The Synod of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa met this week and released a statement as result of their conversations. It is a reminder that in a week filled with reports about the actions of the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops there are more pressing crises around the world.
The Diocese of Texas is preparing to respond to the expected emergency conditions that will be left in Hurricane Ike’s wake this weekend. They’ve updated their diocesan website with emergency contact information and disaster checklists.
A paper published at the National Bureau of Economic Research has found a definite and measurable link between decreasing church attendance and decreasing voter turnout in elections.
Bishop Idris Jones, in an address to his Diocesan Council, speaks of what he believes happens and didn’t happen at this summer’s Lambeth Conference. While he rhetorically overstates the condition of the Communion, he rightly points out that the Communion is in a phase of rapid transformation.
The Primate of Nigeria is featured in a new interview this week. In the interview Abp. Akinola talks about his national role in Nigeria and his sense of how Anglicanism is failing in England.
With the October vote regarding the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s decision to attempt to leave the Episcopal Church or to stay approaching, the Diocese has agreed to a request to allow a third party to inventory the diocesan assets in anticipation of legal action that might follow the vote.
The theme of the 2009 General Convention is “Ubuntu”, an African concept that’s not only difficult to translate into American idiom but harder still to picture visually. But in spite of the difficulty, The Rev. Paul Fromberg, has risen to the challenge.
The Rev. Canon Dr. Kendall Harmon published an essay yesterday that asks congregations to try to maximize the possibilities for seekers to connect with them. He uses the metaphor of porches to describe what he calling us to do.
There was a meeting over the past weekend of the clergy and laity of the Dioceses of Quincy and Springfield with their bishops. The bishops reported on their experiences at Lambeth and GAFCON and participated in an open forum. The news from the meeting is a statement by the Bishop of Springfield that he intends to remain a part of the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops.
The bishops of the US diocese of Bethlehem and the Sudanese diocese of Kajo-Keji have issued a statement reiterating their intention to continue working together in mission and evangelism in spite of concerns raised as a result of the Archbishop of Sudan’s statement at Lambeth criticizing the Episcopal Church in the US.