Bishop Jack Iker urges period of prayerful discernment
Posted on September 5, 2008
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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
Posted on September 5, 2008
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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
Posted on September 4, 2008
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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
Posted on September 4, 2008
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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
Posted on September 3, 2008
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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.)
Chappo says… Just start talking
Posted on September 2, 2008
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In characteristic style, John Chapman says: “This could be just the very thing you’ve been waiting for. It mightn’t be the very thing you’re waiting for – but it’s the very thing you should have been – so if you haven’t been, I’d give it a go anyway.”
John’s commending “Just Start Talking”, a terrific new resource from Sydney’s Evangelism Ministries in time for Connect 09.
Written by Lesley Ramsay and Baden Stace, and presented on DVD by Colin Buchanan and Samantha Boog, “Just Start Talking” is a three week course designed to help ordinary Christians get Jesus into their day-to-day conversations.
Read more about “Just Start Talking” at SydneyAnglicans.net and order copies from Evangelism Ministries (phone 02 9265 1582). To see a video preview, follow this link.
TEC and the Anglican Communion a ‘Post-Modern Fantasy’
Posted on September 2, 2008
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The problem with Indabbaing your way through life without addressing the crises that are strangling life (and members) out of the church is that it is based on a post-modern fantasy that the atmosphere is more important than the true state of things.
In the emerging train wreck, it is like focussing on the musical program in the ballroom of the Titanic. In the case of our crisis, there are plenty of life boats available for the people. The problem is that they are being lulled into thinking that the crisis is exaggerated. …
– Bishop Bill Atwood, missionary bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, writes at VirtueOnline. (GAFCON photo: Russell Powell.)
Vancouver Magazine on St. John’s Shaughnessy
Posted on August 31, 2008
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“On a Sunday morning earlier this year, hundreds of Anglicans pour through the doors of St. John’s Shaughnessy Church. The stately grey building at the corner of Granville and Nanton is home to a well-heeled and diverse congregation: parents with a clutch of teenage sons, elderly women in wheelchairs, youthful couples.
Sitting near the front with her husband is soft-spoken, 72-year-old Gail Stevenson, who has attended the church her whole life. Closer to the back, sitting all by himself, is 46-year-old Steve Schuh. Many of the parishioners sit in the same pew week after week—pews that may soon be pulled out from under them. …”
– Jonathan Graham at Vancouver Magazine reports on the challenges facing St. John’s Shaughnessy and like-minded churches in that city. (Hat tip: Ed Hird.)
Evangelical – by Phillip Jensen
Posted on August 31, 2008
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What is an “evangelical”? There is a series of similar words that are commonly confused such as “evangelical”, “evangelism”, “evangelistic”, “evangelise”, “evangelist” and “evangelicalism”. These words carry so much meaning to the initiated but are quite confusing to others.
They all start with “evangel” for they are all about the gospel. “Evangel” is the anglicised version of the Greek word for gospel. These different English words are just different grammatical forms of the word gospel. …
– Dean of St. Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney, Phillip Jensen, unpacks the meaning of “evangelical” in the Cathedral’s weekly newsletter for August 10.
California clergy receive ultimatum
Posted on August 30, 2008
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The Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Stockton, California, has written to clergy affiliated with the breakaway Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, California, asking that they affirm their loyalty to him or be deposed from the ordained ministry. …
– George Conger reports for Religious Intelligence. (Photo: Bishop Jerry Lamb greets TEC Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori – Episcopal Life Online.)
Standing against the culture of death
Posted on August 30, 2008
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Back in May, Al Mohler spoke of the family of Trig Paxson Van Palin, a little boy born with Down Syndrome.
“…Trig Palin is now in a very rare group of very special children, because it is now believed that the vast majority of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome before birth are being aborted.”
Trig’s mum, Sarah Palin, is the Governor of Alaska, and was yesterday announced as the running mate for Senator John McCain for the US Presidency.
– Read Albert Mohler’s article here. He also spoke of it on his radio programme. (Hat tip: Justin Taylor.)
See also this page about Trig from the Governor’s Office.
GAFCON Communiqué on establishment of the Primates Council and Fellowship
Posted on August 29, 2008
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The first meeting of the GAFCON Primates Council took place in London from Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd August 2008.
“Given that some esteemed colleagues from the Global South have strongly commended the Windsor Process to us, we are reluctant to say that it cannot work. But there is nothing new here such as to make us hesitate from the course we are taking, given the urgency of the situations with which we are dealing and the realities already on the ground.”
The full Communiqué is reproduced below. Read more
Bishops write to GAFCON Primates Council
Posted on August 29, 2008
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This letter was sent to Archbishop Peter Akinola, Chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council, by five bishops from North America. It is referred to in the GAFCON Primates Council communique.
“As requested we have carefully studied the Reflections of the Windsor Continuation Group – in particular the section that refers to our ministry within North America. We offer these comments…”
New Westminister letters to parishioners
Posted on August 29, 2008
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The Diocese of New Westminister has released the letters sent to members of St. Matthias and St. Luke Vancouver, and St. Matthew’s Abbotsford.
There are links from this page on the New Westminster website.
St. John’s Shaughnessy responds to New Westminster
Posted on August 29, 2008
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From St. John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver –
The Diocese of New Westminster (DNW) initiated action against St. Matthew’s Abbotsford and St. Matthias – St. Luke Vancouver on August 26th and is seeking to take over governance of the parishes. We are deeply disappointed by this action as it fails to recognize:
- repeated attempts by the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) parishes to seek dialogue before litigation;
- repeated statements from the Primate of Canada that any such action will damage the public witness of the church;
- repeated calls from the Anglican Communion to refrain from such hostile action
It is a sad irony that the Diocese invoked Canon 15 on the same day that the Archbishop of Canterbury released his Pastoral Letter to all Bishops of the Anglican Communion reflecting on the recent Lambeth conference saying: Read more
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…