“We have lost a great champion for the gospel, for evangelism and for healthy churches engaged in ministry and mission,” said Archbishop Glenn Davies. “Our Diocese has lost a faithful bishop and teacher of God’s word. I have lost a good friend and loyal colleague. Virginia and her family have lost a loving husband, father and grandfather.”

Bishop Lee was the first Bishop of Chinese descent in Sydney Diocese and only the second in Australia. He served a record 17 years as Bishop of Western Sydney after his consecration in 2003. Even though his successor, Gary Koo, was appointed last year, he continued to serve as Bishop for Evangelism and Church Growth until he was forced to go into hospital in January.

Speaking to Southern Cross last year, Bishop Lee reflected on the fact that the cancer had been in remission after his initial operation and chemotherapy in 2015, until it reappeared in 2019.

“That’s a pretty good run,” he said at the time, adding that people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer “typically last months, not years… so it’s quite a blessing (to be given that time)”.

Read it all.

One such event took place just over 16 years ago, and it was also here, in Parramatta. I wonder if +David Mulready will be here tonight? No doubt we will see +Ivan Lee – today is the 17th anniversary of his consecration. The outgoing Bishop of Western Sydney. pic.twitter.com/5U2ULMir5Y

— AustralianAnglican (@AustAnglican) December 20, 2019

I could go on, but the point is clear – the poll does not represent what the press release claims it does. It is not a reflection of Church of England members in the pews, it does not show any change in support for same-sex marriage in the past four years and it uses terms with little or no qualification in a manner that misleads the reader as to the meaning of the poll. That most of these issues have been pointed out on a previous occasion but have been ignored by the authors demonstrates a deliberate choice to perpetuate these errors for the sake of a political cause.

I close with a challenge to Jayne Ozanne and her self-referential Foundation. As described above, one very easy way to correct these errors would be to ask at least one extra question around church attendance. If Jayne Ozanne were to repeat the exercise, I will happily fund the asking of this extra question, the wording of which would be determined by a neutral third party to the agreement of both parties. My hypothesis is that by looking at church attendance statistics you would see that (a) the majority of these “Anglicans” are not active church members at all and (b) the active church members would hold statistically significantly different views on the subject to the non-church-attending respondents. In fact, this kind of work has been done before, by Mark Regnerus in the States. What he found was that nominal, non-church-attending respondents were indistinguishable from the general population, not only on this issue but on sexual morality more broadly, whilst it was active, church-attending members who held views on all these issues quite out of step with the wider culture. Were the Ozanne Foundation poll to make this kind of enquiry, and find something similar, then it would be significant—but rather awkward.

Proper academic inquiry, including in the area of quantitative study, is open to further information and to clarification and stratification in this manner. It adds to the body of human knowledge, it helps to deepen our understanding of sociological issues. There is no good reason why the Ozanne Foundation should refuse such an offer unless they were afraid that the results such an extra question would generate would undermine their position, but in the area of academic research that is not a good enough reason not to explore a subject in greater detail.

The challenge is clearly there – the issues with the poll have been on numerous occasions and now a cost free option exists to correct them.

Read it all.

Quite important for reporting on this survey of ‘Anglicans’: the definition is so loose that you cannot statistically differentiate it from the general population. So it appears to demonstrate nothing. @GabriellaSwerl @harrietsherwood @SCFGallagher https://t.co/n4LV2M2IOa

— Dr Ian Paul (@Psephizo) March 4, 2020

Setting out the stall for democracy, Bishop Williams said it was not quite as straightforward as may be imagined. We need to question why it should work and understand what it is as well as what it is not. He suggested democracy is often defined by what it is not – it is not autocracy, oligarchy or dictatorship. Democracy raises the question of what is lawful in human society and what kind of system has a proper claim on our loyalty and obedience. It also asks what it is that we can recognise that represents our voice and our interests. “Democracy may be a mess but it’s our mess. It may have strange ideas but it reflects our ideas,” he stated.

The Bishop pointed out that democracy does not happen automatically when other systems disappear, citing Iraq and Libya as examples. He said that the advance of democracy went hand in hand with certain advances in secularism but did not agree that democracy is secular. “The fundamental of democracy is that it represents who we are, what we want and what we care about. But there is a risk of populism. Is something made right by the majority vote?’ he asked.

The paradox of democracy, he contended, is that it believes that every human agent is worth listening to. But if every human agent is worth listening to, then that includes minorities as well as the majority. “Democracy is a system in which every voice has a claim to be heard. But that can be a challenge. The voices that have not prevailed are still worth listening to… We go on arguing and that is a sign that democracy is working because the minority voice is still being taken seriously,” he said. “The majority decision may be lawful but it is still up for debate… It is crucial for a democracy to be liberated from the idea that majority votes end arguments.” He added that freedom of speech must be safeguarded (with certain limits) if democracy is to be a means of change in society.

However, he said public debate does not mean that we allow our neighbour to shout for a while before taking our own turn to shout. We must recognise that the person who opposes us in an argument has goals which we can recognise as intelligible.

Read it all.

Take the time to watch it all.

Good day everyone! It’s a wrap!

We now have three living archbishops of the Church of Uganda. Henry Luke Orombi, Stanley Ntagali and now Stephen Kazimba Mugalu.

Congratulations Archbishop Kaziimba. A new chapter starts now.

And that’s all for today’s coverage of this very important event in the Church of Uganda’s life. Thank you for following along.

I will leave you with this picture of Kaziimba flanked by his predecessors . . .

Read it all and enjoy all the terrific pictures.

The Board, Management and Staff of Uganda Civil Aviation Authority congratulate, Bishop Samuel Kazimba, the 9th Archbishop of the Church of Uganda. We join the Church of Uganda in the celebrations today. @ChurchofUganda @ruthnankabirwa1 @UgandaMediaCent @vluggya @LukeOrombi pic.twitter.com/HLo6iwsXmI

— Uganda CAA (@UgandaCAA) March 1, 2020

Greetings were brought by Anglican representatives from global regions – The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England, brought greetings from England, the UK and Europe.

The Most Rev. Miguel Uchoa, Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Brazil brought greetings from the Americas.

The Rt. Rev. Malcolm Richards from Sydney Diocese, Australia, brought greetings from Asia and Oceania.

The Most Rev. Laurent Mbanda, Archbishop of Rwanda and Vice-Chair of the Gafcon Primates’ Council, brought greetings from Africa.

The preacher for the service was the Most Rev. Foley Beach, Chairman of the Gafcon Primates’ Council and Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America. Preaching from John 20.19-31, Archbishop Beach noted that the first thing the risen Lord Jesus did was to commission his disciples by saying, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

Jesus came to us, he said, in Incarnate Love, Servant Love, Sacrificial Love, and Steadfast Love. He concluded that Jesus is commissioning Archbishop Kaziimba – and all Christian leaders – in the same way. As the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus is sending the new Archbishop in this new ministry.

The Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali, retiring Archbishop, handed over the Provincial Staff to Archbishop Kaziimba, thus symbolizing the transfer of spiritual authority from one Archbishop to another. Archbishop Kaziimba was then seated in the Primatial Chair at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe.

Read it all.

Rev. Stephen Kaziimba was today enthroned as the 9th Archbishop of the Church of Uganda.

In honour of the occasion, here’s a photo from @ubctvuganda‘s excellent archive. It shows the Archbishop of Canterbury–Geoffrey Fisher–preaching at Namirembe Cathedral on 6 April 1961. pic.twitter.com/toBbDB00kD

— Derek R Peterson (@Unseen_Archive) March 1, 2020

2. Physical interaction during services, including the Sign of Peace, should be suspended. Clergy may choose to give the congregation permission to carry out an alternative Sign of Peace that does not involve hand contact (e.g. a smile, nod or bow) if so wished. Shaking hands on greeting and departure at religious services/gatherings should be suspended. Observe good hand and general hygiene – thorough hand–washing with soap or sanitisers and disposal of tissues.

3. Stay at home if you feel ill and display influenza–like symptoms. The symptoms to be aware of in the case of the coronavirus include cough, shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing, and fever. Do not come to church services until you feel well.

4. The Church’s duty of care extends to members of the clergy. If you have influenza–type symptoms, do not call the clergy for pastoral visitation. Pastoral support for parishioners who are unable to attend church services should be provided by telephone or online (e.g. Skype).

Read it all.

Local media sources report that the service of enthronement of the new Archbishop of the Church of Uganda will be attended by the President and First Lady, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the Speaker of Parliament and many other government leaders.

In a statement, Church of Uganda revealed that its 39 active Bishops and more than 45 retired Bishops are expected to attend the service of enthronement. In all, they are preparing for 3,000 – 7,000 people.

The Most Rev. Foley Beach, Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America and Chairman of the Gafcon Primates’ Council is expected to preach at the enthronement.

Read it all.

The bishop of Loughborough is to spend a night sleeping rough on the streets of Leicester.

Church of England bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani will take to the streets with other volunteers from the charity The Bridge, equipped with only cardboard, a sleeping bag, flasks and the clothes on their back for warmth.

The event, called The Big Sleep, will take place on Thursday March 26 on the De Montfort University and University of Leicester campuses.

The sleep out is just one of 30 projects Bishop Guli is undertaking over the next month-and-a-half as part of a Lent Pilgrimage, called The Salt of the Earth pilgrimage.

Read it all.

Bishop to spend night sleeping on streets of Leicester – Leicestershire Live https://t.co/AxEo8eVQTk

— Anonymous (@HankMonkfan) February 28, 2020

The chairperson of the Kaziimba enthronement organising committee Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa has said preparations for the installation of the new archbishop have been finalised.

While addressing the media on the progress of the preparations at Namirembe Cathedral in Kampala on Thursday, Nankabirwa said whatever they planned to have in place before the enthronement had been covered, but quickly added that the final renovation works at the cathedral and bishop’s official residence were still ongoing.

“There is still work going on. Our target as (organising) committee is to have first-class facilities to welcome the new Archbishop. It is why we still welcome donations. ,” she said.

Nankabirwa also said they were expecting over 1,500 guests to turn up for the function, but was optimistic the number could shoot to over and above, and that they were still preparing for any eventual number that could attend.

She revealed that the archbishop’s residence would be given a “palace” look once renovation works are complete.

“The archbishop’s residence will be like a palace. The house is now fully furnished, with everything including kitchen utensils. Even chefs will be there. The archbishop will only carry his suitcase,” Nankabirwa said.

Commenting on traffic and security guidelines that will be followed on the day, Nankabirwa said: “security will be beefed up.”

Read it all.

The diocese of Lincoln — the wealthiest in the Church of Eng­­­­land, with the lowest level of giving — has warned that it cannot continue to sell its assets to balance the books.

This week, a rector in the diocese, who is also a member of the Arch­bishops’ Council’s Finance Com­­­­­mittee, suggested that its historic wealth had “blinded us to the real costs of mission and min­istry”, and that it would be “immoral” to ex­­haust it.

A statement issued by the diocese last week notes that it is running an annual cash deficit of about £3 million, “which has been steadily increasing for some years, and is not sustainable”.

“For several years, bridging the gap between the parish share income and the clergy stipend costs has been met by disposing of our assets,” it says. “Although this does result in an immediate injection of funds, we lose a proportion of the interest (in­­come) on the greater amount of the asset, thus putting further pressure on our finances.

“Whilst the diocese has some his­­­toric assets, by 2021 we will have reached the safe limit of what we can sell off to pay the deficit with­­­­out caus­ing damage to those assets.”

Read it all.

A statement issued by the diocese last week notes that it is running an annual cash deficit of about £3 million, “which has been steadily increasing for some years, and is not sustainable”.https://t.co/CAonZJD0Ty

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 28, 2020

The Treasury has been at the centre of the resistance to demands for change highlighted by our War Widows’ Pensions Crusade.

In 2015 the Government ruled war widows could keep the £7,500-a-year “killed in active service” pension if they remarried.

But around 300 widows missed out as they’d remarried before then and the law was not backdated.

The Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Rev Donald Allister, said the “particular scandal of this situation is that it only applies to those where the incident causing the death occurred between April 1973 and April 2005”.

Those widowed before or after didn’t lose their benefit if they remarried, he said. “This is complete nonsense and is shameful. It must be put right.”

Read it all.

Pension fury as Boris told excuses over war widows scandal ‘will not wash’ anymore | UK | News | https://t.co/tK7ClQXCvk https://t.co/wwe51vkNf9

— Deirdre Walsh (@magicdmw) February 26, 2020

Today, the fast, repetitive chime of a single bell was heard again, though the campanologists who revived it were afraid it would fall on deaf ears.

“No-one notices church bells any more,” lamented Derrick McRobert, who performed the five-minute ritual single-handed.

The Shrovetide bell was once part of the soundtrack of life across England, but it continues in only a few Yorkshire parishes, Bingley and Scarborough among them. It used to sound at 4am, in order to wake the congregation, but as the centuries went on it got later and later.

Read it all.

Today, the fast, repetitive chime of a single bell was heard againhttps://t.co/dbhQzvgLM9

— The Yorkshire Post (@yorkshirepost) February 25, 2020

Giving an offering via contactless is about to get a whole lot easier in another 300 churches in the UK.

The Church of England has embarked on a new partnership with Visa, SumUp and Caution Your Blast to enable 300 more churches across the UK to accept contactless donations.

With more consumers choosing to make payments with card, mobile and contactless enabled devices, the partnership will offer more options for churchgoers wanting to donate.

Read it all.

Contactless giving available at 300 more churcheshttps://t.co/k36bySfCfG

— Premier Christian (@PremierRadio) February 25, 2020

Two competitions aimed at helping local churches to support people in housing need – from advocacy and advice for vulnerable tenants to ‘micro-housing’ schemes on church land – are launched today by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Housing, Church and Community.

The Project Lab competition, run in partnership with the Cinnamon Network, will identify five church projects working to support local people with housing needs and building community. These might include mentoring and befriending services, tenancy training and advocacy on behalf of vulnerable clients, including mediating with landlords.

The five finalists will be invited to an event in July, at which they will present their projects to an audience of philanthropists and a panel of judges. Two winning projects will receive a £30,000 development grant and there are up to five places available on the two-year ‘Cinnamon Project Incubator’ – where projects will receive support from industry professionals to develop their initiative.

Read it all.

Competitions launched for church projects tackling housing crisis https://t.co/W93RH2aYRW #anglican #stewardship #housing #realestate #uk #personalfinance #generosity #religion #economy

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) February 25, 2020

All the above seems pretty straight forward and I can’t see anything happening to change the outcomes I’ve described. But what then? Well, on the basis of how things have played out in almost every other western province of the Anglican Church I think we’re going to see the following:

1. A number of revisionists (possibly even a Metropolitan Archbishop) will ignore the clear (restated) mind of General Synod and push on with a renewed energy to legislate for same-sex weddings and related changes in disciplinary structures.
2. Conservatives will begin disciplinary procedures against any clergy who participate in or preside over the new liturgies and against bishops who approve of them in their own dioceses.
3. Conservatives will also refuse to meet with those who continue to openly reject Biblical standards as reiterated by the General Synod.
4. The new Primate will be faced with a difficult decision – will they uphold the clearly-stated position of the General Synod and refuse to invite to meetings those who reject it, or will they still act as though we’re all united?

In one sense the answer to 4. will be partly academic. Either way I don’t expect conservatives to continue to pursue fellowship with those who have shown no desire to maintain catholicity, undermine the doctrine and discipline of the church and won’t uphold their ordination vows.

So what will the Anglican Church of Australia look like in 2021? My best guess is that we will have a sadly fractured church. Whether we are meeting nationally as the entire church depends on whether the new Primate will be robust in upholding the position of General Synod. If we don’t meet in this way then expect the bonds of fellowship within the GAFCON movement to be only strengthened and expressed more formally.

Read it all.

A supporter of the banned Islamic State terror group has admitted plotting to blow herself up in a bomb attack on St Paul’s Cathedral.

Muslim convert Safiyya Shaikh went on a reconnaissance trip to scope out the London landmark and a hotel.

The 36-year-old, born Michelle Ramsden, was arrested after asking an undercover police officer to supply bombs.

At the Old Bailey, Shaikh, of west London, admitted preparing an act of terrorism and will be sentenced in May.

She was considered such a threat that MI5 made her the highest-level priority for investigation in the weeks before her arrest, according to Whitehall security sources.

Read it all.

UK: Safiyya Amira Shaikh ISIS supporter pleads guilty to St. Paul’s Cathedral bomb plot https://t.co/5HmLnEJmB9

— Natasha Fatah (@NatashaFatah) February 21, 2020

….the domestic worker from Mindanao in the southern Philippines ended two years of overwork, underpayment and underfeeding by slipping through a throng of people and into the street. As she headed between the elegant Victorian apartment blocks of Harrington Road, she asked for God’s help.

“As I’m walking, I’m praying, ‘Lord, bring me to your people,’” Canuday recalls.

Her prayer was answered. After a little more than two miles, Canuday, a slight, round-faced woman who is now 50, heard Filipino religious music coming from a west London church. When she followed it, she found herself at a service being conducted in Tagalog, the country’s most widely spoken language.

Members of the congregation sat her down, gave her coffee and food and offered reassurance. Today, Canuday remembers the event as an act of divine providence. “God took me to beside people who took care of me,” she says. “They said, ‘Don’t worry; don’t worry — relax.’”

Canuday’s reception at St John’s, Notting Hill — a prominent Gothic-revival building that houses London’s only Tagalog-language Church of England congregation — represented a rare nugget of good fortune for an overseas worker fleeing an abusive employer in the UK.

Read it all.

Elizabeth Canuday got away on the last Sunday of August 2016. She left her Saudi employer’s bags in the their serviced apartment lobby in South Kensington. Then she ended two years of overwork, underpayment and underfeeding, slipping out into the street https://t.co/87o1NNGaCt

— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) February 21, 2020

The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Nick Holtam, the Church of England’s lead bishop on environmental issues, is writing to all bishops and diocesan secretaries this week, in response to the target set at the General Synod last week to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero by 2030.

The most immediate problem facing the C of E is that it has no idea what its carbon footprint is at present. Bishop Holtam will ask parishes to use a new Energy Footprint Tool to measure the energy they use. The online tool also generates a dashboard to show churches how they compare. For details, see cofe.io/footprint.

Responding to the new target, 15 years before the official recommendation, the Bishop said: “We aren’t under any illusion that this will be easy. Synod’s target sets a serious challenge for the whole Church to examine urgently the steps necessary to achieve the kind of year-on-year carbon reductions we need. This is a national goal which will need more than 16,000 local plans supported by the right policies and resource.

“But the science tells us there’s no time to lose if we are to limit the warming of the planet humans are causing. The tone at Synod was overwhelmingly that Christians should respond urgently to our calling to safeguard God’s creation, and go as fast as we can.

Read it all.

“But the science tells us there’s no time to lose if we are to limit the warming of the planet humans are causing. The tone at Synod was overwhelmingly that Christians should respond urgently to our calling to safeguard God’s creation”https://t.co/LhkGt5qsaP

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 21, 2020

Typically to be accepted into the Master of Divinity program at the Atlantic School of Theology, you must have an undergraduate degree; Dawn-Lea Greer was accepted with an equivalency.

She worked with the AST faculty to submit a 300+ page portfolio of all of her work, courses she has taken and extensive volunteer experiences to be accepted into the program.

“I thought that I couldn’t make this program happen without an undergrad. With the encouragement from Rev. Susan MacAlpine-Gillis and Rev. David MacLachlan working with me to develop the portfolio, and to argue that I have an equivalency, made all the difference,” Dawn-Lea says. “Taking the time to comb through my achievements was validating, and when I was accepted, I rejoiced. Not all of us walk the same path, and that does not make one less or more of a candidate at AST. AST embraces students from all walks of life and many faiths.”

Dawn-Lea is now in her first year of the three-year full-time program, where she is also required to complete three years of formation (denominational formation), chapel and placement time.

Read it all.

#LifestyleCareerMindedSponsorContent Atlantic School of Theology: Being Ready to Accept the Call https://t.co/0FNFvjbZ5Z https://t.co/GA5oXyiqcm pic.twitter.com/RS7zpIs5lD

— Manfred Rosenberg (@4PawShop) February 20, 2020

The archbishop-elect comes at a time when the COU lacks a sound political theology necessary to counter the intrigues of Uganda’s secular politics. In fact, his immediate predecessor has several times hushed critics who resolutely dared him to discharge his ‘political’ mandate.

Thus, we have often had and still have great difficulty in determining whether he speaks officially as Uganda’s archbishop, bishop of Kampala and chancellor of the Uganda Christian University (UCU); or privately as Rev Stanley Ntagali!

Little thought has been given to the centrality and impact of sound doctrine in modelling the spiritual life plus character of Anglicans in Uganda—to the extent that today, the COU is fast losing its identity and can easily be mistaken to be part of the so-called ‘Pentecostal’ movement—except that one is just yet to witness electrocution of believers and ‘soccer matches’ inter alia in ‘our’ sanctuaries.

Far more awful to note, is the manner in which many of our ministers—whether in purple or grey or black—have yielded to the wicked lure of searching for the lost coin rather than the lost sheep; not to mention those caught ‘feasting’ on their own ‘sheep’.

To put it crudely, the COU is infested with unscrupulous persons taking advantage of the gaps within the structures to steal church properties, chiefly money and land. To our dismay, they have been rewarded with titles or higher positions.

Read it all.

A report for the Church Buildings Council has claimed that the Church of England is currently closing more church buildings than at any time since the sixteenth century. And the weight of these closures is falling predominantly in urban areas. Since 1969, about ten percent of the C of E’s churches have been turned into carpet warehouses or yuppie flats or Mosques. I won’t allow mine to be one of them.

But the powerful argument made by hard pressed parish clergy up and down the country is that they didn’t get ordained to become glorified building’s managers. A church is not the building, it is the people. And so many congregations retreat from their cold and leaky building into the local school hall or community centre. The problem here, however, is that the church building is not a mere bricks-and-mortar encumbrance, it is a way of being rooted in a community — a powerful expression of the physical presence of the Christian community over time.

In the vestry of my church is a list of Rectors of the parish going back to 1212. In 1876, the local authorities forced the old church at the Elephant and Castle to be demolished to make way for road widening. A new church was built a few hundred yards away, only to be destroyed by the Luftwaffe during the Blitz. Again it was rebuilt. The bricks of my church are not an inconvenience, a distraction — they are a statement of Christian defiance. And under its roof, Christians from all over the world seek shelter.

Read it all.

Churches are closing at a rate not seen since the sixteenth century. Especially in urban areas. I won’t let mine be one of them. https://t.co/nqPnVXgu96

— Giles Fraser (@giles_fraser) February 17, 2020

The Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Diocese of Ogbaru, Anambra State, on Monday, described Nigeria as a country at a crossroads and in a reverse gear without a steering.

Addressing newsmen at the Basilica of St. James Cathedral, Atani, Ogbaru Local Government, the Bishop, Diocese of Ogbaru, Rt. Rev. Prosper Amah, said what Nigeria needed now was divine and international intervention to save it from collapse.

Bishop Amah, who expressed shock over the crumbling security situation in Nigeria, called on the Federal Government to listen to the cry of the masses by reshuffling the security apparatus in the country and make the necessary changes on the composition of service chiefs. He said: “Nigeria, I must say, is gradually being consumed by insecurity. We are at a crossroads. Not just a crossroads, but a dark one, that is in a reverse gear without steering. “We do not know who is leading us now. We are confused; that is where we are now.”

Read it all.

40 years after his death, #JananiLuwum remains an inspiration to Ugandans and beyond. You will never be forgotten. #JananiLuwumDay pic.twitter.com/qv5YZYqrlg

— This Is Uganda (@ThisIsUganda_) February 16, 2017

In Uganda, during the eight years in the 1970’s when Idi Amin and his men slaughtered probably half a million Ugandans, “We live today and are gone tomorrow” was the common phrase.

We learned that living in danger, when the Lord Jesus is the focus of your life, can be liberating. For one thing, you are no longer imprisoned by your own security, because there is none. So the important security that people sought was to be anchored in God.

As we testified to the safe place we had in Jesus, many people who had been pagan, or were on the fringes of Christianity, flocked to the church or to individuals, asking earnestly, “How do you prepare yourself for death?” Churches all over the country were packed both with members and seekers. This was no comfort to President Amin, who was making wild promises to Libya and other Arab nations that Uganda would soon be a Muslim country. (It is actually 80 per cent Christian)….
It became clear to us through the Scriptures that our resistance was to be that of overcoming evil with good. This included refusing to cooperate with anything that dehumanizes people, but we reaffirmed that we can never be involved in using force or weapons.

…we knew, of course, that the accusation against our beloved brother, Archbishop Janani Luwum, that he was hiding weapons for an armed rebellion, was untrue, a frame-up to justify his murder.

The archbishop’s arrest, and the news of his death, was a blow from the Enemy calculated to send us reeling. That was on February 16, 1977. The truth of the matter is that it boomeranged on Idi Amin himself. Through it he lost respect in the world and, as we see it now, it was the beginning of the end for him.

For us, the effect can best be expressed in the words of the little lady who came to arrange flowers, as she walked through the cathedral with several despondent bishops who were preparing for Archbishop Luwum’s Memorial Service. She said, “This is going to put us twenty times forward, isn’t it?” And as a matter of fact, it did.

More than four thousand people walked, unintimidated, past Idi Amin’s guards to pack St. Paul’s Cathedral in Kampala on February 20. They repeatedly sang the “Martyr’s Song,” which had been sung by the young Ugandan martyrs in 1885. Those young lads had only recently come to know the Lord, but they loved Him so much that they could refuse the evil thing demanded of them by King Mwanga. They died in the flames singing, “Oh that I had wings such as angels have, I would fly away and be with the Lord.” They were given wings, and the singing of those thousands at the Memorial Service had wings too.

–Festo Kivengere, Revolutionary Love, Chapter Nine

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.

Quote: Janani Luwum:

“I am prepared to die in the army of Jesus. While the opportunity is there I preach the Gospel with all my might, and my conscience is clear before God that I have not sided with the present Government which is utterly self-seeking.” #NBSUpdates pic.twitter.com/PliB6kQzLe

— NBS Television (@nbstv) February 16, 2018

Plush vicarages put off working class Christians claims a priest as the Church of England warns of a “serious threat” to its future in poorer areas.

In a debate about struggling to reach people on low-income backgrounds, Rev Canon Chris Tebbutt, rector of Canford Magna, Salisbury, said he had forged much better relationships with his community after giving up a seven-bedroom “manor house” to live in a new local development.

“Clergy housing is a hugely important factor for mission and evangelism,” he said. “Inappropriate housing sends out totally the wrong message to the community.” The vicarage is now occupied by an archdeacon, he added.

Read it all (requires subscription).

Plush vicarages put off working class Christians claims a priest as the Church of England warns of a “serious threat” to its future in poorer areashttps://t.co/ZbJJQ9xqnv

— The Times (@thetimes) February 14, 2020

Sports and fitness activities are to be championed as part of plans by the Church of England to reach more people with the message of the Christian faith and promote the wellbeing of communities, it is announced…[yesterday].

Seven dioceses across the country in areas such as Birmingham, Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Norfolk and Surrey, are to take part in pilot projects to include sport and wellbeing into their mission.

The dioceses hope to help provide a range of different activities from personal fitness classes to holiday football clubs, outdoor pursuits and even sports quizzes. In the Diocese of Gloucester, the Church of England is planning to develop a network of sport and wellbeing centres with participants invited to explore and respond to the Christian faith.

In Lancashire, in the Diocese of Blackburn, sports quizzes are already arranged for churches by the group Christians in Sport and churches have been active in setting up holiday sports schemes and personal fitness classes.

Training for lay and ordained leaders in sports and wellbeing ministry is being provided as part of the programme by Ridley Hall, the Anglican theological college in Cambridge.

Read it all.

“Sports ministry has the potential to transform lives and communities for good through improved health and wellbeing, personal mentoring, leadership development and community cohesion.”
– Bishop of Derby, Libby Lanehttps://t.co/jWitQb9tbP

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) February 13, 2020

Archbishop Justin Welby praised the Archbishop of York who is currently travelling in the Pacific. He said: “He (John Sentamu) has gone to visit parts of the world which are suffering the effects of climate change right now. He has gone typically to respond to an invitation for him to go and preach and be alongside those who are suffering: a pattern of his life throughout his ministry.”

The Archbishop continued: “Speaking about Sentamu when he’s not here is both dangerous but also deeply liberating for it means we can show our gratitude, thanks and love for him without him being able to stop us.”

Recalling the Archbishop of York’s work on the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, Archbishop Justin added that “he has said that he himself was stopped at least eight times by the police”. The Archbishop of Canterbury continued: “To honour his memory, his lifelong, bitter cruel and wicked experience of institutional racism which has existed and does exist within the Church of England we must be dedicated to actions not just words.”

Read it all.

Archbishop of Canterbury pays tribute to the Archbishop of York https://t.co/a97ip5DnJf #anglican #leadership #religion #uk

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) February 14, 2020

The report, published in October 2019, includes a recommendation for Episcopal oversight of the Islands to be transferred to the Bishop of Salisbury.

Members of Synod, including the Dean of Guernsey and the Bishop of Winchester, spoke in favour of the motion. The Dean of Guernsey said the motion had widespread support in the Islands.

The General Synod of The Church of England has approved recommendations by the Archbishop’s Commission on the relationship of the Channel Islands to the wider Church of England.

Read it all.

Calls for “proper” and “just” redress for survivors of clerical abuse, with “serious money”, were made in an emotional debate on safeguarding in the General Synod on Wednesday morning.

The Synod voted unanimously for an amended motion to endorse the response of the Archbishops’ Council to the recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

The amendment, brought by the next lead Bishop of safeguarding, the Bishop of Huddersfield, Dr Jonathan Gibbs, asked that the original motion be reinforced by “concrete actions”. Earlier attempts to strengthen it had foundered (News, 7 February). Dr Gibbs’s amendment also urged the National Safeguarding Steering Group to commit to a “fully survivor-centred approach to safeguarding, including arrangements for redress for survivors” and to update the Synod on the progress on the IICSA recommendations not later than 2021.

Redress was a small phrase with large implications, Dr Gibbs said. “It will mean serious money [and] changes in ways we handle claims and complaints.” Safeguarding responses must be “shaped by the righteousness and compassion of God’s Kingdom, not by the short-term and short-sighted financial and reputational interests of the Church,” he said.

Read it all.

LATEST. Calls for “proper” and “just” redress for survivors of clerical abuse, with “serious money”, were made in an emotional debate on safeguarding in the General #Synod todayhttps://t.co/chCCrOlHpR

— Hattie Williams (@hattieewilliams) February 12, 2020