CofE, RCs, call for 'safeguards' on UK gay-hate legislation

The Church of England has joined forces with the Roman Catholic Church in calling for safeguards to be included any government plan to change the Public Order Act of 1986 which would create an offence of ‘incitement to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation’.

In a memorandum to the Public Bill Committee on the possible changes to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales expressed reservations on the creation of new offences and the need to balance the protection of vulnerable groups with safeguards for freedom of speech.

The document calls for any new laws to allow Christians to express traditional views on sexuality, and asks for ‘maximum possible clarity’ about what is forbidden and what is permitted. Read more
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Membership of Episcopal Church 'continues to decline'

An Interim Report, prepared by the House of Deputies Committee of the Episcopal Church, shows the denomination continuing to decline with a 41 percent attendance drop attributed directly to congregations departing over the sexual innovations in the church.

In assessing facts and trends, the State of the Church report, which worked closely with Dr. Kirk Hadaway, Director of Research at the Episcopal Church Center, indicated the need for a "plan for action" at all levels of the denomination in response to membership drops. In a manner similar to other mainline Protestant denominations in the United States, the statistics for The Episcopal Church indicate declining membership and attendance, declines that have become more severe in the last several years. Read more

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US Anglican warns actual dialogue on sexuality 'nearly impossible'

Ed: This is in a discussion thread on the Fulcrum website. You will have to scroll down the page to find the article.

[...] The fight here is no longer primarily about same-sex attraction. The Gay agenda is a done deal and irreversible in the American Church. The fight here is about whether there is any authority, scriptural, traditional, ecclesial, even scientific that trumps the new idol of experience. It is widely thought here that the scriptures are intriguing cultural artifacts of the religious experience of time bound cultures but certainly nothing more than clues to how contemporary people might work out and recreate their own religion. Increasingly it has become clear that the majority who do indeed embrace a new spirit based and experienced based religion are not able to tolerate traditionalists in their midst. Religion is seen by the majority as primarily about “radical hospitality” and “inclusion” and “liberation.” Traditionalists are seen as contemporary equivalents of slave holders and betrayers of the central tenets of the new religion. I find it very hard to make a case on the basis of the revisionist theology as I understand it for the inclusion of traditionalists. Slave holders can be tolerated for strategic reasons but not for moral or theological reasons. We perhaps can be allowed as long as we do not try to extend our influence. Read more
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Bp of Rochester's support for Canadian links with Southern Cone

The Right Revd Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester

I greatly regret the necessity for this step, but I am glad that an agreed way has been found for biblically minded and orthodox Anglicans to receive appropriate primatial oversight from the province of the Southern Cone and episcopal care from Bishop Don Harvey. I pray that this arrangement will be a blessing for many.

Bishop Michael Nazir Ali
See here.

Other letters of support here.
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UK Evangelical leaders send letter of support to Anglican Network in Canada

A group of orthodox Anglican leaders in the United Kingdom on behalf of their organisations

We want to assure you of our prayers and fellowship in our shared Anglican heritage as you take your stand on the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures as the rule and ultimate standard of faith, contrary to those innovators both here and elsewhere who wish to give primacy to the demands of contemporary culture.

We rejoice in our fellowship as Churches in communion with the Risen Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Linked together by the apostolic ministry, our communion is expressed by the fellowship and mutual commitment of local churches, congregations faithful to the apostolic tradition, led by faithful clergy, and gathered around their bishop, however expressed, for example on a geographic or non-geographic basis.
[...]

Signed with pleasure and delight,
+Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes & President of Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC)
Dr Philip Giddings, Convenor, Anglican Mainstream
Paul Boyd-Lee, Chair of the 1990 Group in General Synod
Rev John Coles, Director of New Wine
Canon Andy Lines, General Secretary of Crosslinks
Stephen Parkinson, Director, Forward in Faith
Revd Paul Perkin, Convenor of the Covenant Group for the Church of England
Revd David Phillips, Director of Church Society
Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Executive Secretary, Anglican Mainstream
Rev Dr Richard Turnbull, Chairman and for the Executive of the Church of England Evangelical Council
Rev Roderick Thomas, Chairman of Reform
Read more

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Evangelical leaders comment on 'Clergy Consultation' service

Every occasion for listening pastorally to people is to be welcomed. However, the Holy Communion is a fundamental symbol of fellowship and an expression of our unity in Christ. To offer this to those in gay partnered relationships, contrary to biblical teaching and contrary to the Bishops' teaching in Issues in Human Sexuality offers false hope rather than enabling transformation . The Bishop as upholder of the Apostolic Faith is held by all Anglicans to provide a focus of unity. Since the Archbishop has apparently proceeded with this service , this makes it more likely that he will become a focus of division. We endorse the importance of a proper listening process. We trust that the Archbishop will also listen to those who have moved through this stage to frame and fashion their own selves and their families according to the doctrine of Christ .

Rev Dr Richard Turnbull, chair of the Church of England Evangelical Council, Dr Philip Giddings, Convenor of Anglican Mainstream, Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream.
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Archbishop of Canterbury meets with Anglican LGBT clergy

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has attended a meeting of the Clergy Consultation - a support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and intersex clergy and their partners.

Dr Williams yesterday (29 November 2007) presided and preached at a service of Holy Communion and later addressed the members present, responding to questions.

The Rev Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude, has been a member of the Consultation since 1979 and was Convenor from 1994 to 1997, and was present at the meeting. The Consultation meets under Chatham House rules, which specify that comments made must remain non-attributable.

Coward commented: “The Archbishop of Canterbury met with over 80 members of the Consultation yesterday. He preached on the lectionary readings for the day, A Day of Intercession and Thanksgiving for the Missionary Work of the Church. He then spoke to the members present about the constraints which are affecting the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. He responded to questions and listened to our response."

The Changing Attitude director continued: “The Archbishop addressed us in his sermon and his remarks which followed as mature, adult Christians. As Director of Changing Attitude, I felt that the tensions we experience in our work was acknowledged by Dr Williams. We experience ourselves as being at the centre of an intense dispute about the presence of LGBT Christians in our Communion." Read more
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Canadian Church splits

[...] The Anglican Church of Canada stole the limelight this week with the announcement that two bishops said they are leaving the church for the Province of the Southern Cone coming under the ecclesiastical authority of the Most Rev. Gregory Venables.

Orthodox Canadians were finally pushed over the line by three Canadian dioceses' which have accepted the blessing of same-sex unions. They departed amidst much hand-wringing, threats and more from Anglican Church leaders who feel aggrieved that two of their own and as many as 20 or more parishes will, in due course, slip out of the grasp of the liberal led denomination.

Schism has finally come to the north. This is bigger news than most would credit because Canadians, by and large, are not people who like to get into ecclesiastical fights. It takes a lot to push them over the edge. (This writer still retains his Canadian passport, having lived in BC for nine years). Canadian Anglicans have no exact history like that of the St. Louis 1977 breakaway of American Episcopalians and the steady departures over the years, though many Canadians have walked away from their church.

So for several hundred orthodox Anglicans to say they are done with the liberal denomination is big news indeed. A group of parishes broke away from the Diocese of New Westminster some years ago and suffered mightily for their decision to leave, but now there are bishops and clergy leaving across the country. For their departure they will be met head on by the national church whose leaders are deeply upset at their flight. Read more
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DNA checks at abortion clinic accused of flushing foetuses down the drain

Police investigating four abortion clinics in Barcelona used frequently by British women have been horrified to find purpose-built machines attached to the drains that were used to crush foetuses.

The clinics allegedly performed illegal abortions on women into their eighth month of pregnancy. Police have arrested Carlos MorÍn, the Peruvian head of the clinics, his wife and four other colleagues after a lawsuit by a Christian organisation, e-Cristians. Mr MorÍn reportedly has refused to answer police questions.

Because they were so loud, the machines – which fed into public drains – were switched on only during the early hours of the day to avoid drawing attention to the illegal arrangement, police sources said. Officers gathering evidence at the clinics this week have been testing the machines and drains for traces of DNA, which may be matched with that of past clients, according to reports. Read more
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Morrissey complains that immigration has led to the loss of Britain's identity

Morrissey, the former Smiths singer, has sparked controversy by claiming British identity has disappeared because the country has been “flooded” by immigrants.

The pop star, originally from Manchester, suggested that immigration was one of the reasons he would not move from his American home back to Britain.

Morrissey, 48, who has spent most of the last decade living in LA and Rome, told music magazine NME that countries like Germany still had their own identity and complained of not hearing “British accents” on the streets of Britain.

Asked whether he would move back to the UK, Morrissey, the son of Irish immigrants, said: “Britain’s a terribly negative place. And it hammers people down and it pulls you back and it prevents you.

“Also, with the issue of immigration, it’s very difficult because, although I don’t have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.

“So the price is enormous. If you travel to Germany, it’s still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to England and you have no idea where you are.” Read more
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Vatican talks of 'eugenics culture’ after abortion of wrong twin

Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into a botched selective abortion that the Vatican has described as the result of a “culture of perfection” resembling Nazi eugenics.

The deeply Catholic country was embroiled in a bitter ethical dispute yesterday after it emerged that a surgeon had accidentally terminated a healthy foetus instead of its twin with Down’s syndrome. The operation – on a 38-year-old woman 18 weeks into her pregnancy – was performed at the San Paolo hospital in Milan in June but has only now come to light. The foetus with Down’s syndrome was also aborted subsequently.

The revelation has reignited the debate in Italy over abortion, which was legalised only in 1978. The law allows terminations of healthy foetuses up to the 90th day of pregnancy, though abortions can be performed at a later stage if there is a risk to the life of the mother or the foetus is malformed.

Anna Maria Marconi, the gynaecologist who carried out the Milan abortion, said that the woman – who has not been named – requested the operation after an amniocentesis test.

Professor Marconi said that her conscience was clear. The foetuses, which had been identical, had changed positions in the womb between the last scan and the operation, an “act of fate that could not have been foreseen”, she said. The professor was backed by the hospital authorities. Read more
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Rowan Williams celebrates ’secret’ gay communion service

Rowan celebrates ’secret’ gay communion service - responses from conservatives

November 29th, 2007 Posted in Uncategorized | Edit |

Ruth Gledhill reports

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, today presided at a ’secret’ eucharist for the Clergy Consultation, as we reported that he would back in September. He gave a talk on ‘present realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay men in the church.’ The venue, originally at St Peter’s Eaton Square, was switched to another location in London to avoid media attention after new of the meeting emerged first on the Church Society website.

The Clergy Consultation, which has between 250 and 450 members at any one time, was set up in 1976 by three Anglican priests, Malcolm Johnson, Peter Ellers and Douglas Rhymes. Changing Attitude has an interesting paper setting out a theology of sexual ethics around which members of the consultation work today. Many consultation members are married, one with six children, and are faithful to their partners. The organisation helps them cope with staying faithful to what they regard as a Christian lifestyle while dealing with a sexuality that sometimes does not emerge until later in life. Some members but by no means all are ‘out’ as openly gay but it is not difficult to understand why, in today’s Church, most prefer to remain ‘in’.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, views his taking part in the meeting and celebrating the eucharist as part of the ‘listening process’ outlined in Lambeth 1.10. A spokeswoman said: ‘The Archbishop of Canterbury is committed to the listening process which was agreed at the Lambeth Conference as part of the discussions on human sexuality. That means listening to and engaging with gay and lesbian clergy in a pastorally sensitive setting. That is what he is doing.’

David Phillips, General Secretary of the Church Society, disagreed. He said: ‘This is not something that should be happening. There is obviously serious doubt in our mind about some of the people present and their standing because of being in homosexual relationships. But we do not really have much regard for Rowan Williams anyway. We came to the conclusion a long time ago that he was not really fit to be Archbishop so today does not change anything.’

He wrote to Lambeth Palace after news of the meeting emerged. Chief of Staff Chris Smith replied: ‘The Archbishop has asked me to say that unless he has clear evidence to the contrary, he would assume that members of the consultation, whether clergy, ordinands or religious, are in good standing with their diocesan bishops.’ Mr Smith continued: ‘The group, as described by its co-convenors in response to the Church Society website article and The Times newspaper, is in no sense a campaigning organisation, hence the confidentiality of its meetings. The purpose of the meeting was to listen to the concerns of individuals and to give the Archbishop the opportunity to engage with them from the position of the received mind of the Church.’

The letter went on: ‘This engagement with different groups and individuals is constant and helps inform his deliberations on the course of action that he and his fellow primates will need to formulate for the resolution of the Anglican Communion’s current divisions.’

The conservatives are also upset that the meeting went ahead. A statement signed jointly by Dr Richard Turnbull, chair of the Church of England Evangelical Council, Dr Philip Giddings, Convenor of Anglican Mainstream and Chris Sugden, Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream, reads: ‘Every occasion for listening pastorally to people is to be welcomed. However, the Holy Communion is a fundamental symbol of fellowship and an expression of our unity in Christ. To offer this to those in gay partnered relationships, contrary to biblical teaching and contrary to the Bishops’ teaching in Issues in Human Sexuality offers false hope rather than enabling transformation. The Bishop as upholder of the Apostolic Faith is held by all Anglicans to provide a focus of unity. Since the Archbishop has apparently proceeded with this service , this makes it more likely that he will become a focus of division. We endorse the importance of a proper listening process. We trust that the Archbishop will also listen to those who have moved through this stage to frame and fashion their own selves and their families according to the doctrine of Christ.’

As soon as I can get a comment from someone from the consultation, I’ll post it here. I did manage to speak to Martin Reynolds, an openly gay clergyman who has successfully adopted a boy with his partner and was a former neighbour of Dr Williams when the Archbishop was in his previous job in Wales. Dr Reynolds was not at the meeting but said: ‘The Clergy Consultation has been of great assistance to many many people over the years. Most gay clergy are married and have children. Most do not have partners. The consultation has given them great support and love in lives devoted to their families. It has performed a wide range of functions for a lot of people. It is hugely beneficial. The only clergyman I know who is in it is extremely grateful for the friendships he has built up through it, and so is his wife.’

Read Ruth Gledhill's blog here http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2007/11/rowan-celebrate.html#more

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Tutu: Morally right, theologically wrong

[...] although Tutu is a great preacher - his whoops and bellows must have shattered many a Radio 4 listener's peaceful evening - he is not much of a theologian. Buerk here proved himself a terrific, dispassionate and analytical reporter. Not content with the scoop of his interview, he found contributors willing to tear the Nobel Peace Prize laureate to shreds.

Ann Widdecombe took all of ten seconds to demolish the argument that God Made Me This Way, Therefore I Am Perfect. He made disabled people, too, and God, through his son, went about healing them. Christ was big on warning us against judging - cast not the first stone - but made it clear that God judged: he told the woman to go forth and sin no more. George Carey, the former Arch of Cant (as I like to call them), pointed out that you could deduce what Jesus thought not from what he did not say, but only from what he did, and Jesus made it clear that marriage was sacred to him.

Robert Duncan, the conservative Episcopalian bishop of Pittsburgh, summed up the case against: "While I would not challenge his right to be recognised as a Nobel laureate, to claim and be known as an archbishop and say that the Bible is not to be seen as the standard and 'I am not much concerned about it' and 'People pay too much attention to it' is a shocking thing for a bishop to say." It was hard not to conclude that Tutu was morally right, yet theologically wrong. Read more
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Anglican group proposes no more ordinations for opponents of women priests

Ed: The Group for Rescinding the Act of Synod has put forward a proposal whereby women would be consecrated bishops and clergy 'Conscientious Objectors' would be provided with work-around arrangements. However, this would spell the end to any further ordination of people opposed to women's ordination, ie the Church as we know it.

[...] Some points of clarification:-
Existing clergy opponents of women’s ordination might be equivalent to those who were conscripted, since ‘their’ church has changed its position around them. And by the same token, one would not expect that new ordinands opposed to women bishops would willingly offer themselves for ministry in a church which has women bishops, or that this would be acceptable.

For the church, the question therefore becomes, not a negotiation with COs as to what will ‘keep them in the church’, but a determination as to ‘what pastoral provision we wish to make as allowance for individual CO situations’. The decision as to what is acceptable as conscientious objection, and the guidelines for acceptable CO behaviour, is made by the church itself in the light of its need for a unified ministry and mission, not the COs themselves.

Disclosure to colleagues and seniors is an essential principle of Conscientious Objection, as in the medical world, allowing adult-to-adult relationships to be developed, where individual consciences are protected but not at the expense of patient care. That might mean clergy conscientious objectors would have an obligation to disclose their position to bishops and parishes, and alternative cover would be provided in instances where they might be compromised (eg CO bishops providing non-CO bishops for ordinations, as at present; or CO area deans having non-CO colleagues as proxies to attend occasions where they judge themselves unable to take full part).

Conscientious Objection could not be held out as representing the mind of the CofE, nor be allowed to weaken or undermine the ministry of women priests or the recognition of women’s ministry. To do so would prejudice the CofE’s mission and service to the nation as a whole. Given adequate disclosure, and negotiation about foreseen conscience problems, it might still be possible to appoint individual COs to senior posts, but provided adequate cover was built into the arrangements. Read more
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John Gladwin: Bishops rule, OK?

[...] In Hooker's day Bishops were weak and too dependent on the Crown and too little assertive of their fundamental authority in the provision, care and ordering of ministry. The Bishop, within the bounds of what is properly lawful, sets the conditions for ordination and for the pastoral oversight of clergy and all who hold his licence. No one, under their oath of obligation, can turn round and say that they are not willing to accept the rule the Bishop makes and expect, nevertheless, to proceed to ordination. Furthermore, I hold that Ministry Review and Episcopal Review fall within the boundaries of what reasonably a Bishop should expect from people in licensed ministry and under oath.

The Church of England has held firm to the Episcopal shape of its life in good times and in difficult times. Hooker had learned well from Bishop John Jewel. These foundations, laid through his thinking, were built upon through the theological and spiritual inheritance of the Carolingian divines and in the restoration of the order of the Church of England after 1660.

There is a dangerous drift within Anglicanism today to look for Bishops after our own image. If we do not like the one we have we must look for another and more congenial one. All parties in the church have a habit of speaking and thinking in this way. I have increasingly come to the conclusion that it matters less and less what back ground Bishops come from provided they have a grip on what their office is for in the good ordering of the life of the church. What is it that God has called me to be and to do that belongs to my role as Bishop? Seeking vocations, watching over the formation of people for ordained and lay ministry, ordaining and licensing people for ministry and ensuring both the effective deployment and oversight of that ministry is at its heart. That is one of the crucial ministries which I believe I can offer to enable our mission today. Through that ministry we seek to ensure that the Gospel is proclaimed and the faith of Jesus Christ taught across the diocese. We do this in that open and quintessentially Anglican way of reasoned and careful Biblical theology engaging with the contemporary life of our people today. Read more
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Bishop of Chelmsford seeks solution to Middle East conflict

The Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt Revd John Gladwin, undertook a six-day visit to Israel and Palestine this month in his role as chairman of Christian Aid. With Israel and Palestine locked into a dangerous, divisive and potentially explosive political context, the Bishop said: “We are approaching the midnight hour for the two-state solution. There has to be agreement to achieve it however long and difficult the road will be to get there.”

He added that the leaders of the religious faith communities need to be alongside the political process.

The Bishop held discussions with the UN, the World Bank, the British Consulate, the Palestinian Authority, key figures in the Orthodox Jewish community, Muslim leaders and Christian colleagues during his visit. Read more
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Both a disorder and an orientation?

Ed: When was this said, and what was the topic?

[...] "I think it can be both a disorder and an orientation," said Dr. Frederick Berlin, founder of the Sexual Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

[...] "Many of these people need help in not acting on these very intense desires in the same way that a drug addict or alcoholic may need help," he said. "We don't for the most part blame someone these days for their alcoholism. We do believe that these people have a disease or a disorder, but we also recognize that in having it that it impairs their function, that it causes them suffering that they need to turn for help." Read more

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Chelmsford Diocesan Evangelical Association to relaunch in 2008

The Chelmsford Diocesan Evangelical Association, which has not met for over two years, is to be re-launched at a meeting on Saturday February 9th, 2008, at St Michael’s church, Braintree.

The guest speaker at the meeting will be the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Revd Pete Broadbent, who will speak on the theme ‘United We Stand’.

Anyone who thinks of themselves as an Anglican Evangelical, whether lay or clergy, is welcome to come along from 10.00 am. Bishop Pete will address the meeting at 10.30am.

Later in the morning, it is proposed to appoint a ‘holding’ committee, which will draw up a new list of members and decide a programme for the remainder of the year. This will allow the CDEA to become re-established before more formal elections take place for a longer-term committee.

In the past, the CDEA provided a regular opportunity for Evangelicals to come together from across the Diocese to encourage one another in ministry and evangelism. With so many challenges facing us today, it is a great time to be uniting again with the aim of bringing the gospel through our churches to our world.

St Michael’s is near the centre of Braintree, just off the High Street, in St Michael’s Lane. There is a regular train service from London and from the east of the county. It is expected that the meeting will finish at 12.30 with the opportunity to stay on over lunch. For further details, please contact Revd John P Richardson on 01279 813703 or by e-mail, j.p.richardson@virgin.net.

Ed: If you are an interested reader of this blog, please give this meeting as much publicity as possible.

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Peter Tatchell: denying freedom of speech may have prevented rise of Hitler

Ed: The question which this begs is whether a government in 1920s Germany which prevented freedom of speech in the way Tatchell suggests would itself have eventually given way to a better regime than Hitler's or Stalin's. As always, when 'fascism' is invoked as the enemy, one should also re-read George Orwell's classic essay, What is Fascism?, where he comments, "It will be seen that, as used, the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print."

[...] Free speech is the ideal. But it is not absolute. There may be a small number circumstances where free speech can be legitimately limited to protect individuals and communities. We already accept the notion that free speech does not include the right to falsely libel a person as a paedophile, terrorist or a fraudster. Nor does the law allow people to incite violence or murder. Restricting free speech may be wrong and undesirable, but it is sometimes the lesser of two evils.

Let’s go back in history. It is possible that if there had been no free speech for Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany during the early 1920s – if their meetings and marches had been stopped – they may not have grown in strength and influence. Denying them an opportunity to propagandise, gain respectability and enter the political mainstream might have thwarted their rise to power. This may have prevented the Nazis from assuming the government of Germany. Without Hitler in power, the Holocaust and World War Two may not have happened. Tens of millions of lives may have been saved if the free speech of Nazis had been suppressed early on.

This is, of course, historical speculation. We don’t know for sure. But it is plausible that “no platform” for Nazis in the 1920s could have prevented the horrors the Nazis later perpetrated. On these grounds, I would argue that it would have been justified to deny the Nazi Party freedom of speech.

Read more
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Archbishop thrown into row over US Middle East policy

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, found himself plunged into political controversy yesterday after remarks made during the course of a wide-ranging interview for a Muslim magazine were translated into an all-out attack on American policy in the Middle East.

The archbishop told Emel magazine in what it described as "a series of profound views expressed in serene tranquillity" that the US had lost the moral high ground since the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001, and that Washington's attempts to accumulate influence and control in the region were not working.

He was quoted as saying: "It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering it and normalising it. Rightly or wrongly, that's what the British empire did - in India, for example. It is another thing to go in on the assumption that a quick burst of violent action will somehow clear the decks and that you can move on and other people will put things back together - Iraq, for example."

The Sunday Times interpreted the remarks as implying that the US was the "worst" imperialist nation and that the crisis was caused by its actions and its misguided sense of its own mission. Read more
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Gang life in 'Great' Britain

[...] The other day they stripped someone naked and made them walk through Peckham High Street. If you don't want that kind of thing, then you need to earn the respect. How did I get the respect of the north London boys? You have to be the cruellest, the most violent, the most intimidating. You don't even need to use brute force. Sometimes it's mind games, spreading stuff about them within their gang, intimidating them over the phone. Text messages do get used. But people are getting more aware that there's a record of your text, it makes more sense to use a pay phone or something that's harder to trace. I had to get a few people who weren't showing me enough respect. A boy I was friends with borrowed a CD and one of my shirts and didn't bother to give them me back. So I broke into his house and stabbed him while he was asleep.

I got out of it because I was given a chance. I was raised all my life to think I was worthless. But then when I was living in a shared house there was a family from Mauritius in the next bedroom. They knew I wasn't really all right. They took me to a South American church and that's how I learned a lot more about morals and remorse. The pastors helped me a lot.

If it wasn't for this family I probably would have ended up falling back into it. A lot of middle-class people think that gangs are untouchable and youths are unreachable, but that's not the case - these 13- and 14-year-old boys are scared, they are looking for guidance and they're going to anyone who can provide it, whether that's a 30-year-old gang leader or a 20-year-old church member. That's why I love the family. They couldn't even speak English, but they still managed to help me. They took a chance and said, "I'm not going to judge you." I think that was one of the most inspirational things. Read more
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A lesbian asks, "Ain't I human?"

In November 2003, V. Gene Robinson was consecrated bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, having been elected by church members to serve as their spiritual leader. The election left the worldwide Anglican Communion divided over the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop; in the U.S. four dioceses have begun the process of leaving the national church.

The question has been four-square in the news. Members of many faiths, often facing their own questions about gay clergy, are carefully watching the issue in the Episcopal Church.

As a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church who is gay, and a postulant for ordination to the priesthood, I was struck by Sojourner Truth's call for justice. She has inspired my perspective on efforts to diminish others.
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"Ain't I a woman?"

More than 150 years ago, Truth put that question to the Women's Convention meeting in Akron, Ohio. It was 54 years after she was born; the Emancipation Proclamation was still more than a decade away. It was 69 years before women's suffrage that she would not live to see. In her powerful voice, she was confronting other women about her right to belong - her right to be accepted in the fullness of her being.

"I have borne 13 children and seen most of them sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief none but Jesus heard me. Ain't I a woman?

"Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman!'"

Her lament about her status echoes on - no, it thunders on to this day.

Ain't I a human? Read more
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Illegal abortions still blight UK

Illegal abortions are still taking place in the UK, a BBC undercover investigation has discovered.

Abortion has been legal in Britain for 40 years - woman have the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy up to 24 weeks.

But the BBC has discovered pills for getting rid of unwanted pregnancies are readily available on the black market.

The BBC Radio 5 Live Report followed up on internet chat room messages left by women asking for abortion advice. Read more
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ABp Gomez: Clash is over 'nature of reality'

The Anglican church in The Bahamas and worldwide is faced with a serious challenge, and Archbishop Drexel Gomez says he hopes and prays that they find a collective way forward to avoid the route of a split. This came from Gomez during his charge at the recent 107th session of the Synod, at Holy Trinity Conference Centre.

"Paul singles out homosexual intercourse for special attention because he regards it as providing a particularly graphic image of the way in which humans distort God's created order. God the Creator made man and woman for each other, to cleave together, to be fruitful and multiply.

"When human beings 'exchange' these created roles for homosexual intercourse, they embody the spiritual condition of those who have 'exchanged' the truth about God for a lie."

The Province of the West Indies adheres firmly to this theological position, according to Gomez.

"The diversity of opinions across the Communion has led some persons to conclude the Anglican Communion will have to divide, seeing that those who are convinced that the Gospel is clear in its teaching and must take precedence over culture cannot accommodate those who believe the contrary," he said.

"The split — if it occurs — will be about the most fundamental of all questions: the nature of reality. Which relationships correspond to God's ordering of life, and which violate it? It is clear that the future of the Anglican Communion is unclear at the moment, but there can be no doubt that the future shape of Anglicanism will have to undergo significant adjustments if the Communion is to remain intact" said Gomez. Read more
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Sydney and Indian Ocean Support Actions of Anglican Network in Canada

Read letters of support here.
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Second Canadian bishop breaks with church over gay row

A second Anglican bishop on Thursday deserted his Canadian church to join its more conservative branch in South America following a theological split over homosexuality.

Bishop Malcolm Harding said in a statement he will now minister under Archbishop Gregory Venables and the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone of the Americas, while setting up a parallel church in Canada.

"My heart yearns for revival in Canada and in Anglicanism but I have lost hope for reformation within the Anglican Church of Canada," he said.

"I now realize that we cannot have unity at the expense of truth. I cannot in conscience travel the path that the Anglican Church of Canada is traveling, away from historic Christian teaching and established Anglican practice."

Bishop Harding is the second Canadian bishop to break with the Canadian church to join the newly-formed faction. Read more
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Bp Ingham: Anglican gay row is 'full-blown schism'

A theological split in the Anglican Church over homosexuality is now a "full-blown schism," a Canadian bishop said Wednesday, ahead of the expected formation of a breakaway body.

Right Reverend Michael Ingham, whose Greater Vancouver diocese became the first Anglican jurisdiction to formally authorize the blessing of same-sex unions in 2002, accused the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of the Americas of tearing at the rip by poaching congregations in Canada.

He also blasted the South American faction for planning to ordain two deacons in his diocese in westernmost Canada next month, despite his objections.

"Over many, many centuries the rule has been that there is only one church in one geographical area, so we think it's improper" for anyone to try to set up a parallel Anglican church in Canada, his spokesman Neil Adams told AFP.

"Setting up two rival bodies is not healthy for the Anglican Church."

"Historically, the Anglican Church came from a split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1400s," Adams conceded. "But afterwards it became a big tent church ... open to a wide variety of theologies, and we think that's good and we'd like it to remain that way." Read more
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Conservative Anglicans shun Canada for S. America

As more sections of the Anglican Church of Canada move toward blessing gay marriages, a group of conservative Anglicans has started pulling out of the Canadian organization and putting themselves under the authority of the main Anglican branch in South America.

The first move happened on Friday when retired Bishop Donald Harvey left the Anglican Church of Canada and became a full-time bishop of the more conservative Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of the Americas.

On Thursday, he will now outline plans to enable conservative Anglican congregations in Canada to join the Southern Cone under his episcopal oversight.

"Because of the unabated theological decay in the Anglican Church of Canada, many long-time Anglicans have already left their church and left Anglicanism," Harvey said in a statement.

"We want to provide a fully Anglican option -- a safety net -- for others who feel their church has abandoned them and who are contemplating taking the same action."

It echoes similar moves in the United States, and on both sides of the border such actions have prompted sharp protests from the Anglican Church of Canada and the U.S. Episcopal Church against what they regard as unwelcome intrusions onto North American territory. Read more

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Changing Attitude: ABp Williams would have to disinvite patron bishops

See earlier story here.

[...] The Reverend Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude England, said:

“If the Archbishop Canterbury is proposing to withdraw invitations to the Lambeth Conference from bishops who are seen as being “pro-gay” (according to the definition of conservative Anglicans) he will have to withdraw the invitation from every bishop who is a patron of Changing Attitude and from every English bishop who has participated in the registration or celebration of a civil partnership for one of their clergy or who have accepted partnered gay clergy in their diocese. There are a significant number of English bishops who quietly support LGBT people contrary to the principles outlined in the Windsor Report. Read more

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Peers and church leaders oppose test-tube baby Bill plan

A coalition of peers and church leaders will launch a campaign today to scupper plans to give lesbian couples the right to have test-tube babies. They will also oppose moves that could lead to the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos for research.

The Government faces a backlash when the Lords considers the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Critics will speak out against the Bill, marking the start of a parliamentary campaign to wreck it.

Its most contentious proposal would enable lesbian couples to become joint legal parents of children conceived using donated sperm or eggs. The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, and peers of all parties, are expected to join criticism of the Bill, which was announced in this month's Queen's Speech.

One of the leading opponents of the proposals on test-tube babies, the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, said the Bill would remove the requirement for a father: "Another nail will have been hammered into the coffin of the traditional family. And another blow will have been struck against fatherhood." Read more

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‘Conscientious objector’ idea to ease way for women bishops

Opponents of women bishops could be given “conscientious objector” status similar to that given to pacifists during the two world wars under proposals being considered by legislators in the Church of England.

Campaigners for the ordination of women priests and bishops have drawn up a scheme for their opponents which fits with the “time-honoured way of reconciling those who are unable to go along with a change which is taking place”.

The proposal is being considered by the General Synod’s legislative drafting group established to draw up the new measure to permit the consecration of women to the episcopate, and chaired by the Bishop of Manchester, the Right Rev Nigel McCulloch.

If agreed by the synod, it would pave the way for the first women to be consecrated to the episcopate soon after 2010, the original target date set by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey. Read more

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Church of Norway votes in favour of homosexuals in ordained ministry

The Lutheran Church of Norway, with whom the Church of England is in partnership through the Porvoo agreement, voted last Friday to allow members in same-sex partnerships to serve in ordained ministry.

The vote came towards the end of a difficult week of debate on the issue during the Church’s General Synod, held last Tuesday to Saturday.

The Church remains deeply divided over homosexuality, with many feeling that the acceptance of homosexuals in the clergy goes against Scripture.

Last Friday’s compromise vote was testimony to the lack of clear consensus on homosexuals within the Church. While the long-standing absolute ban on employing homosexuals in the clergy has been lifted, the ultimate decision on whether or not to appoint them has been left to individual bishops to make.

Read more

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Diocese of Niagara approves same-sex blessings

2007 Synod of the Diocese of Niagara

Whereas the Diocese of Niagara wishes to express to the House of Bishops and the Council of General Synod the conviction that we believe that God is calling us to move forward now; to wait before the faithful relationships of our gay and lesbian members are blessed by the Church would be unloving and cause further pain and suffering

and

Whereas the Diocese of Niagara respects and honours those within our Diocese who, because of their theological position or as a matter of conscience, cannot agree with the blessings of same sex unions.

Be it resolved:

That this Synod request the Bishop to allow clergy, whose conscience permits, to bless the duly solemnized and registered civil marriages between same-sex couples, where at least one party is baptized, and to authorize rites for such blessings.

Mover: The Reverend Canon Dr. Margaret Murray
St. Matthias, Guelph

Seconder: Ms. Marilyn Robbins
St. James, Dundas

• Vote on Motion CLERGY:
• In favour: 82
• Opposed:13
• Abstained:
• Vote on Motion: LAITY
• In favour: 157
• Opposed:40
• Abstained: 2
• Motion carried - by 81% of combined houses 18% opposed.
• Bishop Comments: He and Michael will discuss this with the primate later today. Implementation will be looked at in the days ahead.

Read more
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Dr Rowan Williams to target pro-gay bishops

The Archbishop of Canterbury is preparing to target individual bishops whose pro-gay policies threaten to derail his efforts to avert schism, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

In a high-risk strategy, Dr Rowan Williams may even snub them by withdrawing their invitations to next year's Lambeth Conference.

He has told friends he will challenge any bishop he believes is coming to the conference with an agenda "very much at odds" with his attempts to maintain unity in the worldwide Church.
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Dr Williams sent invitations in May to most of the Anglican Church's 880 bishops around the world for the once-a-decade showcase gathering in Canterbury. Read more

Update: Changing Attitude now says this would have to include several English bishops, see here.
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Tutu hits out at Church on attitude to gays

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has strongly criticised the Anglican Church for its stance on homosexuals.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, the Archbishop accused the Church of being “obsessed” with the issue of gay priests, while ignoring pressing global needs such as poverty and HIV.

"Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Archbishop Tutu, 76.

"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.

"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."

Archbishop Tutu went on to criticise the spiritual leader of the 70-million strong worldwide Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, of overlooking God’s “welcoming” nature. Read more
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Pope gets radical, woos Anglicans

Two and a half years after the name "Josephum" came booming down from the balcony of St Peter's, making liberal Catholics weep with rage, Pope Benedict XVI is revealing his programme of reform. And it is breathtakingly ambitious.

The 80-year-old Pontiff is planning a purification of the Roman liturgy in which decades of trendy innovations will be swept away. This recovery of the sacred is intended to draw Catholics closer to the Orthodox and ultimately to heal the 1,000 year Great Schism. But it is also designed to attract vast numbers of conservative Anglicans, who will be offered the protection of the Holy Father if they covert en masse.

The liberal cardinals don't like the sound of it at all.

Ever since the shock of Benedict's election, they have been waiting for him to show his hand. Now that he has, the resistance has begun in earnest - and the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, is in the thick of it. Read more
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Canadian Pro-life site takes dim view of CofE statistics

[...] Ruth Gledhill, religion correspondent at the London Times wrote, “The feminization of the ministry is one of the most significant trends of this generation. Acceptance of women in the pastoral role reverses centuries of Christian conviction and practice. It also leads to a redefinition of the church and its ministry. Once women begin to fill and represent roles of pastoral leadership men withdraw. This is true, not only in the pulpit, but in the pews. The evacuation of male worshippers from liberal churches is a noticeable phenomenon.”

Some writers are pointing to the weakening of the Church of England as a warning sign for British sovereignty and independence. As the officially established church, the Church of England plays a significant role in Britain’s political and social make-up and has an impact on its distinctiveness from its European neighbours.

Joel Hilliker, writing in the Trumpet, says that the religious erosion of Britain has eroded British national identity. “Secularism has Britain by the throat,” he writes.

“The percentage of practicing Christians there is in the single digits. The Church of England has lost moral authority, loosening its standards on issues such as the ordination of women as priests, premarital cohabitation and homosexuality.”

With the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), an organisation with 400,000 members formally requesting “full, corporate and sacramental union” with the Roman Catholic Church, and many Anglicans seeking union with Rome individually, the Protestant Hilliker writes, “What is left in this nation is a spiritual vacuum — a vacuum that provides the Church of Rome the perfect opportunity to move in. For as Britain has become more liberal, Roman Catholicism has grown more conservative, increasingly presenting itself as a rock of stability in an uncertain world.” Read more
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Swedish Christian web editor wins appeal against two-month prison sentence over anti-gay comments on website

(Ed: More important for me than for some of you, no doubt. As Ricky Tomlinson's Jim Royle might have said, "Free speech in Europe? My *rse!")

A Christian website editor who was sentenced to two months in prison for inciting hatred against homosexuals has been cleared by the Supreme Court in Sweden.

Leif Liljeström, who had already had his sentence cut to one month by the Court of Appeal, was cleared after the court ruled that he may not have been aware that anti-gay comments posted by visitors to his website, Bibeltemplet or The Bible Temple, consituted incitement to hatred.

Mr Liljeström, aged 50, was told of today's Supreme Court's decision by news agency TT.

"Has the verdict arrived? A not guilty verdict? That's very good to hear. I actually had a feeling that it would turn out like this. I did what Christians do and asked God. I then got a feeling that it was going to work out well," he said.

Mr Liljeström told the court that he had thought long and hard about removing the offending posts before eventually allowing them to remain on the site where they could serve to generate further discussion.

One of the more extreme comments was posted by a visitor to a discussion forum thread entitled "Sodomy". The commenter stated that "men who cannot summon up the energy to abstain from intercourse with other men should be sentenced to death and hanged from posts in the town square." Although he did not remove it, Leifström did in fact criticise this statement and several others on the site's discussion forum.

According to the first court to hear the case, Stenungsund District Court, as website administrator he was guilty of "incitement against a group of people" for statements he himself had written, and for crime against "the law on electronic bulletin boards" for guest-messages which he neglected to delete.

The administrator, Leif Liljeström, told the court that his purpose is to preach the gospel and win people for Jesus, and that the truth was needed to awake people. Read more
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Under achievers will be poor, male and white

(Ed: And compare here.)

[...] There is a pattern to these conversations. Parents who are themselves poorly educated and low achievers seem unable to provide structure or boundaries. Admittedly, this is not an easy thing to do, but the prevailing culture seems to be a moral vacuum in which responsibility lies elsewhere. Neither do these parents understand how to negotiate the school system, or have experience of making progress. Their own negative experiences have left them feeling unmotivated, their children pick up on that and, once they start to fail, they become accustomed to failure, says Steve Belcher, an outreach development worker at the Birmingham branch of Fairbridge, the charity that has helped Adam and Lee to understand that they have a future.

[...] The other thread that runs through this debate is the use of words such as excitement and fun. School is failing them because it isn’t exciting. Naughty stuff – many lads use these coy words to refer to crime – may be a matter of economic necessity, but sometimes it is done for a thrill. Where does that come from? Neil Ezard, assistant head in education at Aycliffe, is one of many professionals who note that these boys learn language from screens rather than from people, and that accustoms them to instant gratification.

“The role model in their own homes is usually grandma or mum or auntie. The male role model – the key element in forming a young boy’s impression of who they’re supposed to be – can come from a hero in a video game or an action adventure, which tends to be violent and which tends not to include good relationships with women. So the only thing that they value is fun and excitement associated with their role model. Some of the things they do are because of a lack of understanding that what they do to other people is real and has a devastating effect on their lives. You do despair.” Over the past decade Camila Batmanghelidjh has offered support to vulnerable children and young people through the charity she founded, Kids Company. “The biggest barrier to learning is the emotional state in which you come to the classroom, and that depends on whether you have had a robust attachment figure in your life,” she says. “If you don’t have that, a great deal of energy goes on just piecing yourself together every day, let alone navigating a learning task.”

Batmanghelidjh refers to all failing children. Yet we know that girls consistently do better at school than boys. Why? It is generally accepted that girls are more likely to have female role models within their families, and that they are more suited than edgy rumbustious boys to an education system that rewards diligence. But what about specific ethnic groups? For all the white boys’ lack of education they have acute antennae about perceptions of racism, which makes them uneasy discussing this, though Dom observes that “the majority of white people will be alcoholics and there won’t be many black or Asian alcoholics.”

Lee suspects that the respect for adults that has evaporated from many white families is alive in their black counterparts. “I think black people have more respect for their parents because they have to, their parents are probably stricter. Asian communities are strong because of religion.” Read more

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Anti-hatred laws threaten to be anti-justice

At one stage during my childhood I took a bit of a shine to the word "hate". I enjoyed the sense of oomph that went with it, and I began to throw it around like candy at a pantomime.

Every time I declared that I hated someone, however, my grandmother would intervene with the phrase: "You don't hate them, you only dislike them." At the time I thought she was being pedantic: now, I can see that she was quite right.

As mature adults we are all agreed that hatred is a terrible thing, destructive to the holder and the object alike. Our Government is so eager to emphasise that hatred is wrong, indeed, that it has created a special category of crime called "hate crime", whose exponents will be punished more heavily than other criminals (presumably the ones who love us). The most recent proposal is that those who "incite hatred" against homosexuals could be guilty of a criminal offence punishable by up to seven years in jail.

It is on this heavily-mined territory that the Government and I part company. That is not because I am any fan of those who like to sneer at gay people, either by fulminating against the perceived depravity of their sexual activities or slipping constantly into dreary faux-effeminate mockery: such people tend to be bores and creeps.

But it should not be a criminal offence to be a bore or a creep, since otherwise British jails would be at bursting point and beyond. Read more

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Chelmsford Diocese launches campaign to keep Church Urban Fund investing in communities

2008 will see a major fund-raising drive to raise £500,000 for the Church Urban Fund from Chelmsford Diocese. Since 1987 CUF has given more than 191 grants totalling nearly £2.5 million to projects and organisations in Essex and East London. The Fund supports faith-based social action projects in their mission to be good news.

CUF tackles deprivation at the grass roots, attracts external funds and helps projects to be self-sustaining. As well as this it helps to keep the Church’s mission remain relevant to local communities.

But funds raised 20 years ago are due to be exhausted around now. So CUF is being re-launched as part of a national strategy. The approach is to create a structure that liberates and empowers deaneries and parishes to create local projects with full support from the centre. Deanery champions will be organising local fundraising initiatives and events throughout 2008. Read more
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Meet the real life Vicar of Dibley

It’s just as well women can multi-task. Jenny Hill’s occupation is certainly a varied one. Her incredibly long days can see her organising a baptism, making a funeral visit and then conducting a marriage interview.

And when it comes to Sunday lunch – she manages to get back home just in time to do the gravy.

Reverend Jenny Hill’s life could almost be as hectic as the Vicar of Dibley’s.

But the 57-year-old Rural Dean of Walsall is no actress – she balances her vocation and family in the real world.

Rev Hill, who was ordained 10 years ago, is one of the many females to have joined the church over the years.

New figures have revealed that more women than men were ordained as clergy in the Church of England last year for the first time since the introduction of female priests. The Church of England said it ordained 478 new clergy in 2006. Of those, 244 were women and 234 men.

The majority of the women were ordained to non-stipendiary or unpaid posts, such as working as assistant priests.

Rev Hill, who is also minister at St Mark’s Church, in Green Lane, Shelfield, says she is delighted that more and more women are entering the Church. Read more

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Tips for welcoming the polyamorous to church

Ed: This is not a spoof - at least I don't think it is! Polyamorous people are those with more than one 'partner'.)

• Say “partner or partners” instead of “couple.”
• Support multiple-person commitment ceremonies.
• Ask a poly person about his or her life. Ask about the person’s partner(s) as a way of affirming the importance of those relationships.
• Speak up if someone reveals an irrational fear of polyamory. Be aware of subtle and institutional forms of discrimination against polyamorous people.
• If polyamory brings up strong negative emotions for you, gently explore those feelings by talking with someone you trust.’ Read more
  

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CofE latest statistics: Giving up, numbers down

[...] “Church members continue to give generously to charitable causes compared with the population at large. Average giving to the church is around 3% of average incomes, still somewhere short of the 5% of disposable income recommended by the General Synod since 1978.

“The 5% aim was based on the Christian tradition of tithing or giving away 10% of income and the recommendation was to give half of that to the Church in thanks for God's gifts and half to other charitable works.”

The total income of Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) in 2005, the figures show, rose to £792 million. Total expenditure rose to £779 million, of which more than £50 million was devoted to charitable giving by the PCCs to other charities and mission organisations, 8% of their recurring expenditure of £568 million.

The statistics also show increases in the number of clergy being trained and numbers being ordained. The Church recommended 594 future clergy for ordination training in 2005, the greatest number for more than a decade and maintaining the upward trend since the mid-90s. In 1994, 408 candidates were recommended for training.

The Church ordained 478 new clergy in 2006, a drop on the 505 ordained in 2005, the highest number since 2002, but more than the 469 in 2004.

Overall, more women (244) than men (234) were ordained in 2006, though the majority of these were ordained to non-stipendiary ministry. Of those ordained to full-time stipendiary ministry, 128 were men and 95 were women.

At the end of 2006, there were 20,354 ministers licensed by Church of England dioceses, including clergy, readers and Church Army officers: one minister for every 2,500 people in England.

“The nation continues to enjoy the spiritual ministry of an increasing variety of Church of England ministers, many of whom contribute to the health of their local community in a voluntary capacity,” observed Revd Lynda Barley, Head of Research and Statistics.

The total does not include some 1,600 chaplains to prisons, hospitals, the armed forces and in education, nor around 6,600 retired ministers with permission to officiate.

Attendance figures for 2005 were provisionally issued in January and have not changed. Regular Sunday attendance fell by 2%, while weekly and monthly attendance fell by 1% or less. This follows two years in which the numbers increased or held steady.

Meanwhile, Christmas Eve/Christmas Day attendance increased by 6%, the number of children and young people attending at least monthly increased by 1% and more than half the parishes reported running or planning a ‘fresh expression of church’. Read more

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Chelmsford Synod divided and undecided on upholding Lambeth Resolution 1.10

Against the advice of Canon Theologian Andrew Knowles, the Chelmsford Diocesan Synod decided on Saturday 10th November not to vote on a motion from Braintree Deanery urging the bishops to uphold Lambeth Resolution 1.10.

A procedural motion to move on without voting was passed by 65 votes to 60 on a second count.

The same Synod saw a number of questions put to Bishop John Gladwin about his patronage of the campaign group Changing Attitude, and the effect this was having on the Diocese.

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ID registration already a UK requirement

[...] The discussion on Any Questions? was predicated upon a mistaken belief that this law has still to be passed and could yet be abandoned by Gordon Brown.

But it has been on the Statute Book for a year.

It is true that another Act will be needed to make ID cards a universal requirement.

However, from next year, they will be compulsory for all non-UK nationals staying longer than three months and, from the following year, they will be automatically issued to UK citizens on renewal of a passport.

When one group has them, ID registration must either be extended to everyone or scrapped, otherwise we would have two classes of citizen.

From 2009, if you want a passport, you will be entered on to the ID register.

There is no choice. It will not, however, be a legal requirement to carry the ID card or to show it to a police officer in the street. Until such time as registration is made mandatory for everybody - which will not be in this parliament - the principal penalty for refusing to co-operate is that you will not be able to travel abroad. Read more
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Britain breeding 'lost generation' says Ian Duncan-Smith

Britain is in danger of creating a "lost generation" of wayward teenagers responsible for soaring levels of gun crime and drug and alcohol abuse, a Tory-backed group claims today.

In a stark warning about the extent of the "broken society", it says a toxic combination of family breakdown and school failure is creating a violent and anti-social youth culture.

The Commission for Social Justice will today launch an inquiry into the epidemic of gang and youth crime that threatens to turn inner cities into no-go areas.

It will study New York's success in reducing crime and the impact of a zero tolerance approach to law enforcement.

The commission, chaired by the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, released shocking statistics:

• every year an estimated 70,000 school-aged offenders enter the youth justice system;

• 18- to 20-year-olds constitute 42 per cent of all first-time offenders;
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• three quarters of male offenders between 18 and 21 re-offend within two years;

• the most likely person to have a knife is a boy of 14-19.

• four out of 10 muggings are committed by under-16s.

• the total of young offenders in custody has been above 2,500 every month since April 2000 and 1,504 of those in custody now are 16 or younger.
Read more
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Why do we have so many children with an empty hole where their hearts should be?

[...] Why do so many young people entering adulthood possess only a void where their emotions should be? If we are witnessing, as we appear to be, some of kind of quiet apocalypse – a generation blighted by inability to empathise or understand other people’s feelings – then the very least we should do is to discover the reasons.

The answer is straightforward. The overwhelming cause is that so many children grow up with drug or alcohol addicted parents. It wouldn’t surprise me if all the teenagers involved in some of the worst incidents we hear of had addict parents. If youngsters spend their formative years reliant on a parent who is in the mastery of addiction, then it’s simple – they grow up devoid of love and tenderness. Their parents are rarely present mentally (even if they are physically) because their brains are addled. The children have no concept of compassion, because they have never been shown any. They grow up ignored. Read more
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Lesbian fails to win post as bishop

The Episcopal diocese of Chicago Saturday passed over an openly gay woman as its next bishop.

The Rev. Tracey Lind, dean of the cathedral in Cleveland, was one of eight candidates -- three of them women -- for the post, The New York Times reported. Delegates to the diocesan convention approved the Rev. Jeffrey Lee, rector of St. Thomas Church in Medina, Wash., for the position.

Homosexuality is a divisive issue in the Episcopal Church and in the Anglican Communion, the worldwide confederation of churches descended from the Church of England. The consecration of Gene Robinson, an openly gay man in a committed relationship, as bishop of New Hampshire has threatened to split the church.

Bishop William Persell said he did not believe Saturday's vote was a rejection of homosexuals or women. He said about one-third of the clergy in the Chicago diocese are women and there are many openly gay priests.

But some members of the diocese appeared relieved by Lee's selection. Joan Barr Smith, a non-delegate from Evanston, told the Times "we dodged that bullet." Read more
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TEAR Fund: 42% of Britons pray

People feel that prayer changes their lives and over 40% engage in the activity, research has revealed.

A survey of 1,000 UK adults shows that 42% pray to God, with around one in six praying every day and one in four praying at least once a week.

After praying, 38% reported feeling "peaceful and content", 30% were strengthened and 57% said it changed what happened in their lives.

Even people with no religion reported praying, with 12% praying sometimes.

Praying made 30% of people feel strengthened, 22% said they felt close to God, 21% said they felt reassured and safe and 19% said they felt happy and joyful. Read more
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Anti-abortion GP faces inquiry over claims of giving partisan advice to patients

A family doctor who is a leading campaigner against abortion is facing an inquiry by the General Medical Council after allegations that she breached ethical guidelines by trying to dissuade patients from having a termination.

The medical regulator is looking into the conduct of Tamie Downes, a West Country GP, whom critics accuse of trying to promote her anti-abortion views while patients are confused about their pregnancy.

The inquiry has arisen after the GMC received a complaint, believed to be from a practising doctor involved in the pro-choice movement, about an interview with Downes in the Daily Mail earlier this year. In it she described how she talked to the women who come to her to discuss having an abortion about having the baby instead. Read more

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