Christian Charity Backtracks on Gays

From The New York Times-

World Vision U.S., an evangelical Christian charity known for asking donors to sponsor a hungry child, set off an uproar when it announced this week that it would hire Christians in same-sex marriages.

The charity, the nation’s 10th largest, is based in Washington State, where same-sex marriage is legal, and said it intended to present a symbol of “unity” for Christians in an era when controversy over homosexuality is splintering the church.

Instead of the unity it sought, World Vision’s move was swiftly denounced by some prominent evangelical leaders as a “disaster” and a devil-inspired betrayal of biblical morality. Christians proclaimed online that they had canceled their child sponsorships. Less than 48 hours later, World Vision reversed course, calling the decision “a mistake” and pleading for forgiveness.

More here-

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/us/christian-charity-backtracks-on-gays.html?_r=0

Church decline has halted, say Anglican statisticians

From The Church Times-


OFFICIAL statistics issued last week suggest that attendance at C of E churches may have levelled out after decades of decline.

A report by the Archbishops' Council, Statistics for Mission 2012, released on Friday last week, suggests that, on an average Sunday in 2012 (the latest year with available data) about 859,000 people attended a C of E church. This compares with 901,000 in 2003.

The average weekly attendance for the Church was higher, at 1.05 million people. About one in five of those who attend a C of E service weekly are reckoned not to attend on a Sunday.

Three months ago, a C of E report on church growth, From Anecdote to Evidence (News, 31 January), suggested that there had been nine per cent decline in average weekly attendance over the decade to 2010.


More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/28-march/news/uk/graphs-have-levelled-off,-say-anglican-statisticians

English priest shadows women bishops for a job she can’t have _ yet

From The Washington Post-

The Rev. Sue Pinnington is on a five-week mission to compile a job description for a post she’s currently not able to have: bishop.

During a recent stay in the nation’s capital, the English priest shadowed Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, the first woman elected as the top leader of the Diocese of Washington. Outside a subway station, the two women imposed ashes on commuters for Ash Wednesday. Two days later, they heard the Dalai Lama at the Washington National Cathedral.
More here-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/english-priest-shadows-women-bishops-for-a-job-she-cant-have-_-yet/2014/03/27/9ffab7b4-b5e0-11e3-bab2-b9602293021d_story.html

Anglican parish in Carbonear under scrutiny for 'financial irregularities'

From Newfoundland-

An official with the Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador has confirmed that an investigation into alleged financial irregularities at St. James Church in Carbonear is underway.

Archdeacon Sandra Tilley, the executive officer with the diocese, also confirmed that the rector at St. James, Rev. Mark Janes, "has been granted a leave of absence."

Parishioners at St. James were informed of the situation during a church service on Sunday, March 23, in a letter from the bishop, Right Rev. Geoff Peddle.

More here-

http://www.gfwadvertiser.ca/News/Local/2014-03-26/article-3664121/Anglican-parish-in-Carbonear-under-scrutiny-for-financial-irregularities/1

Jimmy Carter says Pope Francis promised ‘women should have a greater role’

From The Washington Post- (with video)

Former President Jimmy Carter isn’t exactly known for withholding his opinion, so it wasn’t surprising on Wednesday to hear him say he typed out and mailed a letter to Pope Francis challenging the pontiff on the status of women in the Catholic Church.

“He promised me he thought women should have a greater role,” the 39th U.S. president told an audience during an appearance at The Washington Post. Carter was promoting his new book “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power.”

More here-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/jimmy-carter-says-pope-francis-promised-women-should-have-a-greater-role/2014/03/26/a2ba17a2-b517-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_story.html

'Bishop Of Bling' Gets The Boot

From NPR-

The more than $40 million he allowed to be spent on renovations at his residence and allegations that he lied about some of his other lavish spending have now officially cost the "bishop of bling" his job.

The Vatican announced Wednesday that it has accepted the resignation of Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who had been the bishop of Limburg, Germany. He will be assigned other duties.

It was last October when the Vatican suspended Tebartz-van Elst, following reports about $475,000 that was spent on walk-in closets, $20,000 for a bathtub and other expenditures that drove the cost of what was supposed to be a $7.5 million or so renovation to nearly six times that figure.

As Agence France-Presse adds, "he had also come under fire for lying under oath about flying first class to visit slum dwellers in India."

More here-

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/03/26/294685142/bishop-of-bling-is-a-bishop-no-more?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=share&utm_medium=facebook

Church leaders demand guns to protect faithful from attacks

From Kenya-

Pentecostal church leaders in Mombasa have renewed calls to the State to arm them to protect their property and faithful from terrorists following Sunday’s attack on worshippers in Mombasa’s Likoni slums. 

Speaking in Mombasa under the umbrella of the Kenya National Congress of Pentecostal Churches and Ministries (KNCPCM), they asked major churches such as the Catholic and Anglican Church of Kenya and their umbrella organisations to offer direction on the issue of security in churches, particularly in Mombasa. 

The church leaders expressed concern that the attacks could reduce the number of worshippers attending services due to fear. “We ask our national church leaders to meet as a matter of urgency to guide the church in this country at this crucial time,” said KNCPCM chairman Bishop Tee Nalo. Speaking at a Press conference held at the Darajani Hotel in Mombasa yesterday, the church leaders called on Kenyans to support the Government efforts to eliminate terror activities.


Read more at:


http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/thecounties/article/2000107832/church-leaders-demand-guns-to-protect-faithful-from-attacks

MAN TAKES UP 40-DAY BEER ONLY DIET

From Toronto (You can't make this stuff up)

Schryer, a devout Anglican at Toronto’s Church of St. Aidan, went to great lengths to ensure his Lent choices were proper getting his Reverend to bless the 100 litres of German lager that will keep him alive until Easter.

On his food-forfeiting pledge he told The National Post: “Without being dramatic, it definitely is not fun; it’s challenging. Every meal time there’s challenge.”

His choice of Doppelbock, a German-style strong lager, was deliberate as it is among the world’s heaviest beers and imbued with just enough nutrients to stave off starvation, providing him with 2,000 calories per day.

He said: “I would definitely be emaciated without the beer. The calorific value is just incredible.”

While a 40 day stint surviving only on beer might be manageable, extending such an extreme diet would inevitably lead to death and is not recommended.

More here-

http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2014/03/man-takes-up-beer-only-diet-for-lent/

House of Bishops concluding ‘bridge-building’ spring retreat

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church House of Bishops’ nearly complete annual spring retreat has been a time of community building and bridge building.

“You cannot work as effectively as colleagues if you are not also friends, and there is emotional and relational capital – spiritual capital – that’s generated in these gatherings that we depend on at other points in the life of the House of Bishops,” Diocese of Kansas Bishop Dean Wolfe, vice president of the House of Bishops, said March 25 during a telephone news conference.

Diocese of Eastern Michigan Bishop Todd Ousley, co-chair of the House of Bishops Planning Committee, agreed. “As we continue to embrace the spring meeting as a time of retreat and reflection, we’re growing together as a house more deeply in that embrace with each successive meeting,” he said.

The bishops, Ousley said, are “beginning to deepen our appreciation for one another” and, by way of hearing reflections from their colleagues, are building bridges between “our own personal spirituality and the spirituality of what it means to be a bishop serving in the church at this time.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2014/03/25/house-of-bishops-conclude-bridge-building-spring-retreat/

Rebel Catholic priest who was too conservative for the CofE confesses he secretly 'married' a Muslim man in sham ceremony to help him stay in the UK

From The Daily Mail-

A high-profile Catholic priest has been suspended after a Mail on Sunday investigation discovered he was in a sham ‘gay marriage’ to help a Pakistani immigrant stay in Britain.

Father Donald Minchew – a former Anglican who converted to Catholicism after attacking the Church of England’s loss  of traditional values – admitted entering into a civil partnership as a favour to a family friend desperate to work in Britain.

Last night the Home Office said it was ‘determined to crack down on immigration offenders’ and Mustajab Hussain now faces an investigation and possible deportation.

More here-


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2586966/Rebel-Catholic-priest-conservative-CofE-confesses-secretly-married-Muslim-man-sham-wedding-help-stay-UK.html

Cardboard cathedral designer wins top prize

From New Zealand-

One of architecture's most prestigious international awards has been given to the man behind Christchurch's cardboard cathedral.

Shigeru Ban was today named the winner of the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

The 56-year-old Tokyo-born architect is known for his elegant, innovative and resourceful approach to design, as well as his humanitarian efforts.

Ban will be given the distinguished award at a ceremony at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum on June 13, recognising his work creating community buildings for disaster victims around the world.

Over the last 20 years, he has worked locals, volunteers and students in places hit by natural or man-made disasters to design and construct simple, low-cost and recyclable shelters and buildings.
More here-

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9865626/Cardboard-cathedral-designer-wins-top-prize

World Vision Goes Liberal

From The American Spectator-

The $1 billion relief group World Vision, which was until recent years seriously Evangelical, has greenlighted same-sex marriages for its employees, who are expected, as according to Christian teaching, to be chaste, i.e. celibate if single and monogamous if married.

Richard Stearns, chief of World Vision in the U.S., in justifying the decision, said some of its over 1,100 U.S. employees belong to denominations that recognize same sex unions, i.e. liberal Protestants like the Episcopal Church and United Church of Christ. (Overseas World Vision affiliates have their own self-determined policies.)

“I want to be clear that we have not endorsed same-sex marriage, but we have chosen to defer to the authority of local churches on this issue,” Stearns explained, as though an ostensibly Evangelical group deferring to declining liberal Protestantism were not the least bit unusual.

It’s likely that relatively few World Vision employees are liberal Mainline Protestants, and fewer still, perhaps a tiny fraction, are in same sex unions. So the shift in policy by the formerly conservative Christian group is mostly symbolic, signaling a new postmodern identity in sync with the secular Zeitgeist.

More here-

http://spectator.org/articles/58512/world-vision-goes-liberal

Davenport man to remain married as Catholic priest

From Iowa-

A Davenport man will continue his 29-year marriage when he is ordained this summer as a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport.

Chris Young, 53, will join the clergy thanks to a 1980 dispensation from Pope John Paul II, according to the Quad-City Times. The order, called the Pastoral Provision, applies to former clergy of the Episcopal Church.

“I get to keep my wife, and I am keeping my wedding band on,” Young said.

Young will be one of about 100 men in the U.S. who became Catholic priests through such a process.

More here-

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/viewart/20140325/NEWS/303250079/Davenport-man-remain-married-Catholic-priest

VTS Plans More Housing

From The Living Church-

Carol Kyber writes for Virginia Theological Seminary:

During its February meeting, the Board of Trustees for Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) approved the project proposal from a task force formed in the fall of 2013 to proceed with the building of additional on-campus housing for VTS seminarians.

The underlying concerns regarding housing were driven by the financial impact to the Seminary due to rising rental costs in the Alexandria area and whether satisfactory rental housing would continue to remain available in near proximity to the campus. The first recommendation to build on-campus housing for married students was considered in the 1980s. Then the monthly rent for a two bedroom apartment was $610. Today that same apartment rents for $1,738 a month with every expectation that rental prices in the Alexandria area will continue to increase each year. The decision by the board reflects that the time had come to address the matter.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/vts-plans-more-housing

Jersey churches 'must keep paying Winchester diocese'

From The BBC-

Anglican Churches in Jersey have been told they must continue to pay their Parish Share to the Diocese of Winchester for the time being.

The money is raised by congregations to help fund the wider ministry of the church and to pay the clergy.

The Channel Islands split from Winchester in January after a dispute over how abuse complaints were handled.

However, the island's dean said church finances would remain with Winchester for at least the first quarter of 2014.

Canterbury oversight
The Church of England in the Channel Islands pays hundreds of thousands of pounds each year to Winchester, which is then used to pay clergy, training and other costs.
More here-

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-26698727

High court with vocally devout justices set to hear religious objections to health-care law

From The Washington Post-

There’s something that makes the current Supreme Court different from some of its recent predecessors.

The justices got religion.

Or at least they seem more open about their faith, appearing before devout audiences and talking more about how religion shaped their lives or guides them now.

As the court this week weighs religious conviction vs. legal obligation in the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act, those who study the court say the change is hard to quantify but easy to notice.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. are devout Catholics who faced questions during their confirmation hearings about how their faith would affect their jurisprudence. Justice Clarence Thomas is a former seminarian who says God saved his life.

More here-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/high-court-with-vocally-devout-justices-set-to-hear-religious-objections-to-health-care-law/2014/03/23/ff54147a-af97-11e3-9627-c65021d6d572_story.html

Sometimes-controversial Greensburg Bishop Brandt to retire

From Pittsburgh-

Greensburg Bishop Lawrence Brandt often recites a quote attributed to the 19th-century English Cardinal John Henry Newman: "To live is to change, and to have lived long is to have changed often."

Things have changed, and changed often, in the decade in which Bishop Brandt has led the Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg.

He has overseen the wrenching closings and mergers of numerous parishes and schools; strategic planning sessions; a capital campaign that exceeded its goal; sometimes-controversial spending decisions; and a growing use of foreign priests and permanent deacons in the face of declining ranks in the pulpits and pews.

Whether such changes have been for the better has been debated from cyberspace to the Vatican, which is considering a last-ditch appeal by Fayette County parishioners who want their churches reopened.

Read more:


http://www.post-gazette.com/local/westmoreland/2014/03/23/Sometimes-controversial-Greensburg-Bishop-Brandt-to-retire/stories/201403230102

Pope appoints former victim to sex abuse commission

From USA Today-

An Irish woman who was a victim of sexual abuse as a child is among eight members of a special commission appointed by Pope Francis to start the long and arduous process of confronting the church's chronic sexual abuse problems.

Francis appointed four women and four men — a mix of clergy and laypeople — from eight different countries to a panel that will advise the church on the best ways to protect children, identify and punish abusers, and train church personnel. Plans for the panel first emerged in December.

The creation of the commission is one of the strongest steps Francis has taken to confront the problem that has severely stained the church's reputation and cost it billions in court settlements and legal fees. The pontiff has called the issue of sexual abuse "the shame of the church" and vowed to take strong steps to confront the issue.

More here-

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/03/22/pope-francis-sex-abuse-commission/6731439/

Amarillo women move up church ranks through perseverance, faith

From Texas-

While some denominations are still struggling with accepting women in the clergy, three Amarillo church leaders have emerged as examples of the power of perseverance and faith.

But the concept was foreign not that long ago.

“I remember telling my grandmother that I was going to be a priest,” said the Rev. Jo Roberts Mann, rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. “She assured me that I could do anything that I wanted, but that wasn’t going to be one of them.

“You can not be a priest in the Episcopal Church.”

The paths of Mann; the Rev. Joan Gaines, chaplain of the Spiritual Care Ministry Team at BSA Health System; and Carol Rohane, ruling elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church, have varied, but all are leaders within their denominations.

More here-

http://amarillo.com/news/latest-news/2014-03-22/amarillo-women-move-church-ranks-through-perseverance-faith

Mozambique: The Bishop Who Smashed Guns At the Altar

From All Africa-

INTERVIEW

The longest-serving Anglican bishop in the world, Bishop Dinis Sengulane of Lebombo, a church diocese which covers southern Mozambique, is to retire after nearly four decades ministry in that country.

Sengulane was consecrated as a bishop soon after Mozambique became independent from Portugal in 1975 and the ruling Frelimo party formed a one-party state. He led his diocese through the 15-year-long civil war which followed independence and played an important role in efforts which eventually brought about an end to the war. He was interviewed in late 2013 by John Allen.

More here-

http://allafrica.com/stories/201403211253.html

Ruling's supporters react with celebration, opponents offer condemnation

From Michigan-

Many members and supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community celebrated Friday a judge’s ruling overturning a constitutional amendment in Michigan that defined marriage as legal only if it is a union between a man and a woman.

“I’m really happy that Michigan has now decided to join the ranks of more progressive states,” said Cass Varner, spokeswoman for Affirmations in Ferndale. “It’s good for us, it’s good for the family.”

The Rev. Deon Johnson, rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brighton, said he thought many in his denomination “will be overjoyed this day has come” and likened the ruling to the success of the civil rights movement, which also was supported by some religious groups.

“I think it moves us one step closer to realizing God’s dream, but another step closer to justice,” he said.

But others said despite the judge’s ruling they will continue to oppose same-sex marriage.

 http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140321/METRO06/303210117#ixzz2wh0YGVpv

The episcopal gadfly of the Church of England

From The Telegraph-

When Herbert Hensley Henson was named bishop of Hereford, the Archbishop of Canterbury considered resigning, and told him so.

That was in 1917. We may think bishops are a funny lot now, but, though Henson (1863-1947) was a bundle of eccentric contradictions, the biggest objection to his being consecrated was his inability to assent to the Virgin Birth of Jesus and his bodily Resurrection. He was consecrated (on the day the Bolsheviks confiscated all property of the orthodox Church), and the C of E did not fall apart.

It is unlikely today that such a figure would be made a bishop. His father had refused to send him to school. He was not baptised until 14. The Warden of All Souls called him the proudest man he’d known (and that was saying something). His colonialist brother was renowned as the rudest man in Calcutta.

The sequicentenary of his birth provoked a new biography, but I thought I’d read Owen Chadwick’s biography from 1983 first, and I’m glad I did. Chadwick writes beautifully and puts at least two interesting facts on each page. His judgments are so convincing that the risk is being won over entirely by his interpretation of a life that baffles by its lurches.

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10714400/The-episcopal-gadfly-of-the-Church-of-England.html

Priest dismissed from Episcopal Church after panel finds misuse of funds

From Akron-

Despite losing his orders as an Episcopal priest, the Rev. Brian S. Suntken is continuing his pastoral ministry.

Suntken, who said he resigned as pastor of Christ Church Hudson and renounced his orders from the Episcopal Church in December 2012, officially was “deposed and his ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church ended,” according to a church document dated Dec. 7, 2013.

The document, which was mailed anonymously to the Akron Beacon Journal, was signed by three members of a hearing panel of the Cleveland-based Episcopal Diocese of Ohio who found Suntken guilty of eight of nine allegations against him, including misuse of church funds and dishonesty.
Pastor ‘moving on’

“I didn’t participate in the [hearing] process, so it’s a one-sided deal,” said Suntken, who currently serves as pastor of the nondenominational Community of St. John in Hudson. “I’ve been out of the Episcopal Church for more than a year now and I’m moving on.”

More here-

http://www.ohio.com/news/priest-dismissed-from-episcopal-church-after-panel-finds-misuse-of-funds-1.475387

Justin Welby makes great strides, but his greatest challenge is yet to come

From The Telegraph-

It could have been like one of those moments in a country parish where a trendy new vicar rolls up with plans to rip out the Victorian pews to make way for a drum-kit and an overhead projector. The arrival of Justin Welby, a former businessman whose brand of Christianity is marked with the zeal of the convert, as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury had the potential to ruffle more than a few feathers in the established Church.

Within months of his enthronement, a year ago today, he seemed on course to do just that. He had overhauled his staff, with a series of new appointments. He had persuaded rival factions to take part in something akin to drama therapy sessions to confront their differences over women bishops, and he had delivered a blistering address to the General Synod on how it needed to face up to a sexual “revolution”.

But a year into the job – which combines the work of a medieval prelate, a FTSE chief executive and a world-weary inner-city rector – he has scored a series of successes that would have seemed unthinkable in the past. After decades of argument and years of tortuous legislative twists and turns, the Church of England is on the brink of finally approving the admission of women into the episcopate.

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10711762/Justin-Welby-makes-great-strides-but-his-greatest-challenge-is-yet-to-come.html

Church is 'running out of men to be bishops'

From The Daily Mail-

The Church of England is running out of male priests good enough to be bishops, a senior Labour MP said yesterday.

Former Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw said the Anglican talent pool is drying up while the Church has a high number of women who would make first-class bishops.

He spoke during a Westminster debate in which MPs warned the Church of England not to delay any longer in its progress towards allowing women to be consecrated as bishops.

Mr Bradshaw said in a Westminster Hall debate that there were rumours that the Church had run out of credible candidates worthy of promotion.

He said: ‘We have a great bunch of bishops and they do a fantastic job in the House of Lords, but one does hear sort of rumours that we are getting to the end of our talent pool when it comes to male suffragans who we can promote up into diocesan bishops.

More here-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2585809/Church-running-men-bishops-Labour-MP-uses-debate-women-consecrated-says-Anglican-talent-pool-drying-up.html

Bishops start quizzing their clergy

From The Church Times-

GAY clergy have this week been describing the ramifications of the pastoral guidance on same-sex marriage, issued by the House of Bishops last month. Bishops have begun meeting gay clergy, at least five of whom are reported to be planning to marry.

The Vicar of St Mary with All Souls', Kilburn, and St James's, West Hampstead, the Revd Andrew Cain, said on Tuesday that speaking publicly about his plans to marry his partner of 14 years ( News, 21 February) had resulted in an "uncomfortable" meeting with his bishop, the Rt Revd Peter Wheatley, on Wednesday last week.

"It was very uncomfortable for both of us," he said. "He was with HR, and I was with a union rep. That would not be normal for a meeting between a bishop and a priest. I could not honestly say it was particularly pastoral. It was awkward."

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/21-march/news/uk/bishops-start-quizzing-their-clergy

Fred Phelps' death may mean end of Westboro church

From USA Today- (with video)

With the death of Fred Phelps, the vitriol-spouting leader of Westboro Baptist Church who picketed military funerals and espoused hatred for gays, the future of his church is hazy.

Phelps, 84, died late Wednesday, according to online postings of his church. The cause of death was not reported.

"It's unclear whether this so-called church will survive the death of its founder," said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has closely monitored the group. "In some ways, it was a cult of personality."

Phelps, who started the church in Topeka in 1955, would go on to launch a campaign to picket the funerals of gay men and lesbians with placards that read "God Hates F---." Congregants drew the harshest criticism for picketing the funerals of fallen U.S. military personnel. Phelps said the deaths were God's way of punishing a country that enabled same-sex relationships.

More here-

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/20/westboro-church-fred-phelps-gay-controversy/6664703/

Religions unite over anti-slavery initiative

From CNN-

Major religious faiths around the world are joining forces to fight the scourge of modern-day slavery and human trafficking.

Australian billionaire and mining magnate Andrew Forrest has signed up major religious heavyweights –Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Grand Imam of the al-Azhar mosque in Egypt, Islam's highest-ranking Sunni cleric.

This week their representatives gathered at the Vatican to sign on to Andrew Forrest’s initiative, the Global Freedom Network.

Forrest joined Amanpour in her London studio, along with Archbishop David Moxon of the Anglican Church and Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo of the Catholic Church.

More here-

http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/19/religions-unite-over-anti-slavery-initiative/

Alban Institute, a resource for mainline institutions, to shutter

From RNS-

As mainline Protestant denominations continue decades of decline, one of the main institutions helping educate its leaders announced Wednesday (March 19) that it will shut its doors.

Since it was founded four decades ago, the Virginia-based Alban Institute has guided mostly mainline congregations through consulting and publishing. Its founder and former president, the Rev. Loren Mead, became well-known for his speaking and writing about the future of U.S. denominations and was one of the first to predict denominational decline.

“When I started as a parish pastor, I found there wasn’t much help or continuing education,” said Mead, a retired Episcopal priest. “I am glad I have been able to contribute to the church, but I have not been able to solve its turnaround.” 

More here-

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/03/19/alban-institute-resource-mainline-institutions-shut-doors/

Re-imagining task force making progress toward November deadline

From ENS-

The Task Force for Re-imagining the Episcopal Church is on track for reporting its recommendations and specific legislative proposals to the church this November, according to the group’s co-conveners.

“I think we’re where we need to be at this point,” said the Rev. Craig Loya, dean of the cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska, who leads the task force with Katy George, a member of the Diocese of Newark. “I think we’re well on track to having a very thorough report that honors what our mandate was by the end of November.”

That mandate was set in General Convention Resolution C095, passed in July 2012, that called for a task force “to present the 78th General Convention with a plan for reforming the church’s structures, governance, and administration.”

Loya and George spoke to Episcopal News Service March 18, three days after TREC’s latest face-to-face meeting ended. The meeting, held at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, was conducted nearly exclusively in closed sessions (a copy of the agenda is here). Also on March 18, the group released a summary of the work it did during the March 13-15 meeting.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2014/03/19/re-imagining-task-force-making-progress-toward-november-deadline/