Church of England to hold first service in Farsi after a huge rise in converts

From The Telegraph-

When the Bishop of Loughborough was 13-years-old, her brother was murdered for being a Christian. 

Born and raised in Iran, she was forced to flee her homeland in 1980 on the grounds of religious persecution - a story that is all too familiar for many Iranian Christians. 

Now, as the ordained Bishop of Loughborough, the Rt Revd Guli Francis-Dehqani is leading the Church of England’s growing community of Iranians who have found a home in the Anglican church. 

This unprecedented shift was yesterday marked with a “historical” service at Wakefield Cathedral in Yorkshire, where the Holy Communion scripture was delivered in Persian for the first time to cater for the growing - yet traditionally unusual - new Anglican congregation. 

With the Cathedral packed full of 450 Persian Christians from parishes all over the UK, Rev Francis-Dehqani led the inaugural service, delivered in both Farsi and English.

More here-

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/03/church-england-hold-first-service-farsi-huge-rise-converts/

First Persian woman to be ordained to the episcopate consecrated in Canterbury Cathedral

From ACNS-

The first Persian woman to become a bishop was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury this morning during a service in Canterbury Cathedral. Guli Francis-Dehqani, the daughter of the former Bishop of Iran, Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, will serve as the first suffragan Bishop of Loughborough in the Church of England’s Diocese of Leicester. Her family were forced into Exile after a botched assassination attempt on her father – who was also the first President Bishop of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East. He mother was injured in that attack. Guli’s brother, Bahram, stayed behind in Iran. He was murdered in 1980 and is commemorated in Canterbury Cathedral’s Chapel of Saints and Martyrs.

Today’s service reflected the new bishop’s early life in Iran. Bishop Iraj Mottahedeh, who succeeded Bishop Hassan Dehqani-Tafti as Bishop of Iran, gave the sermon. Bishop Iraj is now retired and lives in England. For 15 years, Bishop Iraj was the only Christian priest in Iran.

More here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2017/11/first-persian-woman-to-be-ordained-to-the-episcopate-consecrated-in-canterbury-cathedral.aspx

The Obscure Religion That Shaped The West

From BBC-

Talk of ‘us’ and ‘them’ has long dominated Iran-related politics in the West. At the same time, Christianity has frequently been used to define the identity and values of the US and Europe, as well as to contrast those values with those of a Middle Eastern ‘other’. Yet, a brief glance at an ancient religion – still being practised today – suggests that what many take for granted as wholesome Western ideals, beliefs and culture may in fact have Iranian roots.

It is generally believed by scholars that the ancient Iranian prophet Zarathustra (known in Persian as Zartosht and Greek as Zoroaster) lived sometime between 1500 and 1000 BC. Prior to Zarathustra, the ancient Persians worshipped the deities of the old Irano-Aryan religion, a counterpart to the Indo-Aryan religion that would come to be known as Hinduism. Zarathustra, however, condemned this practice, and preached that God alone – Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom – should be worshipped. In doing so, he not only contributed to the great divide between the Iranian and Indian Aryans, but arguably introduced to mankind its first monotheistic faith.

More here-

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170406-this-obscure-religion-shaped-the-west

Bishop's Wife Revered Among One Christian Community Well after Her Death

From CBN-

A woman who took a bullet to save the life of her husband during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, is an inspiration even after her death.

Margaret Dehqani-Tafti is now buried beside her husband Bishop Hassan Dehqani-Tafti on the grounds of Winchester Cathedral. She was 85-years-old. She died in October but persecuted Christians are still talking about her and remembering her example.

Margaret met her husband, an Iranian-born Muslim who later converted to Christianity, while working as an interpreter in the Imperial Iranian Army between 1943-1945.

The UK native married Hassan in 1952 after he spent two years in the UK training for ordination.

Hassan later became the first Persian-born Anglican Bishop of Iran, but his new position only endangered his family to the rising hostility in Iran during the 1979 revolution.

More here-

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/2016/november/bishops-wife-revered-among-one-christian-community-well-after-her-death

PB Supports Iran Agreement

From The Living Church-

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has joined more than 50 other religious leaders urging Congress to approve the Obama administration’s agreement with Iran.

“The July 2015 diplomatic agreement with Iran will dramatically shrink and impose unprecedented constraints on Iran’s nuclear program,” the leaders say in an open letter. “In exchange, the international community will begin to lift sanctions on Iran. It also establishes the most robust monitoring and inspection regime ever negotiated to verify Iran’s compliance with the restrictions on its nuclear program.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/pb-supports-iran-agreement

The Missing Ingredient in the Iran and P5+1 Negotiations

From Huffington-

A missing voice in negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 is that of the global interreligious community. It is astounding that this voice has either been intentionally muted by the American media or, even worse, discredited by our own government as a comparatively unimportant interference in negotiations.

According to a Pew religious poll published in 2010, eight out of 10 people in the world identified with a religious group. There are approximately 1.8 billion who profess to be Muslim, and over 2 billion professing to be Christian. Within these numbers are significant groupings of Muslim and Christian clerics, scholars, and faith leaders who have been meeting quietly since the beginning of the new millennium to address common concerns threatening the very future of the human race and the ecological sustainability of the planet. A major focus of these meetings has been theological condemnation of the production and use of nuclear weapons.

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/common-ground-news-service/the-missing-ingredient-in_b_6881208.html

As an Anglican ex-bishop, I can tell you: Iran's new president could be our best hope for peace

From The Spectator-

The installation of Hassan Rouhani as President of Iran next month heralds a new chapter for the country. It is clear that he was elected not only because it was felt — both at the highest levels and by the people — that he was best placed to negotiate with the West on Iran’s nuclear programme but also because he was the candidate most likely to appeal to reform-hungry Iranians.

Rouhani is a protégé of the former president Muhammed Khatami, with whom I have had the chance to work. When he was President, I spent a whole day with him meeting political, civil society and religious leaders. Visiting him in Iran, I was always struck by his learning and his humility. Khatami knew about the puritan origins of the United States and the ways that tension between religious beliefs and liberty was resolved. He never tired of pointing out similarities between the difficulties of the Iranian experience and the founding of America. In opposition to the then fashionable ‘clash of civilisations’ thesis, he launched his own ‘dialogue of civilisations’ programme.

Khatami’s presidency failed because the West, especially the US, did not respond adequately to his overtures, but also because he ran into opposition from hard-liners. His failure showed where real power resided — with the ‘Ulama’, the legal authority made up of the Guardianship of the Revolution, and with the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

More here-

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/8971171/is-this-the-reformist-iranian-president-weve-been-waiting-for-heres-how-to-tell/

IRAN: Bishop Azad Marshall resigns from Anglican Communion's Standing Committee

From ELO-

Bishop Azad Marshall of the Diocese of Iran has announced his resignation from the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion, yet no explanation has been given.

"I can confirm that Bishop Azad Marshall has resigned from the Standing Committee, though I'm not in a position to cite his reasons," Jan Butter, director of communications for the Anglican Communion, said June 29 in a statement e-mailed to ENS.

Marshall's announcement follows that of Middle East President Bishop Mouneer Anis, who in January also tendered his resignation from the Standing Committee saying that his presence has "no value whatsoever" and that his voice is "like a useless cry in the wilderness."

Both Marshall and Anis serve as bishops in the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.

Butter told ENS that the Standing Committee members will elect a successor to Marshall at their next meeting, scheduled for July 23-27 at St. Andrew's House in London, where the Anglican Communion Office is located.

The Standing Committee usually meets annually but has met biannually for the past three years. It oversees the day-to-day operations of the Anglican Communion Office and the programs and ministries of the four instruments of communion -- the archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Primates Meeting, and the Lambeth Conference of bishops.

The Standing Committee is made up of 15 members elected from among the ACC and the Primates Meeting. The Primates Meeting also elects alternates who serve when the elected member is unable to attend. The ACC does not elect alternates to the Standing Committee.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_123198_ENG_HTM.htm

Desmond Tutu: release 3 US hikers held in Iran

From The Washington Post-

Retired South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is calling for the urgent release of three American hikers detained for nearly nine months in Iran.

In a statement Wednesday Tutu says two of the hikers are ill and they are all suffering emotionally and are considering a hunger strike. He says Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd have committed no crime.

The three Americans have been held since crossing the border from Iraq in July. Their families say they unintentionally strayed while hiking.

They all attended the University of California at Berkeley. Fattal's family lives near Philadelphia, Bauer's in Pine City, Minnesota, and Shourd's in Oakland, California.

Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is the former head of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

More here-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/28/AR2010042801098.html

Baghdad church hit by Easter Day blast

From The Church Times-
ST GEORGE’S Anglican Church in Baghdad suffered “severe” damage on Easter morning when a bomb exploded near its compound, the Chaplain, Canon Andrew White, has disclosed.

In a letter to friends of the church, Canon White said that he and a group of parishioners were preparing for an early eucharist when they heard an explosion. This was followed by a second blast several minutes later.

The church compound is on Haifa Street in Baghdad’s “Red Zone”, close to the Iranian embassy, which is thought to have been the bombers’ main target. “We will need several thousand dollars just to repair the windows,” Canon White said. “As for the [church’s] structure, I just don’t know.” British Embassy staff were unable to attend Easter worship at the church, but the local Governor visited Canon White as a gesture of support. “He visited our clinic and viewed our kindergarten and hall that he is funding,” Canon White said.

The desperate plight of Iraqi Christians was underlined in a BBC Radio 4 documentary, Iraq’s For­gotten Conflict, presented by Edward Stourton on Tuesday evening. The programme disclosed that around 200,000 Christians are thought to have fled the country since the American-led invasion in 2003, and that Christians, who once formed three per cent of the population, now constitute about half of all Iraqi refugees. The interviewees included Canon White and Archbishop Louis Sako of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

The Archbishop emphasised that Christians, formerly viewed with tolerance by most Muslims, are now seen as fifth-columnists because of the war. The perception had been underlined by the often heavy-handed tactics of incoming American Evangelical missionaries.

The broader ramifications of the conflict were underlined by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who also warned that the end of Christianity in the Middle East was a distinct possibility, “and one that appals me”. “Ill-judged rhetoric about opposing Islamic power” meant that centuries of fruitful co existence between Muslims and Christians had been “wiped out” around the region, Dr Williams said. He was deeply concerned for the position of Christians in Egypt, Algeria, and Pakistan.

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=92559