Decades before she was elected presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, when even the priesthood seemed an unlikely calling, a teenage Katharine Jefferts Schori wrestled with big questions through the night.

In the darkness of the Stanford University chapel, she pondered the usual puzzles of young adulthood: Where do I belong? Why am I here? But Jefferts Schori was also hunting bigger fish””how to reconcile her Christian faith with the science she was learning as a biology major.

“How to make sense of the wonders of creation and the scientific descriptions of how they came to be,” Jefferts Schori recalled in an interview in her office here, “I hadn’t had any conscious assistance in how to deal with that as a child.”

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The authorities are still at a loss on the best course of action 18 months after the credit crisis broke out. That’s left them pursuing a disjointed approach as the global economy deteriorates further….

—From a Bloomberg article on the G7

Here in the UK each of us can point to new or existing church projects to help those in need. In London there are night shelters, food banks, debt counselling and youth employment projects to name but a few. The ARC Addington Fund continues to help farmers and those in rural communities facing hardship; whilst in Leeds the church has been involved in cracking down on doorstep lenders seeking to exploit the most economically vulnerable.

Our strength as a Church lies not only in our vision but also in our presence. Our place in every parish in England gives us an unparalleled opportunity to make this fresh vision a reality.

We share a hope, born of the incarnation, which goes far beyond economic recovery. It reaches into the heart of every man, woman and child. Yes we lament our situation, but we do so knowing that our song will finish in hope: the hope in Christ’s message to us. “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive for ever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Do not be afraid”. (Revelation 1:17-18).

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It was the biggest bill of the year, a giant expansion of government spending.

Top members of Congress were incensed that they were cut out of final negotiations between the House and Senate. They complained that the legislation was the product of just one party with only a few select members of the opposition invited to play a role.

But the Medicare drug plan passed anyway in 2003 when Republicans controlled the White House and Congress. So it was hardly novel this week when Republicans protested vigorously that their legislative rights had been violated as the Democratic-led Congress pushed through the $787 billion economic stimulus bill with just three Republican votes in the Senate. Only the party labels had changed.

In truth, regular order ”” as following the Congressional rule book is known on Capitol Hill ”” has not been occurring very regularly in the House and Senate for years. And both parties are to blame.

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Check it out. Also, the whole filing is here.

US President Barack Obama has welcomed Congress’s approval of his $787bn (£548bn) economic stimulus package.

He described it as a “historic step” and “major milestone on our road to recovery”, and is expected to sign the bill into law early next week.

The Senate approved the measure with just three Republican votes, hours after the House of Representatives backed it without Republican support.

Mr Obama has said the plan will “save or create more than 3.5 million jobs”.

Republicans argue the tax cuts are insufficient, and that the economy will be saddled with debt for years to come.

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16:48ET BULLETIN — WORLD IN A “SERIOUS RECESSION”, SAYS IMF CHIEF.

The Synod, the governing body of the state religion, voted overwhelmingly in favour of an amnesty for those whose cases are still being decided on, and said all those who want to live here should be allowed to work.

It also said that a solution must be found to the “intolerable” situation of people who are refused leave to remain but cannot return to their home countries, and that children and families must no longer be detained in Immigration Removal Centres.

The Rev Ruth Worsley, a priest in the diocese of Southwell & Nottingham who tabled the motion on the subject, said: “The financial cost to our country, as well as the human cost which leaves people in limbo for years, not knowing what their future might hold, seems unconscionable.

“With the arrival of the credit crunch, the subsequent loss of jobs, the recent call for British jobs for British people, there is a danger that we become inward-looking and even xenophobic.

“But the Gospel tells us that we are not a tribal nation but a global family.”

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This is really helpful–read it all.

The Obama administration is committing huge sums of money to rescuing banks, but the veterans of Japan’s banking crisis have three words for the Americans: more money, faster.

The Japanese have been here before. They endured a “lost decade” of economic stagnation in the 1990s as their banks labored under crippling debt, and successive governments wasted trillions of yen on half-measures.

Only in 2003 did the government finally take the actions that helped lead to a recovery: forcing major banks to submit to merciless audits and declare bad debts; spending two trillion yen to effectively nationalize a major bank, wiping out its shareholders; and allowing weaker banks to fail.

By then, Tokyo’s main Nikkei stock index had lost almost three-quarters of its value. The country’s public debt had grown to exceed its gross domestic product, and deflation stalked the land. In the end, real estate prices fell for 15 consecutive years.

More alarming? Some students of the Japanese debacle say they see a similar train wreck heading for the United States.

“I thought America had studied Japan’s failures,” said Hirofumi Gomi, a top official at Japan’s Financial Services Agency during the crisis. “Why is it making the same mistakes?”

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