New look at scriptures

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

This week, we present a new Scripture columnist: Fr. Michael Stubbs, pastor of St. Francis De Sales Parish in Lansing, Kan. Fr. Stubbs, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, has a master's in theology from Harvard.

	Related article ... • Explaining the Scripture    by Fr. Michael Stubbs

Fr. Stubbs succeeds Fr. Richard Ver Bust, a long-time professor of religious studies at St. Norbert College, De Pere. Fr. Ver Bust wrote our scripture column for more than 20 years, until his death in 2003.

After his death, several readers asked us continue Fr. Ver Bust's columns from our archives. (The fee for his column went to a scholarship fund in his name at St. Norbert.)

But recently, readers began asking for a new columnist. We began by reviewing other diocesan newspapers for columns that explained the reading similar to Fr. Ver Bust.

We gave three sample columns from each of eight writers to members of The Compass Advisory Board, our staff and a few other people. To level the field, all the columns were printed in the same format and type size on plain white paper and were identified only by the writer's initials.

Fr. Stubbs was the clear favorite in basically a two writer race. Readers found him readable, understandable and informative.

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