Vancouver parishes ask for clarification
Four Vancouver-area Anglican Network in Canada parishes are asking the courts to clarify their trustees’ responsibilities in response to hostile action taken by a diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada.…
– Press release from the Anglican Network in Canada – via VirtueOnline.
Irondequoit church, Episcopal diocese clash in state court over property
“Lawyers for an Anglican church in Irondequoit and for the Episcopal diocese of Rochester differed before the state’s highest court Tuesday on whether an agreement made between the two parties carries the force of law in New York.…”
– More court action over who owns property – this story from the Democrat & Chronicle in Rochester, New York.
Canberra & Goulburn prepares to elect new bishop
After the retirement of Bishop George Browning last month, the Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn is preparing to elect a new bishop. The Election Synod begins on October 31st.
The diocesan website has details on what’s involved – and at least one parish (Gungahlin) has issued an invitation (PDF file) to join them in prayer.
Bad news overshadows good news for Chinese Christians
A popular house church leader and his wife were released from government custody in China recently, but that good news was overshadowed by the fact that countless other Chinese Christians still are imprisoned, including bookstore owner Shi Weihan who has been described as ‘unrecognizable’ following his poor treatment in detention.
Zhang ‘Bike’ Mingxuan, chairman of the Federation House Church, and his wife Xie Fenglan were released from Public Security Bureau custody Aug. 29 but were told they could not return to Beijing until the end of the Paralympics Sept. 16, according to the human rights group China Aid Association.
– A report from Baptist Press.
Mark 13 in perspective and preaching Christ today
Recently at the Lowestoft Living Word convention, I chose to speak on Mark 13, sometimes called the ‘Little Apocalypse’ because it appears to anticipate the themes of the book of Revelation (The Apocalypse of John).
I think it is fair to say that most Christian interpretation assumes this passage is about the end of the world…
– Moore College graduate John Richardson blogs at the Ugley Vicar.
G W Bromiley on Nicholas Ridley
Church Society has published online a four-part series on Bishop Nicholas Ridley by Geoffrey Bromiley –
“Nicholas Ridley was one of those three confessor-bishops whose names are linked indissolubly with the English Reformation.
Of the three, Cranmer had the widest sphere of opportunity, and if he lacked the most conspicuous gifts of leadership, he had nevertheless his own capacities which allowed him to exploit many of the advantages of his position. Latimer was an older man. As a contemporary writer put it, “He came earlier in the morning, and was the more ancient workman in the Lord’s vineyard.” Latimer was no great scholar, but he was a moral preacher of singular power, able to catch the ear both of those in high places and also of the common people.
Ridley himself was the youngest of the three, but in many ways he was also the most talented. He excelled not only as a scholar, but also as a diligent and forceful ecclesiastic, and by his activity and learning he came to be recognized in his own day as perhaps the foremost champion of the Reformation movement. …”
– From Church Society.
Tearfund and Archbishop Tutu
“Some of us may be wondering what exactly is happening here. According to Tearfund’s site, AB Desmond Tutu (with Tearfund Director, Matthew Frost, left) gave a stirring speech which encouraged radical Christian commitment and care for the poor, the suffering, the dispossessed, those close to God’s heart. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it?
That is not all the good bishop said, however. According to BBC’s account, Desmond Tutu reiterated what has become one of his classic lectures on the evils of homophobia in the church and how issues of human sexuality are not that important in the Big Picture…”
– Dr Lisa Severine Nolland writes at Anglican Mainstream.
See the BBC’s report: Church obsessed with gays – Tutu. (Photo: Tearfund.)
‘Good Saint Sarah’
“A week ago the media could not break away from Barack Obama. Today Sarah Palin is dominating the discussion. …
Interestingly, while feminists have been asking whether Palin can care for her nation and her family, Christians have been wondering the same. Is it right for a woman to take on a position of such responsibility?…”
– Canadian Andrew Challies comments on (and provides links to) varied reactions to Sarah Palin’s nomination as John McCain’s running mate for the US Presidency.
(Photo: johnmccain.com)
GAFCON leaders say Communion can never be the same again
The Anglican Communion has been broken and it is an “illusion” to believe things can ever be the same again, the archbishops of the Gafcon movement said last week following their first organizational meeting in London. …
George Conger writes at Religious Intelligence about the recent GAFCON Primates meeting.
Photo: Archbishops Peter Akinola, Emmanuel Kolini and Valentino Mokiwa at a press briefing after the closing session of GAFCON 2008 – by Joy Gwaltney. (hat tip Anglican Mainstream)
Anglican Network in Canada: Open letter to Primates
5 September 2008
Open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates of the Anglican Communion
After consulting with my Primate, Archbishop Gregory Venables, I report with great sadness that two Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) churches under my jurisdiction – St Matthews (Abbotsford, BC) and St Matthias and St Luke’s (Vancouver, BC) – received letters on 26 August 2008, informing them that the Bishop of New Westminster had taken action on 10 July 2008 to seize control of those parish properties. The letters also notified the wardens, trustees and parish councils that Bishop Michael Ingham had dismissed and replaced them and ordered the clergy to vacate the church buildings by mid-September. It is clear that our other two ANiC parishes in Vancouver, St. John’s Shaughnessy and Church of the Good Shepherd, will receive the same action in the near future.
This is the fourth Canadian diocese to act in this way against ANiC churches which have come under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. …
– Read the full letter from Bishop Don Harvey, Moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada as a 48kb PDF file (direct link).
See also our earlier stories –
New Westminster takes steps against Southern Cone clergy.
New Westminster moves to seize control of ANiC parishes.
St. John’s Shaughnessy responds to New Westminster.
New Westminister letters to parishioners.
Bishop Jack Iker urges period of prayerful discernment
As the date approaches for our momentous Diocesan Convention vote in November, many parish clergy have attempted to make certain that their parishioners understand the issues surrounding the proposal that we separate from the General Convention of The Episcopal Church. …
As your bishop and chief pastor, I am inviting and urging that every congregation in this Diocese enter into an intentional 40-day period of prayerful discernment to be concluded the week prior to our Convention on November 14 and 15. …
– Bishop Jack Iker writes to all clergy, vestry members, and convention delegates in his Diocese of Fort Worth.
Lambeth absentees press on as letters wait to be sent out
A month after the Lambeth Conference, the 230 or so absent Anglican bishops have not yet been contacted in order to “build bridges” with them. In the mean time, their leaders have stated that they have heard nothing from Lambeth to give them pause as they seek to form a new North American province. …
– report from Bill Bowder in Church Times.
(Photo: Joy Gwaltney – taken at the final GAFCON session.)
Persecution Index 11: Orissa
One of the biggest waves of anti-Christian violence for some years is currently sweeping through the state of Orissa in India. Websites and blogs from the area have for many months been reporting deaths, mainly of Dalits or low-caste Indians, and thousands fleeing for their lives. But as sites here are reporting now, the persecuction is reaching a new intensity. …
– Ruth Gledhill reports at Times Online.
Codex Sinaiticus coming online
Codex Sinaiticus, a hugely important manuscript of the Bible from the middle of the fourth century, is now becoming available in a scanned form online as the result of a major international collaboration.
Part of the manuscript is now on the website, with more to come.
See it here. (Hat tip: Russell Powell.)
New fears of schism in Anglican Church
The day in 2003 when the Archbishop of Canterbury forced his friend Dr Jeffrey John to reject his appointment as Bishop of Reading became a defining moment of his archiepiscopate. The consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire became a defining moment for the entire Anglican Communion.
Now Britain could be about to have its own “Gene Robinson moment” with growing support in the province of Wales for his election to a bishopric, possibly as soon as in Bangor next month. …
– Ruth Gledhill reports in TimesOnline. (Photo: The Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…