implemented, from the way notes were implemented (and Bob's defense of them be as Bible margin notes), from the long delay in the Catholic edition of L2 ... that the design decisions are being made by a collective with a strong understanding of Bible study and use within their own tradition but with only a superficial knowledge of the requirements for features not used within their own tradition. I believe that Logos truly wishes to expand their features. I believe that Western Catholics will be well taken care of. However, as long as Logos believes the division to be Catholic/non-Catholic I will not trust that they understand the needs of the Anglican/Catholic/Eastern Orthodox/Lutheran/Oriental Orthodox/"high church protestants" end of the continuum. And because of the breadth of the Catholic Church, I get a much better product if everyone is better served.

It happens that my area of Biblical study expertise is extremely narrow - the use of scripture in liturgy, the training of ministers to proclaim the world, the selection of other liturgical elements to best frame/show off the scripture. In this very narrow area, I became knowledgeable across the entire ACELO/ mainline protestant spectrum. Yes, I can easily pull Huegonot, Moravian, Presbyterian, Wesleyan ... psalters and lectionaries off my shelves.  And because of my early religious training I can see how the Uniform Lessons aka ISSL  (http://www.ncccusa.org/news/120326uniformlessons.html) is just another lectionary. So I push where I can for the one area where I can be certain that I know what I am talking about.

Given your normal positions, I am a bit surprised that you aren't also coming down on the side of Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran receiving the same "extra perks" that Verbum gives Catholics which is all that I am asking for. I am also deliberately stating that the dividing line is blurry and that the traditions that cross the divide need to speak up and state where their needs fall.

I'm somewhat surprised at the push back when I try to support the quite visible non-Catholic Verbum user community.