Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. For members of our church who were out of town or unable to attend our worship service yesterday, I want to share with you the great good news about what God, through many channels and means, has brought about.

I and the Vestry are overjoyed to announce that we have completed the purchase of land for the purpose of one day building a new church for Christ Church Anglican. The purchase of this land, located in the heart of north Mt. Pleasant within the Carolina Park developmental footprint across from Costco on Faison Road, was made possible by what I am confident is the largest single gift in Christ Church’s history – $3.2 million – by a family in the congregation, who wish to remain anonymous. Wonderfully, the donors did not ask for any say in the site selection, but desired that the Vestry seek and select the land, under its own timetable and criteria, knowing that this gift was available to them whenever, in the short or long term, suitable land was eventually found (the decision to purchase this land was unanimous by the Vestry). In addition to the incredible generosity of this gift, I and the Vestry are humbled and inspired by the spiritual maturity and practical wisdom inherent in the manner in which this gift was given. We praise God!

I said “…through many channels and means,” and certainly that is so. Much credit goes to our Senior Warden Jeff Gum, who has effectively spearheaded the search over a several month period, always in close consultation with me and the Vestry. We partnered with an outstanding realtor whose hard work and professional knowledge has guided us at every step. During our due diligence we first gathered input from the clergy, the staff and the Vestry about our ministry needs and wants, and then engaged both a local engineering firm and an architecture firm (a local architect who specializes regionally in church design) to help us determine if this site could accommodate our needs. Our work has involved individuals in the congregation with specialized knowledge or expertise, as well as other professionals in the community and town administration who could help answer our questions about a myriad of issues from wetlands to soil analysis to parking codes and much more. Among the many hours dedicated to this project, perhaps the most important has been the time spent by the Vestry prayer team, lifting to God our need, our search, and our discernment. I am grateful for and give God praise for everyone who has worked to bring us to this moment.

Read it all.

Amazing news!! We are rejoicing Christ Church Anglican, Mt. Pleasant! In God's grace & with the gift from a generous parish family they have purchased land for a new church! Praise be to God! Go to our Facebook page to watch the video to learn more! https://t.co/74o2LU9diZ #ADOSC pic.twitter.com/q3MRQiTfMm

— Anglican Diocese of SC (@anglican_sc) December 20, 2022

Economic nationalism is popular. The largesse during the pandemic changed expectations of the state. Creative destruction, which reallocates capital and labour, may be unpalatable to ageing populations that put less store by economic growth and to younger voters who embrace the politics of identity.

But big-government capitalism has a poor record. Given decades-high inflation, caused partly by ill-judged fiscal and monetary policy, especially in America, it is odd that voters want to reward politicians and officials by giving them power over bits of the economy they are not suited to run….

Read it all.

From war to covid, from inflation to climate change, from Sino-­American tensions to pivotal elections, this year asked hard questions https://t.co/gawSA4iIx4

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) December 20, 2022

Some forces propelling secularization have come into better focus during the past ten years. One such has gone inexplicably unnoticed. That is the relationship between the decline in churchgoing, especially among Millennials and Zoomers, and the simultaneous rise of cancel culture on practically every campus in the Western world.

This connection between the rise in unbelief among twentysomethings and the rise of punitive anti-Christian social codes is obviously more than a coincidence. It’s a commonplace that many students, not only in America but all over, lose their religion in college. An atheist or other nonbeliever might propose one way of making sense of this: College is where students learn higher reasoning, and higher reasoning drives out the superstition of faith. This is another hypothesis that makes intuitive sense to some, even as the facts say otherwise. As we have seen already, better-educated people, as a group, are actually more likely to be found in church than those without higher degrees.

The more likely dynamic is that, thanks to the new intolerance, the social and other costs of being a known believer in the public square mount by the year — and students take note. Intimidation in higher education, multiplied over many years and campuses, has become another unseen catalyst of secularization. Cancel culture gives intimidated young people, including those raised in a faith, one more reason not to go to church. From New York to Paris to Sydney to Buenos Aires, it manifestly is doing just that.

The past decade also suggests that secularization continues to be driven by the fact that people are marrying later and having children later, if they have children at all. These trends appear to be even more entrenched than they were ten years ago, as the median age of marriage in the United States continues to rise. By 2022, it is over 28 years of age for women; for men, for the first time, it is over 30 years.

This delay of entry into adulthood, too, interferes with the possibility of apprehending the sacred. From time immemorial, mothers and fathers have regarded the creation of new life as the zenith of their own lives as human beings. The human patrimony reflects this primordial fact in all eras and incarnations, the Western canon perhaps exceptionally; from Greek tragedy to Shakespeare to Tolstoy to Succession, and everywhere in between, this civilization’s art and literature are unthinkable apart from incessant recourse to family and children.

The West’s increasing rejection of traditional family life undermines attachment to Christianity in more ways than one. Simultaneously, the broken-home situation from which more and more people hail cannot help but spur resentment for what has been lost. Many of today’s “nones” thumb their noses at the churches, even as the same churches teach the beauty of intact families, which more and more have never known, and whose missing benefits they cannot imagine.

Read it all.

.@NRO The great Mary Eberstadt reflects on 10 years since the publication of her book, "How the West Really Lost God.":https://t.co/jzCKzo13YX

— Templeton Press (@TempletonPress) December 16, 2022

Almighty God, who didst call thy servant Katharina von Bora from a cloister to work for the reform of thy church, grant that all of us may go wherever thou dost call, and serve however thou dost will, for thy honor and glory and for the welfare of thy whole church. All this we ask through Jesus Christ, our only mediator and advocate. Amen.

20 Dec 1552: d. Katharina Von Bora, 'die Lutherin', ex-nun wife of ex-friar Martin #Luther. pic.twitter.com/h1pCoZvXrn

— John McCafferty (@jdmccafferty) December 20, 2022

Almighty Father, whose blessed Son at his coming amongst us brought redemption unto his people, and peace to men of goodwill: Grant that, when he shall come again in glory to judge the world and to make all things new, we may be found ready to receive him, and enter into his joy; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ.

Another #Christmas card scene for your photo today, with the first golden light of a frosty winter's day over Widecombe in the Moor, #Dartmoor…

Shot notes: 1-125 sec at f – 2.8 ISO 100 #tuesdayvibe #ThePhotoHour #StormHour #festiveseason pic.twitter.com/QT4gTXOvPJ

— Gary Holpin | Photography (@GaryHolpin) December 20, 2022

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechari′ah, of the division of Abi′jah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechari′ah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechari′ah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth;
for he will be great before the Lord,
and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink,
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
even from his mother’s womb.
And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,
and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Eli′jah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

And Zechari′ah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” And the people were waiting for Zechari′ah, and they wondered at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he made signs to them and remained dumb. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying, “Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.”

–Luke 1:5-25

Freezing fog in #rushmerecountrypark@GreensandTrust #winter #ThePhotoHour #photography #cold #NaturePhotography pic.twitter.com/sP1EXdzY9t

— Dale Rockell Photography (@drockellphoto) December 20, 2022

Despite falling congregations and less inherited affiliation to the church, a recent survey by Savanta Com Res shows that 46% of the population – nearly half – had contact with their local church. The most common reasons were weddings and funerals, and of course carol services at Christmas. But 30% of those who had contact with the church – that is about 7 million people, a staggering 13.7% of all UK adults – had contact through toddler groups, lunch clubs, and food banks.

This is an incredible service to the nation. It is rooted in and flows from a belief in the God who in Jesus Christ comes among us as one who serves.

You probably wouldn’t expect an Archbishop to say otherwise, and while there have been some concerns recently that the parish church is somehow under threat in the Church of England at the moment, let me say this clearly. Yes, putting clergy into parishes costs a lot of money, as does the necessary infrastructure to train, support and house them. Church buildings are also costly. But the Church of England is very committed, not only to support and revitalise the local church, not only do all that we can to sustain clergy numbers, but also plant and establish new worshipping communities, particularly in areas of new housing and in many of the most deprived urban, rural and coastal areas.

This mission imperative to be the church for everyone everywhere is at the heart of what it means to be the Church of England, and therefore of our current vision and strategy.

And why? Because we want everyone to hear the good news of God’s love for them in Christ. To hear the song of the angels announcing peace on earth. And to provide the caring and transforming presence of a Christian community in every human community, large and small.

Read it all.

This Christmas, Christians want everyone to hear the good news of God's love for them in Christ. To hear the song of the angels announcing peace on earth. Read @Telegraph article in full: https://t.co/I7A1wpbJoL

— Stephen Cottrell (@CottrellStephen) December 18, 2022

ChatGPT, the artificial-intelligence program captivating Silicon Valley with its sophisticated prose, had its origin three years ago, when technology investor Sam Altman became chief executive of the chatbot’s developer, OpenAI.

Mr. Altman decided at that time to move the OpenAI research lab away from its nonprofit roots and turn to a new strategy, as it raced to build software that could fully mirror the intelligence and capabilities of humans—what AI researchers call “artificial general intelligence.” Mr. Altman, who had built a name as president of famed startup accelerator Y Combinator, would oversee the creation of a new for-profit arm, believing OpenAI needed to become an aggressive fundraiser to meet its founding mission.

Since then, OpenAI has landed deep-pocketed partners like Microsoft Corp., MSFT -1.73%decrease; red down pointing triangle created products that have captured the attention of millions of internet users, and is looking to raise more money. Mr. Altman said the company’s tools could transform technology similar to the invention of the smartphone and tackle broader scientific challenges.

“They are incredibly embryonic right now, but as they develop, the creativity boost and new superpowers we get—none of us will want to go back,” Mr. Altman said in an interview.

Read it all.

“They are incredibly embryonic right now, but as they develop, the creativity boost and new superpowers we get—none of us will want to go back."https://t.co/4ISkgw4kCB

— Andrew Restuccia (@AndrewRestuccia) December 19, 2022

StoneBridge Christian Church in eastern Nebraska is known locally for hosting a big annual fireworks event, which this fall included 15 food trucks and portable firepits for making s’mores. But it’s the Christmas season that is “our Super Bowl,” said the church’s executive pastor, Mitch Chitwood. This year, the church’s four locations in the Omaha area will host four “Jingle Jam” family parties in December and nine services on Christmas Eve, complete with classic carols, Christmas-themed coffee drinks and a festive photo booth in the lobby.

What they will not have is church on Sunday, Dec. 25. On Christmas Day, StoneBridge will offer a simple community breakfast, but no religious services.

“We still believe in the Sunday morning experience, but we have to meet people where they are,” Mr. Chitwood said.

And where they are on Christmas Day is usually at home, in their pajamas. This year, church leaders are grappling with what may seem like an odd dilemma: Christmas Day falls on a Sunday for the first time since 2016, and that’s a problem.

Read it all.

If everyone from the pews to the pulpit would rather stay home, what is a practical house of worship to do? This year, some Protestant churches are deciding to skip Sunday services completely.https://t.co/miIfKAtpmy

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 18, 2022

It was a clash too good to be true, in real time. The first 60 minutes felt like a coronation. The second 60 minutes felt like holding on to the hood of a speeding car.

As for Messi and Mbappé: spectacular. As sports observers we harp so much on the failures and shortcomings of superstars—the great players who do not deliver in the biggest moments. It’s empty theater of scolding and schadenfreude, because it’s not what we actually want.

To see two of the greatest to ever do it—a 35-year-old generational superstar, and his 23-year-old successor—play at the height of their powers, is what we want, because it’s unadulterated joy.

Messi, seeking the first World Cup title, played with incandescent fury. Mbappé, well-defended and invisible early, burst back almost single-handedly to make it a match.

Messi was Messi, Mbappé was Mbappé. It was all you could ask for.

I haven’t even gotten to the scale of all this—how a World Cup is truly worldly, with the heart rates and birthrates of continents rising and falling with each shift in momentum. It all means so much more.

Read it all.

“Epic” championships and superstars seldom deliver on pre-game hype. That was not the case at Sunday’s World Cup final, where Argentina, France, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé delivered a match that will be remembered forever. https://t.co/zRzFA1bEAc

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 18, 2022

God, whose everlasting arms support the universe: We offer thanks for moving the heart of Lillian Trasher to heroic hospitality on behalf of orphaned children in great need, and we pray that we also may find our hearts awakened and our compassion stirred to care for thy little ones, through the example of our Savior Jesus Christ and by the energy of thy Holy Spirit, who broodest over the world as a mother over her children; for they live and reign with thee, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Lillian Trasher spent a lifetime in Egypt, where she created one of the world’s largest orphanages with small resources but enormous faith. During her fifty-year ministry 25,000 children came under her care

Read my latest article: https://t.co/vKYGHRhc0y pic.twitter.com/OkwWldixZg

— J.John (@Canonjjohn) November 26, 2022

Lord God Almighty, King of glory and love eternal, worthy art thou at all times to receive adoration, praise, and blessing; but especially at this time do we praise thee for the sending of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, for whom our hearts do wait, and to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, be honour and dominion, now and for ever.

–Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)

"Impressionistic Lake View"#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/nAb86NpsLF

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) December 19, 2022

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

–Isaiah 11:1-3

#MondayMotivation

Beautiful sunrise and cloud inversion from #MamTor! 🥰

📷 (c) Nicki Siddall 👏 pic.twitter.com/nunECVVw2c

— Peak District National Park (@peakdistrict) December 19, 2022

World Champions 🏆🇦🇷#FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/TGLbXxRFLc

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 18, 2022

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and as we are sorely hindered by our sins from running the race that is set before us, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever.

@churchofengland This is to give good notice that on Sunday #18thDecember we have #Advent4 10h30 Parish Mass at #StEdmund #downhammarket and 11h00 #CarolService at #StMary’s #stradsett, #norfolk.
All welcome! pic.twitter.com/HcoeOr4y3M

— Fr.James Mather FRSA #StandWithUkraine #LoveENO (@tigerrector) November 22, 2022

Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!

–Psalm 24:7-10

"Christmas red" Red sky in the morning…. @StormHour @ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/2GNib7MRFk

— simon c woodley (@simoncwoodley) December 18, 2022

‘It is always dangerous to draw too precise parallels between one historical period and another; and among the most misleading of such parallels are those which have been drawn between our own age in Europe and North America and the epoch in which the Roman Empire declined into the Dark Ages. None the less certain parallels there are. A crucial turning point in that earlier history occurred when men and women of good will turned aside from the task of shoring up the Roman imperium and ceased to identify the continuation of civility and moral community with the maintenance of that imperium. What they set themselves to achieve instead—often not recognising fully what they were doing—was the construction of new forms of community within which the moral life could be sustained so that both morality and civility might survive the coming ages of barbarism and darkness. If my account of our moral condition is correct [one characterized by moral incoherence and unsettlable moral disputes in the modern world], we ought to conclude that for some time now we too have reached that turning point. What matters at this stage is the construction of local forms of community within which civility and the intellectual and moral life can be sustained through the new dark ages which are already upon us. And if the tradition of the virtues was able to survive the horrors of the last dark ages, we are not entirely without grounds for hope. This time however the barbarians are not waiting beyond the frontiers; they have already been governing us for quite some time. And it is our lack of consciousness of this that constitutes part of our predicament. We are waiting not for a Godot, but for another—doubtless very different—St. Benedict.’

–Alasdair MacIntyre After Virtue (1981), pp. 244-245

Croatia take the #FIFAWorldCup 3rd spot! 🇭🇷🥉@adidasfootball | #Qatar2022

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 17, 2022

..[Jesus of Nazareth] was not a kind of demon pretending to be human; he was in every respect a genuine living man. He was not merely a man so good as to be “like God” he was God.

Now, this is not just a pious commonplace: it is not a commonplace at all. For what it means is this, among other things: that for whatever reason God chose to make man as he is limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death he [God] had the honesty and courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that he has not exacted from himself. He has himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death. When he was a man, he played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile.

—Creed or Chaos? (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company,1949), page 4 (with special thanks to blog reader and friend WW)

I just learned that during WWII the London Zoological Society allowed people to "adopt" animals from Regent Park Zoo. Dorothy Sayers chose two porcupines and named them Stickly and Prickly. pic.twitter.com/jxRTzdzf0G

— Melissa Edmundson (@MelissaMakala) August 10, 2021

Incarnate God, who didst grant the grace of eloquence unto thy servant Dorothy to defend thy truth unto a distressed church, and to proclaim the importance of Christian principles for the world; grant unto us thy same grace that, aided by her prayers and example, we too may have the passionate conviction to teach right doctrine and to teach doctrine rightly; We ask this in thy name, who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever.

"It is the neglect of dogma that makes for dullness."— Dorothy Sayers

Why is it that so many Catholic, including quite a few priests and bishops, don't understand and believe in 2022 what an Anglican lay woman understood and explained so well in 1938? https://t.co/k728wYZGun pic.twitter.com/j0Ri0HsrHs

— Carl E. Olson (@carleolson) November 11, 2022

Heavenly Father, grant us by your Spirit to know how it is full time now for us to wake from sleep, that we may cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; give us grace to conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, that when our Lord Jesus Christ comes in glory we may without shame our fear rejoice to behold his appearing. KSH

Saturday morning #StormHour #Scotland #Aberdeenshire #Deepfreeze #WINTER pic.twitter.com/eYPByhEpRb

— (@greg_phtb) December 17, 2022

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; they said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who set up divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And convince some, who doubt; save some, by snatching them out of the fire; on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. Amen.

–Jude 17-25

"The Lake at First Light"#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/EAzMom6MRV

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) December 17, 2022

On this third Sunday of Advent, millions of Christians will be at church. But millions will also be glued to a screen, anxious to find out if the Argentinian GOAT will at long last claim a World Cup title. Though past his prime, the 35-year-old team captain Lionel Messi has been sublime in the competition, with five goals and three assists under his belt, and is leading the golden boot race in his fifth World Cup.

Although the reserved Messi, whose right arm bears a tattoo of Jesus crowned with thorns, has not expressed his faith openly beyond pointing to heaven after his goals, this World Cup has featured numerous heroics of confessing Christians.

Leading the freewheeling French attack against Argentina will be 36-year-old striker Olivier Giroud, who has Psalm 23’s “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want” tattooed in Latin on his right arm. During this World Cup, Giroud became the all-time top scorer for France with four magnificent goals.

While the team’s talisman Kylian Mbappé has lived up to the hype with his blistering speed and lethal shooting, Giroud has provided a reliable focal point in offense and his selfless play has created openings for his teammates. “I try to speak about my faith whenever I can,” he said after winning the World Cup in 2018. “I feel I have to use my media profile to talk about my commitment to Jesus Christ.”

Read it all.

We celebrate the heroics and good works of athletes, coaches, and fans: https://t.co/Nf8JmztQrR

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) December 16, 2022

Elaborately engineered immune cells can not only recognize cancer cells, but also evade defences that tumours use to fend off attacks, researchers have found.

Two studies published today in Science1,2 build on the success of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cancer therapies, which use genetically altered T cells to seek out tumours and mark them for destruction. These treatments have the potential to lead to long-lasting remission, but are not successful for everyone, and have so far been effective against only a small number of cancers.

To bolster the power of CAR-T therapies, researchers have further engineered the cells to contain switches that allow control over when and where the cells are active. The hacked cells produce a protein that stimulates T cells, to counteract immunosuppressive signals that are often released by tumours.

Both studies are a tour de force in T-cell engineering and highlight the direction that researchers want to push CAR-T-cell therapy, says systems immunologist Grégoire Altan-Bonnet at the US National Cancer Institute. “We know a lot of the parts, now it’s being able to put them together and explore,” he says. “If we engineer the system well, we can really put the tumours into checkmate.”

Read it all.

Cancer Treatments Boosted By Immune Cell Hacking #Immunology #Cancer #Oncology #Treatment #1 #37 https://t.co/sE2qLUzfmY

— George Obeid (@_Georgeobeid) December 16, 2022

THE next Area Bishop of Kingston in the diocese of Southwark is to be Canon Martin Gainsborough, Downing Street announced on Friday.

He succeeds Dr Richard Cheetham, who retired in October.

Dr Gainsborough is currently chaplain to the Bishop of Bristol, the Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, and a Residentiary Canon of Bristol Cathedral. He has particular responsibility for social-justice issues and “ensuring common mission” between the cathedral and diocese. He is also the Bishop’s staff environment lead and a member of the General Synod. In 2020, he tabled the amendment which brought forward the Church’s target to become net zero from 2050 to 2030….

Dr Gainsborough, who is 56, grew up in Kidbrooke, in south-east London. He lodged in Richmond while studying at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he completed his MA and M.Sc. in the early ’90s, and later a Ph.D. in 2001.

Read it all.

The next area Bishop of Kingston in the diocese of Southwark is to be Canon Martin Gainsborough, Downing Street announced on Friday https://t.co/9l6BSAHV9d

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) December 16, 2022

Fentanyl’s catastrophic surge came after the Drug Enforcement Administration cracked down on the excesses of the U.S. opioid industry. Millions of Americans who had become addicted to prescription pain pills suddenly found them difficult or impossible to get.

Mexican cartels stepped in to fill the vacuum. Traffickers, who relied for decades on plant-based drugs such as heroin, cocaine and marijuana, are now using chemicals in clandestine laboratories to manufacture fentanyl powder and pills to meet the ever-increasing demand in the United States.

Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin, and its compactness makes it far easier to smuggle. The synthetic opioid is so powerful that a year’s supply of pure fentanyl powder for the U.S. market would fit in the beds of two pickup trucks.

Read it all.

Fentanyl’s recent surge came after the DEA cracked down on the U.S. opioid industry.

Millions of Americans who had become addicted to prescription pain pills then found them difficult or impossible to get.

Mexican cartels stepped in to fill the vacuum. https://t.co/UnPmsHY5Z2

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 12, 2022

Gracious God, we offer thanks for the vision of Ralph Adams Cram, John LaFarge and Richard Upjohn, whose harmonious revival of the Gothic enriched our churches with a sacramental understanding of reality in the face of secular materialism; and we pray that we may honor thy gifts of the beauty of holiness given through them, for the glory of Jesus Christ; who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Born #OTD in 1863: Ralph Adams Cram, influential American architect of collegiate & ecclesiastical buildings, often in Gothic Revival style. He was Consulting Architect to Princeton University where his work included the Chapel, which was based on King's College Chapel, Cambridge pic.twitter.com/mdsXvDz1Yy

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) December 16, 2022

O Almighty Father, fountain of light and salvation, we adore thine infinite goodness in sending thy only begotten Son into the world that, believing in him, we may not perish but have everlasting life; and we pray thee that, through the grace of his first advent to save the world, we may be made ready to meet him at his second advent to judge the world; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

A view overlooking the Radcliffe Camera and University Church from Oriel's Island Site on a frosty morning❄️ pic.twitter.com/PFRLnnTilX

— Oriel College (@OrielOxford) December 16, 2022

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? Why then did you go out? To see a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those who wear soft raiment are in kings’ houses. Why then did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,

‘Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
who shall prepare thy way before thee.’

Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Eli′jah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

–Matthew 11:2-15

Back up north and it’s stunning ❄️

Hope you all have a lovely day ❤️

#fridaymorning #northshields #fishquay #sunrise pic.twitter.com/TUYGHgH7f0

— Rachael Moses (@NHSLeader) December 16, 2022