We covered the story last week. Now Catholic News Agency has more: The congregation can choose whether to receive communion bread blessed by Rev. [Sue]
Pressure was mounting on the Church of England tonight to use its power as a shareholder to stop mining company Vedanta Resources from opening a bauxite mine in a sacred part of India after it vowed to go ahead despite pleas from indigenous people.
So why do I, who found the Anglican church so boring as a child that I flounced away at 13 never to go back, and who believes that religion is responsible for some of the biggest disasters in human history and some of the biggest threats to our planet, now love the Church of England? (The traditional Church of England, not its evangelical, Alpha-armed wing.) Why do I love it?
A special container, for the hosts which have been previously consecrated by a male priest, is brought out during Sunday morning services at Blackburn Cathedral if a woman priest is presiding. The cathedral’s canon, Andrew Hindley, defended the arrangement: “It was agreed by all the clergy and cathedral chapter that this was the best way to handle what we call a mixed economy.”
The Church Times wins this Friday’s award for “Best Headline of the Week” with a report on the stewardship debate at the recently concluded Church of England Synod. The article headline? “Stewardship: Let’s talk about wallets, not willies.”
Giving a new meaning to Married with Children, the Church of England has introduced a family-friendly ceremony where you and your co-habitating partner can marry, and your progeny can be baptized. The fee the church charges is virtually the same as if the ceremonies were conducted on separate occasions. A spokesman for the Church said the ceremony was environmentally and socially responsible given the substantial post-ceremony savings in hiring a venue and a caterer. (No, this is not a spoof.)
It now seems right to offer guidance at a national level about how the Church of England’s worship might best take into account the interests of public health during the current phase of the swine flu pandemic. – +Rowan Cantuar and +Sentamu Ebor
Dr Williams said: ‘As for General Convention it remains to be seen I think whether the vote of the House of Deputies will be endorsed by the House of Bishops. If the House of Bishops chooses to block then the moratorium remains. I regret the fact that there is not the will to observe the moratorium in such a significant part of the Church in North America but I can’t say more about that as I have no details.’
Ekklesia says the Church of England has been criticized three times in four days for its investments practices.
A revolution in attitudes towards gay men and lesbians is indicated in a poll which shows that a majority of the public want homosexuals to share identical rights to everyone else. Just 40 years after homosexual acts were legalised, and only nine years since the age of consent was equalised, 61 per cent of the public want gay couples to be able to marry just like the rest of the population, not just have civil partnerships.