Category : Religion & Culture

Terry Mattingly–Why are most clergy timid about smartphone wars? They fear offending parents

Far too many people think “they don’t need reality,” [Bill] Maher told social psychologist Jonathan Haidt of New York University, author of “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.”

“We’ve made reality obsolete — interesting choice,” said Maher. “Parents today, it’s kind of the worst of both worlds. Too much hovering in real life, where there is any left, and then none with virtual. You go in your room, lock yourself in there with the portal of evil that is the phone. … I feel like parents, in each generation, ceded more control to children.”

In response, Haidt — a self-avowed Jewish atheist — stressed that modern life continues to eat away at the traditions of the past.

“As life gets easier, as people get wealthier, as we move away from the old days, authority tends to decay — there tends to be less respect for authority, less respect for the old ways,” said Haidt. “Kids need structure, they need moral rules. … When it seems as though anything is permissible, it doesn’t make people happy. It makes them feel disoriented and lost.”

Read it all (quoted by yours truly in yesterday’s sermon).

Posted in Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Science & Technology, Teens / Youth

(First Things) Sam Buntz–Low Church Atheism

By the end of the Bush years, the New Atheists believed they were fighting a vast, dominant American evangelicalism—a literal theocracy! Some of them still feel that way. Yet so much has happened in the intervening years, and the tone and tenor of unbelief has generally changed. Sunday Assembly, a “church” for non-believers recently profiled on CBS, exemplifies this metamorphosis. 

Despite the fact that it was founded in 2013 by two British comedians, Sunday Assembly lacks the anti-religious mockery of the Flying Spaghetti Monster crowd. Its tone is more therapeutic and upbeat. With sixty chapters globally, its motto is “live better, help often, and wonder more.” Services feature “a TED Talk-style talk” along with sing-alongs (“pop songs mainly” according to the group’s website), inspirational readings, and the sharing of personal stories. Coffee and donuts are served afterward. “We release a lot of endorphins,” Amy Boyle, one of the group’s leaders, told CBS.

Members of Sunday Assembly invoke the word “community” like an apotropaic gesture to explain their interest in attending. But real community always coheres around something. It does not exist for its own sake. So, what is the central fire around which the Sunday Assembly congregates? A shared commitment to releasing endorphins? Or to the vague admonition to “live better, help often, and wonder more”? 

Read it all.

Posted in America/U.S.A., Other Faiths, Religion & Culture, Secularism

CS Lewis on CS Lewis Day (IV)–His description of his own Conversion

You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape? The words “compelle intrare,” compel them to come in, have been so abused be wicked men that we shudder at them; but, properly understood, they plumb the depth of the Divine mercy. The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.

–C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy (Harcourt Brace, 1956), p.228

Posted in Church History, Religion & Culture, Soteriology

(Church Times) ‘Rethink needed on the next Archbishop of Canterbury’

Personal ambition may have motivated some bishops to keep quiet before the Archbishop of Canterbury announced his resignation last week, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, has suggested.

Dr Hartley was the only bishop in the Church of England to call publicly on Archbishop Welby to resign before it was announced (News, 15 November).

On Sunday, she told Sky News that she was disappointed that other colleagues had not joined her call, and that she knew of some who “privately were discerning that it was probably the right thing for the Archbishop to resign”.

She suggested that there was “a culture of silence and fear among the Bishops”, and that some might have chosen not to speak out because of a fear of being “reprimanded or rebuked”.

Read it all.

Posted in --Justin Welby, Anthropology, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, England / UK, Ethics / Moral Theology, Pastoral Theology, Religion & Culture, Theology

(Church Times) Risk to England’s historic churches greater than ever, says Sir Philip Rutnam

The  “priceless heritage” of “historic and beautiful” churches in England is in danger “as never before”, the chair of the National Churches Trust (NCT), Sir Philip Rutnam, has warned this week.

He was referring to the fact that 53 churches, chapels, and meeting houses had been added this year to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, announced last week.

Sir Philip said that the situation could get worse in the coming months if the Government chose not to renew the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme, which is due to expire on 31 March 2025 (News, 25 October). Under the terms of the scheme, established in 2001, VAT on eligible repairs or alterations costing more than £1000 to a listed place of worship can be reclaimed.

Read it all.

Posted in Architecture, Art, Church of England, England / UK, History, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Stewardship

(Vatican News) Archbishop Broglio: US Bishops pray for unity and all elected leaders

On the day after Americans went to the polls in presidential elections, Archbishop Timothy Broglio has expressed the US Bishops’ prayers for President-elect Donald Trump and all members elected to represent the American people at the national, state, or local levels.

In an interview with Vatican News, the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said the Catholic Church is “not aligned with any political party,” adding that the US Bishops’ look forward to working with elected representatives to promote the common good.

“As Christians and as Americans,” he said, “we have a duty to treat each other with charity, respect, and civility, even if we may disagree on how to carry out matters of public policy.”

Archbishop Broglio also noted that the US Bishops will seek to uphold the rights of all people, including the unborn…

Read it all.

Posted in America/U.S.A., Office of the President, Politics in General, Religion & Culture

(Church Times) An interview with art historian Neil MacGregor

Beginning with two works by Titian, Noli Me Tangere (c.1514) and Bacchus and Ariadne (1520-23), Mr MacGregor says that they tell essentially the same story. Noli Me Tangere has an added resonance because it was one of the paintings chosen by wartime Londoners to be the National Gallery’s picture of the month, when the entire national collection was sheltered from the bombing in a Welsh mine.

“The thing that fascinated me was how much more difficult people found it to engage with that picture if they were not Christian than to engage with Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne. But the Bacchus and Ariadne and Noli Me Tangere are about the same subject.

“They’re about a woman who has loved someone, who has been abandoned, and then who encounters a god, and the encounter with a god changes her life, and brings her new life, new hope. And, for most visitors, it’s much easier to engage with the Bacchus and Ariadne . . . because we know it’s a myth. We know it is about a truth that is absolutely universal and perpetuates, even though that event may never have happened. It speaks to the permanent truth, and enduring truth.”

Read it all.

Posted in Art, History, Religion & Culture

(CT) Steven Curtis Chapman Joins Country Music Royalty

Five Grammys. Sixty Dove Awards. Fifty No. 1 radio hits.

Steven Curtis Chapman is not lacking in industry honors. But this week the Christian music veteran is getting a little extra special recognition. On Friday, he’s going to be inducted into the membership of the Grand Ole Opry. 

After nearly 40 years in the industry, Chapman’s entry into the country music institution is a full-circle moment. He first performed on the storied Nashville stage as a 19-year-old aspiring musician, just starting his career. Now, he will have a permanent place there.

The Grand Ole Opry, a live radio program broadcast from Nashville since 1925, has a rich history, featuring some of the biggest names in country and popular music—artists like B. B. King, Mahalia Jackson, and The Beach Boys have all appeared as guests. Membership is a lifetime invitation to be part of the regular roster of Opry performers. There are currently only 74 members, including Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Luke Combs, and Lainey Wilson. 

Country artist Ricky Skaggs surprised Chapman with the membership announcement during a live show at the Opry in July. Chapman will be the first contemporary Christian music (CCM) star to become a member.  

Read it all.

Posted in America/U.S.A., Evangelicals, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Religion & Culture

(CT) Argentina Moves to Officially Celebrate Its Evangelicals

[On] October 31, Reformation Day, evangelicals in Argentina [had] an extra reason to celebrate, as their country officially recognizes the National Day of Evangelical and Protestant Churches.

A bill calling for this recognition was approved by the lower Congreso de la Nación chamber, the Chamber of Deputies, last year. In April, the bill was unanimously approved in the Senate Chamber and then signed by president Javier Milei. 

“Today we are not celebrating a religious holiday,” said Christian Hooft, who leads ACIERA (Alliance of Evangelical Churches in the Republic of Argentina), at an event celebrating the day last Monday. “We are celebrating the historical identity of the faith of millions of Argentine citizens.”

Argentina’s evangelicals have long sought this recognition. The country’s Supreme Court has ruled that the country has no official or state religion, and its constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but it also states that “the federal government supports the Roman Catholic apostolic faith.”

Read it all.

Posted in Argentina, Evangelicals, Religion & Culture

(Church Times) Bishops seek talks over ‘left-field’ proposal to abolish the Lords Spiritual

Bishops have said that they would welcome consultation on a “left-field” attempt by a Conservative MP, in an amendment to the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, to abolish the parliamentary seats for the Lords Spiritual.

The Bill, introduced by the Labour MP Pat McFadden in September, seeks to remove the automatic membership of hereditaries in the House of Lords. The move to abolish the remaining 92 hereditary peers was promised in Labour’s election manifesto. The Bill had its Second Reading in the Commons last month. The subject was also debated by the Lords in July, shortly after the election (News, 26 July).

Last month, the Conservative MP Sir Gavin Williamson tabled an amendment to the Bill to include a clause that “No-one shall be a member of the House of Lords by virtue of being a bishop or Archbishop of the Church of England.”

Read it all.

Posted in Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, England / UK, Politics in General, Religion & Culture

(Church Times) Discussion of hospice funding ‘never more important’, Bishop of London tells Lords

The funding of hospices shows that “voluntary sector beginnings” are “still very much in evidence”, Lord Farmer said on Thursday as he introduced his debate on how the state funds palliative care.

“A review of funding would find a highly variable model for hospices: some are run by the NHS, with large annual charitable grants, and others are run by a charity that gets some funding from the NHS. A common hallmark is a holistic, bespoke, and patient-centred approach that values their relationships,” he said.

“We should not forget that all receiving hospice care are on the edge of eternity, and dying peacefully also requires spiritual palliative care.”

Read it all.

Posted in Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, Death / Burial / Funerals, England / UK, Health & Medicine, Politics in General, Religion & Culture

(CT) Bethany Sollereder–Radical Hope in an Age of Climate Doomsday

The reason climate change is so difficult to talk about is that bringing up any one issue is like pulling on a thread in a spiderweb: Every other thread in the web vibrates in response. We feel powerless to effect the changes we would like to see when simply meeting the needs of each day feels like an uphill battle. And so, the anxiety builds—until the anxiety itself feels like part of the avalanche threatening to tumble down on us. Is there any hope at all?

The short answer is yes. In fact, I think this is the time for radical hope. I first encountered this term in Jonathan Lear’s excellent book Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation. Lear explores the history of the Crow tribe in the mid-1800s as they responded to the changes brought by western settlement of their territories in Montana.

The key figure in the book is the Crow chieftain Plenty Coups, who spent his life leading his people through those often-traumatic changes with one key insight: The old nomadic way of life chasing the buffalo was inescapably and irretrievably lost. How could his people hope when the very possibility of a meaningful Crow life was being destroyed? They had to learn to live a new way of life. Even their core values, like what it meant to be courageous, had to be re-formed in a culture where traditional warrior acts of courage were illegal.

Radical hope, then, is the hope that is formed when all our previous hopes are gone. Radical hope was the kind God provided the Israelite exiles….

Read it all.

Posted in Ecology, Energy, Natural Resources, Eschatology, Ethics / Moral Theology, Religion & Culture, Theology, Theology: Scripture

(CC) Samuel Wells–Three responses to church decline–What are we going to do? We have some options.

It’s widely rumored that organized religion is going down the drain. While the secularization thesis has been debated for decades, its main components are hardly controversial. Religion has reduced social power: its chief officers have less influence on political ideas and social norms, its language and habits no longer permeate the discourse of public life, and fewer people make collective worship and fellowship the rhythm of their week. Death no longer has a compelling hold on the public imagination: people still die, but usually not in the home or in their youth, and few people are terrified of the prospect of eternal hell. Meanwhile, with the possible exception of minority faiths among recent immigrants, it’s become increasingly difficult to socialize young people into a religion. It’s not that religion adheres to egregious ideas so much as that the whole notion of being habituated into a committed community of ritual and tradition seems incongruous.

There’s little that’s specifically Christian about all this. Real as the church’s failures are, most of its challenges it shares with other institutions associated with the pretechnological era. But in any case, in most congregations in the US mainline and the UK equivalent, a disproportionate number of the people are over age 65. The prospects for self-replication in 30 years’ time aren’t promising.

What are we to do about this? I see three main options…

Read it all.

Posted in - Anglican: Analysis, America/U.S.A., Church of England, England / UK, Parish Ministry, Pastoral Theology, Religion & Culture

(CT) Philip Yancey–William Shakespeare’s honest tragedies and bold assumption of God’s providence offer insight in our contentious election season

In Shakespeare’s time, people still lived out their days under the shadow of divine reward and punishment. Lady Macbeth hopes otherwise. “A little water clears us of this deed,” she says as she and her husband rinse their hands of blood. How wrong she was. 

Our leaders could use a dose of the humility of Edward, the Earl of March, who prays, “Ere my knee rise from the earth’s cold face / I throw my hands, mine eyes, my heart to Thee / Thou setter-up and plucker-down of kings.”

King Lear knew what it was to be set up and plucked down, and only in his reduced state did he taste the wonder of grace. Shakespeare often echoes what theologians call “the theology of reversal,” as expressed in the Beatitudes.

In the paradox of grace, he describes in As You Like It, “Sweet are the uses of adversity / Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous / Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” Dogberry, the comical constable in Much Ado About Nothing, gets his words mixed up in a deeply ironic way when he says to a wrongdoer, “O, villain! Thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption.”

Read it all.

Posted in America/U.S.A., Anthropology, History, Language, Politics in General, Religion & Culture, Theatre/Drama/Plays, Theology

(Church Times) Archbishop Justin Welby is descended from a slave owner, he reveals

The Archbishop of Canterbury discovered recently that one of his ancestors was a slave owner, he said on Tuesday.

In a statement, Archbishop Welby revealed that his biological father, Sir Anthony Montague Browne, had an “ancestral connection to the enslavement of people in Jamaica and Tobago”.

Sir Anthony was the great-great-grandson of Sir James Fergusson, the 4th Baronet of Kilkerran (1765–1838), who had owned slaves and received compensation when slavery was abolished.

Read it all.

Posted in --Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church History, Church of England, Ethics / Moral Theology, History, Race/Race Relations, Religion & Culture, Theology

(CT) Bonnie Kristian–25 Precepts for This (and Every) Election

1 …most of us, in this brash and hasty culture, are more likely to need forbearance and grace for those we believe to be less spiritual, moral, intelligent, or knowledgeable than ourselves.

2-Forbearance isn’t tolerance. Grace is not condescension.

3-Nor are forbearance and grace indecision and cowardice.

4-Remember 1 John 4:20: “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.”

5-Lasting political disagreement among Christians is not by itself evidence of sin, unbelief, or any other dysfunction. Reasonable, faithful Christians may in good faith reach different conclusions. They may all have solid biblical support for their views; they may all seek the common good; they may all seek to love their neighbors; they may always disagree.

    Read it all.

    Posted in America/U.S.A., Anthropology, Ethics / Moral Theology, Politics in General, Religion & Culture, Theology

    (RU) Pastors Paint Picture Of a Poor Economic Year For Churches

    Heading into an election where the economy is top of mind for many voters, pastors say finances have been difficult at their church this year.

    A Lifeway Research study found 66% of U.S. Protestant pastors say the economy is very or somewhat negatively impacting their church. The two in three pastors who report a negative economic impact is the highest since 2011, and the 14% who say the impact has been very negative is the highest ever recorded in the 15-year history of the study.

    Around one in 14 (7%) say their church is seeing a positive impact. A quarter (24%) aren’t seeing any impact either way, and 3% aren’t sure.

    Last year, 50% said they experienced a negative impact, 40% no impact and 8% a positive impact. In 2022, 52% reported a negative effect, 40% said it was having no effect and 7% saw a positive influence.

    “National trends of a favorable stock market along with unfavorable inflation and interest can influence a local congregation’s finances, but so do more local factors that contribute to economic problems or prosperity in the church’s community,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “In general, pastors have turned a little more negative in describing economic forces impacting their church this year.”

    Read it all.

    Posted in * Economics, Politics, Economy, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Stewardship

    (Church Times) Bishops warn of ‘duty’ to die if Leadbeater Bill is carried

    The Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, wrote on X/Twitter: “By all means let’s have the debate. Consideration should also be given to proper investment in pal­liative and social care. And let’s call it what it is: assisted suicide. It’s a slip­pery slope and an absolute de­­grada­tion of the value of human life.”

    The Bill was also condemned by leaders of the Church in Wales, who said in a statement on Tuesday that the Christian faith had always been rooted “in the reality of pain and mortality”, as well as “the incalculable value of each human person, irrespective of social standing, access to resources, or physical or mental ability. . . In that spirit, shown to us in the person of Jesus, we give our heartfelt support to the extension of the best possible palliative care to all who require it, so that no limits are put on the compassion which we show as individuals and as a society.”

    “This is an extremely difficult issue over which different people, including Christians, will have arrived at differing views with the best of intentions,” said the statement from the Archbishop of Wales, the Rt Revd Andrew John, with the Bishops of Bardsey, Llandaff, Monmouth, St Davids, St Asaph, and Swansea & Brecon.

    Read it all.

    Posted in Aging / the Elderly, Anthropology, Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, Death / Burial / Funerals, England / UK, Ethics / Moral Theology, Health & Medicine, Life Ethics, Pastoral Theology, Religion & Culture

    The Archbishop of Canterbury warns against legalising assisted suicide

     legalising assisted suicide would disproportionately impact many millions of vulnerable people, who might perceive themselves as a burden on those around them and the health service. My concern is that once you can ask for assisted suicide, it soon becomes something that you feel that you ought to do. Permission slips into being duty. This does not represent true choice for all, and I worry that no amount of safeguards will ensure everyone’s safety at the most vulnerable point of their lives.

    A good death and compassionate care should be available to everyone, but the Bill being introduced today will not achieve that.”

    Read it all.

    Posted in * Culture-Watch, --Justin Welby, Aging / the Elderly, Anthropology, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England (CoE), Death / Burial / Funerals, England / UK, Ethics / Moral Theology, Law & Legal Issues, Life Ethics, Religion & Culture

    (Church Times) C of E Church Commissioners exclude more than 800 firms in past year

    The Church Commissioners excluded, on ethical grounds, more than 800 companies from potential investment last year, including, they report, 38 companies that failed to engage with them over connections with Russia.

    The figures are set out in their latest stewardship report, An Ethical and Responsible Approach, published last week. It is prepared annually to meet the reporting obligations of the UK Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code and the Principles for Responsible Investment.

    The total endowment fund was valued at £10.4 billion at the end of 2023 — up from £10.3 billion at the end of 2022 (News, 2 June 2023). The report covers the first year of the 2023-25 triennium, in which the Commissioners have committed themselves to distributing £1.2 billion in support of the Church’s mission — an increase of about 30 per cent on the previous triennium (News, 7 June).

    Read it all.

    Posted in Church of England (CoE), Corporations/Corporate Life, England / UK, Ethics / Moral Theology, Pensions, Religion & Culture, Stock Market

    The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster’s Pastoral Letter on Assisted Suicide (to be read in all parishes this weekend)

    As this debate unfolds there are three points I would like to put before you. I hope that you will take part in the debate, whenever and wherever you can, and that you will write to your Member of Parliament.

    The first point is this: Be careful what you wish for.

    No doubt the bill put before Parliament will be carefully framed, providing clear and very limited circumstances in which it would become lawful to assist, directly and deliberately, in the ending of a person’s life. But please remember, the evidence from every single country in which such a law has been passed is clear: that the circumstances in which the taking of a life is permitted are widened and widened, making assisted suicide and medical killing, or euthanasia, more and more available and accepted. In this country, assurances will be given that the proposed safeguards are firm and reliable. Rarely has this been the case. This proposed change in the law may be a source of relief to some. But it will bring great fear and trepidation to many, especially those who have vulnerabilities and those living with disabilities. What is now proposed will not be the end of the story. It is a story better not begun.

    The second point is this: a right to die can become a duty to die.

    A law which prohibits an action is a clear deterrent. A law which permits an action changes attitudes: that which is permitted is often and easily encouraged. Once assisted suicide is approved by the law, a key protection of human life falls away. Pressure mounts on those who are nearing death, from others or even from themselves, to end their life in order to take away a perceived burden of care from their family, for the avoidance of pain, or for the sake of an inheritance.

    Read it all.

    Posted in Aging / the Elderly, Anthropology, Death / Burial / Funerals, England / UK, Ethics / Moral Theology, Law & Legal Issues, Life Ethics, Pastoral Theology, Religion & Culture, Roman Catholic, Theology

    (Mercator) Ann Farmer–Is the death of Christianity greatly exaggerated?

    According to Professor Jonathan Lanman from Queen’s University Belfast, “Our large cross-cultural surveys reveal that while many factors may influence one’s beliefs in small ways, the key factor is the extent to which one is socialised to be a theist.” He added: ‘Many other popular theories, such as intelligence, emotional stoicism, broken homes, and rebelliousness, do not stand up to empirical scrutiny.”

    And Dr Lois Lee from the University of Kent commented: “The UK is entering its first atheist age. Whilst atheism has been prominent in our culture for some time – be it through Karl Marx, George Eliot, or Ricky Gervais – it is only now that atheists have begun to outnumber theists for the first time in our history.”

    This is not the first obituary for Christianity. To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of Christianity have been greatly exaggerated, largely because its atheist critics resent having to bow to a religion in a society that, they insist, no longer bows to God. In their eyes Christianity is a pernicious influence; at best it is a private hobby that everyone else is forced to fund….

    Read it all.

    Posted in England / UK, History, Religion & Culture, Secularism

    (Telegraph) C of E Bishops oppose so-called assisted dying

    The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, the joint lead bishop on health care for the Church of England, echoed Bishop Smith’s concern.

    She said: “No amount of safeguards could ensure the safety of the most vulnerable in society, should there be a change in the law allowing for assisted suicide”

    Bishop Mullally, a former chief nursing officer for England, said: “I worked for many years as a nurse in the NHS, including as a cancer specialist, and I understand first-hand the crucial importance of compassionate care and dignity for all patients, including those who are most vulnerable and reaching the end of their lives.

    “In the Church of England, we are backing urgent calls for adequate funding and resourcing of palliative care services, to ensure the highest possible standards of care for all. This should include action to ensure that our hospices receive the level of state funding that they are so badly lacking at present.”

    Read it all (registration or subscription).

    Posted in * Culture-Watch, Aging / the Elderly, Church of England (CoE), Death / Burial / Funerals, England / UK, Life Ethics, Religion & Culture

    (C of E) Black History Month marked in cathedrals and churches

    Black composers, musicians and singers are to be celebrated as part of a series of events, from exhibitions and lectures to services and study days, marking Black History Month in Cathedrals and churches across the country.

    The Archbishop of Canterbury is to preside at a Eucharist at Southwark Cathedral marking Black History Month in the Diocese of Southwark.

    The service will hear music by St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School Gospel Choir and the Nigerian Chaplaincy Worship Team with the sermon preached by the Dean of Gloucester, Andrew Zihni. A panel discussion will be held afterwards on the theme ‘music at the heart of change.’

    The day aims to ‘acknowledge the profound positive impact music has had on the black community, and the power of music to transform worship and enhance witness, to bring hope, and provide a space of healing, restoration and justice’, Southwark Cathedral said.

    Read it all.

    Posted in Church History, Church of England, England / UK, Parish Ministry, Race/Race Relations, Religion & Culture

    (CT) Widespread Helene Misery Stretches Christian Relief Groups

    Devastating hundreds of miles from the Florida Gulf Coast to Georgia to the mountains of North Carolina, Hurricane Helene has created a complicated equation for Christian organizations that are on the frontline of disaster response.

    “In my more than 20 years of disaster experience, I can’t think of a time when such a large area was at risk,” Jeff Jellets, the disaster coordinator for The Salvation Army’s work in the South, said in a statement.

    Samaritan’s Purse chief operating officer Edward Graham told CT that the organization had to call in equipment and volunteers from its Canadian arm for its hurricane response and even had to adjust some of its overseas work. Just for this disaster, Samaritan’s Purse is operating in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.

    Read it all.

    Posted in America/U.S.A., Charities/Non-Profit Organizations, Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc., Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Stewardship

    (BBC) New Bishop of Exeter confirmed at palace ceremony

    The new Bishop of Exeter has been confirmed by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a ceremony in London.

    Earlier in the year, it was announced the Right Reverend Mike Harrison would take on the role – he was previously the Bishop of Dunwich in Suffolk.

    On Wednesday, Dr Harrison attended a ceremony at Lambeth Palace.

    He said the “service marks a significant moment in that transition, and I am looking forward greatly to joining with sisters and brothers in the Diocese of Exeter…”

    Read it all.

    Posted in --Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture

    (TGC) Lessons from Mark Dever’s 30 Years at Capitol Hill Baptist Church

    “When I came to CHBC,” Dever explained, “I was very clear with them that I was happy for every aspect of my public ministry to fail, if necessary, except for the preaching of God’s Word.” The hyperbole was intentional. Dever wanted the church to understand the primacy of the preached Word in the congregation’s life.

    “Preaching is central to the pastoral ministry,” Dever explained at the congregational Q&A in 1993. “A lot of churches in America don’t think that. I think they’re wrong.”

    Dever began by preaching expositionally through Mark’s Gospel. From his time studying the Puritans, Dever realized that in a “Christian culture,” the way you preach evangelistically to self-conscious Christians who may not be converted is by constantly repeating the same truth in sermons: This is what a Christian is like. The Gospels provided the perfect lens to do so through Jesus’s words.

    Read it all.

    Posted in America/U.S.A., Baptists, Church History, Evangelicals, History, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics, Religion & Culture, Urban/City Life and Issues

    (ITV) Meet the new Archdeacon of Carlisle as the Church of England faces recruitment crisis

    Speaking about her new position as an archdeacon, she said: “I am a bridge between the diocese and the parish.

    “So I talk to the parishes about what the diocese is saying and what they have to offer. I then go back to the diocese centrally and say what the parish and clergy are saying.”

    The Venerable Ruth Newton explains one of her biggest challenges will be addressing the recruitment crisis within the clergy.

    She said: “There are a lot of vacancies. People are working on a shoestring.

    “The pressure on clergy is to work and work and work is really extensive so hopefully get a better work life balance than I presently see in some areas.”

    Read it all.

    Posted in Church of England, England / UK, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture

    (CT) Some of Christianity’s Biggest Skeptics Are Becoming Vocal Converts

    But a funny thing happened on the road to nihilism. At many intellectual institutions, the wind had already begun to blow in the opposite direction. In the late 1960s, Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga provided his classic free-will defense for the problem of evil, and in the late ’70s, Richard Swinburne began his trilogy on the philosophy of theism.

    Before 1970, generations of philosophy students were fully expected to graduate from departments headed by atheists where belief in God was conspicuously absent. Yet a decade later, Time ran a story suggesting a quiet philosophical coup had taken place: Theistic arguments for God were making a modern comeback, and reports of God’s death turned out to be greatly exaggerated.

    It seems many of the bright philosophers graduating from eminent programs and taking positions in prominent universities were—shockingly—theists. And many of them were Christians, bringing their intellectual powers to bear on the apologetic front. These scholars were slowly making inroads among the intelligentsia, and their influence was trickling down into the public square.

    Soon, Christian philosophers were not only well-respected academics in their field but chairs of their departments. The early members of this class of faith-led scholars gave way to later members who carried the banner even further—such that by the 2000s, Christian philosophy of religion had become a powerful force to be reckoned with in the academy.

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    Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy, Religion & Culture, Theology

    (NYT front page) In a First Among Christians, Young Men Are More Religious Than Young Women

    The dynamics at Grace are a dramatic example of an emerging truth: For the first time in modern American history, young men are now more religious than their female peers. They attend services more often and are more likely to identify as religious.

    “We’ve never seen it before,” Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, said of the flip.

    Among Generation Z Christians, this dynamic is playing out in a stark way: The men are staying in church, while the women are leaving at a remarkable clip.

    Church membership has been dropping in the United States for years. But within Gen Z, almost 40 percent of women now describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, compared with 34 percent of men, according to a survey last year of more than 5,000 Americans by the Survey Center on American Life at the American Enterprise Institute.

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    Posted in America/U.S.A., Men, Religion & Culture, Women