Crowning achievement: Pujols NL MVP

Albert Pujols wins the National League MVP and the Clemente award. The Clemente award is given based on sportsmanship and Community involvement. For you soccer fans out there MVP stands for Most Valuable Player.

The National League's best player has also been named its most valuable.

Albert Pujols' magnificent season earned him his second NL Most Valuable Player Award. Pujols' 369 points bested the 308 points garnered by Philadelphia's Ryan Howard, who beat him out by a narrow margin to win the 2006 MVP.

Pujols has finished in the top 10 in the voting in every one of his eight Major League seasons, and has been fourth or better seven times. He is the 11th player to win two NL MVP Awards, and he's one of three active players with a pair of MVPs. Additionally, Pujols became the third player, along with Sammy Sosa in 1998 and Rod Carew in 1977, to win the MVP and the Roberto Clemente Award in the same year.

MVP here-

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081117&content_id=3681885&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Clemente award here -

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/community/clemente.jsp

Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal reaches £9 million

From Anglican Communion News Service- (Nine million pounds is about 13.5 million dollars)

The Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal has now reached the £9 million mark. The Appeal, established to fund an extensive £50 million conservation and development programme, has made good progress during the two years since its launch enabling critical conservation work to be carried out.

Following its high profile launch in October 2006, the Appeal quickly settled down to business and has been attracting donations from a number of sources. The focus for the Appeal in the first two years has primarily been the local community of Kent.

Commenting on this new milestone, Matthew Butler, Chief Executive of the Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal, said; “We have seen a tremendous response to the Appeal in the last year, particularly when considering the current economic climate. We have continued to be delighted by the generosity of people who have donated financially, run events or volunteered their time. There is still a long way to go - £41 million to be precise, and we have much planned for the next few years to ensure we secure these donations.”

http://aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2008/11/17/ACNS4541

Convention Planned to Form New Anglican Province

From the Living Church.

Significant details about the plan were revealed in a short AnglicanTV internet video clip containing remarks delivered by Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh and Bishop Bill Murdoch, a missionary bishop to the U.S. consecrated by the Anglican Church of Kenya. The board of trustees for the Anglican Relief and Development Fund (ARDF) met Nov. 7-12 at Christ Church, Vero Beach, Fla., according to information published on the parish website.

The ARDF board contains a number of primates who have been sympathetic to the objectives of the Common Cause Partnership. Collectively they refer to themselves as the “Primates Council.” During the meeting at Christ Church, some of those primates present agreed to recognize the new province if the leadership of the CCP would “set aside territorial issues and ego struggles” and sign the so-called Jerusalem Declaration drafted during the Global Anglican Future Conference in the Middle East in June.

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2008/11/16/convention-planned-to-form-new-anglican-province

Schoolgirl knuckleballer headed to Japan pro league

A 16-year-old schoolgirl with a mean knuckleball has been selected as the first woman ever to play alongside the men in Japanese professional baseball.

Eri Yoshida was drafted for a new independent league that will launch in April, drawing attention for a side-armed knuckler that her future manager Yoshihiro Nakata said was a marvel.

"I never dreamed of getting drafted," Yoshida told reporters Monday, a day after she was selected to play for the Kobe 9 Cruise.

"I have only just been picked by the team and have not achieved anything," she said. "I want to play as a pro eventually in a higher league."

Yoshida, 155 centimetres (five feet) tall and weighing 52 kilograms (114 pounds), says she wants to follow in the footsteps of the great Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

A female professional baseball federation existed for a few years in the 1950s, but Yoshida will become Japan's first-ever woman to play alongside professional male players.

Thanks to Bruce Robison for passing this along.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081117/sp_wl_afp/lifestylejapansportsbaseball_081117063048

Good Stuff in TEC: Illinois

Faith, hope and financial help

Financial planning is a newer area for many churches. Some pastors are uncomfortable discussing money because they don't want to appear self-serving. Others feel money is too personal to discuss in church, leaders say, or haven't received the proper training.

"In an awful lot of churches, it's the silent subject," Towner said.

That's starting to change.

The trend is gaining popularity as churches seek new and creative ways to connect with their congregations and respond to a growing need for practical, day-to-day advice.

"Rather than asking what the church can get from you, they are asking what the church can do for you," Bentley said. "It's a very welcome shift."

Her congregation's current economic anxiety prompted Pastor Deborah Seles to recently hold a free seminar on spirituality and money at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Palatine.

It was the first time her church held such an event, and Seles said she would consider organizing resume-writing and job seminars.

"You want to offer people some practical help, following the example of Jesus," she said.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=251252

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Good Stuff in TEC: Texas

Community Food Drive seeking funding, volunteers

The effort began about 20 years ago under the direction of the Rev. Bettie Kennedy, still a driving force behind the distribution. The first drive began with about 50 baskets given out through the help of Collins Chapel CME Church. The next year it grew to 220 baskets, then 350, expanding each year to its current number averaging around 1,000 baskets.

Baskets are taken to homes across the area, and to people in locations including Buckner House, the Foster Grandparent program and retirement homes including Pinewood Park and the Lewis-Toran Community Center.

"It's just climbed and climbed," Love said. "It's a pretty far-reaching effort."

Volunteers gather on one Saturday morning a year the week before Thanksgiving. They begin with prayer before forming an assembly line, filling cardboard boxes with ham, vegetables and all the staples to provide the hungry one holiday meal and then some. More volunteers load baskets into cars, trucks and vans, delivering cheer throughout Lufkin and adjacent communities.

The drive is one of the few true community efforts in Lufkin, with people of all ages and backgrounds working together toward a single goal — to feed the hungry.

St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church got involved in the drive in 1998 under the encouragement of the Rev. Hugh Bell, former rector, and the tradition has continued, with the church playing a major part in funding and volunteer support, said Love, who is a member.

Love encouraged others in the community to join in the effort by making donations of their time and money. Volunteers drivers are needed. Maps and city sections with addresses identified on them will be given out Saturday to assist drivers with deliveries.

http://www.lufkindailynews.com/hp/content/news/stories/2008/11/17/food_drive.html

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Good Stuff in TEC: New Mexico

Tough times mean extra work at soup kitchen

John Cdebaca, who's homeless, said he has been eating meals at the kitchen for the past two years. He said he's noticed more people using the service in recent weeks, especially low-income residents who aren't necessarily homeless.

Cdebaca said the service is valuable and he'd manage to cope if it were ever curtailed, though others would suffer more.

"For a lot of people — it's their only prepared meal," he said. "Now that nights are getting colder, if you don't have something in you, you'll freeze."

El Caldito Soup Kitchen was founded under a different name in 1984 at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. With the help of the help of the local Catholic and Jewish communities, the operation expanded over the years from just two days a week to six days a week. The kitchen gained a home on the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope campus in 1998. It serves an estimated 70,00 meals each year, according to its Web site.

Anderson said the organization can always use donations, especially of money.
Daniel and Mary Farren, Las Cruces retirees, were among a group of residents that helped found El Caldito and have served until recently as volunteers. The two have plenty of stories about the clients who have enjoyed meals at the kitchen, including one about a man who used to take several bags of food home with him each day. Daniel Farren said another soup kitchen volunteer offered the man a ride to his apartment one day, and in the course of dropping him off, learned that his "to-go" bags were distributed to different neighbors who needed the food.

http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_11002622

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Good Stuff in TEC: Maine

Church Takes Part In "Operation Christmas Child"

The Trinity Episcopal Church in Saco is taking part in a charity program donating Christmas gifts to disadvantaged kids in foreign countries.

"Operation Christmas Child" is a nationwide program that was started by the Samaritan's Purse International Relief Fund. Gift-givers pack a shoebox full of gifts, and that box is sent to the kids.

The Trinity Episcopal Church has been collecting gifts since September, and the program coordinator has made up a Christmas tree chart to help show their progress. As the boxes come in, a star sticker is added to the tree.

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=96044&catid=2

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Big Unit on Cubs' radar

Randy Johnson is being courted by the Cubs. Maybe next year is the one ! For you soccer fans out there the Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908.

CHICAGO -- With Kerry Wood out of the picture and Ryan Dempster and Jake Peavy out in the open, the Cubs are considering another big name -- the Big Unit.

Free agent left-hander Randy Johnson, 45, would draw interest from the Cubs if the club is unable to re-sign the All-Star Dempster or acquire the former Cy Young Award winner Peavy. Johnson, a likely future Hall of Famer, is five wins shy of 300.

The Cubs are one of six teams who have contacted Johnson's Chicago-based agents, Al Nero and Barry Meister. The pitcher is unlikely to re-sign with the Diamondbacks.

Johnson knows Lou Piniella from playing for him in Seattle, and he would prefer to remain in the National League.

"It's very preliminary," Nero said Saturday, two days after Johnson filed for free agency. "Obviously, there is a tremendous amount of mutual respect between Lou and Randy. It would be natural for us to consider this."

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081115&content_id=3680965&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp

Diocese in Texas Leaves Episcopal Church

The New York Times report on the Ft. Worth schism. Judy Mayo is a fixture at General Convention. We're going to miss her.

Judy Mayo, director of children’s education at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Fort Worth, spoke in favor of the break, saying she was deeply troubled by an “anything goes” philosophy in which some Episcopal churches perform same-sex unions.

“If something is morally wrong in Texas, my friends, it is wrong in Montana or California or Connecticut or Kentucky,” Ms. Mayo said. “It’s either right or wrong according to God’s word.”

She added: “The train of the Episcopal Church and the apostolic faith are simply on a collision course now. It is time to make a clear and clean break.”

At least five of the Fort Worth diocese’s 55 parishes are expected to remain aligned with the Episcopal Church as they fight to override the separation.

(snip)

The Fort Worth diocese, formed in 1982 as a spinoff of the Dallas diocese, is one of three that refuse to ordain women as priests, a practice the national church voted to accept in 1976.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/us/16episcopal.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=episcopal&st=nyt&oref=slogin

The Washington Post take is here -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/15/AR2008111501239.html

Church of England Evangelicals dodge homosexuality vote

I find the following interesting and a little curious considering the post below it which would appear to be about the same meeting.

Church of England Evangelicals meeting on Saturday refused to vote to establish their position on homosexuality -- an issue that has caused deep splits within the worldwide Anglican communion.

The Church of England Evangelical Council met in central London but the 300 attendees declined an opportunity to vote. "The opinions expressed were a wide range of opinions," said The Reverend Doctor Richard Turnbull, chairman of the Church of England Evangelical Council. "People decided that they didn't actually want to vote on a resolution.

The disadvantage of that is you then don't exactly know what people think." The council meets again on December 4.

The Lambeth Conference in April, a once-a-decade gathering of bishops from the world's 77-million-strong Anglican Communion, was boycotted by around 200 bishops over the consecration five years ago of the first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, the bishop of New Hampshire in the United States. The issue of homosexuality remains a turbulent matter for the Anglican communion.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gdwVkEfG7xkCeO6GBaF6scC1_JeQ

Anglican Church lacks leadership, say bishops

From the London Telegraph. Dissension in the Episcopal ranks in England.

In a speech to conservative evangelicals, who debated proposals for a new "church within a church", the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali said that there has been a lack of discipline.
Traditionalists have been upset that the Episcopal Church escaped punishment despite consecrating Gene Robinson as Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop.

The Bishop of Rochester told clergy that the new movement was equivalent to the Reformation in the sixteenth century, which led to the establishment of the Church of England.
He said that the Church has become too "wishy-washy" and urged evangelicals to stand against the liberal agenda.

"No Church can be effective without discipline," said Dr Nazir-Ali.
"That is what this situation is about. We are warned in the Bible about false teaching and persistent immorality.

"We are living at a time when the Church must be counter-cultural and strong. If we're not clear what we're about we haven't got a hope."

He added: "Whenever the Church has become worldly or faithless, it has been reformed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/3464612/Anglican-Church-lacks-leadership-say-bishops.html

Good Stuff in TEC: Nebraska/Sudan

From Episcopal Life Online. (Got to love the hat!)

The call took Deacon Robin McNutt on four plane rides and a two-hour walk this time. It took her to a village of war-ravaged Dinka tribal people in Maar, South Sudan, away from the amenities and luxuries of Western life. This call came in the form of one Sudanese refugee.

"The way God calls you is … anytime," said the Rev. Daniel Deng Kuot. He met McNutt in 2002 at the Church of the Resurrection in Omaha, Nebraska, several thousand miles from his home in Lith Payam, Sudan. McNutt worked with Kuot as program administrator for the outreach program in the Omaha Sudanese community, and they became close friends.

"This time opened Robin to the outside world," he said. "She asked about my faith, and I explained stories of life back home and in the States. She felt she could go as far as Sudan to spread the word of God."

http://www.episcopal-life.org/81799_102445_ENG_HTM.htm

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Good Stuff in TEC: Oklahoma

Actor set for Gospel of Mark performance

A bit of the Bible will get a theatrical treatment when actor Wayne S. Turney performs "The Gospel According to St. Mark" 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Broken Arrow.
Tickets for the performances are $5 adults, $2 students, and are available at the door. The church is at 4250 W. Houston Ave., on 81st Street between Garnett Road and 129th East Avenue.

Turney will present the King James version of the Gospel of Mark in its entirety in a way that combines storytelling and drama. It's a presentation Turney has done for more than a dozen years, performing in both churches and theaters.

The idea of translating what is believed to be the earliest — and what is certainly the shortest — of the Synoptic Gospels into a piece of theater started with the English actor Sir Alec McCowen, who performed "St. Mark's Gospel" for more than two decades, earning a Tony nomination in the process.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/entertainment/spot/article.aspx?articleID=20081116_272_D5_Abitof211095


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MONEY IN, MONEY OUT: Testing Faith

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

You don't have to be an economist to tell which way the financial winds are blowing.

You could just as well be a minister, rabbi or imam, all of whom are waiting to see how a roiling economy might affect both their flocks and their ability to minister to them.

Local clergy already have noticed spillover effects from the economic uncertainty. For example, several say they've seen an increase in requests for assistance -- food pantry distributions and help with rent payments -- from congregants.

The Rev. Eldwin Lovelady, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, says members of his church -- which includes Filipino and Hispanic communities -- now are being asked to pledge contributions for the coming year.

http://www.lvrj.com/living/34543409.html

Presiding Bshop's Statement on Ft. Worth Schism

From the Dallas Morning News -

Office of Public Affairs
November 15, 2008

Statement from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on the actions of the Diocese of Fort Worth

November 15, 2008

The Episcopal Church grieves the departures of a number of persons from the Diocese of Fort. Worth. We remind those former Episcopalians that the door is open if they wish to return. We will work with Episcopalians in the Diocese of Fort Worth to elect new leadership and continue the work of the gospel in that part of Texas. The gospel work to which Jesus calls us demands the best efforts of faithful people from many theological and social perspectives, and The Episcopal Church will continue to welcome that diversity.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/presiding-bishop-comments-on-f.html

Fort Worth Diocese officially breaks away from Episcopal Church

This just in...the last one, Ft. Worth, votes to leave.

The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth broke away from the Episcopal Church today, becoming the fourth U.S. diocese to withdraw since late last year.

Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker championed the move, arguing that the Episcopal Church has strayed from orthodox Christian faith in various ways, including allowing women priests and approving an openly gay bishop.

'“The Episcopal Church we once knew no longer exists. It’s been hijacked,” Bishop Iker said.

Clergy and lay delegates, by about an 80 percent margin, approved the secession at the diocese's annual convention, held in a packed school gym in Bedford.

They were to decide later today on whether to realign with a conservative, Argentina-based province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Bishop Iker has said that five to six of the diocese’s 55 churches, and perhaps 4,000 of its 19,000 congregants, will remain with the Episcopal Church.

A legal showdown with the Episcopal Church is likely over church buildings and other assets.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/111608dnmetepiscopal.1b608ed19.html

Communion Partner Rectors Meeting

Chris Seitz reports on the Communion Partners meeting in Texas, The Communion Partners is a group of clergy (Priests and Bishops) who are committed to staying in the Episcopal Church and working for orthodoxy.

The Communion Partner Rectors met at St Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston 5-7 November. Forty Rectors were able to be present. We were supported by the Bishops of Texas, Western Louisiana, Western Kansas and Central Florida, who were able to be present as representatives of the fifteen Bishops involved with Communion Partners.

The spirit of our gathering was high and encouraging. We are aware of the latitude that is afforded to us to differentiate from trends in the Episcopal Church we do not share. We rejoice in the mission linkages we have nurtured in the past and that we will work to forge in our present season. Our main concern is building up these mission links, reinforcing our Anglican theological identity, and identifying ways to build up the next generation of theological leadership.

http://covenant-communion.com/?p=979

Bishop Bennison: ‘A Monstrous Sin,’ But ‘Charges Are Not True’

The Charles Bennison saga continues. From the Living Church-

The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr., Bishop of Pennsylvania, has expressed remorse for the emotional trauma inflicted on a teenage girl who was sexually abused by his brother at a California parish where Bishop Bennison served as the rector in the 1970s. But he maintains the charges against him “are not fair and are not true.”

A nine-member church court ruled unanimously in October that Bishop Bennison should be deposed from ministry in The Episcopal Church for failure to report his brother and to protect the girl.

“This was a terrible, monstrous sin,” Bishop Bennison told The Living Church. “I have always expressed remorse for my direct responsibility in this tragedy, especially hiring my brother as the youth director, inadequately supervising him and not thoroughly investigating the situation when it was first brought to my attention in 1976.”

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2008/11/14/bishop-bennison-a-monstrous-sin-but-charges-are-not-true

LOS ANGELES: Dangerous 'sundowner' winds fan flames, destroy Episcopal monastery

From Episcopal News Service. Wildfires in California.

Dangerous 70-mile-an-hour winds known as "sundowners" exploded fire across parts of Southern California on November 13-14, injuring at least four people, destroying an estimated 100 homes, and leveling an internationally known monastery of the Episcopal Order of the Holy Cross.

Residents of the picturesque Montecito area of Santa Barbara were evacuated as firefighters battled flames after the winds had died down. The "sundowner" effect results from the violent clash of hot air from the Santa Ynez Mountains and the cool air of the Pacific Ocean.

Property losses were estimated in the millions and climbing in the scenic area, where many celebrities, such as Oprah Winfrey and others, have homes.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_102524_ENG_HTM.htm

Good Stuff in TEC: Chicago

Lombard church buys mosquito nets to fight malaria in Africa

The numbers are staggering.

Each year, as many as 500 million people will contract malaria. About a million of them will die. Most of the victims will be children - as many as 3,000 children a day.

And just about all of it is preventable.

Malaria is rampant in sub-Saharan Africa, where a huge population of mosquitoes carry the parasites that cause the disease. The mosquitoes do their damage at night, biting and infecting victims while they sleep.

The first line of defense is nets that have been treated with a long-lasting insecticide. The nets are hung around beds and sleep mats, protecting three people for five years and helping to dramatically cut the number of mosquitoes in the community.

Calvary Episcopal Church in Lombard, as part of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, helps raise money to buy mosquito nets through the NetsforLife program.

"We are a healing community. Providing malaria nets is a tangible and real way to provide assistance, save lives and contribute to the healing of the world," said Joyce Crowe, who is helping run Calvary's NetsforLife drive.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=250439&src=2

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Good Stuff in TEC: California

Nothing says love like a Water Buffalo

The economy is tight and as the holidays approach, every penny becomes more valuable as shoppers try to find just the right gift for loved ones.

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Santa Clarita is giving locals an opportunity to buy gifts that carry some extra this weekend at an "Alternative Gift Fair" from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at 24901 Orchard Village Road.

"We all have a need, a capacity, a yearning to give and help somebody," said Mary Jo Higginbotham, gift fair chairperson. "The Alternative Gift Fair is a celebration of our abundance and in our generosity we can give to people who need it most."

Whether it's a water well, shelter, a tree, food package, beehive or water buffalo, the fair will offer numerous gifts of "peace and justice" that can be bought for the less fortunate in honor of a purchaser's loved one.

http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/5972/

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If we are fortunate, much good might come from doing without

An Interesting Opinion piece on the possible spiritual benefits of the current financial crisis. Tom Ehrich is an Episcopal Priest in Indianapolis.

I am telling church leaders that it is time to let go of old anxieties, especially self-centered fussing and stale traditions, and to focus instead on being lean, efficient and self-sacrificial enterprises that are dedicated to serving others. Too many congregations are strangling on yesterday's bickering and priorities.

There are so are many families and businesses with arguments that don't end and business models that don't work. We all need fresh starts.

In fact, when we stand back, I think we will see why we ran up $2.3 trillion in personal debts: We were trying to escape ourselves and the difficult decisions that we needed to make in order to have peace and meaning in our lives.

We have tried to live without God. We have tried not to see our skills, blessings -- indeed, our very existence -- as God-given assets entrusted to our care, but rather as economic engines for amassing worldly wealth. In our world-view, we weren't engaged in a dynamic transaction with a living God. We were living as we chose, and if we turned to God at all, it was only as a last resort.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20081115/LIVING09/811150381/1007/LIVING

Fort Worth Diocese to officially split from Episcopal Church today over social issues

From the Dallas Morning News - I think this is interesting mostly for the quotes from neighboring Dallas Bishop Jim Stanton a conservative who says leaving is not the right thing to do. Ft. Worth will be the last diocese to leave TEC.

"There's been this huge disinformation campaign," said Ms. Sherrod, a Fort Worth writer active in local groups advocating loyalty to the Episcopal Church. "Voices that would offer a counterpoint have not been heard."

Ms. Sherrod points to Bishop James Stanton of the Diocese of Dallas as a conservative leader who, after a survey and listening tour of the diocese, decided against secession.

Bishop Stanton, who has sided with Bishop Iker in many church controversies, said that 80 percent of his parishioners had concerns about the direction of the national church. But 80 percent of them weren't troubled enough to want to leave.

The Dallas Diocese has seen some conservative churches leave on their own, including the large, influential Christ Church in Plano. But Bishop Stanton is disinclined to follow the lead of his close friend Bishop Iker.

"We're not going anywhere," Bishop Stanton said. "If I've heard it said once, I've heard it said a thousand times: You don't win a battle by leaving the battlefield."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-episcopal_15met.ART.State.Edition2.4a4bed4.html

Group Calls For Bishop's Resignation

More trouble in the Anglican Church in Africa-

Last Friday afternoon, the Anglican Cathedral in Gaborone was turned into hostile territory as disgruntled faithful demanded the resignation of Bishop Trevor Mwamba (pictured).

The congregation's planned march from the South Ring Mall to the cathedral did not materialise as they failed to secure the required police escort.

However, the determined placard-waving group assembled in the church premises and chanted anti-Mwamba slogans. After about 20 minutes of song and dance, they handed a petition to churchwardens, Lorato Manthe and John Melamu because Mwamba was not available.

In the petition, the group talks about 'dirty dealings' with church finances. They say how the handling of money in the church is a closely guarded secret as the last audit report was done for the 2005 financial year.

They demanded answers for P8.8 million which the church failed to account for when the qualified audit report was held at the last diocesan Synod in 2006. The group alleges that the bishop has not shared information on the sale of a church residence for around P1 million and the subsequent purchase of another in excess of P3 million. "The sales of church property seems to be on the rise and we are concerned at the rationale and authority for these transactions which are suspect," the petition said.

http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=9&dir=2008/November/Monday10

Conservative clergy unveil new plan

The Canadian take on the proposed parallel province. The Toronto Star reports what others have that it will not be recognized by Canterbury.

Breakaway conservative Anglicans hope to set up a new entity within the church to rival the established power structure in Canada and the U.S. within the next three months. And they say failure to recognize their efforts could irrevocably divide the communion.

"If this new province doesn't work, there's probably going to be a much bigger split than just North America," Bishop Don Harvey told a news conference yesterday.

Harvey, moderator of the conservative Anglican Network in Canada, said the new entity would offer a conservative alternative to the liberal national churches in Canada and the U.S. While provinces in the Anglican communion are traditionally set up along geographic boundaries, the Network is working with dozens of U.S. congregations to break new ground by setting up a new North American province along theological lines.

Harvey concedes the communion has no process in place for the Network's request. Nonetheless, he hopes the proposal will be on the agenda of a meeting of the church's 38 primates, representing 75 million Anglicans worldwide, this February in Egypt.

Leaders of the church in both countries, as well as Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Anglicanism's spiritual leader, have said they oppose such a new province being part of the Anglican Communion.

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/536542

Herb Score, Indians Pitcher Dies at 75

Herb Score died a few days ago. His career was so promising until Gil McDougald lined a ball into his face. Another reason to root for anyone but the Yankees. For you soccer fans out there, there is one rookie of the year in each league each year.


Herb Score, the Cleveland Indians pitcher and former broadcaster whose promise on the mound was shattered by a line drive, died Tuesday. He was 75.

Score died at his home in Rocky River, Ohio, the team said in a statement. He had been in a wheelchair since suffering a stroke in 2002, four years after he was seriously injured in a car accident.

A hard-throwing left-hander with a big fastball and big heart, Score pitched for the Indians from 1955-59. He was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1955 after going 16-10. He went 20-9 in 1956 and was twice named to the All-Star team.

However, Score's career took a sad and nearly tragic turn on May 7, 1957, when Gil McDougald of the New York Yankees lined a ball off Score's right eye, breaking his nose and a number of bones in his face. As Score lay fallen on the field covered in blood, the public address announcer asked the crowd at Municipal Stadium, "If there is a doctor in the stands, will he please report to the playing field."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iAVYwajXQpGEyP-9kJTKs3kASrYAD94CRKQ00

Fort Worth on verge of secession

This will be last diocese to make the decision to realign. That makes it four out of 110 dioceses. Of the four three are opposed to women's ordination.

Delegates to the Diocese of Fort Worth’s annual synod will decide this Saturday whether to quit the Episcopal Church, a move which would make it the fourth American diocese to secede and affiliate with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

The stronghold of the Anglo-Catholic movement in the Episcopal Church, Fort Worth has long been at odds with the Episcopal Church over innovations of doctrine and discipline championed by its liberal hierarchy. One of only three dioceses that did not ordain or license women clergy, Fort Worth now remains alone within the American church in rejecting women’s orders, after Quincy quit this past week and San Joaquin left in 2007.

Fort Worth bishop the Rt Rev Jack L Iker said he was “confident” the second reading of the secession bill would pass this week’s synod on Nov 15. The “only question is by how much” he told ReligiousIntelligence.com.

At its 2007 synod Fort Worth passed the first reading by a four to one majority of six constitutional amendments that ended its accession to the constitution and canons of the Episcopal Church. Canon lawyer and Assistant Bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt Rev William Wantland told the 2007 synod that claims proffered by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori that people could leave the Episcopal Church, but dioceses could not lack historical or legal foundation.

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=3296

Suspended bishop asks church court to reverse ruling

From the Philadelphia Inquirer - the saga continues.

In hopes of salvaging his career, suspended Episcopal Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. yesterday asked a special church court convened in Philadelphia to reverse its recent sentence removing him from holy orders.

Defrocking a priest or bishop is "the ecclesiastical equivalent of the death penalty," Bennison's attorney, James A. Pabarue, told the nine judges. Their sentence, he said, was "unduly harsh and unsupported by the evidence."

In June, following a four-day trial here, the Court for the Trial of a Bishop unanimously found Bennison, head of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, guilty of failing to intervene in his brother John's sexual abuse of a teenage girl more than 30 years ago in a California parish where Bennison was rector.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/34383709.html

Stewardship in a time of financial crisis challenges congregations

From Episcopal News Service-

Stewardship season, the time when Episcopal congregations ask their members to decide how much of their income they will give to support the church's mission, coincided this year with a global economic crisis that caused layoffs, home foreclosures, shrunken investment portfolios and retirement accounts, and mostly dire predictions about the future.

While some Episcopal congregations advocate the biblical tithe of 10 percent and others suggest proportional giving (setting an initial percentage of income to pledge and then increasing it each year), both models – and all the variations in between – depend upon givers knowing or being able reasonably to predict the income upon which to pledge. The current uncertainty makes that predicting harder.

Yet the Rev. Brad Whitaker, rector of Christ Church in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, said, "I don't feel it's appropriate to go into panic mode." He won't be preaching "arm-twisting" stewardship sermons, he added.

Grosse Pointe Farms is close enough to Detroit to be feeling the downturn in the automobile industry and some of Christ Church's more than 350 pledging members have lost their jobs – or are worried about them. In the midst of that anxiety, Whitaker's message is that pledging must be "an honest reflection of my thankfulness for what God has already given me."

Tom Gossen, executive director of the Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS), said in an interview that a traditional stewardship message of "what I believe, why I give and what difference it makes" is still the best way to approach the season, no matter its context. "It's got to be giving out of love," he said.

http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_102453_ENG_HTM.htm