'Flu rituals' added to the church season

From ELO-

Episcopalians can expect new rituals in the order of service this flu season in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the seasonal and H1N1 viruses (AKA "swine flu").
At St. George's Episcopal Church in Germantown, Tennessee, a simple bow or nod has replaced the passing of the peace's handshakes and hugs. At Grace Cathedral in Topeka, Kansas, vodka-moistened gauze is used to wipe the communion chalice rather than cloth. Stanford University's Memorial Church has temporarily suspended use of the communal cup in favor of intinction, or dipping the bread in the wine.

"Though a common practice by most, during Holy Communion congregants are asked to dip the bread in the chalice and refrain from drinking from the cup," said the Rev. Joanne Sanders, Memorial Church's Episcopal associate dean and liturgical officer.

In early 2009, the H1N1 virus caused the first global outbreak of influenza in 40 years, infecting more than 300,000 people in 191 countries, and killing 3,917, according to the most recent data issued by the World Health Organization (WHO). Twenty-six U.S. states have reported widespread influenza activity, according to FluView, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention's weekly flu report.

Influenza, or the flu, is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. It spreads from person to person and can cause mild to severe illness, and in some cases, can lead to death. In the United States, flu season typically begins in the fall and continues into early spring. In addition to the regular seasonal flu, the H1N1 flu virus also is circulating, according to Flu.gov, a federal government information site operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS).

The rest is here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_115209_ENG_HTM.htm

Judge orders church to turn over property to Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles

From The LA Times-

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Wednesday ordered leaders of a former Episcopal church in La Crescenta to turn over church property by Oct. 12 to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, marking the latest wrinkle in a long-running legal dispute.

St. Luke's Anglican Church and the diocese have been feuding since 2006, when a majority of the parish's congregants voted to pull out of the diocese and the 2.1-million-member Episcopal Church because of differences over biblical authority and interpretation, including the national church's decision to consecrate an openly gay bishop.

After the La Crescenta church left, the diocese sued to retain its property.

St. Luke's argued that the parish remained the rightful owner because it held the deed.

In 2007, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John Shepard Wiley Jr. ruled in the diocese's favor.

In June, a state appellate court affirmed the judgment, saying the property was held in trust for the diocese and the national church.

More here-

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-church1-2009oct01,0,1455513.story

Proposed Marriage Laws Raise Storm

From Kenya-

The three Bills set to radically transform the family, property and rights triggered a storm on Tuesday with religious groups and the civil society taking extreme positions.

A section of the religious fraternity vowed to oppose the Bills even as gender activists and human rights organisations welcomed them.

In separate interviews, Muslims vowed to reject the draft Bills while the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) called for wider consultations. But the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and gender activists welcomed the Bills, saying they were "long overdue".

The reactions followed the tabling of the Marriage Bill, the Matrimonial Property Bill and the Family Protection Bill before the Cabinet by Gender Affairs minister Esther Murugi last Thursday.

The Cabinet, chaired by President Kibaki, deferred House debate on the three Bills reportedly to allow for "further consultations" between MPs and other stakeholders, amid concerns from gender activists that the ministers had shot them down.

Two ministers, who we cannot name because they are not allowed to disclose Cabinet secrets, have since allayed such fears, saying that the Cabinet had only suggested that the Bills be consolidated into one piece of legislation because they are related.

More here-

http://allafrica.com/stories/200909291133.html

Anglican church in Mozambique growing fast, bishop says

From Episcopal Life-

In the richer countries of the world, churches of the Anglican Communion are facing dwindling congregations but it is a different story in one of the poorest areas of the globe, in Mozambique.

"Something that is not growing is not alive, and we are growing," U.S.-born Mark van Koevering, the bishop of Niassa in the African country, said at a service in London on September 19.

Speaking at St. John's Church in Waterloo to mark the 103rd anniversary of the Mozambique and Angola Anglican Association, van Koevering said, "Almost 150 years ago, Charles Frederick Mackenzie came to Niassa ... He died within six months of arriving, having established four churches. There are now 136 Christian communities and 8,000 to 9,000 Christians in the diocese."

In a briefing after the service to supporters of the Mozambique and Angola association, known as MANNA, the bishop said that although his parishioners were some of the poorest people in the world, "they are all courageously facing up to the enormous challenges which followed destructive wars in which the Anglican church played a prominent role in establishing peace."

Van Koevering's wife, the Rev. Helen van Koevering, also serves as a priest in Mozambique.

The bishop said that within the Portuguese-speaking parts of Mozambique in the main urban areas, the Anglican church is growing fast and is only being held back by a lack of funds for training clergy and lay people, as well as for church building and transport.

"We are catholic [universal] but evangelism is absolutely central, and we are charismatic," he added. "We can't sit still. We have to get up and sing and dance. It helps to remove divisions between church people."


More here-

http://www.episcopal-life.org/81808_115102_ENG_HTM.htm

From Priest to Minister

From Florida-

Earlier this year, Father Alberto Cutié, a popular radio and television personality in Miami, found himself the subject of tabloid headlines when he was photographed relaxing on the beach with a woman who turned out to be his longtime girlfriend. Shortly afterward, he announced that he was leaving the Catholic Church to become an Episcopal priest, and in June he and his girlfriend were married in a civil ceremony. The reasons Cutié gave for his conversion to the Anglican Communion were not theological in nature; his primary motivation seemed to be to free himself from the celibacy requirement that the Catholic Church demands of its Latin Rite priests.

How unique is Cutié’s story? How many other Catholic priests have left the church for another denomination in order to marry? Could Cutié’s conversion signal the beginning of another wave of men leaving the priesthood? Until November 2008, when I completed my dissertation on the transition of celibate Catholic priests into married Protestant ministry, it would have been impossible to address these questions. The data I collected over the course of a year allowed me to conduct the first-ever analysis in this field.

Though many social scientists (including my granduncle, sociologist Joseph Fichter, S.J.,) had studied the phenomenon of priests leaving ministry since the late 1960s, I could not find a single research project that dealt with this specific subset. Not even the most elementary demographic data were available. How many Catholic priests chose to become Protestant ministers? From which branch of the priesthood (diocesan or religious) did they originate? What Protestant churches did they choose to join? All of these questions were unanswered.

More here-

http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11896

Stop the lies about Tamil refugees, send them home, Anglican bishop says

From Asia-

Colombo’s Anglican Bishop Duleep de Chickrea slammed continuous delays in repatriating Tamil refugees after the war between the Sri Lankan military and Tamil Tiger rebels ended back in May.

He said that “co-ordination amongst State authorities” leaves a lot to be desired. Demining and reconstruction, for example, are proceeding at a slow pace.

Yet the government stated that refugees could go home on the condition that they are housed by relatives in conditions of security. For the prelate this patent contradiction is humiliating to internally displaced persons (IDPs).

De Chickrea reminded the government that IDPs are not war prisoners, but people who left their homes for camps on the urging of the military, who put their trust in their promises.

The bishop wants the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration to provide information and clarity on the real situation in the areas once under the control of Tamil Tigers. The government should “demonstrate transparency in its management of the crisis” and in the reintegration of 250,000 refugees, he said.

De Chickrea is concerned about the refugees’ conditions since the “anticipated rain is an added factor that calls for responsible action with speed.”

More here-

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=16453&size=A

Fort Worth to Vote on Southern Cone Ties

From The Living Church-

A member diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) will consider a resolution that maintains the diocese’s ties with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone.

The resolution is being proposed by the Diocese of Fort Worth’s standing committee. The diocese’s convention will meet on Nov. 6 and 7 in Arlington, Texas. The resolution commits the diocese to continued participation in the ACNA, but also “maintains its status as a member diocese in the Province of the Southern Cone while the formal process of recognition of [ACNA] continues in the Anglican Communion.”

“At this point, the Anglican Church in North America is not yet fully recognized as a province of the Anglican Communion,” the standing committee said in an explanation. “We are working towards that goal, but it is a lengthy process involving the primates, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Anglican Consultative Council.”

The standing committee also says it is important for the diocese to remain within ACNA, in order to “support and encourage an authentic Anglican witness in North America.”

Another resolution urges the diocese to adopt the Ridley Cambridge draft of the Anglican Communion’s proposed covenant. A third resolution would inform Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America that the diocese shares his vision to “live, to actualize, and to participate in the full integrity of the Catholic Church—the full integrity of Orthodox Catholicism.”

In other diocesan news, the reconstituted Diocese of Pittsburgh will consider a resolution that authorizes a study of reuniting that diocese with the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Northwestern Pennsylvania has not planned a study of its own, although the Pittsburgh resolution would invite participation by that Northwestern Pennsylvania's bishop, the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, and other diocesan leaders.

The reunion study is one of 20 resolutions presented for Pittsburgh's diocesan convention, which is scheduled for Oct. 16 and 17 at Trinity Cathedral. Another resolution encourages congregations to submit their responses to the draft covenant “as a preliminary to a response by the diocese.” Fifteen more resolutions would offer the first of two necessary votes to reverse constitutional changes that were made as previous diocesan conventions prepared to separate the diocese from the Episcopal Church.

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/9/28/fort-worth-to-vote-on-southern-cone-ties

‘Child of the rectory’ becomes new metropolitan of BC/Yukon

From Canada-

The diocesan bishop of Kootenay, John Privett, 53, is the new metropolitan (senior bishop) of the ecclesiastical province of British Columbia and Yukon. He was elected at the provincial synod Sept. 25, and installed at the closing Eucharist Sept. 27.

Archbishop Privett becomes the 11th metropolitan of the youngest of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada. Founded in 1914, the province includes the dioceses of British Columbia, Caledonia, New Westminster, Yukon, Kootenay and the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior.

Archbishop Privett was born in Saskatoon and grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon, where his father served as rector of Christ Church Cathedral. “A lifelong Christian and child of the rectory,” he was ordained a deacon in 1981 and a priest in 1982, at the diocese of Edmonton. He was elected bishop of Kootenay in 2005.

Describing himself as “passionate about the life of parishes,” Archbishop Privett is interested in congregational development, dialogue, Christian formation and spiritual direction. He is also a strong supporter of camping ministry. On the national level, he serves on the planning and agenda team for the Council of General Synod (CoGS), as well as on the shared ministries committee and the youth initiatives task force.

More-

http://www.anglicanjournal.com/100/article/child-of-the-rectory-becomes-new-metropolitan-of-bcyukon/?cHash=235d5425bf

Episcopal presiding bishop to visit Casper

From Wyoming-

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is scheduled to visit Casper this week for the annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming.

Diocese officials say Jefferts Schori will attend events on Thursday and Friday at the convention being held at the Parkway Plaza hotel.

Jefferts Schori was bishop of Nevada when she was elected the first female leader of The Episcopal Church in 2006.

In Casper, Jefferts Schori is scheduled to preach at services on Thursday night and Friday morning. There will be a banquet in her honor Friday night.

The convention will also honor retiring Wyoming Bishop Bruce Caldwell with a banquet Saturday evening.

Diocese officials say they expect several hundred Wyoming Episcopalians to attend.

http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11216096

Accused chaplain suspended by mission

From the UK

A KEELBY chaplain accused of immigration offences after allegedly marrying his wife twice has been suspended from his job at the port of Immingham.

Samuel Bisaso, originally from Uganda, had been working for the Mission To Seafarers as a chaplain for the Immingham Seafarers' Centre since 2006.

A spokesman for the Mission To Seafarers, a missionary society and charity which is part of the Anglican Church, confirmed that Bisaso had been suspended but declined to comment further.

Bisaso faces immigration charges and his wife, Proscovia Nakamya Bisaso, faces immigration and bigamy charges following their arrest by the UK Border Agency at their home in Victoria Road, Keelby.

The pair are due to appear at Grimsby Crown Court on October 16.


Samuel Bisaso, 43, is charged with: Signing a false declaration for procuring a marriage on September 1, 1998; having a false passport, on July 13 this year; and two counts of obtaining leave to remain in the UK by deception, by saying he was lawfully married, on June 20, 2001, and May 14, 2002.

Mrs Bisaso, 29, is alleged to have entered into a bigamous marriage of convenience in order to remain in Britain.

She has been charged with: Bigamy, on September 23, 1999, by, during the life of her husband, going through a form of marriage with Crispine Ateesa; signing a false declaration for procuring a marriage on September 1, 1998; obtaining leave to remain in the UK by deception, by saying she was Proscovia Kasozi, on June 10, 1997; and having a false passport on July 13 this year.

More here-

http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/news/Chaplain-accused-immigration-offences/article-1374317-detail/article.html

Former Archbishop of the Sudan dies

From Religious Intelligence-

The former Archbishop of the Sudan, Dr Joseph Marona has died in Khartoum after a long illness on Sept 18. His body will be taken to Juba and laid to rest at the cathedral.

Elected the third Primate of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan and Archbishop of Juba in 1999 during a meeting of the House of Bishops in Limeru, Kenya, Dr Marona’s eight-year tenure as primate saw the end to the 22-year civil war between the Muslim-Arab north and Christian-African south, and the prospects for the first sustained period of peace in South Sudan since the end of Anglo-Egyptian rule in 1956.

The church has also weathered the spectre of tribalism and the schism of the former Bishop of Rumbek, Gabriel Roric Jur, who, after being defrocked as bishop, established the rival Reformed Episcopal Church of the Sudan with the backing of the Islamist government in Khartoum.

Born in 1941 in the Western Equatoria province of Sudan, Dr Marona was educated at the Yei Teachers Training College and taught Arabic in Talia and Lui primary schools from 1962 to 1966. In 1966 he went into exile in Uganda and continued his education at Makere University.

Following the signing of the Addis Abba Peace Agreement he returned to the Sudan and served as a school headmaster in South Sudan from 1975 to 1978 when he entered the Bishop Gwynne College for his theological training. Ordained in 1982, he was appointed head of department of Christian education at Maridi Teachers Training Institute and in 1984 was appointed the first bishop of Maridi. In 1999 he was elected Primate of the Sudan and translated to Juba, but retired due to ill health on Dec 31, 2007.

More here-

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=5067

Relics offer hope to believers

From the London Times-

RELICS of the saints have been venerated by the faithful in the Catholic church since time immemorial (“Saints alive, all this religious tolerance has gone too far”, Comment, last week), as have the places where, in their belief, miracles have occurred (Lourdes, Santiago, Fatima, Lisieux, Avila, and so on).

The Anglican church also finds solace in and designates special places for veneration and worship — the Martyrdom in Canterbury Cathedral and the shrine at Walsingham, for example. The case of St Thérèse of Lisieux is far from being the “bamboozling of frightened, suffering, suggestible people”: Catholics are free to choose whether they visit and pray before her sacred relics.

As to Minette Marrin’s point that relics should not be taken into Wormwood Scrubs, why not? Christ was the first to forgive sinners. Why should prisoners be denied some hope because of misguided political correctness about the laws on equality or the view that “beliefs [that] are not merely irrational but sometimes dangerous and unacceptable”.

If personal belief directs the faithful towards veneration, then it is to be respected and accepted. The adulation of celebrity is tolerated by a far greater number than the “thousands of the faithful” who queued “patiently in Portsmouth”.

More here-

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article6850878.ece

Conscience Without Sunset

A must read from Bishop Ed Little and the Living Church-

Four years ago I wrote an article, “Living With Tares,” responding to an editorial in the evangelical magazine Christianity Today that had described schism as sometimes necessary and offered the Episcopal Church as its primary cautionary tale. I argued that I remain in the Episcopal Church because biblical faithfulness requires me to do so; because Jesus is Lord of the Church, and it’s up to him—and not us—to sort things out in the end.

In light of the actions of the 76th General Convention, I find myself revisiting that article and asking the question again: Why do I stay? Does our Lord have a continuing purpose for people like me, a bridge-building conservative and evangelical Catholic, in the Episcopal Church? If so, what is it? And what are the conditions required for continuing and faithful engagement with the church?

I ask these questions with a heavy heart. The bonds of affection in this church are deep. I minister, and gratefully so, to gay and lesbian parishioners all around my diocese. Many of my most beloved friends are colleague bishops who vote on the opposite side of the issues that divide us. I see Jesus in them, and I pray they see him in me. They are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Yet reality forces hard questions. General Convention took definitive action. Resolutions D025 and C056 answered two questions with clarity. The first has to do with human sexuality. “[S]ame-sex couples living in lifelong committed relationships ... have responded to God’s call and have exercised various ministries in and on behalf of God’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. ... God has called and may call such individuals to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church” (D025). “[T]he Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music ... [shall] collect and develop theological and liturgical resources”; and, in the meantime, “bishops, particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this Church” (C056).

We have made our decision. The restraint called for in B033 of the 75th General Convention has been set aside. Bishops may authorize blessings (that’s the clear implication of the “generous pastoral response”), and liturgies are on their way. Our course has been inexorably determined. The conversation about human sexuality is effectively over.

We answered a second question at General Convention as well: The question of the Anglican Communion, and its life and ministry. The Windsor Report presents a nuanced and balanced picture of the Church, a Catholic vision of interdependent life, carefully weighing the need for autonomy on one side of the scale and the need for accountability on the other. Our actions put us clearly on the autonomy side of the spectrum. In approving Resolutions D025 and C056, we have said No to the Anglican Communion. We have rejected two of the three moratoria requested by the Windsor Report and the four Instruments of Communion (most recently, at its May meeting, by the Anglican Consultative Council), and ignored the plea of the Archbishop of Canterbury in his General Convention sermon that we do nothing to exacerbate our divisions. The trajectory of the Episcopal Church propels us to the fringe of the Anglican Communion. Again, the conversation about ecclesiology is effectively over.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/9/25/conscience-without-sunset

She was a simple French girl who died a century ago. So why are thousands across Britain queuing for a glimpse of Little Flower?

From the Daily Mail-

With 28 venues in a single month, it's a punishing schedule. This week, her fans will be queueing round the block in Newcastle and Leeds before she starts heading south - via a prison - to take central London by storm in mid-October.

It's an itinerary to make Madonna or the Stones look positively idle. And you won't hear any absurd diva-style demands from this travelling star.

There will be no tantrums if her dressing room is not painted a certain shade of mauve or if her vase contains the wrong sort of orchids.

Her limo is nothing more glamorous than a converted Citroen people carrier and her road crew consists of a Falklands veteran and a Somerset undertaker.

Her only requirement is a modest one: she likes to have a couple of clergy with her at all times.
Considering she doesn't charge a bean for her appearances, it's not a particularly onerous demand. And she certainly gets around - as you would if you could somehow find a way of being in five places at once.

This has to be one of the most unusual travelling shows in this country since the Middle Ages. I have certainly never witnessed anything quite like the St Therese of Lisieux tour.

More here-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1216571/She-simple-French-girl-died-century-ago-So-thousands-Britain-queuing-glimpse-Little-Flower.html

Brighton church tends a garden to feed the hungry

From Michigan-

The summer harvest brought in by St. Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Brighton goes well beyond picking cucumbers from the vine.

What started as an idea for a small garden in front of the church has turned into an incredibly successful organic garden. In one summer, the church garden, which sits on a 25-acre plot at the Emerich Retreat Center in Hamburg Township, harvested 1,700 pounds of produce for Gleaners Community Food Bank.

"One of the goals of the (Episcopal) Diocese of Michigan is to eradicate hunger and promote healthy eating," the Rev. Deon Johnson of St. Paul's Episcopal Church said. "Literally, I said, I want a small garden to start," he joked.

What was supposed to be a small garden is having a major impact on the community.

More than 70 volunteers have helped plant and pick produce at the farm. Businesses, local residents and parishioners have donated more than $5,000 to get the garden growing.

None have been more helpful than head volunteer gardener Joannee DeBruhl, who spearheaded the project and often spends entire days picking produce.

"She has executed a huge project this summer," said Michelle Ounanian, Livingston County Gleaners programs coordinator. "We're excited that someone was happy to start a brand-new garden with Gleaners in mind."

The rest is here-

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-exchange-cropsfor,0,2826341.story

Chaplains needed in National Guard

From Topeka-

Finding enough chaplains to minister to troops has become a difficult task.

The Kansas Air National Guard has two of its six chaplain positions unfilled, while the Kansas Army National Guard is faring worse, with nine of 15 slots vacant.

Officials with the Kansas Army National Guard describe the high vacancy rate as typical of other units across the country.

They said efforts to address the shortage, including a $10,000 sign-on bonus, $4,500 in tuition assistance and extending the age limit for new enlistees, had done little to help so far.

The approaching retirement of many chaplains promises to compound the problem in the future.

The job of a military chaplain is to ensure that the spiritual needs of troops are met — a task that involves leading religious services and Bible studies and providing individual counseling.

But a host of reasons are making recruitment a challenge, including the danger of serving in war-torn areas and the reluctance of churches to stick with pastors who are deployed for several months at a time.

The Rev. Don Davidson, rector of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Topeka and the head of the Kansas National Guard’s chaplain program, said the shortage had resulted in chaplains facing repeated deployments.

“There is a definite need, but it comes at a price,” said Davidson, who doesn’t face deployment in his current position but has been deployed in the past.

“Not every church, not every clergyperson, wants to do that.”

More here-

http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1474557.html

Episcopal priest who moved mountains after Katrina resigns

From Louisiana-

The Rev. Jerry Kramer, a hyper-energetic Episcopal priest who transformed a small neighborhood church into a powerhouse that helped drive the post-Katrina recovery of the entire Broadmoor neighborhood, stunned his parishioners last week with news that, sick and exhausted, he has resigned.

In an accompanying e-mail message, Kramer said that if he recovers after several months on a temporary medical disability, he hopes next year to return to missionary work in Tanzania with his wife and two children.

"But I have to get well to do that, " he said last week. "I need some rest. I absolutely need some rest.

"I haven't been able to put in a full day (of work) in over a year."

In the four years since Katrina, Kramer developed a reputation as a innovative priest who, from the moment he paddled up to his flooded church on South Claiborne Avenue, merged its recovery with the recovery of the surrounding neighborhood.

"I think before he arrived, we were trying to figure out what our mission was, " said Martha McKnight, the head of the vestry at Kramer's Free Church of the Annunciation.

More here-

http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2009/09/post_3.html

Dominus vobiscum: Latin mass returns to Seattle

From Seattle-

The chants are stuff of childhood memory for today's middle-aged Catholics, but a ritual that has lately been resurrected and restored in the Archdiocese of Seattle -- the Tridentine rite Latin high mass.

In what he calls a "personal parish, not a geographic parish," Archbishop Alex Brunett a year ago authorized patient advocates of restoring the Latin liturgy to form North American Martyrs parish in Seattle.

About 500 people packed into its temporary home, St. Alphonsus Church in Ballard, on Friday night as Brunett presided over a stirring, deeply spiritual high mass. Saber-bearing Knights of Columbus in full regalia escorted the procession. Gregorian music wafted down from the choir loft, while sweet-smelling incense filled the air.

Many women's heads were draped in lace. Young children, present in large numbers, were quiet as, well, church mice. There were no response readings by the congregation. No laypeople walked to the microphone to read scripture.

The congregation's participation could be described in two words, prayerful and contemplative.

Only to the once-familiar words "Dominus vobiscum" (May the Lord be with you) did the congregation deliver a full voiced reply, "Et cum spiritu tuo" (And with thy spirit).

The priests, as in pre-Vatican II days, faced the altar. Why? "The same reason a bus driver faces the road and not the passengers: The priest is leading the congregation to the Mount of Calvary," explained Fr. Gerard Saguto, the parish pastor, who arrived from Indiana a year ago.

Fr. Seguto hails from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an order of priests founded by Pope John Paul II in 1988 to minister to the increasing demand for the mass in its older form.

More here-

http://www.seattlepi.com/connelly/410557_joel26.html

Church court rejects Pa. ex-bishop's new trial bid

From AP-

An Episcopal Church court has rejected a defrocked Pennsylvania bishop's bid for a new church trial based on a recently discovered cache of letters related to his case.

Charles E. Bennison Jr. was removed from his post last year after a church trial in Philadelphia found he covered up his brother's sexual assaults of a teenage girl in the 1970s. Bennison's lawyers argued that more than 200 letters recently found contradict witness testimony and show the victim tried to hide the relationship, hampering any intervention by the bishop.

The church court ruled that the letters "would not have changed the outcome of the trial."
No date has been set for an appeals hearing by a panel of bishops that could reverse the decision or impose a milder sentence such as suspension or reprimand.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i-cuA2F5PqO1NzV5q-8ZY6-nMrsQD9AV4S600

PITTSBURGH: Diocese may consider reuniting with neighbo

From ELO-

If its diocesan convention agrees in October, the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh will begin studying the possibility of reuniting with its neighbor the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania.
Resolution 4, due to be considered during Pittsburgh's Oct. 16-17 diocesan convention, would call for a committee to study "the potential long-term impact of such reunion on the financial and administrative resources of the two dioceses." The resolution adds that Northwestern Pennsylvania Bishop Sean Rowe and the diocesan standing committee would be invited to participate in such a study.

Vanessa Butler, a spokesperson for Northwestern Pennsylvania, told ENS September 25 that no similar resolution will come before that diocese's November 6-7 convention. She said that the Erie-based diocese has not discussed how it would participate in an eventual study by Pittsburgh, adding that "we wouldn't impede their progress."

Butler said that, as a small diocese, Northwestern Pennsylvania might at some point look at joining another diocese but "we're not looking to do that anytime soon."

What is now the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania was carved out of the Pittsburgh diocese in the early 20th century and called the Diocese of Erie. "In the intervening century much has changed in both regions in terms of economics and demographics," the Pittsburgh resolution's explanation notes. "In what was the Diocese of Erie (now the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania) there has been a significant decline of population. In the Diocese of Pittsburgh the Episcopal Church itself has experienced unprecedented change following the 'realignment' and departure from the Episcopal Church of many clergy and congregations."

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_115018_ENG_HTM.htm

Williams warns Tokyo students against ‘rationality’

From The Church Times-

THE NEXT generation is being betrayed by a utilitarian approach to reason, one that asks “What is the use or profit of this?”, the Archbishop of Canterbury said this week.

Dr Williams was speaking on Monday at Rikkyo Gaukin Univer sity, an Anglican institution in Tokyo, during a week-long visit to Japan to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican Church there.

Dr Williams challenged those who contrasted religion and reason, suggesting that theirs was a narrow interpretation of reason: “A way of arguing and testing propositions, usually so as to become better at manipulating the world around us”. This secular approach, he argued, had not proved entirely successful: “A rationality that has brought us into the age of nuclear weaponry and global economic meltdown invites some sharp questions, to put it mildly.”
He criticised the likes of Darwin, Marx, and Freud as having a debt to Christian theology, and yet cutting off the branch on which they were sitting.

Speaking to the university stu dents, Dr Williams cited St Bernard’s dispute with Peter Abelard, in which St Bernard argued that “the ultimate test of being reasonable was whether you understood what your place was in the universe.”

Separation from God left people defenceless “against the destructive powers that imprison our true humanity”, Dr Williams said. “Reason properly understood here is what ought to deliver us from this shrinking and defacing of what we are in our full dignity.” It would help students to “understand their place and potential in society”.

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=82034

In Japan, Presiding Bishop joins 150th anniversary celebrations of Nippon Sei Ko Kai

From Episcopal Life Online-

The birth of Anglicanism in Japan was the cause for celebrations this week as hundreds of guests -- national, international, ecumenical and interfaith -- traveled to Tokyo to join the local church in marking the 150th anniversary of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK).

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams were among those who participated in the church's sesquicentennial anniversary celebrations September 22-23.

The NSKK is one of the 38 provinces in the Anglican Communion. It traces its formal origins to June 1859 when the Rev. Channing Moore Williams, missionary priest and later missionary bishop of the U.S.-based Episcopal Church, landed at Nagasaki in southwestern Japan and joined the Rev. John Liggins, who had docked one month earlier. Some years later, other missionaries from England, the U.S. and Canada arrived and began working in Japan.

"We're here tonight to give thanks to God for 150 years of an Anglican presence in Japan," said Jefferts Schori during her sermon at Evening Prayer on September 22. "We are here as well to give thanks for the earliest province of the Anglican Communion which had not been part of the British Empire. I will begin by acknowledging, however, that the Nippon Sei Ko Kai owes its roots to American imperialism instead. Commodore [Matthew C.] Perry's insistence on a trade agreement in 1853-4 was soon followed by the entry of American missionaries who had been serving in China. God continues to work good out of things which did not begin in peace and holiness."

More here-

http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_114962_ENG_HTM.htm

Episcopal Relief & Development continues support in Sri Lanka

From ERD-

With heavy rains worsening the situation for displaced Sri Lankans, Episcopal Relief & Development is continuing to support the relief efforts.

Earlier this year, a battle between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers rebel group forced nearly 300,000 people to leave their homes. When the fighting ended, the government declared the 25-year conflict over and established camps to temporarily house internally displaced persons (IDPs) while they await resettlement. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) agreed to assist in providing relief services during that period.

The process has been slow, however. Four months later, the vast majority of IDPs still live in the temporary camps and NGOs are struggling to support the continuing needs. Adding to the problem, heavy rains in mid-August flooded the camps and destroyed the common kitchens, making IDPs even more vulnerable to hunger and disease.

Episcopal Relief & Development's partners include the Organization of Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OfERR), the Diocese of Colombo and the Diocese of Kurunagala. OfERR has been working in Sri Lanka's Vavuniya district since last November and will continue assisting more than 11,800 in and around the Manik IDP camp for the next six months. In addition, the Dioceses of Colombo and Kurunagala are providing relief items and medicine to hospitals that have been treating IDPs since early 2009, according to Nagulan Nesiah, Episcopal Relief & Development Program Officer for Asia.

More here-

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VDUX-7W7ME7?OpenDocument

Presiding bishop of Episcopal Church to visit Missoula

From Montana-

Montana Episcopalians will combine the national with the local this weekend during a visit by their church leader, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

The 26th presiding bishop of the 2.4 million-member church will lead the state's diocesesan convention at Missoula's Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, and also tour the site of the church's volunteer relationship with the Partnership Health Clinic.

"The (Missoula) church is phenomenal in the help they give us," said Partnership Health Executive Director Kim Mansch. "To have the bishop come and see that firsthand is really an honor for the Partnership, but also for their parish."

Holy Spirit Parish started sending volunteers to Partnership Health in 2002. The nonprofit health care center provides medical and dental services to Missoula residents. About 60 percent of its clients are uninsured, with 16 percent on Medicaid.

The church volunteers organize medical records, remind patients of visits and overdue payments, and perform other tasks.

Church members also helped the clinic win two grants, worth $35,230 and $40,000 respectively, from the national Episcopal Church's United Thank Offering program. The second grant was awarded in July, and will help the clinic pay for its expansion into the historic Creamery Building at 401 W. Railroad St., doubling its office space.

Partnership Health also landed a $571,545 federal capital improvement grant for expansion in July. In August, it received two more ongoing federal grants worth $300,000 to strengthen its behavioral health program and pharmacy service.

"The support we had from the community helped us score high and really beef up that program," Mansch said of the behavioral health and pharmacy grants. That kind of community teamwork is also a big part of the presiding bishop's message.

More here-

http://www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_4f511b50-a98d-11de-b7b5-001cc4c002e0.html

Precautions on use of ‘common cup’ eased

WORSHIPPERS in some parts of Dorset have been told they can start sharing a communion wine cup again – while in other parts of the county the practice will continue to be suspended.

Fears over swine flu led to many churches being advised to suspend the use of a common cup for communion in the summer.

Now churches in the Anglican diocese of Salisbury – which includes Poole, part of Bournemouth, Blandford, Swanage, and Wimborne – are being advised to make the communal wine cup freely available again.

But the chalice will continue to be suspended from use at Diocese of Winchester churches, which include those in Bournemouth.

The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev David Stancliffe, has told clergy in the diocese to move to “a lower level of precautions” following the summer peak in the epidemic.

The Bishop’s advice follows a reported drop in the weekly rate of swine flu infections from 100,000 in July to 4,500 in mid September.

The rest-

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/4648096.Precautions_on_use_of____common_cup____eased/

Churches fear guide on assisted suicide will undermine law

From the Church Times-

CHURCH spokesmen gave a guarded welcome to the guidance on assisted suicide issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, on Wednesday. They expressed a fear that the law would be eroded, however.

Mr Starmer maintained that helping somebody to commit suicide remained a criminal act. But in response to a request from the House of Lords after the Deborah Purdy case, he published the factors that he would take into account when deciding whether to prosecute. He also launched a three-month public consultation.

Mr Starmer said that he could not assure people in advance that they would not be prosecuted. Nothing in his new guidelines, The Interim Policy for Prosecutors in Respect of Cases of Assisted Suicide, gave that assurance. Assisting suicide was still a crime, with a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.

Nor did his guidelines cover euthanasia, he said. To cause the death of someone who wanted to commit suicide but could not was murder or manslaughter.

The eight factors that would have the strongest influence on concluding not to prosecute a suspect were that “the victim had a clear, settled and informed wish to commit suicide”; and that he or she had indicated that wish “unequivocally” to the suspect.

The victim should also have an illness from which there was no possibility of recovery. The suspect, a close relative or partner, should be wholly motivated by compassion.

Other factors were that the suspect had sought to dissuade the victim; and that the victim had already tried to commit suicide.

“The actions of the suspect may be characterised as reluctance in the face of a determined wish on the part of the victim to commit suicide.”

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=82010

Statement from the Church of the Province of Central Africa

From Anglican Communion News Service-

At a lawfully constituted Elective Assembly of the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) in August 2009, at which the majority of electors present were from the Diocese of Lake Malawi, over two thirds of the voters were in favour of the Revd Francis Kaulanda being appointed bishop of that Diocese.

The ecclesiastical laws insist that despite a vote in favour of the appointment of a person as bishop notice of the recommendation has to be affixed to the Cathedral door and other churches and proclaimed during two consecutive Sundays to give everyone in the parishes the opportunity to lodge any objections. The grounds of the objections are specified in the church laws. No objections were forthcoming.

To ensure transparency and give a final chance to come forward with specified objections, a Court of Confirmation is convened consisting of the bishops of the CPCA (Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe) or their commissaries. It is an Open Court to determine the eligibility of the recommended bishop. Anyone can appear to oppose the confirmation of the election of such person as a bishop of the Anglican Communion Worldwide. The confirmation can be held at any convenient place in any of the four countries mentioned above.

The Dean of the CPCA chose Lilongwe for the venue and gave notice accordingly. The court was lawfully convened on the 22nd September 2009. Various written objections had been lodged. The court called for the opposers to present themselves to give evidence.

The first witness was Mr Charles Wemba of Lingadzi Parish. Instead of giving evidence as he was entitled to he presented the court with an injunction order given in the High Court, Lilongwe, on 22nd September – the date of the sitting of the confirmation Court. The order refers to an affidavit which was not served on the Defendant named as The Registered Trustees of the Church of the Province of Central Africa. The plaintiff is named as Charles Wemba and 149 others. It will be interesting to learn how the registrar/judge of the High Court came to be satisfied that there were 149 other plaintiffs and that they were all represented by Wemba. Giving false evidence to a court is a serious offence.

More here-

http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2009/9/24/ACNS4657

Anglican Bishops to invite thousands of GTA commuters 'Back to Church'

From Canada-

On the morning of Thursday, September 24th, three Bishops from the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, dressed in their ecclesiastical vestments and mitres, will be outside the city's Union Station, inviting thousands of commuters 'Back to Church'.

The outreach is part of an international Christian initiative, which has designated Sunday, September 27th as 'Back to Church' Sunday. On that day, thousands of Anglicans and other Christians throughout the world will be accompanying their friends and relatives back to church.

"We are delighted that our diocese will be joining many others in celebrating Back to Church Sunday," says the Bishop of Toronto, Colin Johnson. "My colleagues and I are looking forward to greeting commuters and letting them know that they will be warmly welcomed at the Anglican Church in their community, on this Sunday or on any other. We want to encourage everyone to visit their place of worship this weekend."

The Bishops will be handing out a simple invitation to all who will accept one. It reads:

More here-

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2009/23/c7871.html

Waukesha approves winter shelter for homeless men

From Milwaukee-

A nighttime shelter for homeless men can again operate at a downtown Waukesha church hall this winter, the city Plan Commission decided Wednesday.

A majority in the standing-room only crowd of about 100 literally stood in support of the 5-1 decision, rising to their feet as their spokesmen told the commission that Waukesha was showing compassion by its action.

"No one thinks this is a permanent solution, but we're in an emergency situation," said the Rev. David Simmons, rector of St. Matthias Episcopal Church, which will again house the shelter. "The jobless and homeless statistics are staggering."

St. Matthias, at N. Main St. and East Ave., requested the conditional use permit along with Hebron House of Hospitality, which operates three other longer-term shelters.

An overnight shelter opened at the church last winter because existing shelters were routinely crowded. A particularly long spell of frigid weather and the growing impact of the recession - unabated still - added to the need. Salvation Army in Waukesha is the only other drop-in shelter for men operated in suburban Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties.

Last year, the Plan Commission had indicated that the permit was for only one year. Commissioner Curt Otto, who lives above his art studio business in downtown Waukesha, voted against a new permit because, he said, the city and county had not addressed the homeless on a permanent basis.

Some in the business community and residents have been critical of the shelter, seeing it as counterproductive to the city's longstanding downtown redevelopment efforts.

In a tepid statement of approval this month, the Business Improvement District Board voted 5-4 to support the shelter but urged agencies to offer users safe and beneficial destinations during daytime hours when the shelter is closed.

More here-

http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/60876432.html

S.C. Supreme Court rules for breakaway Episcopal parish

From USA Today-

A South Carolina parish that split from the Episcopal Church in 2004 can keep its church property, the state's Supreme Court has ruled, handing a rare legal victory to conservative dissidents.
A majority of members of All Saints Church at Pawley's Island voted to secede from the Episcopal Church five years ago, after an openly gay man was consecrated bishop of New Hampshire.

FAITH & REASON: Traditional Episcopal parishes still in the fold ask, 'What now?'
The Episcopal Church maintains that congregations hold their property in trust for the denomination; if they decide to leave, the property stays with the diocese and the national church, Episcopal leaders argue.

Applying "neutral principles," South Carolina's Supreme Court ruled on Friday (Sept. 18) that All Saints, which dates to the early 18th century, had secured ownership to the property in 1902, well before the Episcopal Church instituted its trust rules in 1979.

In 2004, a majority of All Saints members voted to remove references to the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina and explicitly "severed any legal relationship with those organizations," wrote the state's Supreme Court. The parish is now part of the Anglican Mission in the Americas, which is affiliated with the Episcopal Church of Rwanda.

"It is an axiomatic principle of law that a person or entity must hold title to property in order to declare that it is held in trust for the benefit of another," the court said in its ruling. The diocese did not have any legal interest in the congregation's property at the time legal documents were filed with civil authorities, the court decided.

More here-

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-09-23-episcopal-court_N.htm