Category : * General Interest
(Stuff) Restoration of ChristChurch Cathedral risks delays if cathedral funding not granted sooner, Anglicans say
Restoration of the Christchurch’s Anglican cathedral could be delayed if the timing of public funding is not changed, church leaders say.
Church Property Trustees general manager Gavin Holley told city councillors on Monday that $10 million in council funding for the restoration needed to be paid sooner than planned. The money was needed within seven years, rather than the 10 years outlined in the council’s draft long term plan for 2018 to 2028, he said.
The Church Property Trustees own the cathedral building and land in central Christchurch. Holley, who was submitting feedback on the council’s long term plan, said restoration could not start until the $10m in funding is changed to within seven years.
(BBC) How Nigeria’s cattle war is fuelling religious tension
A long-running conflict between cattle herders and farmers in central Nigeria is increasingly assuming a religious dimension, writes the BBC’s Mayeni Jones after visiting Benue state.
Sebastian Nyamgba is a tall, wiry farmer with sharp cheekbones and piercing eyes.
He guides me to a small bungalow adjacent to the local church, St Ignatus. It was the home of local priest Father Joseph Gor.
“This is his blood,” he says, as he points to faint pink splatters on the wall of the porch of the house.
“This is where he was killed. They shot him as he was getting on this motorbike to escape and his blood sprayed on the wall.”
Father Gor was killed in the compound of his Catholic church, in the small village of Mbalom, about an hour’s drive south from the capital of Benue state, Makurdi.
(C of E) Hog-hair breath and refilling shampoo bottles: Bishop Graham Usher negotiates the trials of cutting out plastic
I was staggered by the terrible damage that our plastic usage is causing God’s creation, including humans, on this single island home that we call planet Earth. It’s nearly impossible to live plastic-free but we can all live with considerably less plastic if only we give it commitment.
Every piece of plastic I use will most probably outlive me by hundreds of years.
We can, one by one, and collectively as communities and nations and governments, do something about it. It’s simple. We have to do something about plastic. We can do it – now let’s do it!
Canon Graham Usher has been confirmed as the new Bishop of Dudley, @CofEWorcester announces http://t.co/rbBqbDpmA2 pic.twitter.com/Q6YUJ5G1GL
— BBC WM 95.6 (@bbcwm) December 12, 2013
(BBC) Photographs of Derby Cathedral from 1880s found
A collection of negatives of Derby Cathedral dating back to the 1880s has been found and developed.
They include two of the earliest-known photographs of the cathedral; one of the outside, taken between 1873 and 1880, and one of the nave from 1889.
The fragile plate glass negatives were discovered by a volunteer at W. W. Winter Ltd photography studio in Derby.
They were developed in Nottingham using traditional darkroom methods and are now on display in the cathedral.
Do not take yourself too seriously Dept–Listening to Sermons
(HT: Mindful Christianity+DG)
BBC News – In pictures: Christians celebrate Easter around the world
BBC News – In pictures: Christians celebrate #Easter around the world https://t.co/FQzMFgnTgr #christianity #globalisation #photos
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) April 1, 2018
(Time) Teen Sexting Has Become Even More Common, Research Says, with about 1 in 4 now saying they receive such photos
73% of teenagers today have a smartphone, giving them access to all types of communication over text or social media. For many kids, that includes sexting—the sharing of sexual messages, images or videos—according to a new study.
The new report, published in JAMA Pediatrics, analyzed 39 studies with a total of about 10,300 young men and women under age 18. It found that sexting has become increasingly more common in recent years. Though the majority of teenagers don’t report sexting, 15% of teens say they send sexts and 27% receive them. The activity is also more common as young people get older, the study authors report.
(Telegraph) Churches must switch off CCTV cameras during services as prayer should be private, C of E court rules
Churches must switch off CCTV cameras during services because prayer is private, a Church of England court has ruled.
The consistory court ruling is believed to be the first made on the ethics of CCTV in church and was made in response to a Canterbury vicar who applied to install two cameras so his church could be left open during the day.
The Reverend Philip Brown, and churchwardens Robin Slowe and Robert Allen, want to install the camera system to deter vandals from damaging the church and to catch the actions of any wrongdoers.
(The Sun) BIGDOG = BIG LOVE How a 9-stone dog taught author JoJo Moyes how to live for now
This is only funny because…[the children] miss her more than me too (they’ve set up an Instagram account devoted to her).
Even my husband, not the most expressive of men, is like putty when around her, as I discovered when I overheard him say: “Do you not want your breakfast?
“No? Shall I grate some Parmesan on to it?” (The dog in my new book, Still Me, has adopted this culinary habit).
She has inadvertently improved my writer’s back because I’m forced to leave my desk at least four times a day.
She has brought me and my husband closer — we walk together at dawn….
Sunday Mental Health Break–Saturday Night Live on Amazon’s Alexa for the Elderly
Meet the Cincinnati Zoo’s viral social media star Fiona the hippo
As the prematurely born Fiona the hippo continued to grow in size, her social media following through the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Facebook page also grew.
Enjoy it all.
Blessed Epiphany to all Blog Readers
#Epiphany tree lighting at Christ st Pauls Yonges Island #southcarolina pic.twitter.com/FmlYsVAB3r
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 14, 2018
In Pictures–Epiphany 2018 Celebrations Around the World
Epiphany celebrations around the world https://t.co/tR8NyNURaz pic.twitter.com/ZZQT4Pqj76
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) January 7, 2018
Update: the Express has 23 photos there.
Morning Snow Update from Summerville, South Carolina
So much of the magical snow remains so far in #summerville #southcarolina #winterstorm #chswx @chswx #weather pic.twitter.com/KFbUBbT0NJ
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 6, 2018
When winter comes to Summerville, South Carolina
So lovely to be reminded of the magic of snow–KSH.
Update: You can find 35 photos from the local town paper there.
Summerville, South Carolina, Turned into a Winter Wonderland with 6 1/2 inches of snow from the Latest Storm
3-4 inches at least now In Summerville Sc #chswx @chswx #winterstorm #southcarolina pic.twitter.com/xMLWORwcyG
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 3, 2018
6 1/2 inches in @SummervilleSC #winterstorm #chswx @chswx pic.twitter.com/JLtJc52keO
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 3, 2018
Do not take yourself too seriously Dept–(Onion) Buick proudly Introduces its New Self-Buying Car
(Onion) Buick Introduces New Self-Buying Car https://t.co/gbjAoyqtIc #humour #consumerspending #AutonomousVehicles “In what marks a watershed moment for this company, we here at Buick are proud to present the first and only car that purchases itself” LOL
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 29, 2017
My Favorite Veteran’s Story of the last Few Years–An ESPN piece on the Saratoga WarHorse Program
Saratoga Springs, N.Y., famous for its historic racetrack, is among the most idyllic places in America. But on a recent fall weekend, not far from the track, horses were serving a different mission: retired thoroughbreds were recruited to help returning veterans at Song Hill Farm. A group from the US Army 2nd Battalion, 135th infantry, united in grief over the death of a fellow solider, gathered for the first time in five years to be part of Saratoga Warhorse, a three-day program that pairs veterans with horses. Tom Rinaldi reports the emotional story of the veterans, paired with their horses, undergoing a rebirth of trust and taking a first step toward healing.
Watch it all, and, yes, you will likely need kleenex–KSH.
Remembrance Day 2017 around the world – in pictures
#RemembranceDay around the world – in pictures https://t.co/mh6qQOHHjD #history #military #veteransday #service #sacrifice #thanksgiving
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 11, 2017
A NY Times profile of the Sutherland Springs, Texas, Gunman
Before a gunman entered a rural Texas church with a ballistic vest and a military-style rifle, killing at least 26 people on Sunday, he was convicted of assaulting his wife and breaking his infant stepson’s skull.
In 2012, while stationed at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Devin P. Kelley, 26, was charged with “assault on his spouse and assault on their child,” according to the Air Force.
“He assaulted his stepson severely enough that he fractured his skull, and he also assaulted his wife,” said Don Christensen, a retired colonel who was the chief prosecutor for the Air Force. “He pled to intentionally doing it.”
He was sentenced in November of that year to 12 months’ confinement and reduction to the lowest possible rank. After his confinement, he was discharged from the military with a bad conduct discharge. It is unclear whether his conviction would have barred him from purchasing a gun.
The case marked a long downward slide that included divorce and being charged with animal cruelty.
(NBC) Faithfulness in little things is not a little thing–Heroic mailman still delivering the mail after California wildfires
Postman Trevor Smith has picked up mail from a senior community for the past 8 years. Today, he picks up their melted mailboxes.
(CEN) Caribbean picks up the pieces after Hurricane Irma
The Island of Anguilla in the Diocese of North East Caribbean and Aruba featured in the most recent BBC 2 series, An Island Parish. It was badly affected by Hurricane Irma.
Speaking to The Church of England Newspaper on 27 September, Bishop Errol Brooks, whom the TV programme described as a ‘rock’, said the western half of Anguilla had suffered the worst. This is the Methodist area and two of their churches had been “really messed up”.
Of the three Anglican Churches the roof of St Andrew’s Island Harbour had been badly damaged. The winds that blew throughout the day had lifted a sheet or two of the roof in the main church St Mary’s in the Valley, and water had got inside.
While the worship area of the new section of St Augustine’s remained intact the 200-year-old section of the church had been badly damaged. “I do not know where to start,” said the assessor.
Damage was worse on the island of Dominica, where one of the Pirates of the Caribbean films was shot. The roof of St George’s Church has gone and the rectory, where this writer stayed when doing a locum on the island, is badly damaged. Barbuda, a small island off Antigua, had now been evacuated. The island of St Kitts however escaped without any damage.
Read it all (may require subscription).
(NBC) Balloons Paint The Albuquerque Sky At Annual Fiesta
Enjoy it all.
(WSJ) The damage from Hurricane Maria–mostly in Puerto Rico–could be worse than Harvey and Irma combined
Hurricane Maria caused an estimated $40 billion to $85 billion in insured losses, mostly in Puerto Rico, catastrophe-modeling firm AIR Worldwide said Monday.
Maria was the worst storm to hit Puerto Rico since 1928 and devastated the island, causing widespread property damage and power outages. The storm also caused extensive damage in Dominica.
More than 85% of the insured loss is in Puerto Rico, AIR said. The firm’s preliminary damage estimate is higher than the firm’s estimates for Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in Texas in August, and Hurricane Irma, which passed through the Caribbean before reaching Florida earlier this month.
(NPR) Earthquake In Mexico Hit Churches Hard in Puebla State
To Mexico now where the death toll from last week’s earthquake has climbed to well over 300. Structures have been damaged throughout central Mexico, including more than 150 churches. That’s according to the country’s archdiocese. Hardest hit were churches in the state of Puebla, the epicenter of the quake. NPR’s Carrie Kahn sent this report from the town of Cholula.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: In the center of town sits Cholula’s ancient pyramids said to be the widest in the world. It’s never been fully excavated, but to get to what is visible involves a steep climb.
Fifty-three, 54, 55 – I’m climbed at the top of Cholula’s ancient pyramid where the Church of the Remedies sits on top of the pyramid. Two of the beautiful churches’ domes have collapsed, and they’re not letting us go to the top. Instead, they’re holding mass outside.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: Dozens of parishioners have made the climb in search of solace in Sunday mass.
GERARDO LOPEZ RAMIREZ: (Singing in Spanish).
KAHN: Gerardo Lopez Ramirez is the church’s organist and tenor. He says his town is in mourning.
A Series of Wonderful Photos of the new bishop of Sheffield Pete Wilcox
Wonderful #photos–New Bishop of Sheffield Pete Wilcox https://t.co/Ar2mD8GXOf via @JAPhotoPics #anglican #ministry #bishops
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) September 24, 2017