Retired Canadian Primates urge 'yes' vote for same-sex blessings

As Canada's Anglican Church prepares for its historic – and possibly schismatic – decision on blessing homosexual unions, six of its most senior clerics Thursday called for a yes vote that would show “justice, compassion and hope for all God's people.”

The declaration from the half-dozen retired archbishops from across the country reveals a sharp division in the church's hierarchy.

While the archbishops said that blessing the unions of same-sex couples does not touch on the church's “core doctrine,” last month the national House of Bishops issued a pastoral statement saying that the “doctrine and discipline of our church does not clearly permit [same-sex blessings].”

The vote will be taken at the church's general synod, or parliament, meeting next week in Winnipeg.

The archbishops' statement is signed by John Bothwell, Terence Finlay and Percy O'Driscoll, all former metropolitans, or chief bishops, of Ontario; David Crawley and David Somerville, former metropolitans of British Columbia; and Arthur Peters, former metropolitan of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Read more

TEC Executive Council rejects Primates' 'pastoral scheme'

The Episcopal Church's Executive Council told the Anglican Communion June 14 that no governing body other than General Convention can interpret Convention resolutions or agree to deny "future decisions by dioceses or General Convention."

The Council declined to participate in a plan put forward by the Primates of the Anglican Communion in February for dealing with some disaffected Episcopal Church dioceses.

The statement, titled "The Episcopal Church's Commitment to Common Life in Anglican Communion," "strongly affirm[ed] this Church's desire to be in the fullest possible relationship with our Anglican sisters and brothers."

The text of the statement and its accompanying resolutions passed with limited debate. Read more

Roundup of news from The Episcopal Church etc

Read here.

Theological college's head is undermining it, say predecessors

The principal of Wycliffe Hall, the Oxford University Anglican evangelical theological college, was under renewed pressure last night after his three immediate predecessors claimed he was undermining its reputation and threatening its survival as an academic institution.

The unprecedented intervention, in the form of a joint letter leaked among members of the evangelical community, represented the latest twist in the crisis that has gripped the 130-year-old permanent private hall, which trains theological students and candidates for ordination in the Church of England, and its conservative evangelical principal, Richard Turnbull, following revelations about his conduct of the college. Read more

Anglican coalition to force through breakaway in US

A powerful coalition of conservative Anglican leaders is preparing to create a parallel Church for conservatives in America in defiance of the Archbishop of Canterbury, provoking the biggest split in Anglican history, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

According to sources, at least six primates are planning the consecration of a prominent American cleric as a bishop to minister to Americans who have rejected their liberal bishops over the issue of homosexuality.

The move will send shock waves through worldwide Anglicanism and may prove to be a fatal blow to the efforts of Dr Rowan Williams to hold together what he described last month as a "very vulnerable, very fragile" Church.

The initiative is understood to have been co-ordinated by senior African archbishops, including the Primate of Kenya, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, who represent the core of the so-called Global South group of conservative primates.

But the group has a wider base and is also thought to include several relatively moderate primates from outside Africa. Read more

Marriage works. Accept no substitutes

[...] As yesterday’s leading article pointed out, there has been agitation to recognise “common-law” marriage ever since the Civil Partnerships Act gave decent and proper rights to gay couples. “Such rights,” it said, “were denied to cohabiting heterosexuals on the grounds that they could, at any time, get married. That answer may have been logical, but it failed to still a sense of unfairness.”

Gosh. I never knew that illogical whining could trigger a cumbersome overhauling of the law. I shall start listing my own illogical prejudices today. But this is rubbish! Divorce is now so accessible that anybody who wants the protections of marriage can get them – unless their cohabiting partner doesn’t agree, in which case, caveat emptor. You need not affront your Dawkins principles by going to church, or betray your anarchist instincts by entering a register office. You can now marry in a bingo hall or a Sea Life Centre. A licence costs only £63.50.

Some couples – I know and love many – jointly decide not to marry. Good luck to them. They don’t whimper for new laws; if they are wise they make legal arrangements about property ownership (like becoming tenants-in-common with appropriate shares) and ensure joint responsibility for children. If they are not wise, then by definition they are fools. You cannot frame every law to suit fools, even fools for love. Read more

Death threat to Italian bishop over gay legal rights

The head of Italy's influential bishops' conference has received a second envelope containing bullets and a death threat, following comments he made opposing same-sex unions, news agencies said yesterday.

An envelope containing three bullets arrived on Saturday at the Genoa archdiocese of Monsignor Angelo Bagnasco. A single bullet was sent on April 27. Read more

Katharine Jefferts-Schori interviewed

[...] BISHOP KATHARINE JEFFERTS SCHORI: With our long-development of an anthropology that says that heterosexual male is a normative human being. We've only begun in the last 150 years to really question that.

And I believe that the wrestling with the place of women in leadership, particularly in public leadership, is directly related to the same kind of issue over the position of gay and lesbian people in leadership, in public leadership.

BILL MOYERS: When you look at what the other side says about homosexuality, and the Scriptural tradition, do you grant them anything?

BISHOP KATHARINE JEFFERTS SCHORI: Absolutely. That has been the traditional way of seeing things. It was also why Galileo got in so much trouble [Ed: but see here.] The traditional way of seeing things was that the sun went around the Earth, not the other way around. If you expect things to be in a certain way, it's hard to see data that ask you to see the world in a very different way.

BILL MOYERS: So you would concede that as people like you want to modernize the Canon, the tradition and the Scripture, the traditionalists who look back and say, "This is our sacred tradition," would not want to come along on that journey.

BISHOP KATHARINE JEFFERTS SCHORI: Absolutely. But, I would take them back into that tradition to see within it far more complexity than they've been willing to admit.

BILL MOYERS: But can there be compromise and conciliation within the church when the positions are so fixed and the feelings are so strong?

BISHOP KATHARINE JEFFERTS SCHORI: I think if we're willing to hold our positions a little more lightly. To say, "Yes, this is where we come to as a conclusion out of faithfulness. We understand you may come to a different conclusion, also out of faithfulness. Perhaps we don't have to decide one way or the other immediately." If we're willing to live in that place of a little more humility, yes, we can live together.

BILL MOYERS: But isn't this what liberals say? We would like to talk and have a dialogue and listen. But do you get that coming back from this? I mean, the Bishop of Uganda would not meet with you. Now, you would be willing to meet and listen, but he won't. How can there then be any kind of reconciliation?

BISHOP KATHARINE JEFFERTS SCHORI: Well, the larger structure of the communion did make that a possibility. He was at the table in Tanzania in February with me. We had one or two conversations. And clearly we disagree about matters of sexuality. But we do hold some other things in common. here.

Search is under way for the next man to lead England’s Catholics

The Pope has begun taking soundings in England and Wales for a successor to the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, who is expected to retire in 2009, The Times has learnt.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor will offer his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI in August when he turns 75, as he is required to do by Canon Law.

The Pope is expected to turn it down, as is the norm for an Archbishop in good health who is in good favour in Rome. But sources have told The Times that the Cardinal is then expected to offer it again a year later, upon which it is likely to be accepted, giving a retirement date of February 2009. Read more

Unmarried couples get equal rights on ‘divorce'

Cohabiting partners who split up are to get similar rights to divorcing couples under plans to be outlined next month, The Times has learnt.

Unmarried women and men will be able to make claims against their partners to demand lump-sum payments, a share of property, regular maintenance or a share of the partner’s pension when they separate. They will also be able to claim against their partners for loss of earnings if they gave up a career to look after children.

The reforms are to be published by the Law Commission, the Government’s law reform body.It is expected to drop any proposal for a time stipulation, so that only couples who had lived together for, say, two years, could bring a claim; or any bar on childless couples. Read more

Anglican Church is 'fragile' over gay split

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has described the worldwide Anglican Church as "very vulnerable and very fragile" and admitted that he was hopeful rather than optimistic that he can avert a schism over the issue of homosexuality.

In an interview with Time magazine at the start of a three-month break from work, Dr Williams said he did not want to be pressured by conservatives or liberals over who should come to next year's Lambeth Conference, the gathering of Anglican bishops in Canterbury.

The Archbishop has angered both sides by refusing to invite either Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Anglican bishop, or Martyn Minns, a bishop who is the leader of a breakaway movement for American conservatives who reject the authority of liberal leaders.
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But Dr Williams said that those who boycotted the conference would "lose" by staying away. Read more

Brown to give up Prime Minister's power to pick Church leaders

Ed: As blogged about here lst month.

Gordon Brown is preparing to give up the prime minister's historic right to choose the Archbishop of Canterbury - and other Church of England bishops.

The move to grant "operational independence" to the Church will represent one of the biggest changes to its relationship with the state for centuries. It is just one of a swathe of "royal prerogative" powers, held by the prime minister, which Mr Brown is planning to do away with once he takes over at Number 10 later this month.

In a move he has already announced, he will also give up his prerogative power to declare war without the consent of parliament. Military action, such as the invasion of Iraq, will in future have to be approved in advance by MPs.
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Mr Brown, whose father was a minister in the Church of Scotland, is determined that the Church of England will make up its own mind on who should succeed Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of 70 million Anglicans worldwide. He was appointed in 2002.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that the prime minister-in-waiting has asked officials and senior politicians with close links to the Church to investigate the best way that he can renounce the "power of patronage". Read more

Dispute grows over 'abrasive' Oxford principal

Pressure is mounting on Church of England authorities to take action against the principal of an Oxford theological college accused of alienating staff.

The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones, is being urged to withdraw his support for the Rev Richard Turnbull, the principal of Wycliffe Hall, who has been criticised for his allegedly abrasive management style and conservative brand of Christianity.

Alister McGrath, a leading theologian and Wycliffe's previous principal, has pulled out of delivering a prestigious lecture in Liverpool in protest at the lack of action by Bishop Jones, who is the chairman of the hall's governing council.
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The Bishop, meanwhile, has tried to assuage the concerns of senior colleagues in a confidential briefing at a meeting of the House of Bishops earlier this month. The dispute erupted following allegations of clashes between Dr Turnbull, who is introducing reforms in the college, and disgruntled academics, some of whom have resigned. Read more

Primus of Scottish Episcopal Church becomes co-patron of Inclusive Church

The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Dr. Idris Jones, will join Archbishop Carlos Touché-Porter of Mexico as a patron of Inclusive Church, a U.K.-based organization that advocates for "a liberal, open church which is inclusive of all," regardless of race, gender or sexuality.

"It is a privilege to be associated with Inclusive Church. The Anglican Communion is seeking how it may develop and deepen its life today -- what better way could there be than working to keep our church as welcoming and encouraging to everyone who wants to follow Jesus so that everyone of us can be challenged by God's love," said Jones, who also serves as Bishop of Glasgow & Galloway. Read more

Hear podcast by Nigerian Changing Attitude activist Davis Mac-Iyalla

Listen here to the 'podcast'. The interview begins about 3 minutes in. The whole thing is a bit of an education, but be warned, some of the content is explicit: (Presenter: "If there's not a hard **** within a five mile radius, nobody's happy." Co-Presenter: "So very true.")

The interview is posted here. If possible, listen to the whole thing!

Perhaps the most curious moment is when he is doing the 'quick quiz' at the end:

Interviewer: "What happens when we die?"

Mac-Iyalla: "When we die?"

Interviewer: "Ah hm."

Mac-Iyalla: "When we die we die, we just go to rest."

Download Back to Church Sunday Prayer Bookmarks

I have produced a Prayer Bookmark for Back to Church Sunday. It comes as an A4 page with five bookmarks per page. There is space for you to write in the name of a person you are praying for. It looks like this:



It can be downloaded as a pdf file from here.

A society with plenty of laws but too little justice

Ed: OK, it's my opinion, but I offer it for your consideration - two stories from the same online newspaper:

Girl, 13, terrorised terminally-ill neighbour in last weeks of his life
A teenage girl terrorised a terminally-ill man in the final weeks of his life as she laid 'medieval siege' to her neighbours' homes.

Marlene Thomson, 13, waged a campaign of harassment against householders, pelting windows with stones and eggs, and yelling abuse.

Peter Brock, 72, was so intimidated by her violent rages he became too scared to go outside in his wheelchair. Read more

The driver who faces a £60 speeding fine...for failing to measure the gaps between lampposts
A motorist has been given a £60 speeding ticket for failing to spot the distance between roadside lampposts.

Ian Thomas, 44, was caught on camera travelling at 40mph in a 30mph zone but he says there was no 30mph sign.

The previous signs he saw all showed a limit of 40mph.

However, under a little-known section of the motoring laws, a road is classified as having a 30mph limit if there are no other speed signs and the street lights are no more than 200 yards apart. Read more

Time Magazine interviews Rowan Williams

For his last official act before a three-month sabbatical, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams chose a joyous one. He ordained the Reverend Canon Humphrey Southern as a new bishop. The ceremony took place in London's St. Paul's Cathedral, and the crowd smiled to see Williams, the tousle-headed, professorial leader of the Church of England and titular head of its global offshoot, the Anglican Communion, reveling in his mellifluous baritone as he prayed, sang and performed the rite of ordination. "Will you strive for the visible unity of Christ's Church?" asked Williams. Answered Southern, "By the help of God, I will."

By the help of God, indeed. Almost from the day he took over in 2002, Williams, now 56, has been attempting to prevent a schism among the world's 79 million Anglicans. It has been a horrible task. Within months of his taking the job, a simmering debate on homosexuality exploded into a brutal battle, pitting some of the wealthiest and most liberal of the church's 38 provinces, notably those in North America, against a larger, more socially conservative group concentrated in Africa and Asia and known as the Global South. Read more

Christian Activists Challenge “Gay Rights” Law In Northern Ireland

Churches and Christian charities in Northern Ireland are taking the UK Government to court, arguing that new laws on homosexuality threaten their religious freedom. The Christian Institute, a nondenominational Christian charity, took the case to the High Court in Belfast in Monday to argue that Northern Ireland’s Sexual Orientation Regulations restrict religious liberty.

The laws, which came into force in Northern Ireland last January, requires religious adoption agencies to treat homosexual couples as prospective adoptive couples, on a par with traditional married couples. If the challenge is successful, the regulations could be declared unlawful. Read more

Nigerian church's anti-gay campaign is about grabbing power, oil

Ed: What matters about this is that Changing Attitude describe Davis Mac-Iyalla's tour, which will include the UK, as part of the Lambeth 'listening process'. The Bishop of Chelmsford remains a patron of Changing Attitude UK.

An anti-gay campaign in Nigeria is part of the national church’s efforts to grab power and oil wealth in the west African nation, says a gay activist who is touring the U.S.

Davis Mac-Iyalla, the founder of Changing Attitude Nigeria, visited four Ohio cities in May with a plea for action from the LGBT community in America.

He says his refusal to deny his sexual orientation has put him at odds with this campaign.

Because he refuses to back down, he says the Nigerian church, led by Archbishop Peter Akinola, has threatened his life. Read more

Back to Church Sunday takes off across the country

More than 17,000 people are expected to return to church in September as Back to Church Sunday expands to take in 1700 churches across England. Resources to invite a friend Back to Church and to welcome them on Sunday, September 30th are now being delivered to more than one in 10 of the Church of England’s churches.

With 19 dioceses taking part this year, the 1700 churches involved is a tenfold increase on the 160 churches that took up the venture when it began, in Manchester, in 2004. Read more

Changing Attitude organiser on tour of UK

Davis Mac-Iyalla, director of Changing Attitude Nigeria arrives in London on 5 July directly from a 20 city speaking and preaching at 52 events across the USA, where he will address the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church meeting from June 11-14 on the homophobic violence promoted by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).

On arrival in England, his first engagement will be to attend the General Synod of the Church of England. In York he will talk at a meeting of the CA York group on Saturday 7 July and a fringe meeting at General Synod on 8 July. He will meet bishops and members of Synod. He also hopes to meet Bishop Benjamin Kwashi of the diocese of Jos, Nigeria, who is at Synod for a meeting organised by Anglican Mainstream.

On Tuesday 10 July Davis will travel from York to Hexham to speak to the CA Newcastle and Durham group, and has invitations to speak to the CA groups in Ripon and Leeds, Lincoln, Birmingham, Manchester and Guildford. He will meet the Changing Attitude England trustees, preach in Devizes and at St James Piccadilly and St Thomas Finsbury Park in London and meet Canon Philip Groves, Facilitator for the Listening Process at the Anglican Communion office in London. Read more

Whitewash claims over bishop cleared of drunkenness

Ed: Blogged here.

The Church of England was accused of a whitewash after a senior bishop was cleared of drunkenness.

The Bishop of Southwark escaped disciplinary action even though a report by a senior judge found "substantial evidence" to indicate he was drunk.

He was said to have been the worse for alcohol in December after he climbed into the back of a stranger's car and threw toys out of it, saying "I'm the Bishop of Southwark. It's what I do."

But after examining all evidence, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has ruled no legal moves should be made against the Right Reverend Tom Butler under Church law.

A key witness to Dr Butler's behaviour revealed he had not been asked to give evidence to the Church inquiry.

The owner of a Mercedes into which the bishop climbed uninvited after attending an Irish embassy party said: "This is a whitewash." Read more

Evangelicals to blame for Bishop Butler's embarrassment

Ed: I am increasingly reminded of Tertullian's comment, "If the Tiber reaches the walls, if the Nile does not rise to the fields, if the sky doesn’t move or the earth does, if there is famine, if there is plague, the cry is at once: 'The Christians to the lion!'" or, as it increasingly seems to be "The Evangelicals to the lion". (In the original instance, Tertullian added, tartly, "What, all of them, to one lion?")

For the Rt Rev Tom Butler, Bishop of Southwark, this is one hangover that won’t go away. The bishop woke up this morning to find a photograph of his black eye on the front page of the Times, under the heading “The Bishop of Southwark was drunk, Church says".

Actually, the Church investigation into Butler’s mysterious doings last December – when he was found throwing children’s toys out of the back of a car after a party at the Irish embassy – didn’t conclude that he was drunk. It said that he might have been. The bishop complained to the Press Complaints Commission about today’s headline and the Times had to take the story down from its website.

The Times report itself, by Ruth Gledhill, was accurate enough but a bit of a non-story: the news that Tom Butler could have faced prosecution hardly justifies a front-page photo and a whole page inside. So I started ringing round my contacts to find out what was going on.

I think the answer is that Butler is a man with some very serious enemies: hard-line evangelicals who have clashed with him bitterly over illicit ordinations and were beside themselves with glee when he made an abject fool of himself in December. Read more

Times story on Bp Butler still available

Link here. This also contains a 'correction' issued by the Archbishop's Office which shows my initial caution about the headline in the Times ("Bishop was drunk after Christmas Party, leaked report says"), was justified.

On the Thinking Anglicans website is a story that Bp Butler is to go to the Press Complaints Commission.

(Frankly, I do find myself wondering if I could see this one coming, why couldn't the lawyers and editors at the Times - or maybe I am in the wrong job.)

Bp of Southwark 'had case to answer' over drunkenness allegation

UPDATE: It looks as though my editorial caution over the headline in The Times about Bishop Butler was justified as the story has vanished from their website! The Daily Mail have also substantially modified the story which first appeared this morning here. The beginning of The Times article is below. All the juicy bits have gone missing, though. If you get to Ruth Gledhill's blog quickly, there is a longer comment on the leaked report there.


The Bishop of Southwark could have been prosecuted for drunkenness under church law after a Christmas party at the Irish Embassy, according to a secret Church of England report leaked to The Times.

Dr Tom Butler escaped disciplinary action over the mysterious incident, in which he suffered head injuries and lost his mobile telephone, crucifix and briefcase. A report found that the layman who filed the complaint was not deemed of sufficient rank to continue proceedings. But a subsequent investigation into a second complaint influenced the Archbishop’s decision to take no action.

In his report to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the top ecclesiastical lawyer, Judge Rupert Bursell, QC, ruled that there was “sufficient substance” to justify disciplinary proceedings against Dr Butler “in relation to the complaint of drunkenness”.

John Adams, a former churchwarden from Croydon, submitted a formal complaint against his bishop, who was found bloodied with a black eye and a bump on the head outside Bishop’s House in Streatham, South London, several hours after leaving the Irish Embassy last December.

Abortion 'serious risk to mental health'

Abortion can be a serious risk to women's long-term mental health and those who have a termination can be six times more likely to commit suicide than those who have given birth in the past year, doctors have told MPs.

Trevor Stammers, a tutor in general practice at St George's University of London, was speaking in support of a bill to be tabled in the House of Commons, which would ensure women are counselled about the possible consequences of abortion before terminating an unborn child.

Conservative backbencher Ann Winterton's bill would require women to be told of the possible ill-effects of abortion and to be made to wait a week to allow time for second thoughts before going ahead. Read more

Children to be given 'happiness' tests

Children as young as four are to take "happiness tests" in a controversial drive to force schools to improve the well-being of pupils, it has emerged.

Thousands of youngsters are expected to be quizzed on whether they are feeling optimistic, confident, loved and interested in other people.

They will be set questionnaires similar to the self-help quizzes found in women's magazines to check they are "feeling good about myself" and "dealing with problems well". Read more

Gene Robinson: "Every priest has option to bless civil unions"

John Lynch signed a law on May 31 that makes civil unions for homosexual couples legal; it will take effect in January 2008. The governor stated his belief that the civil unions will not "threaten" marriage. The Episcopal Church's bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire, the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, told the press that Episcopal priests in the diocese can bless civil unions: "Just like in marriages, every priest will have the option to bless or not to bless." Read more

A new law every three hours under Tony Blair

ONE law every three hours has been created during Tony Blair's decade in power - most of it without the full scrutiny of parliament, research published today will reveal.

Over the past ten years, close to 30,000 new laws have been created - an average of 2,685 a year or more than seven a day.

But the Labour government has also increasingly used statutory instruments, rather than acts of parliament, to impose the new flood of legislation.

Some 98 per cent of new laws in the Blair decade were introduced by statutory instrument, allowing less time for debate in parliament than the tabling of a bill. Read more

Palestianian TV told, "Wear a veil or lose your head"

All 15 women presenters reported for work at the official Palestine Television station in Gaza yesterday, in defiance of death threats by a radical Islamic group that is believed to have links with al-Qa'ida. The Righteous Swords of Islam warned that it would strike the women with "an iron fist and swords" for refusing to wear a veil on camera.

"It is disgraceful that the women working for the official Palestinian media are competing with each other to display their charms," it said in a leaflet distributed in Gaza at the weekend. "We will destroy their homes. We will blow up their work places. We have a lot of information about their addresses and we are following their movements."

The fringe group threatened to "slaughter" the women for corrupting Palestinian morals. "The management and workers at Palestine TV should know," it warned, "that we are much closer to them than they think. If necessary, we will behead and slaughter to preserve the spirit and morals of our people." Read more

ABp Jensen makes plea for prisoners

Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Peter Jensen in the annual presidential address for the NSW Provincial Synod made his pleas for people in custody, saying there are too many of them in custody.

He said that although he is glad to see many Christians making a commitment to those who are detained at a practical level, much more needs to be done to help those in the process who are about to be released back into the community.

Dr. Jensen said that although he knows this might not be a popular winning cause for politicians, the prisoners need the help of Christian interest to keep it on the NSW State Government’s agenda. Read more

Rostock reels from violence at anti-globalisation protest

Germany was trying to recover from the worst G8 summit violence for six years yesterday after thousands of masked anti-globalisation protesters went on the rampage in the port city of Rostock pelting police with firebombs and stones and torching cars in clashes that injured over 900 people.

Police said that 433 officers were injured, 33 of them seriously, in what they described as "unprecedented violence" that erupted after a peaceful anti-globalisation demonstration in Rostock on Saturday four days before the summit of G8 leaders in nearby Baltic resort of Heiligendamm.

Protest organisers said at least 520 demonstrators had been injured in the clashes that began late in the afternoon after one masked youth jumped on to a stage at a closing rally and told the crowd " We have to bring war into this demonstration - we'll achieve nothing through peaceful means." Read more

Israel threatens British boycott

Israel’s parliament is to debate a draft law today that could lead to a consumer boycott of all British goods.

The proposed Bill is aimed at punishing Britain for recent threats from its largest trade union and UCU, the university lecturers’ union, to boycott Israel for occupying Palestinian land. The prospect of a boycott has prompted concern among the Israeli public. Leading commentators denounced the moves as anti-Semitic. Now a group of politicians has promised a harsh response, calling for Israel to begin its own boycott against Britain. Read more

The sexual agenda of our schools

Ed: It reminds me of a chart of world civilizations I saw in a school in East London over Easter which ommitted the British Empire (despite having the Persian, Roman, etc) and, perhaps even worse, ommitted Australia and New Zealand from the map!

"Stopping homophobic bullying, or changing a culture of homophobia, will take time. There are many achievements to be celebrated along the way, eg winning the support of governors, rewriting the school bullying policy, involving children and young people in an audit, providing access to information leaflets about safer sex that are relevant to LGB pupils, or simply increasing the number of images around the school that challenge stereotypes and traditional images of relationships. Each of these is an important step." (Emphasis added) Read more (pdf file)

New funding for UK-trained imams

Ed: Islamisation via the back door, with public money to boot!

The prime minister is to announce funding to train Muslim imams at British universities in a bid to cut reliance on religious leaders from overseas.

He will tell a conference in London that imams from abroad often struggle to engage effectively with young people born and brought up in Britain.

And he will say that British politicians and the public need to listen harder to hear the "calm voice of moderation and reason" from the Muslim community.

High education minister Bill Rammell will also announce that Islamic studies is to be designated "strategically important" to the national interest, allowing tighter scrutiny of university courses. Read more

How Changing Attitude is managing to Change Attitudes

Ed: For those who are unaware, one of Chelmsford Anglican Mainstream's key issues is with the Bishop of Chelmsford being one of the patrons of Changing Attitude.

Changing Attitude is bringing Davis Mac-Iyalla, the leader of CA Nigeria, to General Synod in York this summer. So, I made my way onto their website - which is colourful, classy, professional and very user-friendly, I will add - to find out a little more. And I was quite surprised at what I discovered. Perhaps you might be too.

First, the listing of the Patrons was hugely impressive. Names and titles of the great and the good include the bishops of Wolverhampton, St Edmundbury and Ipswich, Hulme, Ripon and Leeds, Lincoln and Worcester; the number of other Rt Revds were equally impressive (I counted seven, not including other Revds, a Revd Dr, a Revd Canon et al.). These are not committed but humble socio-political non-entities. From academic, ecclesiastical and professional perspectives, these patrons are powerful men (for the most part). And posting them as CA does automatically associates it as a group with its patrons’ authority and prestige.

CA’s work is flourishing, as well. From its site one can read of the UK group’s various branches, partnerships and strategies; it has grown to 600 members and has almost two dozen groups in 23 dioceses (June 07), plus official contacts in over a dozen others. Changing Attitude International boasts of 1000 (plus) members around the globe and four countries now have their own indigenous CA group: Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, and of course, Nigeria. Read more

Cardinals told 'back off from this war with women and state'

It comes round as regularly as spring showers. Every year, and sometimes more often, there is another assault on women's right to abortion. Forty years on from the orginal Abortion Act, in 1967, it is still not possible to relax about this issue. There are plenty of people around even now who want a return to the dark ages when women had no right to choose, or had to resort to the horrors of backstreet abortion.

The latest, and most shocking statements for some time, come, unsurprisingly, from the Catholic church. In recent weeks church leaders have used extreme language and thinking wholly against our constitution and tradition. What they have done is perilous for their religion, never mind for women who have decided to have an abortion. Read more

Disaffected, breakaway bishops plan September meeting

Bishops of seven self-identified Anglican organizations have been invited by Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan to attend a meeting September 25-28, in part to "initiate discussion of the creation of an 'Anglican Union'" such as the one envisioned by the Primates of the Global South when they called for a new "ecclesiastical structure of the Anglican Communion in the USA."

Duncan issued the invitation in his role as moderator of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDP), also known as the Anglican Communion Network. The gathering is being called the "first-ever Common Cause Council of Bishops." Read more

Hitchens P critiques Hitches C on God's greatness

[...] I liked and enjoyed this book, and recommend it to anybody who is interested in the subject. Like everything Christopher writes, it is often elegant, frequently witty and never stupid or boring.

I also think it is wrong, mostly in the way that it blames faith for so many bad things and gives it no credit for any of the good it may have done.

I think it misunderstands religious people and their aims and desires. And I think it asserts a number of things as true and obvious that are nothing of the sort.

At the heart of this book are two extraordinary, bold statements. One is a declaration of absolute faith, faith that religion has got it wrong, a mental thunderbolt of unbelief.

Christopher describes how at the age of nine he concluded that his teacher’s claim that the world must be designed was wrong. "I simply knew, almost as if I had privileged access to a higher authority, that my teacher had managed to get everything wrong."

At the time of this revelation, he knew nothing of the vast, unending argument between those who maintain that the shape of the world is evidence of design, and those who say the same world is evidence of random, undirected natural selection.

It’s my view that he still doesn’t know all that much about this interesting dispute. Yet at the age of nine, he "simply knew" who had won one of the oldest debates in the history of mankind.

It is astonishing, in one so set against the idea of design or authority in the universe, how often he appeals to mysterious intuitions and "innate" knowledge of this kind, and uses religious language such as "awesome" – in awe of whom or what? Read more

Canadian Anglicans to vote on blessing gay unions

Just weeks before Anglican leaders decide whether their church should bless gay and lesbian unions, one of the few things that appears to be unifying them is a feeling of uncertainty.

The church, which represents some two million Canadians and is the country's third largest religious denomination, has spent almost 30 years trying to figure out how same-sex relationships fit into the Christian faith. As they approach a vote on the issue later this month at the church's General Synod in Winnipeg, many members are wary of the outcome.

``We simply don't know,'' says Archdeacon Paul Feheley, principal secretary to the church's national leader, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison. Read more

CofE to impose 'rule book' of beliefs

Church of England bishops have drawn up plans for a "rule book" of beliefs that would expel liberals who refuse to abide by it.

The proposals to introduce Papal-style laws come despite warnings that they could lead to a split in the Church.

The confidential document from the House of Bishops, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, claims that a "narrower definition of Anglican belief" is crucial to prevent the Anglican Communion from becoming embroiled in future disputes over issues such as homosexual clergy. Read more

'Revolutionary' woman 'ordained' RC priest

The woman in the eye of a storm of controversy about ordaining female priests in the Roman Catholic Church doesn't see herself as a fighter.

Marie Evans Bouclin has been bucking the church for years, speaking out against what she calls unjust treatment of women in her religion.

Last Sunday, she went against the teachings of that church and was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. Read more

Carey denies setting Lambeth 'non-invitation' precedent

Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, has rebutted inferences that the decision last month not to invite certain bishops to the Lambeth Conference 2008 came about by a precedent he created in 2000.

Lord Carey has rebutted inferences that the decision last month not to invite certain bishops to the Lambeth Conference 2008 came about by a precedent he created in 2000.
According to the Church of England newspaper, Lord Carey denied suggestions by the Rev Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary of the 2008 Conference, that the decision not to invite the AMiA and CANA bishops who have broken away from the Episcopal Church in America was linked to his stance in the year 2000. Read more

Bishop of Niagara wants 'local option' on same-sex marriage

[...] by allowing birth control, the church recognized that between consenting s is about more than making babies. "Once you open that door a little bit, you can begin to discuss all kinds of aspects of uality," Spence says.

Since then, the church has been tossed into turmoil over such issues as remarrying divorced men and women, abortion, female clergy and common-law couples. Each time, says Spence, who was ordained in 1968, conservatives have threatened to leave the church.

"I remember ministers standing up and saying, `There will never be a divorced person at my altar,'" he says. "Now, 40 years later, we say, `Did people really say that?'"

He expects that people will ask the same question about same-sex marriage in 40 years.

Patterson, whose job is to help the church attract new members, says the Bible needs to be seen more as a living document, to be interpreted within the context of modern life, than a series of strict rules governing what it means to be a good Christian.

"Judgments and absolutes have never been how we have interpreted scripture," he says.

Spence describes himself as a "theological conservative and a pastoral liberal." He wants the door of the church held open to all who would enter.

"The Jesus that I see in the gospels reached out to everybody." Read more

"Respect tsar" blames single parent families, decline in churchgoing for lack of politeness

"Respect tsar" Louise Casey has called for a campaign to bring politeness back to Britain.

The government coordinator said there was no excuse for yobbery and believed that society should be more ready to spend money to encourage good behaviour.

In a newspaper interview, she also called on TV soap operas to portray a nicer side to life, rather than constantly showing the UK as a land of candidates for an anti-social behaviour order (Asbo).

Ms Casey is best known as the driving force behind the Asbo, and she insisted that it was an important part of the effort to restore a culture of respect.

She also suggested people should try to do a good deed a day, saying: "It's important to help old ladies across the road. The greatest pleasure you can give yourself is to help somebody else."

She added: "We need a greater sense that it's OK to be decent, you're not the nerd if you don't throw your rubbish on the floor - you're the person who's making Britain the country we all want to live in."

Ms Casey singled out the rise in single-parent families and the decline in church-going and neighbourliness as factors in falling levels of politeness. Read more

Read the interview with the Telegraph here.

Wife of Alister McGrath criticizes conservatism at Wycliffe

[...] Conservative Anglicans feel under threat these days. So it is not surprising that they feel the need to police their boundaries with vigilance, and that their greatest ire is not reserved for atheists or secularists, but for members of their own group who stand at the margins - the significantly named "open evangelicals" (gatekeepers who leave the gate ajar).

Alas, none of this is new. With supreme irony, we find it played out in the life and death of Jesus: a man from a minority religious culture attempting to keep itself pure in the light of dominant secular powers; a man repeatedly criticised by a high-minded religious group intent on maintaining purity, the Pharisees, for his association and physical contact with marginal people (Roman collaborators) and the ritually unclean, and for his critical engagement with valued cultural traditions such as strict Sabbath observance.

The threat posed by Jesus was precisely that he was open, and that he was a "category violator" - a holy man who embraced the profane, a religious man who loved the secular. And because such marginal people are threatening, they must be rooted out. We see in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus a coming together of the religious and secular powers to achieve this end. The marginal person is expelled well beyond the margin. The impurity is removed to a hill outside the walls of the city and destroyed. Read more

LAMBETH CONFERENCE FACES CONFLICT OVER MISSION

The Lambeth Conference won't look like past gatherings predicts the Rev. Dr. Ian T. Douglas a design team member. He says the Conference will aim to equip bishops in their leadership vocation.

The design for Lambeth 2008 "is not driven by production of reports and enabling resolutions building out of the reports, and that's a significant departure from previous designs," says Douglas, a member of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council and of its delegation to the Anglican Consultative Council.

He told the Episcopal News Service that "the focus here is on transformation, the building of communion and the engagement with each other, the goal of which is to equip the bishops to be more effective and faithful servants to the 'Missio Dei' [God's mission]."

"[But] coming together [is] to encounter one another and God's word, engage the hard issues at a deep level of conversation, and then be equipped to serve God's mission in the world."

The last two Conferences featured four issues-related groups that developed resolutions for the entire group of bishops to consider, said Douglas. Instead, in an effort to equip the bishops as leaders in God's mission, the 2008 Conference will begin with groups of eight bishops from different provinces meeting in what are being called "ndaba groups" to begin the practice of encountering God's Word and encountering each other through sharing their stories and God's story. The word "ndaba" is Zulu, which Douglas said can be translated as a gathering for conversation for the sake of conversation.

Groups of five ndaba groups will be combined for discussions of issues. Douglas told the Executive Council that some of those issues may well include the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), global economic justice, environmental concerns, interfaith dialogue (especially between Christians and Muslims), how to include voices not normally heard at Lambeth (such as women, young people and other members of the laity), Anglican biblical hermeneutics, Anglican identities, the Listening Process, and "human sexuality writ large."

What is wrong with this picture? Read more

Unmarried priest quits top job after becoming pregnant

One of the Church of England's most senior women clerics has quit her job after becoming pregnant while unmarried.

The Rev Dr Emma Loveridge stepped down as principal adviser to the Archbishop of York after only 13 months in the post.

The 42-year-old cited "personal and family reasons" for leaving the staff of Dr John Sentamu, who ranks second in the Church's hierarchy.

He is regarded as conservative in matters of sexual morality

She is also understood to have resigned her licence to practise as a priest and to have effectively stepped down from the clergy. Read more

ABp Jensen: Buddhism perfect for individualists

[...] Buddhism has been accused of being the religion you're having when you're not having a religion. Some argue it is a philosophy, not a faith. And more pointedly, a religion that is light on community compassion but very heavy indeed on individual happiness. Perfect, in fact, says Peter Jensen, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, for contemporary society obsessed with the individual.

"The problem with all this individualism, though, is that it doesn't necessarily give you any purpose, so if you're looking to fill that spiritual void then Buddhism fits the bill. Christianity, on the other hand, involves getting your hands dirty; being involved with people you might not want to associate with," Jensen says. Read more

Richard Turnbull responds in the Guardian to Giles Fraser

[...] I know of no homophobia or misogyny at Wycliffe. If there is any evidence then it must be produced. For Giles to say that I believe 95% of people will "burn in hell" is a misrepresentation when the rest of my sentence, "unless the message of the gospel is brought to them", is excluded. Nor does my deputy believe it's "wrong for women to teach men". He believes, as I do, that in our college women can and should teach and preach. There are various views on practices in local churches.

Completeness is important. We do not control the admissions policy to university courses. If the complaint is of intellectual engagement with complex matters on which Christians may disagree then the plea is guilty. Read more

Abortion comments: media reaction

The Independent

The man who wants to lead a sensible debate on abortion

Anti-abortion campaigners are ready to launch a US-style cultural war against the 40-year-old law that allows women in the UK to choose to terminate unwanted pregnancies - with politicians who are also practising Roman Catholics as their first targets.

MPs and other elected representatives who attend Mass but have not taken a hard line against abortion will be targeted by activists who say they should be disowned by the Church. Read more

Abortion: The hysteria which divides the US

Anti-abortion campaigners in the US will tell you their crusade is about the sanctity of life. But really it is about upholding a singularly unhealthy tendency in American public life - the exploitation of a divisive social and ethical issue to further the ambitions of a single political party whose agenda doesn't necessarily reflect the interests of the anti-abortion campaigners at all. Read more

Joan Smith: A minority is trying to impose its morality on the rest of us

Whenever people start talking about abortion becoming a political issue once again, I know they're speaking in code. What it means is the religious right has spotted a chance to impose its opinions on the rest of us, first in the guise of more restrictive criteria for terminating pregnancies and then in the form of an outright ban. Read more

The Guardian

The leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics yesterday questioned whether politicians who backed abortion should remain full members of the church, and also compared Scotland's abortion rate to "two Dunblane massacres a day". In a sermon marking the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act, Cardinal Keith O'Brien attacked both the practice of abortion and pro-choice members of the Scottish parliament.

After mass at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, Cardinal O'Brien told journalists he supported a change in the law governing what he described as "an evil trade", and challenged the right of pro-choice Catholic parliamentarians to remain full members of the church. He warned them of "the barrier such cooperation [on abortion] erects to receiving holy communion". Read more

Daily Mail

The leader of England's Roman Catholics has warned MPs that they cannot tolerate abortion and keep their faith.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's intervention places unprecedented pressure on Catholic politicians for reforms to abortion law.

His warning means nearly 70 MPs are faced with a crisis of conscience if they fail to rally behind a fresh push for the abolition of legal abortion. Read more

Wycliffe changes 'necessary' say student presidents

Church of England Newspaper May 31

Sir, Although Wycliffe Hall has been going through a period of change since Richard Turnbull’s appointment as Principal this is a situation that is reflected across the University of Oxford. Traditional forms of collegiate government are giving way to more contemporary forms of management and this transition has not been easy. As the elected present, past and future Student Presidents of Wycliffe we want to publicly affirm that change has been necessary to ensure that Wycliffe retains the high standards it sets itself as a theological college. Read more

Sydney Anglicans Prepare Motion To Oppose NSW Stem Cell Research

The Anglican Archbishop of NSW, Dr. Peter Jensen is preparing to put a motion at this weekend Provincial Synod requesting that it opposes the NSW Premier’s plan to lift the ban on stem cell research in a new bill.

Archbishop Jensen has previously argued that a human life deserve respect regardless of whether it is at the beginning or at the end. He goes further saying that human embryos should not be created and used as an instrument of research.
“Life is a continuum, deserving of respect from its start at fertilisation to its end at death,” Archbishop Jensen said. “Human beings deserve our protection and respect wherever they are on this continuum… Human embryos should not be created and used as instruments of research.” Read more

Roman Catholic pro-abortion politicians may be disbarred from Communion

Catholic politicians who defend abortion cannot expect to remain full members of the Church, Scotland's most senior Roman Catholic will warn.

In a sermon marking 40 years since the Abortion Act, Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien will threaten to bar pro-choice politicians from taking Communion. Read more

American Christian Zionists funding Oak Hill?

Who knows whether they are or whether they aren't? It's just a thought offered on the Fulcrum Open Evangelical website as to where the Kingham Hill Trust gets its money from. Read more

'Teachers should be banned from promoting marriage in class', says lecturers' union

Schools should be banned from teaching children that marriage is superior to gay partnerships, according to lecturers.

The University and College Union said new regulations outlawing discrimination against individuals on grounds of ual orientation did not go far enough.

There is no protection for transgender people and schoolteachers are still free to express negative views about homosexuality, according to the union, which represents university and college lecturers.

Delegates at UCU's annual conference in Bournemouth unanimously backed a motion which said:

"All negative characterisations by teachers of lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people, identity and lifestyle should be outlawed and classified as an act of discrimination and an incitement to hatred based on ual orientation." Read more

Ugandan Primate Restates Intention to Boycott Lambeth

The Church of Uganda will boycott the 2008 Lambeth Conference if the bishops who participated in the New Hampshire consecration are seated at the gathering of bishops from across the Anglican Communion.

In a statement released on May 30, Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda stated that as Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams had extended invitations to “all the American bishops who consented to, participated in, and have continued to support the consecration” of Bishop V. Gene Robinson in New Hampshire, the Church of Uganda would honor the commitment it made last December and not attend. Read more

Church of Uganda bishops will not attend Lambeth 2008

Church of Uganda

For Immediate Release

30th May 2007

In response to the recent announcement that the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Rowan Williams, has sent out invitations to the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Bishops, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, made this statement:

On 9th December 2006, the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda, meeting in Mbale, resolved unanimously to support the CAPA Road to Lambeth statement, which, among other things, states, “We will definitely not attend any Lambeth Conference to which the violators of the Lambeth Resolution are also invited as participants or observers.”

We note that all the American Bishops who consented to, participated in, and have continued to support the consecration as bishop of a man living in a homosexual relationship have been invited to the Lambeth Conference. These are Bishops who have violated the Lambeth Resolution 1.10, which rejects “homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture” and “cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions.”

Accordingly, the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda stands by its resolve to uphold the Road to Lambeth.

The Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi

ARCHBISHOP OF CHURCH OF UGANDA.

The Debt Disaster: Rents soar as rate rise squeezes buy-to-lets

Ed: As this is a bit of a personal campaign, I will be moving posts to the Ugley Vicar blog in future.

Landlords are ratcheting up rents at the fastest and most sustained rate in almost a decade, as those involved in the buy-to-let market struggle to make money from their investments.

The revelation came as economists warned of growing cracks in the property investment sector, where the gross yields landlords can hope to make are now falling at the fastest rate in three years, even before the impact of four increases in interest rates is taken into account. Read more

Christopher Hitchens: "God is not great"

[...] God is Not Great: Why Religion Poisons Everything, although sweeping in its erudition, is a righteous harangue. When Ruth Gledhill of The Times recently interviewed Richard Dawkins about his scientific debunking of faith, The God Delusion, she found him less angry than his confrontational writing style suggested. But Hitchens is never far below boiling point. He is an evangelical secularist, an atheist warlord. Religion, he writes, is “violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children”.

This is the book he has been writing all his life, since his primary school teacher remarked how kind the Almighty was to make trees and grass green, a colour so restful to the human eye, and he knew she was wrong, that our eyes were adjusted to nature, not the other way about.

“Marx says criticism of religion is the beginning of all criticism,” Hitchens says. “Philosophy starts where religion ends, just as chemistry starts where alchemy breaks off or astronomy starts where astrology runs out. It is the necessary argument. Not believing in the supernatural is the critical thing.”

[...]

He was married to his first wife in a Greek Orthodox church, to his second, Carol Blue, by a rabbi. He had his son, Alexander, now 23, baptised. He educates his daughter, Antonia, 13, at a Quaker school, Sidwell Friends, alma mater of Chelsea Clin ton and Al Gore’s son. He has taken her to Washington’s Anglican cathedral to familiarise her with the liturgy. He worries that without the scriptures – which he can quote chapter and verse – she will never understand Milton or Shakespeare.

“The point is,” he says, “religion should be private: I am not paying my taxes to support it. I’m not going to have children taught that metaphysical things are true.”
Read more

UK sub-prime mortgage lender rescued by SA bank

Investec, the South Africa bank, has agreed to rescue Kensington, the troubled sub-prime mortgage lender, which admitted today it is no longer able to raise financing to support its business. The bank is paying £283 million, less than half the value Kensington commanded in the spring of last year,

Investec rode to the rescue of Kensington in an all-share deal after the British company said revenues for the current financial year would be significantly below 2006, adding: "Trading conditions have been challenging in the first fiove months to April 20, 2007." Read more

Trinity Episcopal church leaves TEC, joins CANA

Trinity Episcopal Church has declared itself a member of the Anglican Church of Nigeria.

The Rev. Donald Helmandollar, Trinity's rector, confirmed Tuesday that as of Sunday the parish had joined the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a self-described mission of the Nigerian church, serving Episcopalians who hold traditional beliefs. It is based in Fairfax, Va.

The action means the parish is no longer a member of the Episcopal Church U.S.A. but is still Anglican, Helmandollar said. Read more

Anglican Church in a 'mess' over gay bishop row

A senior Anglican conservative witheringly described the state of the worldwide Church as "a mess" and "awful" yesterday as the Archbishop of Canterbury prepared to take a three-month break.

The criticism will come as a blow to Dr Rowan Williams, who last week attempted to placate the Church's conservative wing by snubbing the Church's first openly gay bishop. Read more

Australian heritage 'Judeo-Christian' or not?

On May 29, 2004, Treasurer Peter Costello addressed a crowd of Pentecostal Christians at Scots Church in Melbourne.

Costello provided his audience with a lesson in Australia’s colonial history. “If the Arab traders that brought Islam to Australia, had … settled or spread their faith among the Indigenous population, our country today would be vastly different. Our laws, our institutions, our economy would be vastly different.

“But that did not happen. Our society was founded by British colonists. And the single most decisive feature that determined the way it developed was the Judeo-Christian-Western tradition. As a society, we are who we are because of that tradition … one founded on that faith and one that draws on the Judeo-Christian tradition.” Read more

Cardinal: Britain's abortion laws "lies masquerading as truth"

CARDINAL Keith O'Brien has attacked Britain's abortion legislation for being a "pack of lies", as official figures show the number of terminations in Scotland has hit a record high.

The leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland denounced assurances made when the 1967 Abortion Act was passed - that abortion would be allowed only in exceptional circumstances - saying they were "lies and misinformation masquerading as compassion and truth".

The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh will launch his attack in a sermon at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh tomorrow afternoon.

The service marks the Catholic Church's annual "Day for Life" event. Read more

Massive mortgages creating nation of young 'wage slaves'

Massive mortgages are turning a generation of young couples into wage slaves, it has been claimed.

A report warned that the spiralling price of housing means Britain is in danger of becoming the "grossly divided" society of have and have-nots not seen since Victorian times.

First-time buyers who manage to make it on to the property ladder and parents with young families are like "bonded labourers" tied to their jobs.

With housing prices soaring to unprecedented levels, many young couples have been reduced to 'bonded labourers' in a 'modern day slavery', the shocking report has claimed

The bleak report by academics - called On The Treadmill - says "super-size" loans are pushing soaring numbers of parents to desert their children in order to work long hours.

Many are taking on second jobs to pay a mortgage which could be up to seven times' bigger than their salary.

The warning came as figures from the British Bankers' Association showed the average home loan is now a record-breaking £152,800 - compared with £50,000 in 1994. Read more

Read Why mortgages matter on the Ugley Vicar blog.

Thousands celebrate Pentecost and Church unity at West Ham prayer event

Following the success of the Global Day of Prayer London held at West Ham United FC on 27 May, Britain’s Christian community are being encouraged to book their place for next year’s event scheduled for 11 May 2008.

Over 18,000 Christians from across the denominational and cultural spectrum braved the rain to attend the four hour ecumenical prayer extravaganza which celebrated Pentecost.

Worship was led by Tim Hughes and there were contributions from Patti Boulaye, the Royal Holloway Choir, All Souls Orchestra, Geraldine Latty and Graham Kendrick.

Using the Lord’s Prayer as the key theme for the event, there were readings and reflections from Monsignor John Armitage; an international prayer for the world in different languages; Elizabeth Bartha of Christian Solidarity Worldwide led a special prayer for persecuted Christians across the world and there was a prayer of repentance for the transatlantic slave trade and a plea for reconciliation. Read more

Walk back to the future at Bradwell on Sea

The annual Pilgrimage to St Peter's Chapel, Bradwell-on-sea, Saturday 7 July 2007

For more information phone 01621 776203 or visit www.bradwellchapel.org . Enjoy refreshments and live music. Bring a picnic, or to book a meal call Othona Community in advance on 01621 776564. Read more

Official guidance for churches' no-smoking signage

In a world gone mad, there's always one more bit of madness. Download it here.

"It will be up to each church body (eg, select vestry/parochial church council) to choose the most appropriate place in the building for the sign, as long as the sign is prominently displayed. It is not necessary for it to be permanently fixed to the fabric of the building. It may be that the sign could be displayed within a porch at the front of the church or on a notice board which is near the main entrance. If you have any questions about the new law (for example, you are unsure about where a sign should be positioned), we recommend you consult your environmental health officer at your local council (who will be responsible for compliance) for further information. Their role will be to help you – it is not the intention of enforcement authorities to approach churches in a punitive way."

Secret plans to turn us all 'veggie'

Ed: I did think about binning this in the 'unlikely' box, but nothing would surprise me any more.

Secret plans to encourage the nation to give up eating meat are being examined by the Government.

A leaked e-mail expresses sympathy for the environmental benefits of a mass switch to a vegan diet - a strict form of vegetarianism which bans milk, dairy products and fish.

The change would need to be done "gently" because of a "risk of alienating the public", according to the document.

The extreme policy is being examined on the basis it could make a major contribution to slowing climate change. Read more

In Iran, everybody breaks the rules

"Every Iranian is an actor with a private and a public face." This is how the situation of rules here was explained to me.

Everybody breaks the rules. When simply wearing makeup or playing western music is enough to get you arrested it is pretty hard to live your life completely according to the laws.

Ninety per cent of the people hate the rules but are powerless to do anything about them so just get away with what they can.

The ten percent who have are in influential positions via family or profession need to at least pretend to agree with the rules so they can maintain their position in society. Read more

Sunday Times: 200m Christians 'face persecution'

[...] “One of the world injustices least noticed in the West is the growing scale of Christian persecution,” says Lyle, who runs the British arm of Open Doors, a charity that works with afflicted churches and individuals. “We estimate that 200m Christians in more than 60 countries face the most brutal retribution because of their faith.” Christians have been persecuted, and have persecuted others, of course, since the Romans. What is unparalleled today is the sheer scope across the world. Take Bhutan: a Buddhist country with a religion usually associated with tolerance, it refuses to acknowledge that Christianity exists and is among the top 10 on the Open Doors 2007 list of global offenders." Read more

Giles Fraser 'goes postal' over Wycliffe Hall

Ed: 'Going postal' is an American English slang term, used as a verb meaning to suddenly become extremely and uncontrollably angry, possibly to the point of violence. (Wikipedia)

[...] what should really happen is that the bishops of the Church of England stop using colleges like this to train its priests. Places such as Wycliffe are turning Anglicanism into a cult. But it's a symptom of how bad things are in the C of E, and how frightened its bishops have become of the financial muscle of conservative evangelicals, that they won't find the gumption to cut Wycliffe adrift.

But clearly they should. For Anglicanism is fast becoming the nasty party at prayer, with traditionally inclusive theology being submerged by a bargain-basement prejudice that damns to hell all those who disagree. This isn't faith, it's fanaticism. And the University of Oxford should not be supporting its work. Read more

British Oppression demo a 'Government setup'?

[...] I believe that this demo is being organised by agent provocateurs who will fuel the Government’s propaganda that the Muslim community is full of ‘radicalised’ hotheads. It will damage community relations and will be used to justify further erosion of the civil liberties of ordinary Muslims and non-Muslims. Judging by the inflammatory postings on the petition website, it is clear that the mere advertising of this demonstration is causing a wave of Islamophobia.

The question that must be asked is how the organisers have managed to secure permission for the demonstration at Downing Street, inside the exclusion zone? I hate to be sceptical, but I wonder whether the Government does not mind such events from taking place, as they can be capitalised on later, as has been seen in the past.

Read more
And a similar analysis here.
For a somewhat different Muslim take, see here.

O Muslims, rise against British Oppression!

O Muslims! do your duty and rise up against oppression. Demonstrate on 15th of June and end the slience! Come out and speak out, condemn the oppression we face. Respond to the call of Allah and the Messenger. Read more but also read here.

Is the Church of Scotland losing its voice?

IT SAID no to nuclear weapons, yes to troops out of Iraq and a resounding "Hmm, we'll get back to you" on the morality of gay relationships.

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland drew to a close yesterday after a week of debate and deliberation which saw Scotland's "national" Church scrutinise everything from human trafficking to the correct weight of a hymn book.

Yet has the voice of the Kirk in annual communion now trailed to a faint whisper of what it once was, muttering only to itself, where it once spoke loudly for a nation? Or, is it in a transitional stage, negotiating the swift currents of an increasingly secular society, losing ground, but far from being swept away? Read more

Nigerian gay activist brings message to Episcopal Church, Executive Council

Nigerian Anglican Davis Mac-Iyalla, 33, founder of his country's only gay-rights organization, Changing Attitude Nigeria, has embarked on a six-week speaking tour of the United States.

Among his stops will be the Episcopal Church's Executive Council June 11-14 meeting in Parsippany, New Jersey. He will be an invited guest of the Council's National Concerns Committee.

Mac-Iyalla will visit about 20 cities and participate in 52 events before departing July 5 to attend the General Synod of the Church of England. His tour is being sponsored by dailyoffice.org which was founded by Josh Thomas primarily as a means of supplying the Daily Office of prayer to internet users.

Mac-Iyalla spoke at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio, on May 21 and visited Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus on May 23. He is due to speak at a dinner May 26 at Church of Our Saviour in Cincinnati, Ohio and then preach at the congregation's 10:30 a.m. Eucharist on Pentecost the next day.

Canadian Rector troubled by same-sex blessings

Rev. Stephen London is troubled that the Anglican Church of Canada may approve a resolution next month allowing for same-sex blessings.

London stressed that his opposition to a so-called "local option" resolution - allowing each diocese to decide for itself on the issue - is based on his concerns that it will lead to a split within the worldwide Anglican Communion. Read more

Lambeth Conference won't look like past gatherings

The Lambeth Conference 2008 will be a significantly different gathering from the 1998 and 1988 sessions of the once-a-decade meeting of the bishops of the Anglican Communion, according to a member of the Conference's design team.

The design for Lambeth 2008 "is not driven by production of reports and enabling resolutions building out of the reports, and that's a significant departure from previous designs," the Rev. Dr. Ian T. Douglas, a member of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council and of its delegation to the Anglican Consultative Council, told the Episcopal News Service. "The focus here is on transformation, the building of communion and the engagement with each other, the goal of which is to equip the bishops to be more effective and faithful servants to the 'Missio Dei' [God's mission]." Read more

Scottish National Union of Students seeks to ban Christian course on relationships

At tomorrow's (26MAY) Annual Meeting of the Scottish NUS in Glasgow, a Private Members Motion calls on delegates to pass a resolution banning the Pure Course on the basis that it is homophobic.

The course, run by Christian Unions, is based on the orthodox Christian teachings concerning marriage, and teaches the importance of fidelity in relationships. It has been run on campuses throughout Scotland over the past 18 months. The Pure course was suspended from being taught on campus by Edinburgh University at the end of last year following claims by the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Trans-gendered Society that it was discriminatory and breached Equal Opportunities Policies. However, the University, after examining the course, allowed the CU to continue to teach it on campus, rejecting the claims. Read more

Richard Turnbull writes on theological training

The call to ordained ministry is a wonderful privilege to serve God. Hope for the church lies, of course, in Jesus Christ and the message of the gospel, but I see the human means of that hope when I stand before the students at Wycliffe Hall. Faith, commitment, creativity, transformation are the hallmarks of how God has acted in the hearts and lives of these men and women, young and not so young, from north, south, east and west, charismatic and conservative, some both, some neither. Read more

Anglican Leader To Be Pressed On Gay Bishop

Ed: This surely has to be the most inadvertently funny headline of the year so far quoted on this blog!

(San Francisco, California) The worldwide leader of the Anglican Church will meet with American bishops in September and several say they intend to press Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on his decision not to invite Gene Robinson, the denomination's first openly gay bishop, to an international summit of the world's Anglican bishops scheduled for next year in London.

Williams informed Robinson, the bishop of New Hampshire he was not welcome at the summit, called the Lambeth Conference, earlier this month. (story) Also not invited was Martyn Minns of the breakaway Convocation of Anglicans in North America which opposes gays in the clergy. Read more

Bishop of California Stands in Solidarity With Snubbed Gay Bishop

Ed: Caution, some people may not like the imagery on the linked page.

Following the announcement that openly gay bishop Gene Robinson would not be invited to attend an important conference of Anglican bishops next year, the Episcopal bishop of California, Marc Andrus, has declared his support for Bishop Robinson.

"I will be seeking to learn how I can best be in solidarity with Bishop Robinson, through prayerful action," says the Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, Episcopal bishop of California. "The tactic of isolation and exile being employed against Bishop Robinson is retrogressive behavior that moves us towards a past from which Christ is always seeking to redeem us. I ask the people of the Diocese of California to pray with me about our common life with all of God's people and the earth." Read more (caution)

The other man who says we are going to hell

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy  that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Jesus of Nazareth, quoted in Matthew 7:13-14)

Tha man who says we are going to hell

Ed: I wonder where Richard Turnbull got that idea from? (Here's a hint.) I have now blogged on this.

The Rev Dr Richard Turnbull was little known outside ecclesiastical circles, until he condemned 95 per cent of us to eternal damnation. Now he is a star of the internet. Andy McSmith reports

Published: 25 May 2007

Nearly 58 million Britons, or roughly 95 per cent of the population, are heading for eternal damnation in the fiery pits of hell, according to the alarming judgement of one of the nation's leading evangelical Christians.

The fire-and-brimstone warning has turned the Rev Richard Turnbull, principal of Wycliffe Hall, the evangelical school of theology within Oxford University, into an overnight internet star. The Thinking Anglicans website that featured a video of his speech to an audience of fellow evangelical Christians had so many hits yesterday that it crashed for most of the day. Read more

Guildford's 'Top Ten things to do' for Back to Church Sunday

From the Diocese of Guildford website, the Top Ten things to do for Back to Church Sunday.

Top Ten Things To Do

1. Now: Pray
Mobilise the church to pray. Pray for the people you would like to invite. Be creative. When the prayer bookmarks/invitations arrive make sure people use them to write down the name of a person they will pray for and will invite.

2. September: Publicise
Publicise Back to Church Sunday. Download a parish magazine article and other images at www.backtochurch.co.uk (click on ‘downloadable resources’). Fill in the blank space on the posters with details of your special service. Why not tell your local paper what you’re doing?

3. September: Invite
Invite people to come along on the day. Ask people to fill in the blanks on the invitations and tear off and deliver one to a friend (do not mass canvas your area, invite your friends!).

4. Back to Church Sunday: Welcome
Welcome people in with a friendly smile. You might like to give out specially designed Back to Church Sunday pew sheets – you can find a cover design at www.backtochurch.co.uk/downloads/noticesheet.doc

5. Back to Church Sunday: Consider Disability
Make sure you do not discriminate against those with a disability.

Is your entrance with a ramp already open? Is it clear which way to go if you need level access? Will people know where to sit if they need to use a loop system? Have you thought about someone with a visual impairment? Will part of the service alienate someone because they can’t get to a place due to disability?

6. Back to Church Sunday: Explain Yourself
Make sure you are user friendly. It is one of the worst things to be in the middle of a crowd and not know what is happening. Make sure you communicate to people where you are up to in the service.

Take the opportunity to introduce yourself and others as you go through the service. Don’t assume everyone knows who you are.

Take a few minutes to run through what’s available at the church for those who might not know.

7. Back to Church Sunday: Include
Make sure you are liturgically inclusive. Is your service appropriate for children? Young adults? Older people? Try to make everyone feel that they are part of the service.

8. Back to Church Sunday: Give Space
Make sure there is space during the service for people to say their own prayers to God. People come with different needs, some to say thank you, some for support and some with great burdens. Give people space to pray for themselves. The ‘wish you were here’ message is linked with having a break, a bit of space in a busy life. Why not let people have that space to respond?

9. Back to Church Sunday: Give a balloon
There are balloons this year! How you give them is up to you and depends on the size of your congregation, but they are a great conversation opener.

10. Afterwards: What’s next?
People are sure to want to come again, so make sure they know what’s coming up at church in the next few weeks.

Why not invite your friends to the harvest festival?

Have an Introduction to Christianity course running. There are plenty of courses to choose from and this is a good time of year for people to enrol onto something new.

Bp Wallace Benn to Sheffield Reform: A Bishop’s Reflections on the Church of England Today

Amongst his points:

70% of ordinands under 30 are at Oak Hill.

A battle for the heart of the Anglican Communion, between those who believe in a revealed faith, handed down through the Apostles, and those who believe the Christian faith needs to be reinvented.

US Liberals believe the future of the Church lies with the Holy Spirit now, not the Bible in the past.

Listen here.

Stephen Bates defends Wycliffe Hall story, "Evangelical Bishop" banns Oak Hill graduates

Ed: The most extraordinary thing about this story is the scarcely believable claim that an "evangelical bishop" has imposed a ban on Oak Hill graduates! Perhaps, given Stephen Bates' statement that airing troubles in public is "what journalists do", he would like to air that problem publicly as well.

[...] There are concerns that Wycliffe, which has a 130-year tradition of open evangelicalism, is going down the conservative path already trodden by Oak Hill – a college which, the same evangelical bishop once said to me, is now of such a character that he would no longer welcome its graduates into the diocese. Whatever one thinks of Oak Hill, or Wycliffe, this would be a tragedy for the wider evangelical movement, which is already the subject of suspicions and concerns in the heightened and polarising circumstances of the gay row. This is not liberal paranoia and there are straws in the wind, not only in other ongoing rows in the Church of England, but in the secretiveness, deviousness, fissiparousness and sometimes outright mutual antipathy between rival strains of evangelicalism. Read more

Church Society Conference

Church Society has just held its annual conference at High Lea in Hertfordshire. The conference theme was 'Christianity and Liberalism', with contributions from Lee Gatiss, Ian Hamilton, Melvin Tinker and John Richardson.

John's Bible readings from Colossians can be accessed on the Ugley Vicar blog.

Other non-invitations to Lambeth

In a variety of briefings to journalists over the last 48 hours following the announcement of the invitations to the Lambeth Conference, it appears that the following 10 bishops have so far not been invited to the Lambeth Conference. This information is gathered from a variety of press reports based on briefings from the Anglican Communion Office and its spokespersons.

Robinson Cavalcanti, Bishop of Recife, Brazil, under the primatial authority of the Archbishop of the Southern Cone (Primate: Presiding Bishop Greg Venables)
Dr Nolbert Kunonga, Bishop of Harare, Province of Central Africa (Primate: Archbishop Bernard Malango)
Martyn Minns, Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America who sits in the Nigerian House of Bishops (Primate: Archbishop Peter Akinola)
Chuck Murphy III, John Rodgers, Alexander Green, Thaddeus Barnum, T.J. Johnson, and Douglas Weiss of the Anglican Mission in America who sit in the Rwandan House of Bishops (Primate Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini)
Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire (Primate: Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori) Read more

Theologian damns most Britons to hell

Ed: Actually I thought it was God's job.

Ninety-five per cent of Britons are heading for hell, according to the principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, who has been under fire from some staff for taking one of the leading Anglican theological training colleges in a conservative direction.

Richard Turnbull, appointed two years ago, made the claim in a speech to the annual conference of Reform, a conservative evangelical pressure group within the Church of England. If he truly believes it, the figure would encompass at least all non-evangelical Christians, including many members of the Church of England, and those of all other religions and none. Read more

More Liberal comment on Richard Turnbull

Hat tip to Thinking Anglicans, whose website contains this link to the 2006 Reform conference speech by Richard Turnbull. You can hear Richard for yourself and read here what the Liberal reaction is.

Open Evangelical fulimination continues here.

Gay bishop is left off Canterbury guest list

The openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, whose consecration in 2003 has taken the Anglican Church to the brink of schism, is to be excluded from the Lambeth Conference next year.

The Archbishop of Canterbury said that Bishop Robinson would not be among the 800-plus Anglican bishops invited to Canterbury next summer. In a step that could risk a boycott from the Nigerian contingent, Dr Rowan Williams has also decided not to invite the Right Rev Martyn Minns, the evangelical bishop installed by the Church of Nigeria last year to serve orthodox Anglican congregations in the US. Read more

Guardian: Anger at decision to exclude gay bishop from conference

Church of England campaigners reacted furiously last night to the decision of Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, not to invite the gay bishop of New Hampshire Gene Robinson to next year's Lambeth Conference, the fortnight-long gathering of the world's Anglican bishops held every 10 years at Canterbury. Read more

Church Conference snubs gay bishop

The first openly gay Anglican bishop, whose consecration in 2003 brought the worldwide Church to the brink of schism, has not been invited to next year's Lambeth Conference.

New Hampshire bishop, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson of the US, was one of a handful not to receive invitations when they were sent to nearly 880 of his colleagues yesterday.

The decision by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will dismay many liberals. Several may now refuse to attend the 10-yearly gathering of the world's Anglican bishops in Canterbury. Read more

Church choir walks out in tears over 'happy-clappy' service

He may have been trying to attract a more modern flock. Or maybe it was an attempt to bring some variety to his church services.

Whatever the reason for introducing what have been described as "happy-clappy services", the Reverend Jerry Bird is learning the hard way that churchgoers can be a traditional lot.

Parishioners at St Gregory the Great Church in Dawlish, Devon, claim their usual Sunday worship has been pushed aside in favour of a "family" service, involving guitars and tambourines. Read more

Cult of celebrity and binge-drinking have replaced manners, says tourist guide

Forget afternoon tea, cricket on the village green, roast beef and good manners.

Britain is suffering an identity crisis as our genteel traditions are eroded by an obsession with TV talent shows, junk food, binge-drinking and porn, and diluted by multiculturalism, according to a travel guide.

It is "a telling indictment that more vote in TV talent shows than for their country's leaders", says the latest edition of the Lonely Planet guide to Great Britain. Read more

The authority of celebrity

[...] most young people's view of Africa, insofar as they have one at all, probably derives more from the pronouncements of Bono, U2's lead singer, than from any other source of knowledge about the Dark Continent.

As it happens, Bono has boned up on his subject, even if his conclusions about what should be done to help Africa are eminently disputable and deeply hypocritical. His authority arises from his celebrity, not from his knowledge. An equally knowledgeable but otherwise totally obscure person would not be able to hector the leaders of France, Germany and Italy for falling behind on their promises of aid, as Bono did last week. When Bono speaks, they have to listen — he is more famous than they are. Read more

Why theological colleges matter

I have blogged a little further on this subject here.