Paul Handley of the Church Times writes about being the only journalist at the news conference held last week by the GAFCON primates to announce the foregone conclusion that they were going to recognize the churches of the conservative Americans who pay their bills.
Human Rights Watch says laws forbidding consensual homosexual conduct were introduced into countries that had been colonized by Europeans. 80 countries around the world still criminalize consensual homosexual conduct between adult men, and often between adult women.
Church leaders from more than 40 denominations are encouraging their congregations to take the “You’ve Got The Time” challenge, a 40-day campaign of listening to the New Testament for 28 minutes a day
Here is our weekly collection plate, offering a few of the good things that Episcopalians and their congregations have done that made the news this past week.
Bishop Charles Jenkins of the Diocese of Louisiana has issued a plea for funds to help with funeral expenses of a young boy who was the victim of a homicide.
The AP reports, “The Vatican has launched a doctrinal investigation into the leadership of Catholic sisters in the United States, reportedly because they have not sufficiently promoted the Vatican line on homosexuality, the all-male priesthood and other issues.”
A judge has ruled in favor of Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh on several points in its legal dispute with Robert Duncan and other former leaders who have left the church over the control of diocesan assets.
A survey of Canadian youth reveals that the religious middle-ground of those who believe in God, but do not go to church or practice religion, is disappearing, leaving behind teens who are either very religious or those who don’t believe in God at all.
The Diocese of Montreal of the Anglican Church of Canada has sponsored more than 1,000 refugees in the last 25 years but one Algerian who is still in custody at Guantanamo has an offer from the diocese to sponsor him to come to Canada as a refugee.
Church politics has gone viral, mirroring many of the trends and techniques of secular politics. Daniel Burke sees the election of Kevin Thew Forrester as Bishop of Northern Michigan as the latest example.