These modes either turn off certain lights, fans and alarms, or use a Jewish legal concept known as “gramma,” or indirect action, to operate the appliance on holy days. In refrigerators, for example, a built-in delay prevents the compressor from turning on immediately after the door is opened.
From Harper’s: During the 2008 campaign the beliefs of various candidates’ spiritual mentors has attracted a great deal of attention, especially those of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and to a lesser extent those of John Hagee … So now seems an opportune time to examine the viewpoints of Sarah Palin’s two most recent pastors, as expressed in their sermons.
Bishop Michael Ingham, whose diocese – New Westminster – voted to allow same-sex blessings in 2002, reacted strongly to the Windsor Continuation Group’s proposals for retrospective moratoria, describing it as “an old-world institutional response to a new-world reality in which people are being set free from hatred and violence.”
“I was aware that there was a great deal of homosexuality in the Church, which confused me. I was aware that quite a lot of clergy got into trouble about it and that quite a lot of people led disordered lives. I was determined that I was going to try to work out a viable way of life which would not get me into that kind of mess, a way of life which was honest and which was compatible with faith.”
We agree with Senator Obama’s assertion that candidates’ minor children should be off limits in political debate. However, as parents, we wonder at the judgment of the two adults who put a 17-year-old child in the position to have her premarital pregnancy become front page news across the nation.
In England gangs of thieves are making off with the roofs of Churches which are often made of lead because scrap metal brings in a lot of money. Many parishes would like to replace them with cheaper, less valuable material but are prevented by rules governing historic churches in Britain.
There are reports in the British media that the Very Rev. Jeffrey John, Dean of St. Albans, will be a nominee for Bishop of Bangor in the Church of Wales.
Congregations in San Diego country are dealing with the consequences of the current economy for their members and for their own ministries.
The Israel Antiquities Authority is digitally photographing every one of the Dead Sea Scrolls so that they may be available on the internet.
The Rev. Jane B. Bearden, an Episcopal priest from Massachusetts, is blogging about Hurricane Gustav from Biloxi, Miss. Bearden has been working and living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast helping the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer recover from Hurricane Katrina.