From the New York Times:

Virtually every aspect of global migration can be seen in this tiny West African nation, where the number of people who have left approaches the number who remain and almost everyone has a close relative in Europe or America.

Migrant money buoys the economy. Migrant votes sway politics. Migrant departures split parents from children, and the most famous song by the most famous Cape Verdean venerates the national emotion, “Sodade,” or longing. Lofty talk of opportunity abroad mixes at cafe tables here with accounts of false documents and sham marriages.

The intensity of the national experience makes this barren archipelago the Galapagos of migration, a microcosm of the forces straining American politics and remaking societies across the globe.

Read it all.

Watch it all and also look at an earlier report there.

From the New York Times:

The News Corporation, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, and advisers for Dow Jones and its controlling Bancroft family were close last night to agreeing on terms designed to protect The Wall Street Journal’s newsroom independence if the company accepts a takeover bid from Mr. Murdoch, according to several people briefed on the talks.

However, these people cautioned that a deal between Mr. Murdoch and the Bancrofts’ advisers did not mean that either the Dow Jones board or the family, which controls 64 percent of the shareholder votes, would approve the arrangement.

If an agreement on newsroom independence were to be made by the Dow Jones board, the News Corporation and the Bancroft family, the only barrier standing in the way of Mr. Murdoch’s control of The Wall Street Journal would be the selling price.

Mr. Murdoch has offered $60 a share for Dow Jones, which he has long wanted to add to his global media empire, and promises that he will not meddle in the news pages. But the Bancroft family, which has controlled the company for more than 100 years, is wary of his reputation for sensationalism and for interfering in the news operations of his media companies for his own political or financial ends.

Read it all.

Bishop Ingham, however, said the vote won’t make anyone happy. “A majority of people voted in favour. I think everyone’s a loser. Traditional Christians can’t take comfort in the vote and those who want to move on are held back by a small number of bishops. I think we need to look at the composition of the house of bishops and whether it properly reflects the Anglican Church of Canada.” There is a predominance of bishops from rural areas while the Canadian church is predominantly an urban church, he said.

“It was a vote to continue the (worldwide Anglican) Communion conversation and it was a vote of support for those bishops who said we will face difficulty in our dioceses. It puts us in a position of being asked to wait,” said Bishop John Privett of Kootenay.

However, observer Gordon Youngman, of the diocese of British Columbia, said the decision means “the Anglican Church of Canada is effectively paralyzed for the next three years.”

Read it all.

Chris Ambidge, national spokesman for an Anglican group that supports same-sex unions, said the national meeting sent mixed messages to Anglicans across Canada and was confusing to everyone who voted.

“What is wrong with having rights of blessing when you’ve already said it’s OK?” he said. “I just don’t understand that.”

Primate-elect Frederick Hiltz said the vote’s outcome showed that several bishops still want to wait and study the issue further. He said there will be an ongoing conversation about same-sex unions and that it will likely come up again at the next national meeting. Hiltz said the few parishes who were previously granted the right to bless same-sex unions in the church’s New Westminster diocese will continue to do so.

“The reality is we have a very divided Synod over this issue and that’s respective of a very divided church,” he said. “There’s no doubt that many people are disappointed as a result of the vote.”

The split threatens to divide Anglicans on either side, even forcing them to leave or switch churches.

Cheryl Chang, a spokesperson for Anglican Essentials, a group which opposes blessing same-sex unions, called Sunday’s vote a “divisive tragedy” for the entire church.

Although opponents of same-sex unions ultimately won, Chang said doctrine devotees believe blessing same-sex unions contradicts the church’s core doctrine. She said people who love scripture might look to the Catholic Church or other organized religions instead.

Read it all.

A razor-thin majority of Canada’s Anglican bishops yesterday overrode the wishes of their laity and clergy and vetoed a resolution that would have allowed for blessings of homosexual unions.

The bishops’ action will spare the Canadian church from censure by leaders of other branches of the global Anglican Communion, almost all of whom are vehemently opposed to blessing same-sex unions and permitting priests to be in open homosexual relationships.

But it will anger many Canadian Anglicans, particularly in large urban centres, and isolate the U.S. Episcopal Church, which alone in the worldwide Anglican Communion has approved a liturgy for same-sex blessings and appointed an openly gay bishop.

The resolution put to the Canadian church’s triennial general synod, or governing parliament, in Winnipeg, would have permitted blessings of committed same-sex unions in parish churches with the concurrence of the local bishop and “in a manner which respects the conscience of the incumbent [parish priest] and the will of the parish.”

Read it all.

More young people are interested in becoming priests in the Anglican Church after a long-term decline in recruitment, the Archbishop of Brisbane Philip Aspinall says.

Numbers were still low, about eight or nine a year, compared to only one or two, but the new wave of would-be recruits to the clergy were younger, Dr Aspinall told the annual synod in Brisbane on Saturday.

“The average age of those seeking long-term ministry in the church is now down to 33 – 10 years ago we had an ordination in which nobody was under 40,” Mr McDonald said.

He said last year 24 people took part in conferences to consider whether to seek vocations, and of those 21 were invited to enter formal training for various ministries.

“This increase in the number of people inquiring about ordination and entering formation for ordination is very heartening,” Dr Aspinall said.

Read it all.

THE surge of extra American troops into Iraq’s battered capital, which began in mid-February, is at last complete. An extra 21,000 of them are now there, bringing their tally in Baghdad up to 31,000-plus and nationwide to 155,000, the highest troop level since late 2005. Senior American officers say that a third of Baghdad now has a degree of “normalcy”; a third, especially those districts with a sectarian fault-line running through them, is still very violent; and a third is in flux.

Once the Americans have secured Baghdad, so the theory goes, they hope to tackle the so-called “belts” just outside Baghdad, in particular the nearby mainly Sunni towns to the south””Mahmudiya, Latifiya and Yusufiya””encompassing a “triangle of death” where al-Qaeda has been active in an area straddling a blurred line between Sunnis and Shias. By stemming the tide of a sectarian war, the Americans still hope to buttress Iraq’s Shia-led government while giving it a last chance to co-opt a serious Sunni component.

The top American general in Iraq, David Petraeus, who is to report on progress to the American Congress in mid-September, cautions against impatient expectations. He is likely to ask for more time. The commonest guess is that the surge will last at least until next spring and perhaps into the early summer. This week General Petraeus said that counter-insurgency operations sometimes last “nine or ten years” before they bring success””yet it is highly unlikely that a new American administration would consider such a timescale.

In any event, though it is still too early to make firm predictions about the surge, the overall level of violence in Iraq has so far not abated.

Read it all.

Gordon Brown, Britain’s next prime minister, on Sunday promised a foreign policy that recognizes that defeating terrorism is as much a struggle of ideas as a military battle – a lesson he said was drawn from Iraq.

As he took control of the governing Labour Party from Tony Blair, Brown said Britain would “learn lessons that need to be learned.”

Britain’s future foreign policy will “reflect the truth that to isolate and defeat terrorist extremism now involves more than military force,” Brown told a conference of party members in Manchester, northern England.

“It is also a struggle of ideas and ideals that in the coming years will be waged and won for hearts and minds here at home and round the world.”

Read it all.

The ACC news story is here..

By the slimmest possible margin in the order of bishops, Resolution A187 which would have allowed dioceses to choose to approve SSBs has been DEFEATED.

The vote was by orders. It only failed by the vote of TWO BISHOPS in the house of bishops.

In Favor / Opposed
Laity 78 / 59 Passed
Clergy 63 / 53 Passed
Bishops 19 / 21 Failed

Motion Fails.

The original motion:

Resolution Number: A187

Subject: Blessing of Same Sex Unions

BE IT RESOLVED:

That this General Synod affirm the authority and jurisdiction of any diocesan synod, with the concurrence of its bishop, to authorize the blessing of committed same sex unions.

The final amended form of the motion

That this General Synod affirm the authority and juristiction of any
diocesan synod,
a) with the concurrence of the diocesan bishop, and
b) in a manner than respects the conscience of the incumbent and the will of the parish,
to authorise the blessing of committed same sex unions

.

Details here:

Read it all.

I would say that in theology, as well as anywhere else, one cannot think enough, think intensively enough, courageously enough, and precisely enough.

–Karl Rahner (1904-1984)

From the (London) Times:

This year marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Charles Wesley, whose hymns still remain a remarkable distillation of Christian faith and experience. It is Charles who prays “Heavenly Adam, Life divine; Change my nature into thine”, showing an understanding of the Christian life and the transforming grace of the Holy Spirit which is close to the Orthodox understanding that we are called to become “partakers of the divine nature”. “Hark the herald angels sing!” teaches the saving mystery of the Incarnation ”“ “veiled in flesh the Godhead see! Hail the incarnate Deity!”

Charles longs for a heart to praise ”“ “a humble, lowly, contrite heart, believing true and clean, which neither life nor death can part, from Him that dwells within.” He prays, in a morning hymn, “Fill me, radiancy divine, scatter all my unbelief”.

Quite coincidentally, this is also the 200th anniversary of another great hymn-writer, Christopher Wordsworth, the nephew of William Wordsworth and Bishop of Lincoln. He taught the faith through his hymns. It was, he said, “the first duty of a hymn-writer to teach sound doctrine, and thus to save souls”.
His hymns were drawn from Scripture and the ancient Fathers of the Church, as we can see in his hymns for Epiphany (“Songs of thankfulness and praise”); Easter (“Alleluia, alleluia, hearts to heaven and voices raise”); and Ascension (“See the conqueror mounts in triumph”).

In the end Charles Wesley is the greater poet and hymn writer, but both he and Christopher Wordsworth are above all teachers of the faith, reminding us that “orthodoxy” does not mean right belief but right glory. Their hymns invite us to lift up our hearts, pointing us to the glory of heaven where we shall be “lost in wonder, love and praise”.

Read it all.

Read it all.

The ACC News report on this morning’s vote. Only a one vote margin in the bishops to change the outcome.

Update: A CP article is Read it all.

According to Peter at Anglican Essentials Blog the vote was:

C/L 152 / 97 Passed
B 21 / 19 Passed

The final text of the resolution read:

That this General Synod resolves that the blessing of same-sex unions is not in conflict with the core doctrine (in the sense of being creedal) of The Anglican Church of Canada.

From the Florida Times-Union:

All Souls Church-Anglican will begin its final service at 9 a.m. Sunday, July 15, in the sanctuary at 10679 Old St. Augustine Road, where members worshipped for 28 years. The first rector, Whitey Haugan (1979-1999), will then lock up for the last time before the congregation walks to a temporary Sunday home at Mandarin Middle School at 5100 Hood Road to complete services.

“The people who are coming will make it [the school auditorium] a church – almost 400, and they are all going with us,” said the Rev. Gene Strickland, the church’s current rector. “While the [Episcopal] diocese may own the property, we have the people.”

Frank Griffin, a member since the early 1990s, is helping search for a new church site. He said there will be mixed emotions during the 2-mile walk to the middle school.

“If you are going to be orthodox and committed to your religion, than the move is the right thing,” Griffin said. “[I will miss] the comfort and the memories there. However, the church family, which is strongly bonded, will stay intact. … We could have capitulated and stayed, or left and started anew.”

Read it all

From AP:

Three years after a few outspoken U.S. Roman Catholic bishops tied together presidential politics, abortion and the Communion rail, leaders of the nation’s largest denomination are starting to speak out again.

Only this time, the political climate is much different.

The Catholic presidential hopeful under criticism for championing abortion rights is a Republican instead of a Democrat, the general election might pit two candidates who believe abortion should remain legal, Democrats control both chambers of Congress and immigration reform has surfaced as a major issue.

As most of the nation’s 268 active Catholic bishops met for a private retreat this week in New Mexico, questions were building about how prominent their voices will be in the 2008 race.

Will some follow the example of Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, R.I., who last month called the pro-abortion rights position of Catholic GOP candidate Rudy Giuliani, “pathetic and confusing?” Will abortion dominate the bishops’ statements on the election, or will immigration and poverty?

Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput said in an interview with The Associated Press that official Catholic involvement depends on which candidates and issues emerge from primary season. A vocal proponent of calling on Catholic politicians and voters to follow church teachings, Chaput also made it clear he thinks the time for behind-the-scenes diplomacy with politicians is over.

Read it all.

From the NY Times:

Bear Stearns Companies, the investment bank, pledged up to $3.2 billion in loans yesterday to bail out one of its hedge funds that was collapsing because of bad bets on subprime mortgages.

It is the biggest rescue of a hedge fund since 1998 when more than a dozen lenders provided $3.6 billion to save Long-Term Capital Management.

The crisis this week from the near collapse of two hedge funds managed by Bear Stearns stems directly from the slumping housing market and the fallout from loose lending practices that showered money on people with weak, or subprime, credit, leaving many of them struggling to stay in their homes.

Read it all.

From CP:

Instead of debating the issue last night, delegates at the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada spent hours wrangling over procedural issues.

Canada’s outgoing primate, or church leader, seemed somewhat fed up after two hours of discussion about technical issues, and even joked the debate would go more smoothly after a good night’s rest.

“It vexes me that Anglicans are prepared to spend more energy in process than substance,” said Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, a comment that drew cheers and clapping from the delegates and observers.

As they debated how the vote would work, Rev. Douglas Stoute urged the 300 delegates to make a decision once the rules are established. The Toronto minister said people want a clear answer.

“They want us to leave here having said something, and not just done a shuffle. This issue is not going to go away,” Stoute said.

Read it all.

Summer beach-reading season is just beginning, and already several books have broken out from the pack, such as Walter Isaacson’s biography of Albert Einstein, and Conn and Hal Iggulden’s “The Dangerous Book for Boys.”

But the biggest surprise is a blazing attack on God and religion that is flying off bookshelves, even in the Bible Belt. “God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything,” by Christopher Hitchens, wasn’t expected to be a blockbuster. Its publisher, Twelve, a fledgling imprint owned by France’s Lagardère SCA, initially printed a modest 40,000 copies. Today, seven weeks after the book went on sale, there are 296,000 copies in print. Demand has been so strong that booksellers and wholesalers were unable to get copies a short time after it hit stores, creating what the publishing industry calls a “dark week.” One experienced publishing veteran suggests that Mr. Hitchens will likely earn more than $1 million on this book.

A spin-off is already in the works. Rival publisher Da Capo Press, which is owned by Perseus Books LLC, got in touch with Mr. Hitchens and signed him up to edit, “The Portable Atheist,” a compilation of essays by such writers as Mark Twain and Charles Darwin that will be published in the fall.

“This is atheism’s moment,” says David Steinberger, Perseus’s CEO. “Mr. Hitchens has written the category killer, and we’re excited about having the next book.”

Read it all.

From the Christian Century:

Breathing the air of Christ””Christ becoming the “atmosphere” in which we live, to borrow the language of a great New Testament scholar, C. F. D. Moule””isn’t only about being in a state of peace but about being in what some would call a “dynamic equilibrium.” Our peace is what it is because it is a flow of unbroken activity, the constant maintenance of relation and growth as we give into each other’s lives and receive from each other, so that we advance in trust and confidence with one another and God. So it is that when the creed moves us on to speak about believing in the Holy Spirit, it also moves us on to speak about our confidence, our trust in the church.

For some, this feels awkward. Surely we don’t believe in the church in the sense that we believe in God or in Christ? It’s a fair point; and in fact it’s already there in the Greek of the Nicene Creed, which says literally that we believe the church. The church is indeed not another reality on the same level as the Father, the Son and the Spirit. But it is a community we can trust.

Read it all.

Read it all

I am following the discussion and occasionally commenting on the Anglican Essentials GS blog.

Some information is here and an interview is there.

Read it all.

Sure, I would like there to have been more theologically informed remarks from several of the speakers.

If the Episcopal Church had had the courage of its convictions in 2003 to have the same voting requirement currently being proposed in Canada, the approval for the election in New Hampshire would have failed in the House of Bishops among those bishops with jurisdiction who had a vote. Hmmmmm…..KSH.

In particular, we affirm the following:

3. That there has been no sustained debate on this matter in the Church. Twelve years ago a group of British academics published ”˜The St Andrew’s Day Statement’, a non-polemical document identifying some of the important theological matters raised by the Church’s response to those living in same-sex relationships. As recently as this past January, one of the document’s authors, The Rev. Professor Oliver O’Donovan, maintained that the Statement has been largely ignored. Bishop Ingham’s assertion that the Church ”˜stands in need’ of a better theology of sexuality is itself an affirmation that the doctrinal character of this matter is something that has yet to be worked out. For him, this would involve ”˜of necessity an entire reappraisal of Christian tradition, going right back to the Bible itself’. It is true that consultations have been held on the St Michael Report across the country. But, with the exception of the ”˜Faith Seeking Understanding Conference’ held at Huron University College this past January, most of these consultations have been given over to hearing points of view and not to a critical exchange of ideas. Quite simply, what is lacking is a biblical and theological justification for changing the Church’s teaching.

—A Pentecost Letter to General Synod Delegates and Others from Concerned Theologians and Scholars

Being Discussed are these three resolutions by The Council of the General Synod :

Resolution Number: A185

Subject: Voting Requirement for Resolutions A186 and A187
Moved by:

Seconded By:

Note: The mover and the seconder must be members of the General Synod and be present in the House when the resolution is before the synod for debate.

BE IT RESOLVED:

That resolutions A186 and A187 be deemed to have been carried only if they receive the affirmative votes of sixty percent of the members of each Order present and voting, and if a vote by dioceses is requested, only if they receive the affirmative votes of sixty percent of the dioceses whose votes are counted.
————————————————————————————————-

Resolution Number: A186

Subject: Blessing of Same Sex Unions – Core Doctrine of ACC
Moved by:

Seconded By:

Note: The mover and the seconder must be members of the General Synod and be present in the House when the resolution is before the synod for debate.

BE IT RESOLVED:

That this General Synod resolves that the blessing of same-sex unions is consistent with the core doctrine of The Anglican Church of Canada.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Resolution Number: A187

Subject: Blessing of Same Sex Unions
Moved by:

Seconded By:

Note: The mover and the seconder must be members of the General Synod and be present in the House when the resolution is before the synod for debate.

BE IT RESOLVED:

That this General Synod affirm the authority and jurisdiction of any diocesan synod, with the concurrence of its bishop, to authorize the blessing of committed same sex unions.