A new church in Moline, Illinois formed out of the split in the Diocese of Quincy has held its worship in its new home and is getting ready for a visit in April by the Presiding Bishop. The members describe themselves as a “happy bunch” and who are getting more people in church than they expected.
The National Council of Churches Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches reported a decline in Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist membership for first time in recent experience. The Episcopal Church declined less than United Church of Christ but slightly more than the Evangelical Lutherans.
Conflict is normal in every congregation. Some disagreement and conflict provides energy and generates ideas but it is like Goldilock’s porridge: organizations thrive when conflict is not too hot and not too cold but just right.
The Changing Attitude blog reports that the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs reported to the UN periodic review of human rights in Geneva on February 9, 2009 that they know of no gay and lesbian groups in Nigeria and therefore see no reason to protect their rights. Davis Mac-Iyalla and other leaders of Changing Attitude Nigeria described the statement as a lie.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will attend General Convention for the first time July 8-9. He will participate in Bible study and be a keynote speaker at a global economic forum on the evening of July 8.
Over on the blog RevGalBlogPals, Carol Howard Merritt writes about her book Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation.
Christians and Muslim Palestinian-Israelis protested a satiric sketch on Israel television which insulted both religions.
It seems like Christians are always struggling with a “Corinthian” tendency toward division and disunity. To be sure, in our denomination, and global Anglicanism, we’ve seen lots of it in the past six years, and certainly will see more. It is worth remembering that the Church of England broke ties with Rome in the middle 16th century over questions of authority and power.
Let us then persevere unceasingly in our hope, and in the pledge of our righteousness, that is in Christ Jesus, “who bare our sins in his own body on the tree, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth,” but for our sakes, that we might live in him, he endured all things. Let us then be imitators of his endurance, and if we suffer for his name’s sake let us glorify him. For this is the example which he gave us in himself, and this is what we have believed.