O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give thee thanks for thy faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give thee thanks for thy faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today we join the rest of the world to honour a figure of the Church, the voice of people and communities in Uganda, Archbishop Janan Lawum.

Archbishop Janan Lawum teaches to speak truth to power always, a character that can open very many doors.@JanetMuseveni @JanetMuseveni pic.twitter.com/uf35qvAHfx

— Uganda National Students Association (UNSA) (@unsaugofficial) February 16, 2024

O Lord our God, who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity: Have mercy upon us, we beseech thee, for our sins accuse us, and we are troubled by them and put to shame. We have done wrong to ourselves in ignorance, and to our brethren in willfulness, and by our selfish and faithless ways have grieved thy Holy Spirit. Forgive us, we humbly pray thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

—Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)

Time for some green therapy pic.twitter.com/DqZzuG7cp8

— Hayley Twigs in Hair Howard (@HayleyhHoward) February 17, 2024

When the late Federico “Fred” Mission Magbanua Jr. preached a radio sermon on offering one’s body as a living sacrifice, he probably didn’t imagine he’d one day hear these words again as a 10,000-watt radio frequency current surged through him in a near-death accident.

It happened one night in early 1961, while Magbanua was working at the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) gospel radio ministry. He was mulling over a job offer in the United States with a salary far greater than what he currently made as an FEBC engineer and as a pastor of a small Baptist church.

Suddenly, the warning lights on the 308-foot radio tower went out. Magbanua loaded some new bulbs into a bag and began climbing the structure. From his home nearby, his daughters and his wife, Aliw, watched him scale the tower.

What Magbanua didn’t realize was that the grounding system—which diverts energy to the ground to prevent surges—wasn’t working. A radio frequency current “hit his head using his body as a lightning rod,” his friend Harold Sala later told God Reports. “Literally, he was being executed by the tremendous surge of electrical power.”

Read it all.

Mighty God, we bless thy Name for the example of thy bishop Charles Todd Quintard, who persevered to reconcile the divisions among the people of his time: Grant, we pray, that thy Church may ever be one, that it may be a refuge for all, for the honor of thy Name; through Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Charles Todd Quintard, Bishop of Tennessee, 1898 http://t.co/vTHolNCFxF pic.twitter.com/YBF5moGmuG

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) February 16, 2015

O Lord and heavenly Father, who hast given unto us thy people the true bread that cometh down from heaven, even thy Son Jesus Christ: Grant that throughout this Lent our souls may so be fed by him that we may continually live in him and he in us; and that day by day we may be renewed in spirit by the power of his endless life, who gave himself for us, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

Good morning from Norway. Amazing lights over Tromsø very active. pic.twitter.com/rmqlAWOjKn

— Morten (@helifliMorten) February 16, 2024

O God of compassion, who didst open the eyes of thy servant Thomas Bray to see the needs of the Church in the New World, and didst lead him to found societies to meet those needs: Make the Church in this land diligent at all times to propagate the Gospel among those who have not received it, and to promote the spread of Christian knowledge; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Church of England also commemorates Thomas Bray, Priest, Founder of the SPCK and the SPG, 1730

Icon of Rev Thomas Bray by Louise Shipps, from the Saints of Georgia page on the @GA_Episcopal website pic.twitter.com/pfTbEBmey8

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) February 15, 2024

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst take upon thee the form of a servant, humbling thyself and accepting death for us, even the death of the cross: Grant that this mind may be also in us; so that we may gladly take upon ourselves the life of humility and service, and taking up our cross daily may follow thee in thy suffering and death, that with thee we may attain unto the power of thy endless life. Grant this, O Christ, our Saviour and our King.

Good Morning All ☕️

May today’s journey be a trouble free one… pic.twitter.com/3oaHwb0BmL

— Cloudymamma (@cloudymamma) February 15, 2024

The idea of national repentance seems at first sight to provide such an edifying contrast to that national self-righteousness of which England is so often accused and with which she entered (or is said to have entered) the last war, that a Christian naturally turns to it with hope. Young Christians especially-last-year undergraduates and first-year curates- are turning to it in large numbers. They are ready to believe that England bears part of the guilt for the present war, and ready to admit their own share in the guilt of England. What that share is, I do not find it easy to determine. Most of these young men were children, and none of them had a vote or the experience which would enable them to use a vote wisely, when England made many of those decisions to which the present disorders could plausibly be traced. Are they, perhaps, repenting what they have in no sense done?

If they are, it might be supposed that their error is very harmless: men fail so often to repent their real sins that the occasional repentance of an imaginary sin might appear almost desirable. But what actually happens (I have watched it happening) to the youthful national penitent is a little more complicated than that. England is not a natural agent, but a civil society. When we speak of England’s actions we mean the actions of the British government. The young man who is called upon to repent of England’s foreign policy is really being called upon to repent the acts of his neighbor; for a foreign secretary or a cabinet minister is certainly a neighbor. And repentance presupposes condemnation. The first and fatal charm of national repentance is, therefore, the encouragement it gives us to turn from the bitter task of repenting our own sins to the congenial one of bewailing-but, first, of denouncing-the conduct of others.

–-C.S. Lewis, “Dangers of national repentance”

Blessed Ash wednesday!

May this Lenten season bring us all closer to the King of Kings.

—

"Christ in the desert" by Ivan Kramskoj. pic.twitter.com/yGU80ndGNX

— † (@____xn) February 14, 2024

O Lord and heavenly Father, who hast given unto us thy people the true bread that cometh down from heaven, even thy Son Jesus Christ: Grant that throughout this Lent our souls may so be fed by him that we may continually live in him and he in us; and that day by day we may be renewed in spirit by the power of his endless life, who gave himself for us, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

'for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return'. Robert and Isabella Brampton in their shrouds, 1468 at Brampton, Norfolk.

And so it begins. Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Forty days plus six Sundays, ending at the great feast of Easter on the last day of… pic.twitter.com/jNgzsE2q0q

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) February 14, 2024

“Confess your faults one to another” (Jas. 5:16). He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone. It may be that Christians, notwithstanding corporate worship, common prayer, and all their fellowship in service, may still be left to their loneliness. The final break-through to fellowship does not occur, because, though they have fellowship with one another as believers and devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as sinners. This pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. so we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners!

But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great, desperate sinner; now come as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you. He wants you as you are; He does not want anything from you, a sacrifice, a work; He wants you alone. “My son, give me thine heart” (Prov. 23:26). God has come to you to save the sinner. Be glad! This message is liberation through truth. You can hide nothing from God. The mask you wear before men will do you no good before Him. He wants to see you as you are, He wants to be gracious to you. You do not have to on lying to yourself and your brothers, as if you were without sin; you can dare to be a sinner. Thank God for that; He loves the sinner but He hates sin.

–-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Today, most Western Christian denominations celebrate #AshWednesday, the first day of the season of Lent. pic.twitter.com/tn5JKDiYIG

— National Churches Trust (@NatChurchTrust) February 14, 2024

O God, who by thy care and counsel for mankind hast moved thy Church to appoint this holy season wherein the hearts of those who seek thee may receive thy help and healing: We beseech thee so to purify us by thy discipline, that, abiding in thee and thou in us, we may grow in grace and in the faith and knowledge of thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

'Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessed face'

— Ash Wednesday pic.twitter.com/dPrxISpzNt

— T. S. Eliot Foundation (@eliotfoundation) February 14, 2024

But in order to arrive at its full meaning, we must suppose that David felt an inward struggle and opposition, which he found it necessary to check. Satan had raised a tumult in his affections, and wrought a degree of impatience in his mind, which he now curbs; and he expresses his resolution to be silent. The word implies a meek and submissive endurance of the cross. It expresses the opposite of that heat of spirit which would put us into a posture of resistance to God. The silence intended is, in short, that composed submission of the believer, in the exercise of which he acquiesces in the promises of God, gives place to his word, bows to his sovereignty, and suppresses every inward murmur of dissatisfaction.

–From his commentary on the Psalms

Ash Wednesday, 1860 by Carl Spitzweg pic.twitter.com/jLCqSjIMrI

— Marysia (@marysia_cc) February 14, 2024

Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent.

Today, many Christians will attend church services and have a cross of ash traced on their foreheads. This acts as a reminder of our mortality and need for reconciliation with God.#AshWednesday pic.twitter.com/HaooKIZ68P

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) February 14, 2024

Of course, as you get older in ministry you look back at where you’ve come from (I’m now 50). You can’t help but reflect on the things you have learnt along the way. And, boy, there are many things I wish I could’ve said to myself. I’m not sure I would’ve listened well, or even understood, but it might have helped me avoid some pitfalls. Here are some of the things I wish I could have said—and undoubtedly need to keep saying to myself now.

1. It’s easier to plant a church in your head than to do it in reality.

I had plans for how a church would work and what it ‘should look like’ and ‘how long things would take’. But, of course, people and circumstances don’t neatly fit into our plans and ideas. Planting a church has required a lot more perseverance and spiritual pit stops than I ever anticipated. The Lord is kind in not showing us everything beforehand!

2. Don’t be too opinionated. Loads of your brilliant ideas will never work, and you’ll realise you’re wrong (or at best, unbalanced) on a bunch of things.

This won’t be everyone’s issue, but I have always had a tendency to have too much confidence in my own opinion, and to stand my ground unnecessarily. I think opportunities have been lost at times, and some conflicts could’ve been avoided by being more flexible (and humble).

3. Patience and tenacity will be more important than giftedness.

Of course, it’s great for leaders to be gifted and useful, but everything we do is qualified by patience and tenacity. Perseverance in the walk qualifies all the verbs of ministry. The victory comes to the determined and tenacious. We don’t want to just run the race, but finish the race.

4. You will need to pray loads more than you think.

Of course I always knew that I needed to pray—you can’t get into pastoral ministry without having heard about the importance of prayer! But it took me a few years to get going with prayer in any disciplined way. I would say that prayer has been the single most important thing in keeping me going as a pastor. Prayer has been where the promises of God have become very real to me.

Read it all.

As we continue in Christian ministry, at every level, how can we learn the lessons and grow in maturity—and pass those lessons on to others who follow? @AJWTheology https://t.co/Wx6o2d7IJT

— Dr Ian Paul (@Psephizo) February 13, 2024

Seven Ordained to the Diaconate

“From the moment I entered the cathedral, my heart soared with joy,” said the now-Rev. Scott Poelker, one of seven ordained to the diaconate at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul on January 27. “It felt like I was carried aloft by the household of faith to the banquet of our Lord. I was fed spiritual energy for the task that lies ahead.” Read the full story and view photo gallery. 

Read it all.

Bishop Chip Edgar Ordains Seven to the Diaconate https://t.co/H0rYhqPyIg #anglican #parishministry #southcarolina #lowcountrylife #deacons #service pic.twitter.com/w4ycYFcVK2

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) February 13, 2024

Set us free, O heavenly Father, from every bond of prejudice and fear: that, honoring the steadfast courage of thy servants Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, we may show forth in our lives the reconciling love and true freedom of the children of God, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

“Above all things, let us instruct [our children] in the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whereby they may become wise unto salvation.” – Absalom Jones (1746-1818), First African American Priest #absalomjones https://t.co/dQuOR45Jps

— Our Church Speaks (@ourchurchspeaks) February 13, 2024

O thou in whom we live and move and have our being, awaken us to thy presence that we may walk in thy world as thy children. Grant us reverence for all thy creation, that we may treat our fellow men with courtesy, and all living things with gentleness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

—New Every Morning (The Prayer Book Of The Daily Broadcast Service) [BBC, 1900]

The first signs of Spring have arrived in Oxford🥀
📸Image by '@lulahorton' on IG pic.twitter.com/5ZNK0RqlfD

— Keble College, Oxford (@KebleOxford) February 13, 2024

Hardship and poverty are often associated more with urban than with rural areas. Rural hardship in the north Cotswolds, for example, is often hidden, because of inequalities and the relative affluence experienced by the majority, and the high levels of tourism in the area.

This is a problem, because the significant minority who experience hardship are more hidden. This means that rural hardship is often not adequately addressed by local and national policy-makers and community leaders.

This is the focus of the exhibition “Hidden Hardship”, which Coventry Cathedral is hosting until 26 February, and which is part of my new participatory research project at Coventry University. This has sought to understand hardship in the north Cotswolds better.

The exhibition consists of illustrations by the artist Beth Waters, based on the research participants’ interviews and diaries of their experiences of hardship and/or responding to hardship. It focuses on people’s experiences of rural hardship, their coping strategies, and the barriers to their improved well-being.

Read it all (registration or subscription).

Hardship is a rural problem, too

In areas that appear more affluent, poverty is often hidden, writes @SJ_Denninghttps://t.co/8T0KmRxzFZ

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 9, 2024

Gracious God, who didst call Charles Freer Andrews to show forth thy salvation to the poor: By thy Holy Spirit inspire in us a tender concern, a passionate justice, and an active love for all people, that there may be one Body and one Spirit in Jesus Christ, our Savior; who with thee and the same Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Charles Freer Andrews, Priest & “Friend of the Poor” in India, 1940

A Christian Socialist/Anglican priest from Newcastle, he was a missionary in India & close friend of Gandhi who dubbed him Christ's Faithful Apostle (his initials=C.F.A.) pic.twitter.com/4xHeZgotW5

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) February 12, 2024

Almighty God, whose sovereign purpose none can make void: Give us faith to stand calm and undismayed amid the tumults of the world, knowing that thy kingdom shall come and thy will be done; to the eternal glory of thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

"… on Cranberry River"#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #wintertime #snow #Weather #SnowHour #StormHour #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/ZfydWQuW3g

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) February 12, 2024

Almighty Father,
whose Son was revealed in majesty
before he suffered death upon the cross:
give us grace to perceive his glory,
that we may be strengthened to suffer with him
and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Our worship service this Sunday at 11:00 a.m. will celebrate Transfiguration Sunday and includes the anthem, "Blessed Is the Spot, and the House," an original composition by the Los Angeles-based Filipino composer Saunder Choi.

Details: https://t.co/nUWVhtUAqX pic.twitter.com/LZe1udMMps

— Duke Chapel (@DukeChapel) February 8, 2024

Assist us, O God, to love one another as sisters and brothers, and to balance discipline with love and rules with compassion, according to the example shown by thy servant Scholastica; for the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Today's the feast of St Scholastica, 6th Century mystic and foundress, by tradition the sister of St Benedict. She appears on the early 16th Century screen at Wiggenhall St Mary the Virgin, Norfolk. She's the patron saint of women's education.

WSMV: https://t.co/8WH5rHAbTN pic.twitter.com/GSHVEsNit7

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) February 10, 2024

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who when on earth wast ever occupied about Thy Father’s business; grant that we may not grow weary in well-doing. Give us grace to do all in Thy Name; be Thou the beginning and the end of all; the pattern Whom we follow, the redeemer in Whom we trust, the master Whom we serve, the friend to Whom we look for sympathy. May we never shrink from our duty through any fear of man; make us faithful unto death: and bring us at last into the eternal presence, where with the Father and the Holy Ghost Thou livest and reignest for ever.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

I had almost forgotten what the sun looked like. Today was lovely on Glastonbury Tor. What started off as a sun pillar reached up to the sky to meet a small halo. The sun shining on the wet grass and steps shows what the weather has been like for the last week. pic.twitter.com/z8hTUOstNR

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) February 10, 2024

LEGAL sanction, including the possibility of disqualification from holding office, is necessary to address bullying by lay officer-holders, a motion set to be debated by General Synod this month argues.

The private members’ motion, brought by the Archdeacon of Blackburn, the Ven. Mark Ireland, asks the Synod to recognise “the serious pastoral problems and unfairness that arise while clergy can be subject to penalties for bullying that include prohibition and removal from office but there is no means of disqualifying a churchwarden, PCC member, or other lay officer who is guilty of bullying from holding office”.

It asks the Archbishops’ Council to “bring forward legislative proposals which would enable a churchwarden, PCC member, or other lay officer who was found to have conducted him-or herself in such a manner to be disqualified from holding office”.

Read it all.

Two motions set to be debated at Synod this month tackling bullying by lay officers and destructive behaviour on PCCs. Bishops said to be reluctant to recommend some parishes ‘knowing that a series of previous incumbents have been hounded out of office’ https://t.co/Cc0aAGaI9Z

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) February 9, 2024

I learn from this wonderful website that after Stubbs became Bishop of Truro, the carol was performed at his cathedral’s ‘Festival of Lessons and Carols’ in 1911 – Truro being the place where services of ‘Nine Lessons and Carols’ first originated at the end of the 19th century.

Read it all.

Earendel at Epiphany.

Hail Earendel,
Brightest of Angels!

It was upon these Old English words that J.R.R. Tolkien stumbled across at his desk in Oxford in 1911, and adopted Earendel for his own use.

Earendel = 'O Oriens', the Advent Antiphon sung at the Winter Solstice. pic.twitter.com/a9pHlXnK04

— Ninefold Kyrie (@Gda1238) January 9, 2024

With the Super Bowl this weekend, don’t expect many pastors to place a bet on Kansas City or San Francisco to win the game, but a few may have more than a rooting interest riding on the game.

Despite its legalization across many states, US Protestant pastors remain opposed to sports gambling, but they’re not doing much about it, according to a Lifeway Research study. Few pastors (13%) favor legalizing sports betting nationwide and most (55%) say the practice is morally wrong.

“Anything can happen in sports, and many Americans want the same allure of an unexpected win in sports to translate into an unexpected financial windfall,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Most pastors see moral hazards in sports betting and believe American society would be better off without it.”

Read it all.

,
A surge in betting on the Vegas-based game between Kansas City and San Francisco has not pushed church leaders to speak about the issue. https://t.co/bq1jRkBU0D

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) February 9, 2024

O thou in whom we live and move and have our being, awaken us to thy presence that we may walk in thy world as thy children. Grant us reverence for all thy creation, that we may treat our fellow men with courtesy, and all living things with gentleness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

—New Every Morning (The Prayer Book Of The Daily Broadcast Service) [BBC, 1900]

Despite the howling wind a pleasant #Brighton sunrise to start the weekend off. @ThePhotoHour @StormHour pic.twitter.com/0ltht8SwLg

— Stephen Royle (@Steveontour1) February 9, 2024

O God of Love, thou didst deliver servant Josephine Margaret Bakhita from the bondage of slavery to serve you in true freedom; by her example help us to see those enslaved among us, and work to release them from their chains. In your mercy, give to all survivors healing from their wounds and joy in their liberation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Bakhita (Josephine Margaret Bakhita), Monastic, 1947

Abducted/sold into slavery as a child in Sudan, Bakhita later gained her freedom & in 1896 became a Canossian religious sister, from 1902 at a convent in Schio. She was canonised in 2000 pic.twitter.com/f5Vs8TIc9B

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) February 8, 2024

O Lord God, heavenly Father, Who didst give up Thine only-begotten Son into grief and sorrow, that we might have peace through Him: grant us so surely to found our faith upon Him alone that we may have peace in our souls. Quicken us with Thy Word; grant already here on earth the peace which is a foretaste of the rest that remaineth for Thy people. And while the cares and tumults of this life beset us round about, guide us in all our undertakings by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may abide in Thy peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

Good morning 👋🍀❤️📸 . Happy Thursday Twitter pals .
One of my favourite places to sit and watch the waves 🌊 #Cornwall #photography #seascape #ThePhotoHour #StormHour @VisitBude @VisitCornwall pic.twitter.com/MHSBIQhLK7

— Gary James (@Gazpics76) February 8, 2024