Day of Thanksgiving for Rain – Armidale

Bishop Peter BrainThe Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Armidale, Dr. Peter Brain, has asked each of the churches in his region to take time on Sunday February 10th, to offer special prayers of Thanksgiving for the recent rains.

“Since we have set aside some special days of prayer for rain during the past 5 years of drought and God has been pleased to answer these prayers by graciously sending widespread rains, we want to give Him special thanks,” said Bishop Brain.

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Kenyan pastors tell of surviving the violence

Baptist Press“At one stop, an entire village lay in shambles. Pastor Samuel, who had led the local Baptist church, quickly picks his way through piles of burned corrugated tin, keeping a watchful eye on the forest and hills nearby for signs of danger.

For weeks, this area was cut off from the rest of the country. Even the media and Red Cross didn’t venture into this dangerous territory. Gangs of youth blocked the roads, keeping anyone from coming or going. Samuel stops in front of a piece of charred, ashen ground. ‘Here,’ he says quietly. ‘Here is our Baptist church.’…”

This story from Baptist Press gives some idea of the effects of the violence in Kenya.

What is Anglicanism? – Archbishop Orombi

Archbishop OrombiThis 2007 essay by Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, Anglican Archbishop of Uganda is well worth reading:

“We would not be facing the crisis in the Anglican Communion if we had upheld the basic Reformation convictions about Holy Scripture: its primacy, clarity, sufficiency, and unity. Part of the genius of the Reformation was its insistence that the Word of God and the liturgy be in the language of the people — that the Bible could be read and understood by the simplest plowboy. The insistence from some Anglican circles (mostly in the Western world) on esoteric interpretations of Scripture borders on incipient Gnosticism that has no place in historic or global Anglicanism. …”

Read the full text at First Things.