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This 2022 partial Lambeth gathering needs to be seen for what it is

Can we please just be clear that what impacts all has to be decided by all, all the pretending notwithstanding. The Anglican Communion is in broken communion as illustrated by those who are not present at the partial Lambeth gathering, and impaired communion with those present as illustrated by those who are not receiving in 2022.

This gathering isn’t deciding anything for Anglicans, nor is the present situation in the globe for Anglicans being shown by its discussions, etc, KSH.

Posted in * By Kendall, - Anglican: Analysis, Ecclesiology

An absolute must not Miss Piece on Vin Scully

Posted in Death / Burial / Funerals, Sports

(AI) SE Asia archbishop urges Anglicans to hold fast, standing on the truth of Scripture in the church’s sex wars

“I am in full agreement with my predecessor [Archbishop Yong]”, he said, reiterating that what the GSFA was seeking was not new, but a restatement of the faith. He encouraged Anglicans around the world to be a “holy remnant, and stand upon the truth” of the Lord, and not succumb to the fancies and fads of the moment.

Archbishop Tais was elected the sixth Archbishop of South East Asia at an extraordinary meeting of the provincial synod on 24 Sept 2019. He had served for over 25 years in the Diocese of Sabah as a parish priest, archdeacon, assistant bishop, and vicar-general before being elected bishop in May 2015. He is the first indigenous bishop of the diocese located on the northern coast of Borneo. He is married to Angeline Wong and they have five children.

Archbishop Tais told AI preparation on today’s resolution reaffirming Lambeth 1.10 has been in process for over three months. Though he was not on the drafting committee that worked on the document that was brought to Lambeth 2022, it has his full support. He encouraged the approximately 275 Global South bishops present at Lambeth to support the document this week, and looked forward to discussing the importance of a clear and unmistakable stand on Biblical principles during the remainder of the conference.

Read it all.

Posted in - Anglican: Latest News, Anthropology, Ethics / Moral Theology, Marriage & Family, Southeast Asia, Theology

(NYT) Vin Scully, Voice of the Dodgers for 67 Years, Dies at 94

Vin Scully, who was celebrated for his mastery of the graceful phrase and his gift for storytelling during the 67 summers he served as the announcer for Dodgers baseball games, first in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles, died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 94.

His death was announced by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

For all the Dodgers’ marquee players since World War II, Mr. Scully was the enduring face of the franchise. He was a national sports treasure as well, broadcasting for CBS and NBC. He called baseball’s Game of the Week, All-Star Games, the playoffs and more than two dozen World Series. In 2009, the American Sportscasters Association voted him No. 1 on its list of the “Top 50 Sportscasters of All Time.”

He began broadcasting at Ebbets Field in 1950, when he was a slender, red-haired 22-year-old graduate of Fordham University and a protégé of Red Barber. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, fans at the cavernous Coliseum brought along hand-held transistor radios, recently popularized in America, so Mr. Scully could guide them through the pioneering days of major league baseball on the West Coast.

Read it all.

Posted in America/U.S.A., Death / Burial / Funerals, History, Media, Sports

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Joanna, Mary and Salome

Almighty God, who didst reveal the resurrection of thy Son to Joanna, Mary and Salome, as they faithfully came bearing myrrh to his tomb: Grant that we too may perceive the presence of the risen Lord in the midst of pain and fear, that we may go forth proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer to Begin the Day from Frank Colquhoun

Almighty God, who in thy Son Jesus Christ hast called us in from the bondage of sin to be servants of righteousness: Give us grace to yield our lives wholly to thine obedience; that, being made free from sin, we may have our fruit unto holiness, and hereafter may be made partakers of the life everlasting; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Scripture Readings

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ”˜After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness, “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ”˜He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

–John 1:29-34

Posted in Theology: Scripture

(CT) Craig Keener–Ron Sider Was the Real Deal

Ron’s loyalty was to Scripture. He was no more radical than John Wesley or Charles Finney (and certainly far less radical than Saint Anthony and Saint Francis).

As I once pointed out to him, he was much more conciliatory than the biblical figures of Amos; Jeremiah; John the Baptist (Luke 3:11); and, most important of all, the Lord Jesus, who said we cannot be his disciples unless we surrender all our possessions (Luke 12:33; 14:33).

Although Ron was often associated with the evangelical Left, he remained consistently pro-life and insisted that the church should maintain biblical sexual ethics. I’m pretty sure that he and I didn’t always vote the same way, despite our agreement on ethics, but I never doubted that his vote was informed by his biblical conscience.

In conversation, I found him ready to embrace what he saw as the best solutions from either side of today’s (tragically polarized) political aisle, and he maintained contacts on both sides of that split. He always remained the consistent evangelical Anabaptist that he was—living simply and sacrificially and working on behalf of the needy. The 2013 book of essays dedicated in his honor is fittingly titled Following Jesus: Journeys in Radical Discipleship.

Read it all.

Posted in Death / Burial / Funerals, Evangelicals

(NY Times Op-ed) Asfandyar Mir–America’s Gross Miscalculation of the Taliban

…there is no escaping the fact that Al Qaeda continues to fester under the Taliban. This means that the U.S.-Taliban engagement of the past several years has failed. That engagement was predicated on the belief that the Taliban — which hosted Bin Laden before Sept. 11 — would change their ways, seek better relations with the world and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist safe haven. Al-Zawahri’s sanctuary in Kabul makes clear that America can’t rely on the Taliban’s word.

Unsurprisingly, the Taliban see the targeting of al-Zawahri in Kabul as a blow to their honor and a violation of Afghan sovereignty and the U.S.-Taliban agreement of 2020, and they could respond by stepping up support to Al Qaeda and allied terrorist groups in Afghanistan. (The U.S. government says the Taliban have violated tenets of the agreement by hosting Al-Zawahri.)

Al-Zawahri’s successful targeting in Kabul doesn’t mean that the threat is now over. If anything, it demonstrates that Al Qaeda is resurfacing in Afghanistan and that despite sanctions, the Taliban are comfortable, secure and enabling threats against the region and the Western world.

Read it all.

Posted in Afghanistan, America/U.S.A., Foreign Relations, Politics in General, War in Afghanistan

A Letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Bishops of the Anglican Communion prior to the partial Lambeth gathering discussion today on Human Dignity

Read it all.

Posted in - Anglican: Latest News, --Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

(AAC) Embracing Good Disagreement For Real Change

The decision announced Friday that the Global South bishops will sit during Holy Communion during all of Lambeth’s Eucharistic services sent shock waves through the Anglican Twitterverse. It was bold. It was clear. It was divisive. But is division truly a bad thing? It is often assumed that it is, in all forms and at all times. To say it can actually be good is controversial. Archbishop Justin Welby stated at Lambeth that “division doesn’t matter,” that essentially, you can disagree and yet still be united. At other times he called division downright unacceptable and wrong. But the scriptures and reason point to the reality that often division, if not an end in and of itself, is good if it leads to a greater good: true unity.

This true unity is both created by and expressed through Holy Communion. It is a unity set in “one faith, one Lord, one baptism.” Certainly Abp. Welby would say all these things are true of the various churches together at Lambeth, that Communion should be taken by all because, despite our disagreements, we do share one faith, we do have one Lord. But can those bishops who worship with Muslims or engage in pagan ceremonies or deny the physical resurrection of Christ be said to worship the same Lord as those who hold to a biblically orthodox view of God? Or can those who deny the validity of the Scriptures or the Creed or who allow for sexual immorality in the Church be said to hold the same faith as those who continue in orthodox dogma and praxis? Reason would say no. At times one has to wonder how much reason is left in Canterbury.

If our faith can be expressed only by the most minimal of qualifications, what was the point of synods and councils in the Church’s past? Why all the effort? Would Sts. Peter and James have had to facilitate a disagreement between Jews and Gentiles at the Council of Jerusalem? Why wouldn’t St. Paul simply accept Judaizers along with orthodox Christians, saying that, though they believed different things, they were really all one? What was the point of the Ecumenical Councils? Should the Arians and the orthodox simply have communed together? After all, both parties called Jesus “Lord.” They both believed He was divine. They just disagreed on how divine he really was.

Read it all.

Posted in - Anglican: Analysis

GSFA to Offer Bishops at the partial Lambeth Gathering An Opportunity To Re-Affirm Lambeth I.10– Text Available August 2, 2pm

From there:

GSFA to Offer Bishops at the Lambeth Conference An Opportunity To Re-Affirm Lambeth 1.10

– Text Available August 2, 2pm

In fulfilment of one of its four stated priorities for the Lambeth Conference, tomorrow (AUG 2), the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) shall offer bishops an opportunity to re-affirm Lambeth 1.10 as the Anglican Communion’s official teaching on marriage and sexuality.

From 2pm, the Text of the Call shall be made available from the EFAC Stand in the Resource Centre, at various entrances on the Campus, via email to over 250 orthodox bishops signed up to receive GSFA notifications, and on www.lambeth22resourcegroup.com. A covering note to the text shall explain how bishops can anonymously reaffirm, and in a secure manner.

As a matter of courtesy, a copy of the text shall be given to the Archbishop of Canterbury tonight.

A Press Release, with details of the text, and how bishops shall reaffirm, will be circulated tomorrow, at 2pm. A range of international media has been pre-selected for interview. Following electronic distribution of the press release by Paul Eddy, PR Consultant to the GSFA/EFAC Resource Group and my Official Spokesman for the Conference, other media wanting an interview should email Paul (details below).

● For copies of all GSFA press releases, visit www.lambeth22resourcegroup.com

Archbishop Justin Badi, Chairman, GSFA & Archbishop of South Sudan

Posted in - Anglican: Latest News

A Prayer for the Feast Day of the Right Reverend Samuel David Ferguson (1842-1916)

Almighty God, who didst raise up thy servant Samuel Ferguson and inspire in him a missionary vision of thy Church in education and ministry: Stir up in us through his example a zeal for a Church, alive with thy Holy Word, reaching forth in love and service to all; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer to Begin the Day from James Ferguson

O Lord, who seest the multitudes, and art moved with compassion because they are an-hungered: Inspire thy Church with thy love and pity to gather unto thee the famished souls of men, that they may be satisfied with the living Bread; and as thou carest for the bodies as well as for the souls of men, move us and all thy servants with like mercy; that the needy may be fed and clothed, and that none may be homeless or destitute; for the glory of thy holy name.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

–Acts 3:1-10

Posted in Theology: Scripture

(Guardian) African nations expected to make case for big rise in fossil fuel output

Leaders of African countries are likely to use the next UN climate summit in November to push for massive new investment in fossil fuels in Africa, according to documents seen by the Guardian.

New exploration for gas, and the exploitation of Africa’s vast reserves of oil, would make it close to impossible for the world to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

However, soaring gas prices have made the prospect of African supplies even more attractive, and developed countries, including EU members, have indicated they would support such developments in the current gas shortage.

The Guardian has seen a technical document prepared by the African Union, comprising most of Africa’s states, for the “second extraordinary session of the specialised technical committee on transport, transcontinental and interregional infrastructure and energy committee”, a meeting of energy ministers that took place by video conference from 14 to 16 June.

Read it all.

Posted in Africa, Climate Change, Weather, Ecology, Energy, Natural Resources

A Church Times interview with Archbishop Justin Badi at the 2022 Partial Lambeth gathering–‘We cannot break bread with bishops who betray the Bible’

“My hope is that all Provinces will come back from where they have gone astray, that they follow the biblical teaching. That’s when we shall come out of it,” he repeats. “If not, the Communion will continue to be sick and suffer, and many will follow out of [it].”

What about an Anglican Communion that held these differences in tension, I suggest: acknowledge that, as Archbishop Welby had reiterated that morning, “We are a messy family. But families live with mess”?

There are “certain things we cannot live with, which are central, or paramount, which unite us all, and that is the biblical truth,” Archbishop Badi says. “I am an African in Africa: we have our own culture, but that should be out[side] of the Church. You are European or American and have your own culture that is yours. But what brings us together is the biblical truth.

“So our struggle here is [around] bringing culture into the Church, trying to say that, since we are autonomous, this can be there. But this should not happen. This cannot happen.”

Read it all.

Posted in - Anglican: Latest News, --South Sudan, Sudan

(NYT front page) An Obituary on Bill Russell, Icon of Sports and Society, With Fistfuls of Rings

Even before the opening tipoff at Boston Celtics games, Bill Russell evoked domination. Other players ran onto the court for their introductions, but he walked on, slightly stooped.

“I’d look at everybody disdainfully, like a sleepy dragon who can’t be bothered to scare off another would-be hero,” he recalled. “I wanted my look to say, ‘Hey, the king’s here tonight.’ ”

Russell’s awesome rebounding triggered a Celtic fast break that overwhelmed the rest of the N.B.A. His quickness and his uncanny ability to block shots transformed the center position, once a spot for slow and hulking types, and changed the face of pro basketball.

Russell, who propelled the Celtics to 11 N.B.A. championships, the final two when he became the first Black head coach in a major American sports league, died on Sunday. He was 88….

When Russell was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975, Red Auerbach, who orchestrated his arrival as a Celtic and coached him on nine championship teams, called him “the single most devastating force in the history of the game.”

Read it all.

Posted in * Culture-Watch, America/U.S.A., Death / Burial / Funerals, History, Race/Race Relations, Sports

Kendall Harmon’s Sunday Sermon–What can we Learn about the Church and her Mission from the Beginning of Paul’s first Missionary Journey (Acts 13:1-12)?

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * South Carolina, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics

Many Congratulations to England’s Women’s Football Team for winning the 2022 Euro Championship

Posted in England / UK, Sports, Women

A Statement on Archbishop Welby’s meeting with some global South Primates at the Partial Lambeth Gathering

From there:

A Lambeth Palace spokesperson said today:

“The Archbishop of Canterbury had a planned meeting on Saturday with Archbishop Justin Badi, Chair of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GFSA), and some other Primates from the global South. This was one of several meetings that the Archbishop is having with Primates and others during the Lambeth Conference. It was a constructive conversation in a spirit of mutual listening about the concerns that the GSFA has already publicly shared.

“We won’t be commenting on speculation from unnamed sources not present at the meeting, other than to say that these should not be seen as reliable accounts of a conversation between primates conducted in the spirit of prayerful dialogue. The Archbishop remains focussed on the Lambeth Conference and committed to ongoing dialogue to ensure that we continue walking, listening and witnessing together in shared discernment of our calling to be God’s Church for God’s world.”

Posted in - Anglican: Latest News

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Joseph of Arimathaea

Merciful God, whose servant Joseph of Arimathaea with reverence and godly fear did prepare the body of our Lord and Savior for burial, and did lay it in his own tomb: Grant, we beseech thee, to us thy faithful people grace and courage to love and serve Jesus with sincere devotion all the days of our life; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Posted in Church History, Death / Burial / Funerals, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer to Begin the Day from Frank Colquhoun

Fill us, O Christ, with thine own compassion for the hungry multitudes of the world of our day; and use us now, as thou didst use thy disciples of old, as thy willing instruments to minister to their needs, through all such means as thou shalt show us; for thy mercy’s sake.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

–John 1:1-5

Posted in Theology: Scripture

2022 Partial Lambeth Gathering now told ‘electronic recording of choices will not be in place for the remaining calls’

Read it all.

Posted in - Anglican: Latest News

Prayers for the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina This Day

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * South Carolina, Parish Ministry, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer to Begin the Day from the ACNA Prayerbook

Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your grace that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Scripture Readings

Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Jo′ash the Abiez′rite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid′ianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Pray, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Mid′ian.” And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Mid′ian; do not I send you?” And he said to him, “Pray, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manas′seh, and I am the least in my family.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall smite the Mid′ianites as one man.” And he said to him, “If now I have found favor with thee, then show me a sign that it is thou who speakest with me. Do not depart from here, I pray thee, until I come to thee, and bring out my present, and set it before thee.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it, The Lord is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiez′rites.

–Judges 6:11-24

Posted in Uncategorized

Phil Ashey on the Latest Developments at the 2022 Partial Lambeth Gathering–Two Faces, Two Communions

Archbishop Badi clearly stated: “The Communion is not well, and it needs surgery.” Their request to present their own resolution, along with the refusal to take Communion with unrepentant and false teachers, is the beginning of surgery, finally necessary for such a time as this. It is a last attempt to call the Church to repentance from teachings and practices contrary to the Bible, its clarity, and its authority. The Global South bishops share an understanding that the most important issue today is the need to reach the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a whole Gospel for a whole person. This whole Gospel mission rests on the clarity and authority of the Bible for all Anglicans everywhere. The significance of reaffirming Lambeth 1.10 (1998) is nothing less than the reaffirmation of the authority of Scripture as the basis for everything in the Communion: faith, order, and mission.

The Lambeth Calls confusion, the elephant in the room of missing bishops, the broken Communion: these are the symptoms of a house divided, of two faces of Anglicanism, two Communions. In one Communion is loyalty to the idea of a messy family complete with infighting and divisions that must be expected, tolerated, and even welcomed. In the other is a vision for a family that strives to “be of one mind,” while doing the hard work of truly disagreeing, discussing, and above all praying for repentance and transformation. This family is a communion of churches held together on the basis of faithfulness to the one Father in Heaven, His Word, and all that He reveals about creation, humanity, and the freedom found in Jesus Christ alone.

Read it all.

Posted in - Anglican: Analysis

John Stott on William Wilberforce’s Great Example of Perseverance on Wilberforce’s Feast Day

It was in 1787 that he first decided to put down a motion in the House of Commons about the slave trade. This nefarious traffic had been going on for three centuries, and the West Indian slave-owners were determined to oppose abolition to the end. Besides, Wilberforce was not a very prepossessing man. He was little and somewhat ugly, with poor eyesight and an upturned nose. When Boswell heard him speak, he pronounced him ‘a perfect shrimp’, but then had to concede that ‘presently the shrimp swelled into a whale.’ In 1789 Wilberforce said of the slave trade: “So enormous so dreadful, so irremediable did its wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for the abolition…. let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would never rest till I had effected its abolition.

So abolition bills (which related to the trade) and Foreign Trade Bills (which would prohibit the involvement of British ships in it) were debated in the commons in 1789, 1791, 1792,194, 1796 (by which time Abolition had become ‘the grand object of my parliamentary existence’), 1798 and 1799. Yet they all failed. The Foreign Slave Bill was not passed until 1806 and the Abolition of the Slave Trade Bill until 1807. This part of the campaign had taken eighteen years.

Next, soon after the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars, Wilberforce began to direct his energies to the abolition of slavery itself and the emancipation of the slaves. In 1823 the Anti-Slavery Society was formed. Twice that year and twice the following year, Wilberforce pleaded the slaves’ cause in the House of Commons. But in 1825 ill-health compelled him to resign as a member of parliament and to continue his campaign from outside. In 1831 he sent a message to the Anti-Slavery Society, in which he said, “Our motto must continue to be PERSEVERANCE. And ultimately I trust the Almighty will crown our efforts with success.” He did. In July 1833 the Abolition of Slavery Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament, even though it included the undertaking to pay 20 million pounds in compensation to the slave-owners. ‘Thank God,’ wrote Wilberforce, that I have lived to witness a day in which England is willing to give 20 million pounds for the abolition of slavery.’ Three days later he died. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, in national recognition of his FORTY-FIVE YEARS of persevering struggle on behalf of African slaves.

— John R W Stott, Issues facing Christians Today (Basingstoke: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1984), p. 334

Posted in Church History, Race/Race Relations, Spirituality/Prayer