With the country on the cusp of a recession and many people burdened by the mortgage foreclosure crisis, skyrocketing gas prices and rising grocery bills, religious leaders are increasingly ministering to their members about financial responsibility and encouraging them to control their spending.
Brian McLaren, the prominent de facto spokesperson for the emergent church movement, gave a plenary address at Lambeth earlier this week. He writes of his time there, “There is a humble spirit here, a loving atmosphere, a deep spirituality centered in Bible study, worship, and prayer, and a strong desire to move beyond internal-institutional matters to substantive mission in our needy world.”
By Jim Naughton The Archbishop of Canterbury is on a bit of a roll here at the Lambeth Conference. He has clearly established himself as
Lest anyone wonder about the power of the internet as a medium in which to be heard, Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture,” initially titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” surfaced on YouTube last year. The lecture, which Pausch hoped would eventually find its way to his young children, since he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, wound up with nearly 3.5 million views and became a bestselling book.
Today was group photo day. Sort of an exercise in Where’s Waldo? to pick out one’s bishop in the midst of them. One good thing
It’s hard to discern from media coverage who thinks what about Friday’s developments at Lambeth regarding the Faith and Order Commission–aside from it seeming to be a move toward centralization, which no one is thrilled with.
The Washington Post, writing about Gene Robinson’s exclusion from Lambeth, offers some first-person accounts from Robinson, who they say is “a celebrity on a mission.”
What if they gave a news conference and nobody came? Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, upon whom the press falls with gusto whenever they catch sight of her, was one of the presenters at this afternoon’s press conference, but played to a relatively small crowd, due, in part, to a party being given by the Times of London.
One of the joys of being a weekend editor is stumbling across profiles of clergy written for local newspapers for their weekend religion sections; with blogging, it allows the spotlight to shine on leaders of smaller congregations. Take, for instance, the Rev. Holly Ann Davis, who will be ordained as a priest and installed as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Franklin, Pa. later this year.
Davis MacIyalla, a Nigerian campaigner for the rights of gay and lesbian people in the Church and in the world, was granted asylum by the British government yesterday because of death threats he has received from people in Nigeria.