Good Stuff in TEC: Virginia

Tornado Charities Raised More Money Than They Could Give Away

SUFFOLK - About a dozen charities raised more than $1.1 million dollars after the tornado, far more than they could give away, according to some of the groups.

NewsChannel 3 this week contacted seven charities who began collecting cash for those hardest hit a year ago. All but three said they had either given away the money, or had transferred funds to other charities. The remaining groups raised $114,000 more than they distributed, according to charity officials.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Main St. collected $120,000 and has $5,000 remaining in its tornado account. Church officials said the money was used to help congregation members who suffered losses.

The United Way of South Hampton Roads raised $635,000 according to a spokeswoman. Of that, about $17,600 remains. Charity officials said when Suffolk residents stopped applying for the money, organizers transferred the funds to a different account for future disasters. That money is no longer available for Suffolk tornado victims, a spokeswoman said.

The Suffolk Foundation gathered $189,000 and has the most money remaining. The charity's officials said $17,000 is still in the Tornado Relief Fund while another $75,000 has been transferred to other disaster-preparedness accounts. The transferred money could be sent back to the relief fund, according to Billy Hill, the foundation's executive director.

Also a video-

http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-tornadocharities-apr28,0,6917061.story

Miracle declared in cure of Mass. man

Miracle in Massachusetts.

A Marshfield man once debilitated by crippling spinal pain says he is now healed thanks to a miracle. And it seems the Catholic Church agrees. John Sullivan says he prayed to a renowned nineteenth century Catholic Cardinal and now is free of pain.

It's springtime and John Sullivan has been doing some gardening his little patch out back of his Marshfield, Mass home.

Sullivan is seventy years old, a native of South Boston. He says he briefly lost his Catholic faith in college, then came back to the Church, married, raised three children and worked all his life in the public sector.

Nine years ago, he decided he'd like to be a Deacon at his parish church in Pembroke, Mass. and began a lengthy course of theological studies.

Those studies were interrupted suddenly in early 2000 by crippling back pain. Doctors told him he had a serious spinal condition.

He faced either serious, risky surgery or the possibility of paralysis. He was depressed and frightened.

More including video here-

http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/04/28/Miracle-declared-in-cure-of/1240970499.html

Good Stuff in TEC: Wisconsin

Loaves and Fishes fill in the gaps

Sunlight streams through stained glass illuminating an elegant dining room. Sinatra plays on the radio as the staff bustles to set tables with vibrant cloths and arrange sugar wafers for the afternoon service. The menu features a rustic shepherd’s pie topped with creamy potatoes, fresh coleslaw with a touch of raspberry vinaigrette, and a simple dessert of ice cream with a choice of bananas or mandarin oranges. The dress code is informal. As I escort one of the patrons toward the stairwell, he tugs on his collar, “Would you believe this shirt is 47 years old?”

The gentleman is a former serviceman and cancer survivor. His clothes are worn and he walks with a slight limp. There are hazy memories of Army days in the Southwest and more immediate worries about his health. On the first and third Saturday of each month he joins friends for the Loaves and Fishes free lunch provided by Trinity Episcopal Church for needy citizens of Oshkosh. The word “Arizona” is stitched above his breast pocket and he points to his chest, “I was stationed in Arizona. That’s where I bought this shirt 47 years ago.”

Reservations are not required, there is no identity check, and those who walk through the doors at 311 Division Street continue up the stairs to a great hall where they enjoy a homemade entrée, side dishes, hot coffee and sweets. For some, it will be the only meal of the day.

More here-

http://www.scenenewspaper.com/news-views/19-news-view/207-loaves-and-fishes-fill-in-the-gaps.html

Good Stuff in TEC: Tennessee

Episcopal Priest Helps Former Prostitutes Pen First Book

Becca Stevens may well be the fastest-talking woman in Tennessee. Although the Episcopal priest speaks with a gentle Southern accent, the velocity is rapid-fire New York, so it's no surprise to learn her parents hail from there. Tragically, her father—also a pastor—was killed by a drunk driver when Stevens was just five years old. That experience, she says, changed her life and made her more aware of the pain that women can feel. "We went from being this hopeful young family to looking for the Social Security check," she says. To add to her suffering, the senior warden of the church began sexually abusing her.

Today, however, Stevens has channeled that pain into a compassionate and unique ministry to women from the streets. In 1997, she founded Magdalene, a Nashville-based program for women with a history of prostitution and substance abuse. Most of those women, Stevens says, were physically and sexually abused as children. "Because women don't get to the streets by themselves—it takes all kinds of failed systems to get them there—they're not going to get off the streets by themselves. It takes a community to bring them back." Magdalene is that community, a two-year residential program that gives women job training, drug rehabilitation and a house of their own to live in. It has been so successful that there are now five houses in Nashville, two in Charleston, one in Chattanooga, and even one in Rwanda. Another is planned for Ecuador.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/index.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_header_id=6551942&articleid=CA6590785

PENNSYLVANIA: Bishop Bennison wants new trial or charges dismissed

Claiming to have "over 200 letters" that prove Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison "was deceived and duped," the convicted bishop's attorneys have asked that the charges against him be dismissed, or that he get a new trial.
In February, the Court for the Trial of a Bishop issued its final judgment and sentence that Bennison should be deposed from the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church for having engaged in conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy.

Bennison, who has been inhibited or barred from exercising his ordained ministry since October 2007 when he was first ordered to stand trial, appealed his sentence of deposition in mid-March.

The appeal is due to be heard by the Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop, which is essentially an appeals court. Canon IV.6 of the Episcopal Church's canons outlines the appeal process. The appeal court will not begin its process until the trial court rules on Bennison's latest motion.

The bishop, 65, was tried in June 2008 on charges that 35 years ago as rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, he failed to respond properly after learning that his brother, John Bennison, a 24-year-old seminary student whom he had hired as youth minister, was "engaged in a sexually abusive and sexually exploitive relationship" with a 14-year-old parishioner. The abuse lasted for more than three years.

The rest-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_107134_ENG_HTM.htm

CENTRAL NEW YORK: Departing parishioners not entitled to bequest

A New York state trial court justice has ruled that members of Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton who left the Episcopal Church over theological differences are not entitled to keep a 1986 bequest of jewels and money.

Justice Ferris D. Lebous had ruled in January that Good Shepherd's property had been held in trust for the Diocese of Central New York and the entire Episcopal Church. The details of those rulings are available here. This part of the case dealt with a trust.

In his earlier ruling, Lebous had required the departing members to provide an accounting of the status of parish property. The diocese told the justice that some known property, including stock shares, was not produced. The justice found that no income had been flowing into the parish since April 2008.

Lebous found that "the parish was doing everything it could to spend down the assets, divert new income, and perhaps actively interfere with the diocese's right of ownership." He ruled that the diocese "has every right to conduct an investigation into the income and property of Good Shepherd."

The justice told the treasurer of the breakaway congregation and the Rev. Matthew Kennedy, the rector, that the investigation would begin with them being questioned within 45 days about what they had done with other church property.

“We are glad to know the judge was able to uphold how the church understands its own polity," Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams of Central New York told ENS in an emailed statement. "Although we are saddened by all that has occurred, we are glad it is moving towards final resolution in order that we may place all of our energy on our central work of the good news of the Gospel of Christ. We also appreciate the court’s expression of concern regarding Good Shepherd’s accounting, both financial and of other items, and its directive for further questioning into the usage of such funds."

More here-

http://www.episcopal-life.org/81803_107130_ENG_HTM.htm

Congo elects Henri Isingoma as primate

The Anglican Church of the Congo has elected Bishop Henri Kahwa Isingoma of the Diocese of Boga as its next primate, or national bishop.
Isingoma will succeed Archbishop Fidèle Dirokpa, who has served as primate of the French-speaking province since 2003. A date has not yet been set for Dirokpa's retirement or Isingoma's enthronement.

Isingoma was elected during an April 28 bishops' retreat in Goma out of a field of two nominees. He received four of the seven votes cast in a secret ballot.

The other candidate was Bishop Masimango of Kindu, who also serves as dean of the province.

Isingoma is married to Mugisha. They have six grown children and one grandchild.

Isingoma became bishop of Boga in April 2007 after having previously served as bishop of Katanga. He is a member of the Anglican Consultative Council, the most representative policy-making body in the Anglican Communion.

The Anglican presence in the Congo, formerly known as Zaire, was established by Ugandan evangelist Apolo Kivebulaya in 1896. Following independence in 1960, the church expanded and formed dioceses as part of the Province of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Boa-Zaire. The new province was inaugurated in 1992 and changed its name in 1997.

The civil war and ethnic strife in the Congo has claimed four million lives since 1994 and is widely recognized as the bloodiest conflict since World War II.

Today, a lack of resources in the Congo prevents the Anglican province from being financially self-supporting, and many of the church's clergy and bishops are unpaid.

http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_107129_ENG_HTM.htm

In light of swine flu outbreak, churches consider procedures

From Episcopal Life Online-

As health officials around the world monitor an outbreak of swine flu that has killed more then 150 people in Mexico and spread to six other countries, Episcopal churches are examining liturgical practices and reviewing emergency plans.
"Swine flu is currently being handled by the health authorities. We are, however, prepared to respond through our church networks should we be needed," said Abagail Nelson, senior vice president for programs at the New York headquarters of Episcopal Relief and Development, the church's disaster-relief and economic-development agency.

About 1,600 people have been sickened in Mexico and 50 cases have been reported so far in the United States, but no deaths. After the outbreak was confirmed on April 24, a number of churches in Mexico City on Sunday, April 26 canceled services.

Information about preparing for a potential pandemic influenza outbreak is available on Episcopal Relief and Development's website here. The site carries a list of questions and answers about pandemic influenza and contains links to information and resources for church people in the areas of preparation, care-giving, liturgy and spiritual practice.

"It is our hope that by preparing for the possibility of an influenza pandemic, the Episcopal community will be better able to protect each other and serve those in need," said Nelson in an statement.

In Denver, the Diocese of Colorado sent its clergy a brochure from the Northeast Colorado Health Department with advice about preparing an emergency kit, disease prevention and web links and phone numbers for further information.

The Diocese of Texas distributed an information sheet for churches to give to parishioners at Sunday services. The dioceses in the Episcopal Church's Province IV, which includes the U.S. southeast states, recently released a disaster preparedness plan that includes disease pandemics.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_107136_ENG_HTM.htm

Fifty refugee families will receive support from PWRDF and federal government

Good stuff from Canada

As celebrations of the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund’s 50th anniversary get under way, PWRDF representatives and Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, met with Jason Kenney, minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, to discuss the federal government’s support for one of PWRDF’s anniversary programs that will help parishes and dioceses across the country sponsor 50 refugee families.

PWRDF is providing about $2,000 for each family sponsored by a parish, and the federal agreement has agreed to match those funds. The exact amount will be pro-rated depending on the size of the family, says Carolyn Vanderlip, PWRDF’s 50th anniversary facilitator. “A larger family obviously is going to require more financial support, but it averages to $2,000 per family,” she said. Combined with the matching government funds, Ms. Vanderlip says the money should provide about three months of income support to each family.

PWRDF invited Mr. Kenney to come to General Synod offices in Toronto on April 24. “We want to establish a positive working relationship with the minister,” said Ms. Vanderlip.

More-

http://www.anglicanjournal.com/100/article/fifty-refugee-families-will-receive-support-from-pwrdf-and-federal-government/?cHash=d95e8c203e

Solomon Islands to reconcile?

SOLOMON Islands, wracked for five years by internal strife that saw hundreds killed and at least 20,000 driven from their homes, is launching a national reconciliation process with the help of South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tutu opens the South Pacific nation's Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Wednesday - six years after Australian-led peacekeeping troops and police arrived in the troubled islands to help restore civic order.

Prime Minister Derek Sikua said Tutu's presence would inspire Solomon Islanders to help to heal old wounds caused by the violence and civil unrest.

The commission, made up of three eminent Solomon Islanders and two international members, is expected to sit for a year, with a provision to extend it for another year.

'It represents a turning point in our efforts to move away from bitterness and resentment, and to create a shared future as a unified nation,' PM Sikua said on Tuesday.

The retired archbishop Tutu is deeply revered in the largely Anglican South Pacific state, both for his role in chairing South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and for his commitment to promoting human rights and opposing racism.

The hundreds of troops and police of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands have provided security for villagers to return to their homes and resume normal lives.

The rest-

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_369673.html

Bishop makes case against kidnapping

Igbo leaders have been reminded that fleeing their ancestral homes is not the best way to tackle the scourge of kidnapping in the land and neither is the situation going to be made any better by having police escort.
The Anglican Bishop of Okigwe Diocese, Dr. Edward Osuegbu, who stated in an interview with Vanguard in Owerri, urged Ndigbo to find a lasting solution to the problem of kidnapping and other crimes militating against the welfare of the citizens and development of the area.

“It is no longer news that while many prominent Igbo sons and daughters now fear to come home, others have sent their children overseas and to neighbouring African countries”, he said with grief.

While condemning kidnapping in very strong terms, the Anglican cleric however, blamed the crime on crave for material wealth and lack of the fear of God.

“Let me use this opportunity to plead with our public office holders and wealthy people in our midst to please stop exhibiting their wealth carelessly. Such acts send the wrong signals, especially to fickle minded individuals”, he pleaded.

On the proliferation of churches, Dr. Osuegbu lamented that people now run churches as business concerns, because of the level of joblessness in the land, pointing out that gullible people run to them because they promise instant miracles, security, prosperity, easy marriage and every imaginable thing under the sun.


More here-

http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/34571/45/

Former parishioner invaded minister's house, court told

A woman accused of a ''bizarre'' Sunday afternoon attack on an Anglican minister and his family in Canberra's north was overpowered by her intended victims, the
ACT Magistrates Court was told yesterday.

The court was told that 32-year-old Nadine Busacker was trying to rob the clergyman of the church collection when she allegedly staged a daylight invasion on the Kaleen home demanding the ''day's takings''.

Constable Christopher Carter said that Busacker was armed with a knife and a toy gun and had a bandanna tied across her face when she arrived at the Reverend Stephen Simkus's home just after lunchtime on Sunday.

Mr Simkus, the minister of nearby St Simon's Anglican Church, was at home with his wife Robyn, his son David and his nine-year-old grandson when police allege that Busacker, a former member of their congregation, came knocking on their door.

Police allege that when Mrs Simkus opened the door about 12.45pm, she was confronted by the masked Busacker who grabbed the 60-year-old grandmother by the wrist and forced her back inside. According to Constable Carter, Busacker then demanded money from the stunned family. ''Give me the day's takings,'' she is alleged to have said.

The rest-

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/former-parishioner-invaded-ministers-house-court-told/1497772.aspx

New Kenyan archbishop will 'keep stand' against same-sex unions

Eliud Wabukala of Bungoma, who becomes the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya in July, will not likely reverse his predecessor’s opposition to same-sex unions.

This is the view of bishops and church leaders who spoke to Ecumenical News International after Wabukala was on April 24 elected to replace Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, who retires on June 30.

"We know there are challenges of building bridges among our communities, reconciling and healing the people. That's basically what I will do," said Wabukala, adding he would ensure that God's word is preached, taught and lived out. "I want to thank the electoral college for a very peaceful election and for maintaining the dignity of this church," he told journalists after his election.

In an interview with Canada's Anglican Journal published on April 26, Nzimbi had said, "When we talk about same-sex unions, it is to us a big challenge because missionaries, when they came here, taught us that we can't change the word of God … We never knew that something that we're hearing now would happen."

More here-

http://www.anglicanjournal.com/100/article/new-kenyan-archbishop-will-keep-stand-against-same-sex-unions/?cHash=d8755b32b3

Why diocese is reluctant to let go of new ACK head

Although St Crispin’s ACK Church Bungoma Diocese would have loved to see Dr Eliud Wabukala continue serving them as bishop, they nonetheless had to contend with the reality of the departure of a man who has been like a father for 13 years.

New ACK head asks leaders to mend rift
But he had to leave, following his election as Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya.

Rev George W. Mechumo, the administrative secretary, ACK Bungoma Diocese, says it was after the arrival of Bishop Wabukala in 1996 that Bungoma earned national recognition.

It was through the bishop’s efforts that Bungoma became a diocese, hived out of Nambale.

As bishop, he trained 89 priests up from just 19, whom he found. He further ordained 51 parishes.

Fifty-six primary schools were set up under his tenure, up from 36. He also helped to establish four secondary schools, making them eight.

Besides, he initiated the Wycliffe Centre for Theology and Mission and Development in Bungoma, an affiliate of St Paul’s Theological College, Limuru.

Eight medical clinics were set up.

“Many of these projects got funding from Peterborough in England, an indicator that the bishop could create links,” said Rev Mechumo, adding that the greatest challenge Bishop Wabukala had to contend with was lack of training among the clergy.

The rest-

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/591804/-/u650jl/-/

The Rt. Rev. John C. Bauerschmidt: Statement on the Consent Process in the Episcopal Election in the Diocese of Northern Michigan

The process of consent to an episcopal election does not always generate a great deal of interest in the Episcopal Church, but it has done so in the case of the Rev’d Kevin Thew Forrester, bishop-elect in the Diocese of Northern Michigan. The process for election of a bishop in this case requires consents from a majority of bishops and Standing Committees in the various dioceses of the Episcopal Church before a bishop is consecrated. This is one of the many ways in which we are reminded that our obligations to each other go beyond the local Church.

I voted against consent to his election. Hesitations have been expressed in many quarters on a number of grounds. Decisive for me has been the fact that the Rev’d Thew Forrester has used liturgies not authorized for use in the Episcopal Church, on a regular and ongoing basis. The permission of one’s bishop is beside the point. No bishop of the Episcopal Church is able to authorize liturgies for use in our Church, as alternatives to the regularly appointed services, that have not been approved by the General Convention as supplements to our Prayer Book liturgies. Certainly no individual priest or vestry is able to do so. The clergy of the Episcopal Church are not free to use in church other Anglican liturgical formularies, including those authorized in other provinces of the Communion, or liturgical resources from other traditions, except within the limits set forth in our own Prayer Book. These limits have not been observed by Thew Forrester.

This discipline of the Church may be thought too narrow or unsuitable to our own age. Yet it is the order we have. The theologically inadequate baptismal rite used at St Paul’s Church, Marquette, under the aegis of Thew Forrester, is a reminder of why individuals are not allowed to write their own liturgies. Liturgies which are formulated around idiosyncratic statements of what we are renouncing and exactly what we are embracing beg the question of what community we are being initiated into, and whose disciples we have become. If there is a moment for liturgical and theological clarity, Holy Baptism is it.

More here-

http://episcopaldiocese-tn.org/bishops-forum/the-rt-rev-john-c-bauerschmidt-statement-on-the-consent-process-in-the-episcopal-election-in-the-diocese-of-northern-michigan

Americans not losing their religion, but changing it often

Ingrid Case was a devoted church-goer as a child, not only attending Sunday school, but also serving as an acolyte at her Episcopalian church in Greeley, Colorado.

"Basically, it's the priest's assistant," she explained. "You carry a cross in front of them, get the things they need to perform the service, scurrying around doing what they need."

But after college, Case drifted away. She didn't feel like she fit in socially at the Episcopalian church in Princeton, New Jersey, and found herself uncomfortable with some of its theology.

"I began to see there were some things I wasn't able to get on board with fully. I don't like the traditional Episcopalian focus on the afterlife," she said.

Today she's a Quaker.

She got involved with the Society of Friends, as the denomination is formally known, through the man who later became her husband, Nat Case. He wasn't raised a Quaker either, she said, though he went to a Quaker-run boarding school as a child.

Her shift in religion was gradual, said Case, 41, a freelance writer and editor in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"It wasn't so much 'You people stink and I am out of here,' as 'I like this better and this is what I want to do.' "

More here-

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/27/changing.religion.study/

and here-

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-religion-churn28-2009apr28,0,689954.story

Rwandan Reconciliation

Bishop John Rucyahana is an old and dear friend. Our parish has actively supported his work and I had the privilege of visiting in 200o during the sixth anniversary of the genocide. This is a Religion and Ethics interview from earlier in the month.

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: We have a moving story today on reconciliation in Rwanda. In 1994, for 100 days while the world looked away, one group slaughtered another at the rate of 10,000 a day. This Spring for another 100 days Rwandans are reliving what happened with public trials and the unearthing of mass graves. There is also repentance, forgiveness, and hope. Lucky Severson reports on Rwanda’s recovery and one of the remarkable men who’s helping lead it.

LUCKY SEVERSON: The dormant volcanoes that loom over the hazy Rwandan countryside can erupt as suddenly and violently as the country itself did 15 years ago. Over a million Rwandans, about an eighth of the population, were massacred in one of the worst cases of genocide in recent history. Then the volcanoes were silent, and it seemed that only the gorillas that live alongside of them were safe from slaughter.

Today Rwanda is a much different place thanks, in part, to this man—Anglican Bishop John Rucyahana

Bishop JOHN RUCYAHANA (Chairman, Prison Fellowship Rwanda): People are smiling because they have the hope, but the wounds and the healing is a process that we’ll continue to engage deliberately to tell people that they just can’t cover it up. We need to be able to unearth it and deal with it head on.

SEVERSON: That’s what the bishop has been preaching from the pulpit of his beautiful church in northern Rwanda since the killing stopped: deal with it head on. And it was personal for him. How could it not be after so many members of his extended family were murdered, including his niece?

Bishop RUCYAHANA: I have forgiven those who killed my niece, and they peeled off the flesh off her arms to the wrist, and they left bare bones, and they gang-raped her, and I forgive them because forgiving is not only benefiting the criminal, it benefits me.

SEVERSON: There are still tens of thousands of people convicted of genocide in Rwandan prisons, but as many as 30,000 have been released back to their communities through a restorative justice program that Bishop John chairs called Prison Fellowship Rwanda. These criminals, shown in a Prison Fellowship video, killed their neighbors and even there friends.

The rest is here-

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/april-17-2009/rwandan-reconciliation/2708/

Successful youth vocations conference continues on Facebook

Eighteen would-be priests aged 16 to 19 attending the Church of England’s first specially organised vocations conference for young people in more than 30 years are to continue meeting on Facebook as they listen to their calling. The conference was held at Westcott House and Ridley Hall theological colleges in Cambridge on 17th-19th April, 2009

As well as offering engaging talks from priests serving in the Church, the Call Waiting… Conference 2009 offered a chance to ‘grill’ an ordinand as a group, and spend a time in reflection and prayer at Stations of the Resurrection.

Eight ordinands were on hand from Ridley Hall and Westcott House colleges to offer one-to-ones on what it is like to train to be a Church of England priest.

The young people also worshipped together at choral evensong at which a choir of 16 choral scholars performed a work by Thomas Tallis.

They intend to continue the conference online, having set up a group on Facebook, to encourage one another to listen to their ‘calling'.

Revd Jules Cave Bergquist of Ministry Division said: “It was a fabulous weekend for everyone involved. The young people showed just that sort of enthusiasm, vitality and ‘can-do’ attitude that we need from young people in any ministry within the Church. Now it’s over to the dioceses to set-up appropriate was of encouraging, nurturing and discerning vocations amongst young people.”

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr4609.html

The prince, the pope, and the women

From te London Guardian-

Prince Charles's meeting today with Pope Benedict XVI is a curious snapshot of the progress that women have made in the last 500 years. The most interesting detail here was not visible in the photographs, but mentioned in all the copy: it was the veil that the Duchess of Cornwall had to wear to meet the pope. Protocol demands it. The pope might now condescend to meet a couple married to each other only because their adulteries put an end to their previous marriages, but a woman received by him formally must still wear a token covering over her head and face.

The first divorce in the history of the Church of England could not be accounted a victory for the equal treatment of women. After he married Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII only left one of his discarded wives alive – Anne of Cleves. All the others who displeased him were not divorced but killed. Charles, his 14th great-grandson, treated his ex much better, if not entirely of his own free will – his better instincts had a lot of help from her divorce lawyers.

But Charles is also in the religion business, as the prospective Defender of Faith and supreme governor of the Church of England, and when he met the pope, there must have been some residual sense that they were both concerned with global forms of Christianity. In the pope's case this is actually true. The Catholic church is still a coherent global entity. The Anglican communion is not. Some of the reasons for this are political, in the sense that the Church of England only looked like a global phenomenon when England and her empire was one too.

More here-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2009/apr/27/charles-camilla-pope-benedict

Run for your wife: Couple marry while taking part in London Marathon

Rachel Pitt, 37, ran up the aisle with fiancée Garry Keates, 44, after taking a half-mile detour from the route to become the first couple to tie the knot in a Christian ceremony during the race.
The couple were among 35,000 runners battling warm temperatures of up to 68F (20C) over the 26.2 mile course.

The pair managed a quick wash before taking their vows at 3.15pm in front of 50 guests at St Bride's Church on Fleet Street. Mr Keates, a fireman, carried his bride over the line at 4.50pm, seven hours and five minutes after the start.

"It had been the best day of my life but I'll never do it again," said Miss Pitt, who flung her bouquet into the crowd after finishing.

Nell McAndrew, the model, was the first celebrity over the line, with a time of 3 hours, 10 minutes and 20 seconds, followed by former glamour model Katie Price, her husband Peter Andre, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and Keith Duffy of Irish band Boyzone.

Many competitors were dressed up for the race, which is expected to raise millions for charity. Paul Simons, 45, from Edgware, north London, set a new record for the fastest Father Christmas by finishing in 2 hours and 55 minutes.

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/5225721/Run-for-your-wife-Couple-marry-while-taking-part-in-London-Marathon.html

A happy alliance: royal divorcees swap gifts with the Pope

From the London Times-

The Prince of Wales today presented his second wife to the Pope for the first time, at the start of a visit to Italy largely dedicated to climate change and sustainable agriculture.

The Duchess of Cornwall met Pope Benedict XVI when the pontiff offered the couple a private audience at the Vatican. The royal couple arrived yesterday and are staying with President Napolitano at the Quirinal Palace, before travelling to Venice tomorrow and then to Germany.

Under Vatican protocol the Prince was expected to first hold talks with the Pope before being joined by the Duchess. However, the royal couple were received together for the 15-minute audience, with the Duchess wearing a black silk dress designed by Anna Valentine and a matching veil or mantilla. The prince also held talks with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State, for over half an hour.

A Vatican communique said there had been "cordial discussions" and an "exchange of views" on "the human promotion and development of peoples, environmental protection and the importance of inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue for furthering peace and justice in the world".

The rest is here-

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6179627.ece

Post-Christian? Not even close.

From USA Today-

In the endless debate over whether the United States is a Christian nation, the "ayes" no longer seem to have it.

The "ayes" might have the 1892 Supreme Court ruling describing the United States as a "Christian nation," but the "nays" have the Treaty of Tripoli of 1797, which affirmed that "the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

Now comes President Obama, who in January in his inaugural address spoke of this country as "a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers." On April 6 in Turkey, Obama added that the United States "does not consider itself a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation" but "a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

One week later, in a mournful black-and-red cover reminiscent of Time magazine's 1966 "Is God Dead?" cover, Newsweek proclaimed "The Decline and Fall of Christian America." Setting off this alarm was the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), released in March by researchers at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. This survey of more than 50,000 American adults contains all sorts of interesting tidbits about the rapid growth of Islam in America, and the relative strength of new religious movements such as Wicca. It tells us that Pentecostals are more likely to be divorced than the average American, and that Mormons are far more likely to be married. But almost all the news coverage this survey has garnered, both at home and abroad, speaks of the gains of the religiously unattached (or "nones" as they are often called) at the expense of Christianity.

More here-

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/04/post-christian-not-even-close.html#more

Caribbean meeting to discover third draft of covenant

The Anglican Consultative Council is to consider the third draft of the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant when it meets in Kingston, Jamaica, this month (May).

The Covenant Design Group met under the chairmanship of the former Primate of the West Indies, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, from 29 March to 2 April at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, to prepare a third draft of the covenant.

This draft follows a 12-month consultation requested by the joint standing committee of the ACC and the Primates since the production of the second, Saint Andrew’s, draft in February last year. The group worked with about 20 provincial responses to the St Andrew’s draft and also received many responses from individuals, diocesan synods and other institutions, including ecumenical partners.

The 14th meeting of the ACC will also consider reception of the final report of the Windsor Continuation Process. Both of these documents are regarded as critical to discerning a way forward for the Anglican Communion in light of recent stresses caused by differences over matters of human sexuality.

In a letter sent to all ACC members, Anglican Communion secretary-general Kenneth Kearon said: “Our 11 days together will provide an opportunity for us to engage with the Mission of the Anglican Communion through the work of its commissions, networks and working groups as well as experience something of the life and vitality of the local Anglican Church.”

http://www.melbourne.anglican.com.au/main.php?pg=news&news_id=19943&s=157

Joyful return home for ACK Archbishop elect

Thousands of Christians and friends thronged the streets of Bungoma to welcome the Anglican Archbishop-elect Eliud Wabukala.

Dr Wabukala, elected on Friday takes over the church leadership from archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi who retires in June this year.

Dr Eliud Wabukala trounced three other contestants including Joseph Wasonga of Maseno West diocese, Samson Mwaluda of Taita Taveta diocese and Stephen Kewasis of Kitale diocese to become the fifth ACK Archbishop of the second largest Christian denomination in Kenya.

He won on a simple majority, after they all failed to garner the mandatory two thirds of the votes in a ceremony that lasted for over five hours at the All Saints Cathedral.

In his acceptance speech Wabukala urged political leaders to put aside divisive politics and work towards developmental issues that will benefit all Kenyans.

The new archbishop will formally assume leadership of the church upon being consecrated at the All Saints Cathedral on July5 , six days after Nzimbi officially retires, having attained 65 years of age.

He is expected to serve up to 2016 when he will attain the age of 65. Dr Wabukala has served as bishop for the last 13 years.

http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=57040

Good Stuf in TEC: Virginia

Richmond church group departs today for missionary work in Sudan

A five-member mission team from Richmond's St. James's Episcopal Church departs today for southern Sudan.

As they spend 12 days in the northeastern Africa country, the mission work they do complements that of the nonprofit group Hope for Humanity.

The missionaries from St. James's will help with projects around Hope and Resurrection Secondary School in the southern Sudan village of Atiaba, do some teaching at the school, and interview teachers and students at the school built with funds raised by Hope for Humanity.

The interviews "will connect the reality of what life is like for them to Richmond," said the Rev. Randy Hollerith, rector of St. James's. "It will bring the two places together."

While in Sudan, the mission group also will work with an interfaith program called "Pads for Power," which seeks to address the needs of adolescent and post-adolescent girls who may not have adequate hygiene products and have to miss a week or more of school each month.

More here-

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/HOPE27S_20090426-221404/264107/

Signs, signs everywhere signs #17

A Resolution on the Anglican Covenant

TITLE: Provisional Acceptance of the Anglican Covenant

Resolved, the House of _____________ concurring, that this 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church make a provisional commitment to abide by the terms of the Anglican Covenant proposed in the most recent text of the Covenant Design Group (the “Cambridge-Ridley” draft); and be it further

Resolved, that the text of the proposed covenant be commended to the various dioceses of this church for study and comment during the coming triennium; and be it further

Resolved, that the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies appoint a Special Task Force to determine what constitutional and/or canonical measures may be necessary in order to make a permanent commitment to the Covenant; and be it further

Resolved, that this Special Task Force prepare a report to the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church that includes draft legislation that could be considered should the convention decide to make a permanent commitment to the Covenant.

More-

http://cariocaconfessions.blogspot.com/2009/04/resolution-on-anglican-covenant.html

Bishop says Somali piracy is 'fight back' against globalisation

The Anglican Bishop in the Horn of Africa, has said that piracy in the region is “almost an industry” and is a way for Somalis to “fight back” against injustices caused by globalisation.

In recent weeks, attacks by Somali pirates have risen markedly and drawn the attention of the media – particularly after the capture and then miraculous rescue of American cargo ship captain Richard Phillips. A second ship carrying donated food to Rwanda for World Vision was attacked last earlier in the month by pirates off the coast of Somalia. No one was hurt in the attack and the ship was later allowed to continue to its destination.

The Rt Rev Andrew Proud, who is currently visiting the UK, is the suffragan to the President-Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Most Rev Mouneer Anis and is based in Ethiopia.

“My understanding is that, in the last 20 or 30 years, there has been a lot of illegal fishing off that coast, and perhaps nuclear waste being dumped, and this had led to the people wanting to fight back,” he said, according to the Church Times.

“It’s got to the stage where it’s [piracy] almost an industry. They are highly organised pirates, although it does surprise me they are able to take these ships over.

“It’s a lawless region, and it’s part of wanting to have a piece of the cake. Globalisation works two ways. It’s profoundly depressing, but life is so tough for the people living there.

“After the Ethiopian army went in, people left in droves. Somalis are desperate to settle down and have some stability, but I can’t see that happening.”

More-

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/bishop.says.somali.piracy.is.fight.back.against.globalisation/23175.htm

Risking heresy to serve as priests

Robed in floor-length white linen and purple stoles, two Roman Catholic women will kneel this afternoon in a spare Roxborough sanctuary, in a liturgy both ancient and audacious.

Their bishop will lay hands on their heads, recite the ordination rite of the Roman Catholic Church, and invite the two to rise - one as a deacon, the other as a priest - and celebrate Mass before an expected assemblage of 200.

But even before their knees leave the floor, the two will be automatically excommunicated from the church they say they seek to serve, their ordinations invalid in the eyes of the Vatican, their Mass heretical.

The impending ceremony - the first of its kind in Philadelphia - elicited a one-page denunciation from Philadelphia's archbishop. "I am concerned pastorally for the souls of those involved" in "this pseudo-Ordination," Cardinal Justin Rigali said in a statement released Friday. It "denigrates the truth entrusted to the Church by Christ Himself."

In the Roman Catholic Church worldwide, few topics are more charged than women's ordination - a premise considered so utterly false by most of the all-male hierarchy that in the mid-1990s, Pope John Paul II ordered the church's one billion adherents to stop debating it, permanently.

The Rest-

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20090426_Risking_heresy_to_serve_as_priests.html

Vicar's plan to overcome women bishops row

A revolutionary five-point plan to prevent the Church of England splitting when women become bishops has been unveiled by a clergy member of the General Synod.

The blueprint comes from the Rev John Hartley, vicar of St Luke's, Eccleshill, Bradford, who has been an Anglican "MP" since 2004.

At the crux of the 52-year-old ecclesiastical legislator's "solution" to the fear of schism when females don mitres is abolition of the word "bishop".

Dr Hartley outlines his plan in the latest issue of his parish magazine in an article headed "Let's collectivise the bishop". His scheme provides for:

* Reorganisation of all the dioceses to a size that could comfortably be led by one bishop and two suffragans;

* Abolition of the word "bishop";

* Each diocese being headed by a "College of Oversight" consisting of three people, including at least one man and one woman;

* At every confirmation and ordination, all three people being present, each of them laying hands on all the candidates;

* In appointing the college, all of its members receiving the laying-on of hands from all the members of at least three other diocesan colleges of oversight.

Dr Harley, a supporter of women bishops, says: "I do not want to see the Church of England torn apart as another chunk of people leave - as will surely happen if we decide to proceed with the present draft legislation. So I'm looking for alternatives which might keep both sides on board."

More here-

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=4313