The Diocese of Virginia is gratified by the Supreme Court of Virginia’s ruling that the 57-9 “Division Statute” was incorrectly applied by the Fairfax County Circuit Court. The statute has forced faithful Episcopalians to worship elsewhere for over three years. The Supreme Court has sent the matter back to the lower court for further proceedings. The Diocese will demonstrate that the property is held in trust for all 80,000 Episcopalians who worship in Virginia.

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The nine Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) congregations that are parties to the church property case brought by The Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia are reviewing today’s Virginia Supreme Court ruling overturning the Fairfax County Circuit Court’s ruling in the case and remanding it back to the Circuit Court for further proceedings. The Episcopal Church and Diocese of Virginia had appealed a ruling in favor of the congregations to the Virginia Supreme Court.

“We are disappointed with today’s ruling and will review it as we consider our options. This is not the final chapter in this matter. The court’s ruling simply involved one of our statutory defenses, and these properties are titled in the name of the congregations’ trustees, not in the name of the Diocese or The Episcopal Church. So we continue to be confident in our legal position as we move forward and will remain steadfast in our effort to defend the historic Christian faith,” said Jim Oakes, chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia, which is the umbrella organization for the nine Anglican congregations.

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Anglican Planet: If our General Synod were to vote to endorse the local option for SSBs, would that be regarded as a breach of the moratoria by the wider Anglican Communion?

The way in which you handle requests from the Communion in the Anglican Church of Canada is a matter for the Anglican Church of Canada. At the end of the day, it’s the Instruments of Communion that make the decisions and it’s up to us who serve those Instruments to implement those decisions.

Anglican Planet: Wouldn’t that come formally under their [Canadian] Synod?

That probably would influence the answer that Archbishop Hiltz might give me that I asked him on the second page [of my memorandum.]

Neil Adams, Anglican Journal: Archbishop Hiltz and Primate Jefferts Schori are concerned that the word “formally” could mean that there are churches like the Church of England were SSBs occur but informally, and that a double standard exists.

The Communion at the international level receives from churches what those churches communicate to the wider world. We don’t dive down into the detailed life of a particular church, parish or diocese. I don’t go checking. We take what the senior authorized bodies of each church decide on issues that are relevant to the wider Anglican Communion. What a synod has said “formally” means probably by resolution. That would be my interpretation.
Neil Adams, Anglican Journal: Archbishop Hiltz and Primate Jefferts Schori are concerned that the word “formally” could mean that there are churches like the Church of England were SSBs occur but informally, and that a double standard exists.

The Communion at the international level receives from churches what those churches communicate to the wider world. We don’t dive down into the detailed life of a particular church, parish or diocese. I don’t go checking. We take what the senior authorized bodies of each church decide on issues that are relevant to the wider Anglican Communion. What a synod has said “formally” means probably by resolution. That would be my interpretation.

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The National Religious Campaign Against Torture wants the government to investigate claims that doctors and medical professionals performed unethical experiments on detainees in CIA custody during the Bush administration.

On Tuesday (June 8), members of NRCAT voiced their concerns over a report from the Physicians for Human Rights called “Experiments in Torture: Evidence of Human Subject Research and Experimentation in the `Enhanced’ Interrogation Program.”

According to the report, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, doctors were asked to analyze and improve enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding, forced nudity, sleep deprivation and prolonged isolation.

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Italy, the reigning world champion by dint of its victory in the 2006 World Cup, takes soccer deadly seriously. The nation abounds with legendary clubs owned by extravagantly rich magnates who have spent the last 50 years luring the world’s finest players with offers they cannot refuse. So where is today’s highest-paid player in Italy from? Not from Brazil or Argentina, the planet’s most prolific footballing factories; nor from France, Germany or Spain. Neither, for that matter, is he Italian. The player with the highest salary in Italy is a Cameroonian called Samuel Eto’o, the spearhead of an African contingent that has taken Europe’s soccer citadel by storm.

Unlike many in the money-mad soccer world, or in banking, Eto’o has earned every penny. Three times African player of the year, Eto’o goes into the first World Cup on African soil as captain, and uncrowned king, of Cameroon, armed with a statistic that he alone owns: Eto’o is the first player ever to have won the treble of National League, National Cup and European Champions League ”” soccer’s royal flush ”” with two different teams. And he has done it (the odds have to be mightily long on this happening again anytime soon) in successive seasons, the first with Barcelona and the second, in May, with Inter Milan.

Now Eto’o will get a chance to perform on the biggest stage the world has ever seen. Soccer is the great secular religion. Some 30% of the world’s people declare themselves Christian; 20%, Muslim. But people’s devotion to soccer transcends all creeds, races, tongues. The World Cup in South Africa will generate more intense planetary babble ”” will be dissected, tweeted, Facebooked, Googled, SMSed and scrutinized by billions on 400 TV channels in 208 countries ”” than any other event in human history. The 2006 World Cup in Germany had a total cumulative TV audience of more than 26 billion, according to official FIFA figures. The big-smiling, boyish Eto’o, whose country brought African soccer to the world’s attention when it reached the quarterfinals of the 1990 Cup, will loom large in the conversation. How he got there ”” how he managed his ascent to the pantheon of humanity’s most popular divinities alongside other African players such as Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast and Michael Essien of Ghana ”” is an unbeatable tale of rags to riches. It’s little wonder that during the hour we spoke recently, Eto’o used the word dream 14 times. As in, “My whole life is a dream, a dream come true, a dream I’ll only wake up from the day I stop playing football.”

I am super excited about this–read it all; KSH.

British business on Wednesday expressed alarm at the “inappropriate” and increasingly aggressive rhetoric being deployed against BP by President Barack Obama, warning that the attacks on the oil company could affect energy security and damage wider transatlantic industry relations.

Richard Lambert, director general of the CBI, a leading British employers’ organisation, told the FT the presidential attack was “obviously a matter of concern ”“ politicians getting heavily involved in business in this way always is”.

He suggested the White House strategy was misplaced, stating that “apart from anything else, BP is a vital part of the US energy infrastructure. So the US has an interest in the welfare of BP, as much as the rest of the world does.”

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Many churchgoers were hoping no doubt that Britain had seen an end to the assaults on traditional religious beliefs that Labour made in the name of ‘equality’ and ‘human rights’.

The party had made a manifesto promise to attempt ”“ for the third time ”“ to get rid of the free speech defence to the crime of homophobic abuse, so there is little doubt that Christians would have seen more of the same had Gordon Brown remained Prime Minister.

But can things only get better?

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The jurisdictional approach to the integration of the Anglican Mission (a missionary outreach of Rwanda) into the Anglican Church in North America has been found to be “a bridge too far” and this meeting sees the petition of the Anglican Mission to be a Ministry Partner as a more appropriate approach to our life together in this season. At the same time this meeting heralds the ending of many important oversight relationships with foreign partners. Not least among these is the conclusion of Recife’s episcopal role. We are delighted that Bp. Robinson Cavalcanti is with us to mark this change. Here as elsewhere, oversight may end but our deep partnership in the gospel continues.

As archbishop I have articulated four areas that I believe need to become our distinctives:

1) that we know ourselves to be the beloved of Jesus;

2) that we become a people committed to personal holiness

3) that we understand our work as fore-runners of Jesus; and

4) that we are those who sacrifice for the sake of others.

Among other things, such distinctives would form us into a different people than we presently are. They would direct us in everything from our engagement with Islam to our embrace of the tithe. Seeing these distinctives is a great beginning. Embrace must follow.

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BP’s position at the top of the London Stock Exchange and its previous reliability have made it a bedrock
of almost every pension fund in the country, meaning its value is crucial to millions of workers. The firm’s dividend payments, which amount to more than £7 billion a year, account for £1 in every £6 paid out in dividends to British pension pots.

BP is so concerned about Mr Obama’s power to affect share value that it has urged David Cameron to appeal to the White House on its behalf. Downing Street, however, has refused to get involved. “We need to ensure that BP is not unfairly treated ”“ it is not some bloodless corporation,” said one of Britain’s top fund managers. “Hit BP and a lot of people get hit. UK pension money becomes a donation to the US government and the lawyers at the expense of Mrs Jones and other pension funds.”

Mark Dampier of the financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown said: “[Mr Obama] is playing to the gallery but is not bringing a solution any closer. Obama has his boot on the throat of British pensioners. There is no point in bashing BP all the time, it’s not helpful. It is a terrible situation, but having the American president on your back is not going to get it all cleared up any quicker.”

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You may find details here.

Christians in the West have just finished celebrating Pentecost, the feast which marks the day the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and rendered them able to speak om foreign languages

But in the schism-torn Anglican Communion there has been a little less hand-waving than usual. Instead there has been the descent of the Archbishop of Canterbury in admonition of his church, in a letter where he gives tongue to uncharacteristic displeasure.

After years of suffering the spectacle of the conservative and liberal members of his Communion fight a towering Babel-like war of words over sexuality, in which neither side has ever seemed truly to understand the others, Dr Rowan Williams has finally been moved by the spirit of the times to act….

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The Archbishop of Canterbury has admonished warring Anglicans for creating “recrimination, confusion and bitterness” all round.

He has punished those who have broken the rules by removing them from the body that deals with dialogue with the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and other churches, and the body that decides matters of faith.

In his Pentecost letter, Dr Williams called for Anglicans to pray for renewal in the spirit of God.

And he bewailed the failure by liberals to stand by moratoria imposed on the consecration of gay bishops and on same-sex blessings, and the failure by conservatives to observe that on boundary crossing.

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Pour out upon us, O Lord, that same Spirit by which thy deacon Ephrem rejoiced to proclaim in sacred song the mysteries of faith; and so gladden our hearts that we, like him, may be devoted to thee alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

–Galatians 5:22-24

O Almighty God, who hast taught us that thy Word is a lantern unto our feet and a light unto our path: Grant that we, with all who devoutly read the holy Scriptures, may realize our fellowship one with another in thee, and may learn thereby to know thee more fully, to love thee more truly, and to follow more faithfully in the steps of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God blessed for evermore.

–Bible Reading Fellowship

“My best guess is that we’ll have a continued recovery, but it won’t feel terrific,” Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, said at a dinner at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on Monday night. “And the reason it won’t feel terrific is that it’s not going to be fast enough to put back eight million people who lost their jobs within a few years.”

One could almost envision the winces in the White House as Mr. Bernanke observed that the unemployment rate “will stay high for some time.” He went on to note that even if the economy grew at 3 percent, which would be considered a healthy pace, it would do little more than keep pace with the normal rate of growth of the work force.

Virtually every day of late, White House officials have struggled to explain how their strategies to provide economic stimulus to bring down the unemployment rate square with Mr. Obama’s oft-expressed commitment to tackle a record budget deficit. They talk about spending this year ”” in modest amounts ”” while waiting for the prescriptions of the president’s commission on debt reduction, which reports, conveniently, a few weeks after the midterm elections.

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For decades, Turkey was one of the United States’ most pliable allies, a strategic border state on the edge of the Middle East that reliably followed American policy. But recently, it has asserted a new approach in the region, its words and methods as likely to provoke Washington as to advance its own interests.

The change in Turkey’s policy burst into public view last week, after the deadly Israeli commando raid on a Turkish flotilla, which nearly severed relations with Israel, Turkey’s longtime ally. Just a month ago, Turkey infuriated the United States when it announced that along with Brazil, it had struck a deal with Iran to ease a nuclear standoff, and on Tuesday it warmly welcomed Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the Russian prime minister, Vladimir V. Putin, at a regional security summit meeting in Istanbul.

Turkey’s shifting foreign policy is making its prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a hero to the Arab world, and is openly challenging the way the United States manages its two most pressing issues in the region, Iran’s nuclear program and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Turkey is seen increasingly in Washington as “running around the region doing things that are at cross-purposes to what the big powers in the region want,” said Steven A. Cook, a scholar with the Council on Foreign Relations. The question being asked, he said, is “How do we keep the Turks in their lane?”

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We rejoice that in your Pentecost Letter the Episcopal Church has reaffirmed its strong affirmation of gay and lesbian people as part of God’s good creation and your continued commitment to recognising, led by the Spirit, that God is calling and fitting gay and lesbian people to be ordained leaders of the Church.

We regret that the Archbishop of Canterbury has suggested in his letter to the Anglican Communion that The Episcopal Church should not be a participant in Ecumenical Dialogue on behalf of the Communion and should serve only as consultants on IASCUFO. The Archbishop may experience ecumenical partners saying they “need to know who it is they are talking to” but our experience is of ecumenical partners saying we are carrying forward this difficult discernment process for the whole church, that they have similar or more contentious issues to deal with themselves, and that they are appreciative of the open way we are facing this issue.

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Oil major BP (BP.L: Quote) believes it may be heading for a showdown with the White House over ever- increasing demands that it cover costs related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a BP source said on Wednesday.

“At some point a line has to be drawn,” the source said.

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Among the primary forces putting upward pressure on the deficit is the aging of the U.S. population, as the number of persons expected to be working and paying taxes into various programs is rising more slowly than the number of persons projected to receive benefits. Notably, this year about 5 individuals are between the ages of 20 and 64 for each person aged 65 or older. By the time most of the baby boomers have retired in 2030, this ratio is projected to have declined to around 3. In addition, government expenditures on health care for both retirees and non-retirees have continued to rise rapidly as increases in the costs of care have exceeded increases in incomes. To avoid sharp, disruptive shifts in spending programs and tax policies in the future, and to retain the confidence of the public and the markets, we should be planning now how we will meet these looming budgetary challenges.

—Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in his testimony before the Committee on the Budget in the U.S. House of Representatives today

Wooden’s favorite Scripture passage was 1 Corinthians 13, and it guided his relationships with his wife, family and players. That chapter ends with these famous words: “So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

When working with secular audiences, Wooden used a nondenominational approach to life’s great lessons — which led to his famous “Pyramid of Success” image, built on common virtues such as “skill,” “enthusiasm,” “industriousness,” “patience” and “faith.” Former players also learned to recite his folksy sayings, such as “Be quick, but don’t hurry” and “It is what we learn after we know it all that really counts.”

But Wooden shared other sayings, when the time was right, including this one: “Basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until that is done, we are on an aimless course that runs in circles and goes nowhere.”

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From here:

The Dow spent much of Wednesday’s session in the black but turned lower in the final hour after Chancellor Angela Merkel defended Germany’s EUR80 billion austerity package for the next four years, saying that the time to withdraw stimulus has come and lessons from the debt crisis must be learned.

“If she’s basically saying that it’s time to withdraw stimulus, what’s that going to do to Europe’s strongest economy?” asked Michael Shea, managing partner at Direct Access Partners. “What it’s doing is just creating more and more uncertainty.”

Initial reactions from General Synod members to the first report synthesizing their small group discussions of the issue of sexuality indicate the process is working. Those who spoke to the Anglican Journal said the report was a fairly accurate reflection of what was said in their “discernment circles.”

The discernment circles varied in size from 15 to 24 people, and each group had a designated reporter who recorded their points of view and filed those reports to the members of the Faith, Worship, and Ministry Committee. This committee summarized all of the comments in those reports and produced a single document that was presented to members of General Synod for more discussion and feedback.

Bishop Linda Nicholls and Janet Marshall, chair of the faith, worship and ministry committee, worked into the night to weave together all of the information, working to synthesize the reports from the discernment circles. “The reporters were very clear about what they heard,” said Bishop Nicholls. “There was a lot of similarity among the groups which made it much easier to pull together.”

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The deepening notes of disenchantment with Barack Obama now issuing from commentators across the political spectrum were predictable. So, too, were the charges from some of the president’s earliest enthusiasts about his failure to reflect a powerful sense of urgency about the oil spill.

There should have been nothing puzzling about his response to anyone who has paid even modest critical attention to Mr. Obama’s pronouncements. For it was clear from the first that this president””single-minded, ever-visible, confident in his program for a reformed America saved from darkness by his arrival””was wanting in certain qualities citizens have until now taken for granted in their presidents. Namely, a tone and presence that said: This is the Americans’ leader, a man of them, for them, the nation’s voice and champion. Mr. Obama wasn’t lacking in concern about the oil spill. What he lacked was that voice””and for good reason.

Those qualities to be expected in a president were never about rhetoric; Mr. Obama had proved himself a dab hand at that on the campaign trail. They were a matter of identification with the nation and to all that binds its people together in pride and allegiance. These are feelings held deep in American hearts, unvoiced mostly, but unmistakably there and not only on the Fourth of July.

A great part of America now understands that this president’s sense of identification lies elsewhere, and is in profound ways unlike theirs. He is hard put to sound convincingly like the leader of the nation, because he is, at heart and by instinct, the voice mainly of his ideological class. He is the alien in the White House, a matter having nothing to do with delusions about his birthplace cherished by the demented fringe.

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I will take comments on this submitted by email only to at KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.