…the committee said that all sides in the long-running conflict over the Bible and homosexuality need to do much more to keep the beleaguered worldwide Anglican fellowship from splitting.
A recent BBC News headline asked, “Why can’t Africa handle poverty”? The UN says that halfway to the deadline, sub-Saharan Africa is unlikely to meet any of the poverty-busting goals – nor the benchmarks on education, health, and women’s empowerment.
As a Joint Standing Committee, we do not see how certain primates can in good conscience call upon The Episcopal Church to meet the recommendations of the Windsor Report while they find reasons to exempt themselves from paying regard to them. … We believe that the time is right for a determined effort to bring interventions to an end.
By their answers to these two questions, we believe that the Episcopal Church has clarified all outstanding questions relating to their response to the questions directed explicitly to them in the Windsor Report, and on which clarifications were sought by 30th September 2007, and given the necessary assurances sought of them.
A roundup of statements and actions from diocesan bishops in Central Florida, Georgia, and Rio Grande, and from the presiding bishop.
What is the obligation of the United States to the people of Iraq? Just War Theory answers that question for Christians: to minimize death and harm while expeditiously trying to create a stable situation and then promptly exiting.
St. Francis, regrettably, has become the captive of a thousand causes, among them the spirituality of escape. The popular domesticated reading of St. Francis, enshrined in backyard statuary and best-selling guides to the spiritual life, reflects the very schizoid spirituality that many North Americans take for granted.
The “traditional” interpretation of the story turns out to be a relatively modern one not shared by the ancient Hebrews. The “iniquity” of Sodom was long understood to represent the failure to offer hospitality to visitors, a matter of life and death in desert societies. In the words of the prophet Ezekiel (16:49), Sodom’s sins were “pride, fullness of bread, an abundance of idleness” and a failure to help the poor and needy.
What the African Anglican bishops have essentially said is that African citizens are “right” in their prejudices and stereotypes about African gay communities. It is thus the African Anglican hierarchy that should “repent.” If we do not stop and check ourselves, we can rest assured that the damage ultimately caused will not just be to the Anglican family worldwide. The damage will be to our own.
The International Fair Trade Association, an umbrella group of organizations in more than 70 countries, defines fair trade as reflecting “concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalized small producers” and does “not maximize profit at their expense. The New York Times writes on the increasing market share of Fair Trade items.