London congregation joins alternative Anglican denomination, questions C of E's 'theological trajectory'

From Premier-

A vicar in south London has announced his congregation is joining an alternative Anglican denomination as he criticised "hostility to evangelical church planting" during "decades" by his local Church of England diocese.

Andy Palmer, who announced that Christ Church Balham is joining the Free Church of England described a "dominance of theological liberalism in the Diocese of Southwark.
The senior minister said: "We have made the decision to join the Free Church of England (FCE) denomination, which we believe will help us secure the gospel ministry here in Balham for generations to come..."

Similarly to the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE), the FCE is an evangelical Anglican denomination. It is a supporter of GAFCON - a global movement of conservative evangelical Anglicans.

Rev Palmer continued: "Given the theological trajectory of the Church of England, many churches like us across the country are now looking elsewhere for alternative oversight from evangelical bishops."

More here-

https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/London-congregation-joins-alternative-Anglican-denomination-questions-C-of-E-s-theological-trajectory

Five families seek refuge in Anglican Church for Caroling

From India-

For six days, since 23 December, five families have been forced to stay within the premises of a church in Pathamuttam near Kottayam in Kerala, ever since they were attacked whilst carolling before Christmas. On the night of 23 December, a group of carollers, including women and children, was allegedly attacked by DYFI workers. Chingavanam police arrested seven individuals in connection with the case including six DYFI workers. All those arrested were later granted bail.

However, the family members allege that DYFI workers continue to threaten them, and that they were forced to stay in the Pathamutam St Paul’s Anglican Church out of fear of attack if they left.

Johnson PC, committee secretary of the Pathamutam St Paul’s Anglican Church told TNM, "On December 23, a 45 member carol team was visiting homes in the area. But when they reached one of the homes, a group of DYFI workers allegedly joined the team and started calling them ugly words without provocation. The DYFI workers began harassing the girls in the group, and it was alleged that girls of the carol group was molested. When we questioned their actions, they attacked us and destroyed our instruments. Then we informed the police, and they reached the spot and directed us to stop carolling, and so we returned to the church.”

More here-

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/5-kerala-families-attacked-dyfi-members-forced-take-refuge-church-6-days-94199

S. Africa: Archbishop Desmond Tutu admitted to hospital

From South Africa-

Former South African anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has been admitted to a Cape Town hospital, his office said in a statement on Thursday.

“The Archbishop was in good spirits after settling into his ward. He hopes to be back home in a few days,” the statement said.

It added that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate will be turning 87 in 10 days’ time.

He has been admitted to an undisclosed hospital where a series of tests will be conducted on him.
The retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town rose to prominence in the 1980s for his strong role in the opposition to apartheid rule in South Africa.

More here-

http://infosurhoy.com/cocoon/saii/xhtml/en_GB/news/s-africa-archbishop-desmond-tutu-admitted-to-hospital/ 

and here-

https://www.41nbc.com/2018/09/27/former-south-african-archbishop-desmond-tutu-admitted-to-hospital/

Our confessional guidance is not uncanonical, Canterbury diocese says

From The Church Times-

CANTERBURY diocese has defended itself against the charge that guidance on its website advises priests to betray the seal of the confessional.

The Principal of St Stephen’s House, Oxford, Canon Robin Ward, this week called the advice “uncanonical”, and said that it placed the clergy in an “invidious and unsatisfactory position”.

The diocese’s child- and adult-protection guidelines, drafted and posted online in early 2015, state: “The Bishop emphasises that . . . any priest hearing a confession, regularly or otherwise, must say prior to hearing that confession the following statement of confidentiality and safeguarding: ‘If you touch on any matter in your confession that raises a concern about the well-being or safeguarding of another person or yourself, I am duty bound to pass that information on to the relevant agencies, which means that I am unable to keep such information confidential.’”

Prior to this, the guidelines cite the House of Bishops policy for safeguarding children (Protecting All God’s Children, 2010), which state: “Canon Law constrains a priest from disclosing details of any crime or offence which is revealed in the course of formal confession; however, there is some doubt as to whether this absolute privilege is consistent with the civil law. Where a penitent’s own behaviour is at issue, the priest should not only urge the person to report it to the police or the local authority children’s social care, if that is appropriate, but may judge it necessary to withhold absolution. In such a case the priest may consider it necessary to alert the bishop to his or her decision in order to safeguard himself or herself and seek advice on the issues, though the penitent’s details would not be shared without their permission. The priest might also judge it appropriate to encourage the penitent to speak personally to the bishop.”

More here

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/1-june/news/uk/our-confessional-guidance-is-not-uncanonical-canterbury-diocese-says

Episcopacy, Priesthood, and the Priesthood of the Church

From The Living Church-

It is a great pleasure to join you this evening to honour one of the great Anglican theologians and Bishops of the 20th century, Michael Ramsey. I have many illustrious predecessors as Van Mildert Professor at Durham. I count it particularly daunting but inspirational and a source of enormous pride to follow Michael Ramsey. Whilst I would never pretend for a moment to his depth of learning and spirituality, we do share an unswerving devotion both to Catholic and orthodox Anglicanism and the capacious nature of Anglican ecclesiology, a commitment to ecumenism and a deep love of this beautiful church and its liturgical and preaching ministry.

When Ramsey arrived in Durham as Van Mildert Canon Professor of Divinity in 1940, he was just 35 years old and came from a brief spell as vicar of St. Benet’s. The Gospel and the Catholic Church, written whilst he was a tutor at Lincoln Theological College, was not well-liked by some in Durham and he was regarded as very eccentric. Before his marriage to Joan Hamilton in the Galilee Chapel at Durham Cathedral in 1942, Ramsey lived alone in 12, The College (the cathedral close), a huge building that looks like a castle that the cathedral now lets as six substantial flats. You may know that Ramsey served as an air-raid warden during the war, although he was less distinguished in this role than he was as a theologian or bishop. He never quite grasped the difference between the air raid siren and the all-clear. He would often mistake them and rush round The College waking the residents as the all-clear was sounded, just in time for them to see the German bombers return from Newcastle.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2018/02/15/episcopacy-priesthood-and-the-priesthood-of-the-church/

Why Don’t People Want To Know?

From American Conservative-

I want to put this Alan Jacobs comment in a separate place from my thread about Christian higher education — the one I started earlier Monday, “The Big Freeze” — even though it rightly goes as an update. That post has been there since this morning, and I’m afraid if I updated it, most people wouldn’t read what Alan has to say about the same topic.

He has very strong words for Christians. Note well that Alan is a professor at Baylor University, an Anglican Evangelical, and not any kind of conventional conservative. He’s simply telling the truth here. Alan says the real crisis is going to come when Christian colleges and universities knuckle under to the left’s view of sexual desire and gender identity, or lose their accreditation. Excerpt:

"The people who argue that Christian institutions should support the modern left’s model of sexual ethics or else suffer a comprehensive shunning do not think of themselves as opponents of religion. And they are not, given their definition of religion, which is “a disembodied, Gnostic realm of private worship and thought”. But that is not what Christianity is. Christianity intrinsically, necessarily involves embodied action in the public world. And this the secular left cannot and will not tolerate, if it can help it, because it rightly understands that Christianity stands opposed to the secular left’s own gospel, which, popular opinion notwithstanding, is not essentially about sex but rather may be summed up as: “I am my own.”"

More here-

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/why-dont-people-want-to-know-benedict-option/

Believers must find new, more radical ways to practise their faith

From The Spectator (UK)

Hannah Roberts, an English Catholic friend, was once telling me about her family’s long history in Yorkshire. She spoke with yearning of what she had back home and how painful it is to live so far away. I wondered aloud why she and her American husband had emigrated to the United States from that idyllic landscape, the homeland she loved. ‘Because we wanted our children to have a chance to grow up Catholic,’ she said.

It’s not that she feared losing them to the Church of England — it’s that she feared them losing Christianity itself. She and her husband Chris, an academic theologian, are now raising their four young children in Philadelphia, a city with a historically large Catholic presence. Even so, Philadelphia is no safe haven, as the Robertses freely acknowledge. Christianity is declining sharply in the north-east of the United States, one of the nation’s least religious regions. The most recent studies confirm that the country is, at last, firmly on the same trail of decline blazed by the churches of Europe.

More here-

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/04/the-benedict-option/#

'Anglican Bishop' Arrested For Defiling 24 Boys

From Nigeria-

Enyibichiri community in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State has been restless, since the police arrested a pastor who also claimed to be a Revered in An Anglican Church, Morah, for allegedly defiling over 24 young boys.

According to the reports by New Telegraph, his victims are said to be between the ages of 12 and 17 years.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP George Okafor, said Morah, who hails from Orji River in Enugu State and claimed to be a reverend with Anglican Church, was on a pastoral mission in Ebonyi.

It was alleged that he used a diabolical handkerchief to lure some of the children, especially those who tried to resist him.

More here-

http://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/local/social/201606/281274.php

Why are men less religious than women?

From The Telegraph-

Arecent study by social scientists at University College London (UCL) identified that British women are up to twice as likely to pray or take part in a daily religious ritual than men.

Professor David Voas, head of the Department of Social Sciences, who was consulted for the paper, concluded that this gender disparity comes down to genetic differences between the male and female brain – as social factors alone did not explain the difference.

 “It’s plausible that the gender gap in religiosity is partly a matter of biology,” he told Pew Research, a leading US institute that conducted the study. “I doubt that it’s because there’s a ‘God Gene’ that women are more likely to have than men, however. It seems easier to believe that physiological or hormonal differences could instead influence personality, which may in turn be linked to variations in spiritual thinking.”

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/why-are-men-less-religious-than-women/

Sorry Giles, the virgin birth is central to Christmas

From Premier Christianity-

After Giles Fraser questioned the virgin birth on his Guardian blog, Ian Paul responds on why we abandon this central Christian truth at our peril.

I really don’t know what goes through the mind of people who argue that they know much better than the gospel writers what Christianity is all about. Do they think the evangelists were stupid, ignorant, or just a little bit slow on the uptake? And how did Christian tradition make such egregious errors until this enlightened modern mind came along to set us all straight?

Such were my thoughts when reading Giles Fraser’s latest piece, pointing out how the virgin birth doesn’t really fit with Christian belief:

The idea that Jesus was born of “pure virgin” could well have been a reaction to insults [that Jesus was illegitimate]. That Mary’s womb was “spotless” was perhaps a cover story designed by Jesus’s supporters to explain a more God-like nature for his arrival.

More here-

http://www.premierchristianity.com/Blog/Sorry-Giles-the-virgin-birth-is-central-to-Christmas

‘The nastiness refined me’ (Michael Coren)

From Anglican Journal-

Did I swim the Tiber or was it a walk to Canterbury? Not sure. It felt at the time more like some sort of ersatz inferno. I suppose I have a certain media profile and was until relatively recently known as a very public Roman Catholic. My 2012 book on Catholicism (Heresy, McClelland & Stewart) had been on the Canadian bestseller list for 10 weeks; I was named columnist of the year for my work in The Catholic Register and had been given numerous awards by Catholic groups. I was one of Canada’s most high-profile champions of Catholicism.

The separation was gradual, of course. While I never swayed from Catholic theology—and continue in my adherence—I began to question, then doubt, then reject Roman Catholic teaching on papal supremacy, authority, contraception and especially homosexuality and equal marriage. On the latter, I simply could no longer glue myself to a church that described gay relationships as sinful and disordered and caused so much pain to so many good, innocent people.

More here-

http://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/-the-nastiness-refined-me

Anglican Archbishop: ‘Allah’ ruling has far-reaching effects

From Borneo-

The ramifications of the Federal Court’s dismissal of the Catholic Church’s application for leave to appeal on the prohibition of ‘Allah’ to refer to God in its weekly publication Herald will likely spill beyond the case.

Reacting to this decision, the Most Reverend Datuk Bolly Lapok — the Archbishop of the Anglican Province of South East Asia and Bishop of Sarawak and Brunei — said the ruling would affect more than the Catholic newspaper.

“Case resolved? I am not too sure. I hope in the process we have not mired ourselves in greater complication,” he said in a statement yesterday.


Read more:

http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/01/23/anglican-archbishop-allah-ruling-has-far-reaching-effects/#ixzz3PkPPnbLj

Virginia church may look Anglican, but it's fully Baptist

From Charlottesville-


Sunday mornings at All Souls Charlottesville are fairly common for an Anglican congregation.

The Book of Common Prayer and the Revised Common Lectionary are standard, creeds are spoken together, the Eucharist is the central focus of the liturgy and the minister blesses the congregation before it scatters back into the world.

But the Charlottesville, Va., congregation isn’t an Episcopal church. It’s Baptist — in fact it’s a plant of the Baptist General Association of Virginia and is celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2014.

This isn’t a Baptist church in the Charleston tradition, a structured expression of worship often distinguished from the more revivalistic Sandy Creek tradition. It goes beyond that to include wine in communion and the view by some, including Pastor Winn Collier, that worship and life ought to be expressed sacramentally.

More here-

http://www.abpnews.com/ministry/congregations/item/28506-va-church-is-anglican-leaning-but-fully-baptist#.U0Pewcbzg9X

Sudan Primate challenges Anglican Communion: "Don't just pray, act!"

From ACNS-

The Primate of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, the Most Revd Daniel Deng Bul Yak has challenged the worldwide Anglican Communion to actively help the war-affected people of South Sudan.

He was speaking in an exclusive interview with ACNS in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he is attending the Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s Provincial Synod as special guest.

The Primate complained that the Anglican Church in South Sudan felt it was struggling alone and not receiving adequate support from other Member Churches. “People are just saying we are supporting you in prayers, but prayers must be followed by action.

“We need good education and health and there are a lot of experienced people within the Anglican Communion who can come and help us,” he said. “We need missionaries to come and set up schools and health centres in South Sudan. There is a lot that Anglicans can do to help.”

More here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2013/10/sudan-primate-challenges-anglican-communion-dont-just-pray,-act!.aspx

Tories in denial while Kirk comes to terms with sexuality

From Scotland-

Sexuality and faith has been deeply divisive in both England and Scotland exposing deep rifts in David Cameron’s Conservatives in the House of Commons and among Scottish clergy in the General Assembly.

It has divided both church and state – but in the end both bodies voted, in one way or another, in favour of moving towards equality for the gay and lesbian community. But not without a great deal of agonising.

In the Commons, the prime minister relied on the support of the Labour Party to get his bill allowing same-sex marriage though parliament, splitting his party in the process.

Meanwhile the General Assembly voted for a compromise which affirmed the conservative view that ministers ought to be married – and that marriage is between a man and a woman – but which will allow liberal congregations to opt out in order to ordain or appoint a gay cleric.

It is perhaps worth noting that the Scottish Episcopal Church has said that the ordination of gay clergy is not a problem and has not been for many years. This suggests that Scottish religious culture is moving, if not in a different direction, certainly at a different speed.

More here-

http://theconversation.com/tories-in-denial-while-kirk-comes-to-terms-with-sexuality-14494

Why be a liberal Catholic when you could be an Anglican?

From The Guardian-

What's the appeal of Roman Catholicism to a fairly liberal person? Why don't they jump ship? They say they dislike clerical celibacy, which they largely blame for the abuse scandals. Well, there's a church close at hand that rejects it. They say they want to see the ordination of women. Well, there's a church close at hand that ordains women (more or less). They say they dislike the church's intransigence on homosexuality. Well, there's a church close at hand that has an honest, messy debate about this issue. They say they dislike the church's legalistic approach to birth control, abortion, and various other moral issues. Well, there's a church close at hand that rejects such an approach. They say they dislike the church's authoritarian structure, the monarchical aura of the papacy. Well, you know what.

Why do they stay in a church that is so full of things they dislike, when there is one close at hand that is more or less free of those objectionable things? Presumably they would reply: because, despite everything, the Roman church seems to us the authentic church, and the Anglican church does not. But there is a sector of Anglicanism whose style of worship is scarcely distinguishable from that of Roman Catholicism. Yes, they might reply, but the institution lacks authenticity: it was founded by a randy monarch, and remains confined by its national character. Fair point perhaps, but does it really outweigh the benefits of Anglicanism to a liberal believer? Is this really a reason to stay in an authoritarian, illiberal church – that at least it wasn't founded by Henry VIII? The man had his faults but he wasn't Satan.

More here-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2013/mar/12/liberal-catholic-could-be-anglican

Nigeria on the brink, unless... - Anglican Primate, Okoh

From Nigeria-

Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, has warned that Nigeria must fashion a way to rekindle the selfless nature of its citizenry as well as the Christian virtue of humility and sacrifice if the country must survive.

In a sermon he delivered at the funeral of a former Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Most Reverend Abiodun Adetiloye, held at the St. Paul’s Millennium Anglican Church, Odo-Owa in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State, the cleric contended that unless Nigerians repented and returned to the values of God, the country would not make any headway.

Okoh, who took his sermon from 2 Timothy 4: 7 and 8, noted: “We are not here to help Archbishop Adetiloye but to help ourselves to see if we can realign with God and make a meaning of our life.”

While calling on Nigerians to return to God, the Primate said “the church today is highly criticised because many of us who profess Christ are very poor images of Christ.”

He charged Christian leaders in the country to mount a campaign against societal evils, beginning with their congretations, saying “otherwise civil society organisations will take over their responsibility and they may be speaking out on moral and societal grounds but not spiritual.”

More here-

http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/component/k2/item/3911-nigeria-on-the-brink-unless-anglican-primate-okoh

Priest appeals for worldwide prayer after Kenya violence

From ACNS-

A Kenyan priest has appealed to Christians around the world to pray for the people of Garissa, a violence-stricken city in the North Eastern Province of Kenya.

The Revd Canon Francis Omondi's plea comes after at least five people were killed and four others wounded by Somali Islamist group al-Shabab who opened fire on guests at one of the city’s local hotels, The Dunes on 16 January.

Al-Shabab—a clan-based insurgent and terrorist group—has continued its violent insurgency in the area with Christians and security personnel being the main targets of the attacks.

Canon Omondi said, “The targeting of Christians and security personnel is a very worrying trend. Christians should pray for courage in the midst of these pressures.”

He has been championing health and education issues in the region for more than 25 years. He has also been helping grow the church of God within the region. However, he has been taken aback by the recent attacks on Christians.

“The Muslim fundamentalists have no respect for denomination," he said. "They aim to rid Christians from here [along with] the security forces. As a result of this Christians who have not fled live in great fear”.

More here-

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2013/1/22/ACNS5290

Witch doctor arrested in rhino plot

From South Africa-

On the use of muti by suspected criminals, Roux said it was not isolated to this case. It had been mentioned in other crimes, including ATM bombings, where criminals had approached traditional healers to help them avoid detection and harm.

During the Marikana strike where 34 miners were shot dead in August, it has been claimed that some of the miners may have consumed muti from a traditional healer, which they believed would make them invincible and shield them from police bullets.

However, Pretoria’s Anglican bishop, Johannes Seoka, giving evidence at the Farlam Commission into the tragedy, said the miners had not expected that rituals performed prior to the shooting would protect them from police bullets.

“Claims about the use of muti to protect workers against bullets... that’s nonsense,” he said.

“You are making black people out to be stupid. They are not stupid.”

Expressing his shock at the latest case, Sazi Mhlongo, an inyanga and president of the Kwazulu-Natal Traditional Healers Association, said the suspect was probably a witch doctor and not a traditional healer as he claimed.

More here-

http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/witch-doctor-arrested-in-rhino-plot-1.1452949#.UPabHaVOxH8

Anglicans storm properties

From Central Africa-

ANGLICAN Church of the Province of Central Africa members' bid to repossess property under the custody of Bishop Elson Jakazi, hit a snag on Tuesday morning.

Police intervened and asked them to have the necessary court documents before moving in.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Enock Chishiri, confirmed police intervention and said a group of about 100 people led by the church's diocesan secretary, Reverend Luke Chigwanda, Rev Joseph Chipundla, Rev Kingston Nyazika and a church warden Gashirai Puwai went to St John's Cathedral and offices along Herbert Chitepo Street on Tuesday with the intention of occupying them and found all doors locked.

"We understand that the group wanted to have a meeting with Bishop Jakazi over a court order which he was served with on November 24 for him to move out of the offices. The church and offices were locked, but information reached Bishop Jakazi to the effect that people from the other group had stormed the church offices. Bishop Jakazi made a report to the police who went to the church offices to monitor the situation. They invited the church members to Mutare Central Police Station where they advised them to follow the legal channel to have Bishop Jakazi evicted.

“They were advised to seek the assistance of the messenger of court and they promised to follow the legal route in solving the wrangle," said Insp Chishiri.

More here-

http://www.manicapost.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26435:anglicans-storm-properties&catid=37:top-stories&Itemid=130#.ULivOEJOxH8