Episcopal Life on JSC meeting
Posted on November 27, 2008
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Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was among those attending the JSC [Joint Standing Committee] meeting, which was held behind closed doors at the Anglican Communion Office and Lambeth Palace in London.
She noted that a November 26 report in The Times of London newspaper, that suggested the JSC had discussed plans to discipline the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone for its recent incursions into other provinces, was untrue. “The subject has not come up,” she told Episcopal News Service. …
– Full report from Episcopal Life Online. (Photo:ACNS/Rosenthal.)
Edwin Judge: The importance of history
Posted on November 27, 2008
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The Centre for Public Christianity has made available a number of video clips from a interview with Professor Edwin Judge conducted by John Dickson.
Professor Judge of Macquarie University is a widely known and respected authority on the Roman Empire.
The segment “The importance of history” and related clips are linked on this page.
Preach Christ in all the Scriptures?
Posted on November 27, 2008
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Last weekend’s broadcast from the White Horse Inn tackles whether our preaching is actually focussed on Christ – or on felt needs. Graeme Goldsworthy is acknowledged as a great help in thinking through these issues.
“We Preach Not Ourselves” (November 23, 2008) is available – in several formats – at oneplace.com.
Conservative Anglicans face ‘punishment’
Posted on November 26, 2008
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A conservative province in the Anglican church faces “punishment” this week for offering a safe haven to conservatives.Senior bishops and laity meeting in London are to consider suspending the Anglican church in South America for taking rebel US dioceses under its wing. …– Story from Ruth Gledhill at TimesOnline. (Photo: ACNS Rosenthal.)
JSC and ACC meet at Lambeth Palace
Posted on November 26, 2008
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Primates, bishops, lay people from the various regions of the Anglican Communion are meeting this week at the Anglican Communion Office and Lambeth Palace in London. The group meets on a regular basis between official gatherings of their larger meetings.
Members of the Joint Standing Committee … are focussing attention on the forthcoming meetings of the Primates, in February in Alexandria, Egypt, the ACC in Jamaica, in May and ongoing business. …
– Press release from the Anglican Communion News Service. (Photo: ACNS Rosenthal.)
Ft Worth to Schori: Stop border crossing
Posted on November 26, 2008
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Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth has responded to his supposed inhibition by the TEC Presiding Bishop:
“Katharine Jefferts Schori has no authority over me or my ministry as a Bishop in the Church of God. She never has, and she never will.
Since November 15, 2008, both the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and I as the Diocesan Bishop have been members of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. As a result, canonical declarations of the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church pertaining to us are irrelevant and of no consequence.
The Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker
Bishop of Fort Worth”
And from the Fort Worth Standing Committee: Read more
National Geographic blows it again
Posted on November 26, 2008
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When I was growing up in the 1960s, my mother had a subscription to the National Geographic and I regularly perused its issues. It had a reputation as recently as the 1980s for a high degree of accuracy and the avoidance of sensationalism. Some time between then and this decade something went awry. …
– New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg. (Photo: Denver Seminary.)
Fort Worth Bishop inhibited
Posted on November 25, 2008
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While the Nov 21 notice of inhibition came as no surprise to Episcopal Church watchers, internal church documents show a resistance by the review committee to punish Bishop Iker on the basis of his beliefs – resisting Bishop Schori’s push to discipline the Fort Worth bishop before his diocese quit the Episcopal Church. …
– George Conger writes at Religious Intelligence.
A sign of things to come?
Posted on November 25, 2008
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The passage of Proposition 8 in California has reset the table with respect to the issue of same-sex marriage. Clearly, those pushing for legalized same-sex marriage thought that the decision of the California Supreme Court last May was the final word, and same-sex marriage would be an established legal reality in California. The fact that Proposition 8 passed on November 4 threw that assumption aside, and an ugly new chapter is opening. …
– Al Mohler writes on the backlash against those who supported marriage as between a man and a woman.
A new model for a new Province
Posted on November 25, 2008
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The news of the unveiling of the constitution of the new Anglican Church in North America the first week in December has generated a great deal of excitement and a lot of speculation on the Internet. …
While it may be rather late to be proposing a model for the new province, one model the Common Cause Partnership Council might want to consider for the new province is a modification of the Australian model for an Anglican province. …
– Robin Jordan writes at VirtueOnline.
Bishops in bid to overturn gay marriage
Posted on November 24, 2008
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On Nov 17, Bishop J Jon Bruno of Los Angeles and Bishop Marc Andrus of California along with the California Council of Churches, the Progressive Jewish Alliance and the Unitarian Universalist Church filed a writ with the California Supreme Court seeking an injunction blocking implementation of the petition based by voters. …
– Report by George Conger for Religious Intelligence.
(Photo of Bishop Marc Andrus: Diocese of California.)
Coming soon to EHarmony – Adam & Steve
Posted on November 22, 2008
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EHarmony … the Pasadena-based dating website, heavily promoted by Christian evangelical leaders when it was founded, has agreed in a civil rights settlement to give up its heterosexuals-only policy and offer same-sex matches. …
It must not only implement the new policy by March 31 but also give the first 10,000 same-sex registrants a free six-month subscription. …
– Report from The Los Angeles Times. (Graphic: EHarmony.)
What’s going on in Sydney?
Posted on November 22, 2008
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Sydney Diocesan Synod passed a resolution in October that recognized that it is both legal and desirable for those in deacon’s orders to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. This has raised again the issue of lay people presiding at the Lord’s Supper, which has long been a strongly held view in the Diocese of Sydney.…
– Canon Chris Sugden writes for Evangelicals Now. Read it at Anglican Mainstream.
Paralysed Speakers and Hearers – John Stott
Posted on November 22, 2008
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Even those who no longer see any particular merit in preaching would probably agree that it is not what it was. Many of those who value it would say that it is in a state of steep decline, and to recall a few notable names from the past would appear to confirm this. Of course, styles have changed, the world has changed. But are we not missing out? Are we not in danger of losing a basic ingredient of a living church? …
– John Stott, as published in CrossWay, 1981. Read his brief article, as a PDF file, courtesy of Church Society. (Photo: Langham Partnership.)
What if Starbucks marketed like a church? A parable.
Posted on November 21, 2008
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Of course, your church won’t be like this – but this video provides plenty of food for thought. Richard Reising, with a background in marketing, produced it to show how not to welcome visitors.
See the video on YouTube – and read Richard’s comments at his new Beyond Relevance blog.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…