Latrobe, Pennsylvania – The College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America has elected its next archbishop, the Rt. Rev. Steve Wood, bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas. The College met in conclave in the crypt of St. Vincent’s Basilica at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania from Thursday, June 20 through Saturday, June 22, 2024.

Bishop Wood will serve as the third archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America which was founded in 2009 and now has over 128,000 members in over 1,000 congregations across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

The archbishop convenes the meetings of the Provincial Assembly, Provincial Council and College of Bishops, represents the Province in the Councils of the Church, serves as chairman of the Executive Committee (board) of the Church, serves as the President of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund, and undertakes other duties as prescribed by the Canons of the Church. He serves a five-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms.

The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach is completing his second term and tenth year as archbishop, after having been elected by the College in 2014 at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. After transferring authority to Archbishop-elect Wood, Beach will take a sabbatical before continuing as bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the South.

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Steve Wood Elected Third Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North Americahttps://t.co/weSyf8dAXL

— ACNA (@The_ACNA) June 22, 2024

O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Liathach … 3,461 ft tall – pretty much straight from the sea. pic.twitter.com/jVNgNElaiw

— Steve Carter (@HighlandRampage) June 23, 2024

“I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

He also said to the multitudes, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

–Luke 12:49-56

"… in the Fresh Light of Morning"#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/YODVyyyILS

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) June 23, 2024

Almighty God, by whose grace and power thy holy martyr Alban triumphed over suffering and was faithful even unto death: Grant to us, who now remember him with thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to thee in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

‘Saint Alban suffered during the reign of Diocletian. He gave shelter to a Christian priest. He gave himself up in his place. He died near the city of Verulamium.’ (St Bede, Ecclesiastical History) pic.twitter.com/a42zi3r7SE

— What Good News (@WhatGoodNews) June 20, 2024

O Saviour Christ, whose compassion embraces all men, and who in the days of thy flesh didst welcome sinners: Graciously receive us who now come to thee, and who have nothing to plead but our own exceeding need, and thy exceeding love; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

Morning everyone hope you are well. Buttermere, if you get there early enough, not only do you get the place to yourself, you also get the reflections and what reflections. Have a great day. #lakedistrict @keswickbootco pic.twitter.com/TEBccs9wyW

— Rod Hutchinson (@lakesrhino) June 22, 2024

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry; and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why does the Lord bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

And they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephun′neh, who were among those who had spied out the land, rent their clothes, and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only, do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” But all the congregation said to stone them with stones.

–Numbers 14:1-10

Macht euch ein schönes Wochenende! pic.twitter.com/bPFfCiezwm

— Die Bergziege (@brauchtfreiheit) June 22, 2024

Responding to the paper on Thursday afternoon, the national director of the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC), Canon John Dunnett, suggested that the proposals would not receive support from those who have consistently voted against LLF motions in Synod.

“The longing of CEEC Evangelicals is to remain in the C of E, but this is being undermined by the ongoing commitment of many in the House of Bishops to walk away from our biblical and inherited doctrine of marriage and sexual ethics,” he said.

Referring to provisions which, since late last year (News, 18 November 2023). CEEC has made available to churches which oppose the Prayers of Love and Faith, Canon Dunnett said:

“If General Synod approves the motion as it stands, I anticipate a significant increase in the take up of the Ephesian Fund and alternative spiritual oversight by clergy and churches in the CEEC and Alliance constituency. This is because many feel that this is the only way they can find a voice for their concern and a spiritual oversight that has integrity.” 

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Proposals for stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex couples are to be brought to the General Synod in July, alongside an offer for “delegated episcopal ministry” for those who oppose any changes https://t.co/8reQ8xiytv

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 21, 2024

It is a mistake to think that new wineskins must necessarily look like old ones. Sometimes, a design benefits from a little tweaking and it seems that the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans have done just that at their meeting in Egypt.

Having reaffirmed their view that the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury have forfeited their leadership role of the global Communion, the Assembly elected new leaders from among themselves.

In accordance with the Cairo Covenant, they have set up their own Primates Council, Council of Bishops and Assembly, reflecting three of the traditional Instruments of Communion.   Yet, interestingly they have chosen not to elect a new Archbishop of Canterbury, nor identify a new Seat of Augustine, nor appoint one of their own as ‘first among equals’.

As the Chairman of the GSFA, Rt Revd Justin Badi, explained in his opening address:

“All those who are committed to preserving the historic Anglican doctrine and teachings are the true Anglicans. We respect and relate to the seat of St Augustine. It is always our prayer that the person who sits on that seat will always be faithful to the faith we once received from the Saints and faithfully transmitted.

At first glance, the decision not to replace the Archbishop of Canterbury appears to be a mark of respect and a way of leaving the door open for repentance and reconciliation. Some have even seen it as a mark of weakness.

Yet placed in context, this decision appears to be at the heart of the GSFA redesign.

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Is it possible that the GSFA have, in fact, replaced the Archbishop of Canterbury – not with a person – but with a covenant? @JustinBadiArama https://t.co/ks44sjk148

— Anglican Futures (@AnglicanFutures) June 20, 2024

Americans are getting older. By 2032, about a quarter of the US population will be over 65, up from 10% in 1970. And while it’s true that people are both living and staying healthier for longer, many will eventually need someone to care for them. A report by Wells Fargo in March estimated that an additional 1.7 million people will need some form of elder care in a decade.

This is hard on families for so many reasons — emotional, logistical — but today I’ll focus on the economic ones. First, the good news: The rise in the need for elder care means there will also be an increase in the number of elder care jobs available. The Department of Labor projects that the elder care industry will add 22% more jobs by 2032, and the majority of them will probably go to women. (Currently 82% of home health and personal care aides are women.)

Now the bad news: the pay for elder care is notoriously low, with a median salary of just $33,530 per year. That’s less than what preschool teachers ($37,130) and secretaries make ($46,010), and roughly on par with that of a childcare worker. The rise in demand has led to an increase in wages, but the pay is still pretty bad. That’s why, much like child care, the elder care industry is beset by staffing shortages and a high turnover rate.

Also like child care, elder care is incredibly expensive.

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America’s ‘Silver Tsunami’ Crisis Is Only Just Beginning ⁦@markets⁩ https://t.co/Hnn7PVN9Kl

— Amb Antonio Garza (@aogarza) June 21, 2024

Donald Sutherland, whose ability to both charm and unsettle, both reassure and repulse, was amply displayed in scores of film roles as diverse as a laid-back battlefield surgeon in “M*A*S*H,” a ruthless Nazi spy in “Eye of the Needle,” a soulful father in “Ordinary People” and a strutting fascist in “1900,” died on Thursday in Miami. He was 88.

His son Kiefer Sutherland, the actor, announced the death on social media. CAA, the talent agency that represented Mr. Sutherland, said he had died in a hospital after an unspecified “long illness.” He had a home in Miami.

With his long face, droopy eyes, protruding ears and wolfish smile, the 6-foot-4 Mr. Sutherland was never anyone’s idea of a movie heartthrob. He often recalled that while growing up in eastern Canada, he once asked his mother if he was good-looking, only to be told, “No, but your face has a lot of character.” He recounted how he was once rejected for a film role by a producer who said: “This part calls for a guy-next-door type. You don’t look like you’ve lived next door to anyone.”

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Donald Sutherland, Shape-Shifting Movie Star, Dies at 88 https://t.co/aY64uEmKcl

Thank you @ClydeHaberman for writing this. It's beautiful.

— Ellen Lebowitz (@ellenlebowitz) June 20, 2024

It is 70 years since at&t’s Bell Labs unveiled a new technology for turning sunlight into power. The phone company hoped it could replace the batteries that run equipment in out-of-the-way places. It also realised that powering devices with light alone showed how science could make the future seem wonderful; hence a press event at which sunshine kept a toy Ferris wheel spinning round and round.

Today solar power is long past the toy phase. Panels now occupy an area around half that of Wales, and this year they will provide the world with about 6% of its electricity—which is almost three times as much electrical energy as America consumed back in 1954. Yet this historic growth is only the second-most-remarkable thing about the rise of solar power. The most remarkable is that it is nowhere near over.

To call solar power’s rise exponential is not hyperbole, but a statement of fact. Installed solar capacity doubles roughly every three years, and so grows ten-fold each decade. Such sustained growth is seldom seen in anything that matters. That makes it hard for people to get their heads round what is going on. When it was a tenth of its current size ten years ago, solar power was still seen as marginal even by experts who knew how fast it had grown. The next ten-fold increase will be equivalent to multiplying the world’s entire fleet of nuclear reactors by eight in less than the time it typically takes to build just a single one of them.

Solar cells will in all likelihood be the single biggest source of electrical power on the planet by the mid 2030s.

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An energy-rich future is not just some environmentalist fever dream. Our special issue explores how the exponential rise of solar power will change the world https://t.co/4rJ2lJfF2t pic.twitter.com/YLSXWNKraj

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) June 20, 2024

O Lord, who hast promised a blessing for all who suffer for righteousness’ sake: Grant to all our brethren persecuted for the truth that they may rejoice in being counted worthy to suffer dishonour for thy name.  Strengthen their faith and renew their love, that in their patience they may possess their souls and win their persecutors to penitence and new brotherhood in thee; for the sake of him who suffered shame and reproach and remained invincible in his love, even thy redeeming Son, Christ our Lord.

"Peace like a River"#WilliamsRiver #AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/t0zgNf021W

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) June 21, 2024

Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and

–Romans 2:25-28

Solstice sunset last night here in Glastonbury. It was like the Tor had a huge golden crown above it. pic.twitter.com/yzV9kilJxZ

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) June 21, 2024

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)…[recently] released new ten-year budget and economic projections – an update from its February baseline – again confirming that the national debt is on an unsustainable path. According to CBO’s new projections:

Debt held by the public will reach a new record by the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 – 106.2 percent of GDP – and rise to 122.4 percent of GDP by the end of 2034.

The budget deficit will rise to $1.9 trillion (6.7 percent of GDP) in FY 2024 and $2.9 trillion (6.9 percent of GDP) by 2034, totaling $22.1 trillion over the 2025-2034 budget window.

Interest costs will reach a near-record 3.1 percent of GDP this year – exceeding defense and Medicare spending – set a new record next year and grow to 4.1 percent of GDP by FY 2034.

Under CBO’s latest baseline, federal debt held by the public will grow by $23 trillion through FY 2034, from over $27 trillion today to nearly $51 trillion by the end of 2034. As a share of the economy, debt will rise from 97.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the end of 2023 to 106.2 percent by 2027 – surpassing the prior record set just after World War II – and 122.4 percent of GDP by 2034. Debt in 2034 will be $2.4 trillion and 6.4 percent of GDP higher than projected in February.

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📈 In its latest budget and economic projections released today, @USCBO again confirmed that the national debt is on an unsustainable path:

➤ Debt held by the public will reach a new record by the end of FY 2027, rising to 122.4% of GDP by the end of 2034.

➤ The budget… pic.twitter.com/22RnFOTbDh

— CRFB.org (@BudgetHawks) June 18, 2024

An Anglican Church which says that it is acceptable to depart from this God given pattern of behaviour (or any elements of it), either in teaching, or in practice, is too broad.

Someone might object at this point ‘but surely no one would reject the basic pattern of Christian conduct outlined in the catechism?’ Sadly, however, such as rejection has taken place, and is taking place, in those Anglican churches which are supportive of same-sex sexual relationships and the adoption of transgender identities.

This is because to keep our bodies in ‘temperance, soberness and chastity, ‘ as the catechism glosses the seventh commandment, involves accepting the bodies we have as gifts given to us by God and using them only in ways that are in accordance with God’s will (see Romans 13:13-14 and Colossians 3:5-8).

Adopting a transgender identity is incompatible with accepting the bodies we have as gifts given to us by God, because the bodies we have are either male or female[20] and thus give us a male or female sexual identity. To adopt a transgender identity is to reject this sexual identity, given  to us in our bodies, as a gift from God. This is not to deny the reality of the distress caused by gender dysphoria, but it is to say that adopting a transgender identity is not a legitimate way to deal with this distress.

Being in a same-sex sexual relationship or a same-sex marriage is incompatible with using our bodies in accordance with the will of God, for the reasons helpfully summarised in the following quotation from J I Packer:

‘The Bible shows us that God created two genders for heterosexual attraction, with delight, leading to lifelong monogamous marriage for, among other things, the raising of stable and mature families; and he created sex for procreation with pleasure, and for reinforced bonding of the marriage relationship thereby. This is part of the God-given and God taught order of creation, an order that same sex unions directly contravene. So, however high- minded the participants and however faithful to each other they intend to be, same-sex bodily unions may not be viewed as a form of holiness (the Canadian Anglican General Synod of 2004 was wrong to speak of their ‘sanctity’), any more than sex with an animal (bestiality) can be so viewed. God sets limits, and obedience to him includes observing them. Sex is for marriage, and marriage is a heterosexual partnership, whatever modern society may say.’ [21]

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Martin Davie–Why the Church of England Bishops Cannot Do what they are doing with Prayers for Same Sex couples https://t.co/ZiZJOWkIHC #anglican #theology #analysis #marriage #anthropology #ethics #holyscripture #BCP #anglican #religion #parishministry #UK 'The bishops argument… pic.twitter.com/FUM7TZSatW

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) October 27, 2023

What’s been most interesting to me about Shuttlesworth is how he personified the mixture of Christian orthodoxy and freedom fighting that characterized the primary stream of the Black church’s social action tradition. As a pastor and leader, he called himself a biblicist and an actionist, meaning he had a devout faith in the authority of Scripture while believing right doctrine compelled the Christian into social action.

In February, I preached one of the Black History Month sermons at Zion Baptist Church, a traditional Black church in Cincinnati. After the service, Judge Cheryl Grant, a longtime congregant, thanked me for delving into the legacy of civil rights advocate Fred Shuttlesworth.

Grant had been very close with the Shuttlesworth family after they moved from Birmingham to Cincinnati in 1961, and she was working on a documentary about him with filmmaker Mark Vikram Purushotham and biographer Andrew M. Manis. Her personal testimony about Shuttlesworth and his story of redemptive action has been more than inspiring for me, and now I’d like to share his story with a wider audience.

Shuttlesworth is an unsung hero of the civil rights movement. A cofounder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he faced and ultimately outwitted Birmingham’s infamous commissioner of public safety, Eugene “Bull” Connor, to advance racial justice in one of America’s most obstinately segregated environments.

What’s been most interesting to me about Shuttlesworth is how he personified the mixture of Christian orthodoxy and freedom fighting that characterized the primary stream of the Black church’s social action tradition. As a pastor and leader, he called himself a biblicist and an actionist, meaning he had a devout faith in the authority of Scripture while believing right doctrine compelled the Christian into social action.

Read it all.

“The American church’s sins regarding race are a product of its failure to follow the Bible’s mandates, not the consequence of following them too closely.”@JustinEGiboney this Juneteenth: https://t.co/2qk8JhX4QW

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) June 19, 2024

Amber and Devin Weise lived in distant states when they met in an online social media group for Christian singles. They quickly became a couple, spending hours texting or talking on video chat. After several months of long-distance dating Devin wanted to propose, but thought it was proper and more romantic to do it in person.

Amber hinted she’d be OK with a proposal on a video call. Devin proposed and sent the ring in the mail.

It wasn’t until after they married that they learned the federal disability benefits program Amber relied upon penalizes couples who marry. Amber lost her monthly income check and the health care that came with it.

Amber is one of 7.4 million people who rely upon Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, a federal program that provides monthly cash assistance to disabled and older people with little income and resources. And for Amber and others, being on SSI is also the way they get health insurance.

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Couples say they can't get married because of this government program's outdated rules. – Social Security's SSI program for people with disabilities requires couples to have no more than $3,000 in assets via NPR https://t.co/WZnjFejpUz

— Olav Mitchell Underdal (@omunderdal) June 20, 2024

Even more striking to me are the political, social, and cultural resemblances I detect between the U.S. and the USSR. Gerontocratic leadership was one of the hallmarks of late Soviet leadership, personified by the senility of Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko. 

But by current American standards, the later Soviet leaders were not old men. Brezhnev was 75 when he died in 1982, but he had suffered his first major stroke seven years before. Andropov was only 68 when he succeeded Brezhnev, but he suffered total kidney failure just a few months after taking over. Chernenko was 72 when he came to power. He was already a hopeless invalid, suffering from emphysema, heart failure, bronchitis, pleurisy, and pneumonia.

It is a reflection of the quality of healthcare enjoyed by their American counterparts today that they are both older and healthier. Nevertheless, Joe Biden (81) and Donald Trump (78) are hardly men in the first flush of youth and vitality, as The Wall Street Journal recently made cringe-inducingly clear. The former cannot distinguish between his two Hispanic cabinet secretaries, Alejandro Mayorkas and Xavier Becerra. The latter muddles up Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi. If Kamala Harris has never watched The Death of Stalin, it’s not too late.

Another notable feature of late Soviet life was total public cynicism about nearly all institutions. Leon Aron’s brilliant book Roads to the Temple shows just how wretched life in the 1980s had become.

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"Are We the Soviets?" After four happy years at @opinion, it was time for a change. So here's my first column for @TheFP, with thanks to @bariweiss for recruiting me to her happy band. https://t.co/Zwxj3ChLLb pic.twitter.com/cyK0xHX7tQ

— Niall Ferguson (@nfergus) June 18, 2024

Most loving Father, who willest us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of thee, and to cast all our care on thee who carest for us: Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which thou hast manifested unto us in thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Happy summer solstice🌞 Today marks midsummer: the 'longest day' and 'shortest night' of the year. We are starting the day off and celebrating with this photograph of #Arncliffe in #Littondale on a summer evening 💚

📸 Kev Lockwood Photography

#YorkshireDales #Dales pic.twitter.com/c5NQKh2NT6

— Yorkshire Dales National Park (@yorkshire_dales) June 20, 2024

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

–Matthew 18:15-20

0418hrs #Summersolstice Sunrise – Armadale Bay, Isle of Skye #Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿⁦@angie_weather⁩ ⁦@StormHour⁩ ⁦@ThePhotoHour⁩ ⁦@VisitScotland⁩ ⁦@SeanBattyTV⁩ ⁦@krobertsonitv⁩ ⁦@CarolKirkwood3⁩ ⁦@bbcweather⁩ ⁦@itvweather⁩ pic.twitter.com/oEAAgELJmI

— James MacInnes (@Macinnesplant) June 20, 2024

Minutes taken at meetings of the House of Bishops will now be published routinely, but the public or press will still not be admitted, the House has announced.

A committee led by the Archbishop of York had been examining how the working of the House could be made more transparent, following sustained criticism from members of the other two Houses of the General Synod during last year’s Living in Love and Faith debates.

Multiple members of the Houses of Clergy and Laity accused the bishops of hiding legal advice regarding the Prayers of Love and Faith, and of obscuring disagreements and debates in the House over the gay-blessings policy.

The report produced by the bishops’ transparency group concedes that there was “substantial and reasonable criticism of the way in which the House of Bishops operates”.

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Minutes taken at meetings of the House of Bishops will now be published routinely, but the public or press will still not be admitted, the House has announced https://t.co/l5sZNheYgr

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 19, 2024

Stephen said: “Ever since arriving in Worcester five years ago I have loved this amazing Cathedral and have grown in deep affection for the people and city as well as the wider diocese. It is now a privilege and joy to be appointed as Dean of Worcester and I look forward to continuing to develop the Cathedral’s ministry and position as a place of prayer, learning and welcome.”

Bishop John said: “I am delighted with this appointment. Stephen is an exceptionally gifted priest who is much loved in Worcester and beyond. He has been a brilliant Interim Dean, and we are very blessed that God has called him to be the next Dean.”

Stephen was ordained in 1996, serving first in the Church in Wales and then in the Diocese of Manchester, where he was Rector of the inner-city parish of St Agnes’, Longsight and then Team Rector of Wythenshawe. Stephen was also the Bishop of Manchester’s adviser for liturgy and worship as well as the co-ordinator of the Manchester Estate Ministry Network. As a Residentiary Canon of Worcester Cathedral, Stephen has also been involved in the Cathedral and diocesan Eco groups and the diocesan Racial Justice Forum. He is the independent chair of the Worcester Cares forum for homelessness and vulnerable people. His interests include architecture, ales and a love of dogs!

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"Architecture, ale and a love of dogs!"

He's our kind of Dean

The King has approved the nomination of The Revd Canon Dr Stephen Edwards, Interim Dean of Worcester, to be appointed as the new Dean of Worcester#DogLovers @worccathedral https://t.co/x3NfEHoxgX

— English Cathedrals (@engcathedrals) June 19, 2024

The Group of 7 countries might have set a record when they met in Italy last week. Has there ever been a less popular assemblage of leaders of the free world? Approval ratings ranged from Giorgia Meloni of Italy’s about 40 percent to Emmanuel Macron of France’s 21 percent to Fumio Kishida of Japan’s 13 percent. Last year the Edelman Trust Barometer found that only 20 percent of people in the G7 countries thought that they and their families would be better off in five years. Another Edelman survey, from 2020, uncovered a broad distrust of capitalism in countries across the world, “driven by a growing sense of inequity and unfairness in the system.”

Why the broad dissatisfaction with an economic system that is supposed to offer unsurpassed prosperity? Ruchir Sharma, the chairman of Rockefeller International and a Financial Times columnist, has an answer that boils down to two words: easy money. In an eye-opening new book, “What Went Wrong With Capitalism,” he makes a convincing case.

“When the price of borrowing money is zero,” Sharma told me this week, “the price of everything else goes bonkers.” To take just one example: In 2010, as the era of ultralow and even negative interest rates was getting started, the median sale price for a house in the United States hovered around $220,000. By the start of this year, it was more than $420,000.

Nowhere has inflation (in the broad sense of the term) been more evident than in global financial markets. In 1980 they were worth a total of $12 trillion — equal to the size of the global economy at the time. After the pandemic, Sharma noted, those markets were worth $390 trillion, or around four times the world’s total gross domestic product.

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How Capitalism Went Off the Rails

By Bret Stephens, Opinion Columnist @nytimes

"The social consequence of this is rage; the political consequence is populism."
https://t.co/yD7bmUnqDw

— Stefan Michaelsen (@stefanmichaelse) June 19, 2024

Toward the end of my term as Secretary of State, I had the opportunity to visit the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Permanently displayed in the Rotunda alongside the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights is the Emancipation Proclamation. As I stood reading, I felt the presence of my ancestors. I said a little prayer of thanks to them—and to God—for the great fortune of being born American.

Most Americans are familiar with the Emancipation Proclamation. Issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, it declared freedom for millions of slaves living in the South. Today, however, many Americans remain unaware that two more years would pass before the enslaved living in Texas learned of their freedom. 

It was on June 19, 1865, that Union soldiers arrived in the farthest territory of the Confederate states—in Galveston Bay, Texas—bringing with them the news that slavery had been abolished. Major General Gordon Granger read out General Order No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them, becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages.” 

While there was still a long road ahead—it would be nearly 100 years until the Civil Rights Act was passed—this was an important step for the 250,000 people still enslaved in Texas, and one they probably didn’t believe would ever come to pass.

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On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and freed the last enslaved people in the Confederacy. When we celebrate their freedom, we celebrate America itself.https://t.co/WqlHIfynKw

— Condoleezza Rice (@CondoleezzaRice) June 19, 2024

Dear God our Father,

Grant us by your Holy Spirit grace to contend fearlessly against evil and to make no peace with oppression.

Help us, like those generations before us who resisted the evil of slavery and human bondage in any form and any manner of oppression.

Enable us to use our freedoms to bring justice among people and nations everywhere to the glory of your holy name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (modified form of a prayer from the Evangelical Lutheran Church Association–KSH.)

Happy Juneteenth everyone. On this day I’m grateful for the men and women, abolitionists and advocates who risked their lives for the freedom my family and I enjoy. I wonder what it must have been like for the courageous men of the 54th Massachusetts, one of the first colored… pic.twitter.com/YZbu6Q6MK8

— Benjamin Watson (@BenjaminSWatson) June 19, 2024

O Lord Jesus Christ, in all the fullness of thy power so gentle, in thine exceeding greatness so humble: Bestow thy mind and spirit upon us, who have nothing whereof to boast; that clothed in true humility, we may be exalted to true greatness.  Grant this, O Lord, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God for evermore.

—Daily Prayer, Eric Milner-White and G. W. Briggs, eds. (London: Penguin Books 1959 edition of the 1941 original)

Sunrise from Myrtle Beach. 📸 Peggy Hendricks #scwx #ncwx pic.twitter.com/w0PXs6TW7B

— Ed Piotrowski (@EdPiotrowski) June 19, 2024

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

–Matthew 18:1-9

We just love this picture of Scaleber Force 💚 A stunning 40ft waterfall set in glorious woodland close to #Settle.

📸 Photographed by @ChrisMBurgess this weekend. #WaterfallWednesday #YorkshireDales #Dales #PicOfTheDay pic.twitter.com/zDBAce8F31

— Yorkshire Dales National Park (@yorkshire_dales) June 19, 2024

The First Assembly of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches – GSFA 9^th Trumpet, 11-15 June 2024, St Mark’s Conference Centre, El Khatatba, Egypt

“I Will Make You As A Light To The Nations” (Isaiah 49:6)

A.   Preamble

1. A total of 200 participants from across 40 nations gathered as orthodox Anglican leaders for the 1st Assembly of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA). This is the first Assembly of the GSFA after the Global South Churches adopted a new Covenantal Structure in 2019 to bind their communion in Gospel life and witness together as a covenanted ecclesial body within the Anglican Communion. To maintain continuity with the past and remember our roots, we have chosen to recognise GSFA’s 1st Assembly as also the 9th Trumpet of Global South churches since its first gathering at Limuru, Kenya in 1994.

2. As at June 2024, 11 Provinces have become fully covenanted members of GSFA through their respective synodical processes. There are also 3 Associate Member dioceses and 14 Mission Partners comprising Anglican networks, theological colleges and mission societies. We were joined by special guests and observers. At the 1st Assembly, in total, there were 13 active Primates, 44 Bishops, 46 Clergy and 36 Lay leaders present.

3. As an Assembly, we expressed our deep appreciation to Archbishop Samy Shehata, the Primate of Alexandria, and to the people of the Diocese of Egypt for their outstanding Middle-Eastern hospitality extended to us during our stay in Egypt.

4. We also expressed our gratitude to the government authorities of Egypt for providing us a safe environment in which to meet as well as their readiness to process travel visas where needed.

5. We were tremendously blessed that our Primates, bishops and Assembly participants had a personal audience with Pope Tawandros II, the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church; and that Pope Tawandros II expressed keenness to build the fellowship with the GSFA as an expression of the ecumenical unity of the body of Christ.

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“People have made their stand for the gospel of Christ against false ideologies for the sake of their countrymen,” Archbishop Kanishka Raffel of Sydney preaches at Global South Assembly. “Bishops have sworn, along with presbyters, to drive away false teaching.” #anglican pic.twitter.com/y1fl3Wkc1s

— Jeff Walton (@jeffreyhwalton) June 15, 2024

“The profoundly suffering people of Sudan continue to be in my prayers with each passing day. Following the return of the Bishops of Leeds and Bradford from the country last week, I am again in mourning for the millions of innocent people who have been killed, displaced or had their lives destroyed by this conflict. It is estimated that between 8 and 11 million people have been displaced, and that famine and other forms of insecurity are now inevitable. It is unconscionable that such immense suffering is allowed to continue, forgotten by most of the world. “As the violence intensifies with the siege and battery of El Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces, I call on the countries supporting this destruction through weapons and financing to stop and channel their resources instead towards negotiations for peace. An honouring of the Jeddah commitments and UN Security Council’s call for a ceasefire is now of paramount importance. All those engaging in violence must cease. “The strong links between the Church of England, specifically the Dioceses of Leeds and Salisbury, and the Episcopal Church of Sudan are built on Christian solidarity with sisters and brothers in faith – and the conviction that all the people of Sudan are of infinite value before God. I stand in solidarity with my brother, the Most Revd Ezekiel Kondo, Primate of Sudan. We will continue to work and pray for peace and justice – and for a reconciliation that makes security and stability possible.”

Archbishop of Canterbury urges end to violence in Sudan | The Archbishop of Canterbury #sudan https://t.co/NgNOgc184h

— Sudan's Doctors for Human Rights (@sudan_doctors) June 17, 2024

By the time children born today are in kindergarten, artificial intelligence (AI) will probably have surpassed humans at all cognitive tasks, from science to creativity. When I first predicted in 1999 that we would have such artificial general intelligence (AGI) by 2029, most experts thought I’d switched to writing fiction. But since the spectacular breakthroughs of the past few years, many experts think we will have agi even sooner—so I’ve technically gone from being an optimist to a pessimist, without changing my prediction at all.

After working in the field for 61 years—longer than anyone else alive—I am gratified to see AI at the heart of global conversation. Yet most commentary misses how large language models like ChatGPT and Gemini fit into an even larger story. AI is about to make the leap from revolutionizing just the digital world to transforming the physical world as well. This will bring countless benefits, but three areas have especially profound implications: energy, manufacturing and medicine. 

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“AI is about to make the leap from revolutionising the digital world to transforming the physical world as well,” writes Ray Kurzweil in a guest essay. The futurist says amid countless benefits, there will be profound implications in three areas https://t.co/ty57b4HqrY

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) June 18, 2024