As is our custom, we aim to let go of the cares and concerns of this world until Monday and to focus on the great, awesome, solemn and holy events of the next three days. I would ask people to concentrate their comments on the personal, devotional, and theological aspects of these days which will be our focal point here. Many thanks–KSH.

Sharing from her own Jewish roots, Michelle Guinness, now married to an Anglican priest, says the Church needs to celebrate festivals more with children and not send them away with the message that Church is boring.

Michelle includes other challenges and reflections from her address to the national children’s advisers’ conference this month at High Leigh in Hertfordshire.

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Thousands of families who attend church to secure places at popular Church of England schools face being denied entry under radical plans revealed today to overhaul admissions.

The C of E is drastically revising its guidelines to limit the number of places offered to those from church backgrounds….

The Bishop of Oxford, the Right Rev John Pritchard, chairman of the C of E’s board of education, said schools should end the bias towards children from religious homes even if it lowers academic results. He said: “Every school will have a policy that [it] has a proportion of places for church youngsters … what I would be saying is that number ought to be minimised because our primary function and our privilege is to serve the wider community.

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Will the Conservative Party make funds available to improve security around Jewish institutions including schools as recommended in the recent all-party report on anti-Semitism?

We’ve got to stop the rise of anti-Semitism, and I will always stand firm against anti-Semitism, in all its forms and wherever it occurs. I support the work the Community Security Trust does to provide extra vigilance for the Jewish Community. I have spoken at its dinners, supported its work and assisted with fund raising. I back faith-based organisations and what they do: they form an important part of my vision of the Big Society. But we also need to do much more in terms of freeing up the police from bureaucracy and paperwork and form-filling so that they have more time to focus on these sorts of issues. I can promise you is that with a Conservative Government we will never allow anti-Semitism to go unchecked in this country, and we will work flat out to reverse the radicalisation and root out the sources of radicalisation which have grown up over the last few years.

What is the Conservative Party’s commitment to faith schools?

I have visited Jewish Schools in London and Birmingham. I’m a big supporter of faith schools, personally as well as politically.

Personally, because my daughter, Nancy, goes to an excellent Church of England school and we’re really lucky in that. Politically, because I think that faith schools are a really important part of our education system and they often have a culture and ethos which helps to drive up standards. If anything, I would like to see faith schools grow. Through our school reform plans, there will be a real growth in new good school places, and we’re anticipating that some of these will be in faith schools.

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Last night a further 40 Anglicans in Sevenoaks were received into the Catholic Church, joining groups who had already converted earlier in the week in Oxford, London and Tunbridge Wells.

James Bradley, formerly the assistant curate at St John’s the Baptist Anglican church in Sevenoaks, said: “I’m very excited. It has been the culmination of a lot of prayer and it is a wonderful opportunity for all of us.”

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The Episcopal Church will remain a work in progress as it rebuilds from a 2008 schism and seeks to attract members, its leader said on Tuesday.

“We’re a community that is on the road together, wrestling with what it means to be a Christian in this particular age,” Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said before a morning service at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Wilkinsburg. “In order to communicate that message, we have to go out into the community.”

That may or may not include establishing traditional churches, said Jefferts Schori, who last visited the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh about a month after a majority of clergy and lay deputies voted to break with the church she leads to follow their more theologically conservative bishop, Robert Duncan, who formed the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Although the two churches battled over property in court, Jefferts Schori said she forsees a day when churches will become something different.

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Few who have seen the front lines would dispute that Libya’s rebels need arms matched to their fight. But as the European powers send military advisers to eastern Libya, the developing NATO plan to help the rebels organize themselves quickly into an effective fighting force confronts their backers with difficult issues.

A survey of weapons carried by hundreds of rebels fighting on two fronts ”” in eastern Libya and the besieged city of Misurata ”” presents a picture of an armed uprising that is both underequipped and in custody of many weapons with no utility in the war at hand. The rebels are also in possession of weapons that if sold, lost or misused, could undermine their revolution’s reputation and undercut their cause.

These include anti-aircraft missiles and land mines, both of which the rebels have used on at least a limited basis so far, and which pose long-term regional security threats. They include as well heavier weapons ”” Type 63 and Grad rockets ”” that rebels have fired indiscriminately, endangering civilians and civilian infrastructure.

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In a metal outbuilding at a shuttered horse track near San Antonio, Jeff Bishop says he will celebrate at his “simple church” under a rough-hewed cedar cross, with “folks who speak ”˜cowboy’ like I do.”

In Washington, D.C., at Saturday night Easter Vigil, while “some folks go to services dressed to the nines, we’ll be dressed to the fives: We’ll keep it casual and focused on Christ,” says William D’Antonio, a member of a network of Catholic-style house churches called “Intentional Eucharistic communities.”

No matter what you call them, house churches, or “simple” or “organic” churches, have long thrived in third world countries where clergy and funds for church buildings are scarce. Now, however, they are attracting a small but loyal following across the USA.

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Are Christianity and capitalism a marriage made in heaven, as some conservatives believe, or more of a strained relationship in need of some serious couples’ counseling?

A new poll released Thursday found that more Americans (44 %) see the free market system at odds with Christian values than those who don’t (36 %), whether they are white evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Catholics or minority Christians.
But in other demographic breakdowns, several categories lean the other way: Republicans and Tea Party members, college graduates and members of high-income households view the systems as more compatible than not.

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The Holy Father asked what this “my” and “your” consist of.

The “my” — the human will — is to avoid death, to be “spared this chalice of suffering: It is the human will, of human nature, and Christ feels, with all the consciousness of his being, life, the abyss of death, the terror of nothingness, this menace of suffering.”

In fact, the Pontiff added, Christ feels more than us the “abyss of evil.”

And, he said, “He also felt, with death, all the suffering of humanity. He felt that all this was the chalice he must drink, that he must make himself drink, accept the evil of the world, everything that is terrible, the aversion to God, the whole of sin. And we can understand that Jesus, with his human soul, was terrified before this reality, which he perceived in all its cruelty.”

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Members of the International Monetary Fund emerged from their huddle in Washington last weekend resolved to keep every option open to slow the flood of dollars pouring into their countries, including capital controls. That’s a dangerous game, given the need for investment to drive economic development. But it’s also increasingly typical of the world’s reaction to America’s mismanagement of the dollar and its eroding financial leadership.

The dollar is the world’s reserve currency, and as such the Federal Reserve is the closest thing we have to a global central bank. Yet for at least a decade, and especially since late 2008, the Fed has operated as if its only concern is the U.S. domestic economy.

The Fed’s relentlessly easy monetary policy combined with Congress’s reckless spending have driven investors out of the United States and into Asia, South America and elsewhere in search of higher returns and more sustainable growth. The IMF estimates that between the third quarter of 2009 and second quarter of 2010, Turkey saw a 6.9% inflow in capital as a percentage of GDP, South Africa 6.6%, Thailand 5%, and so on….

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Boeing Co.’s $750 million aircraft plant in North Charleston is at the heart of a growing labor rift pitting the aerospace giant against one of its biggest unions and now a federal agency.

The National Labor Relations Board sued the company Wednesday, saying Boeing shifted some of its 787 Dreamliner production to South Carolina partly to retaliate against the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers for past strikes in Washington state.

The NLRB is seeking a court order that would require Boeing to maintain its second 787 assembly line in the Pacific Northwest, an IAMAW stronghold. If successful, that could stop Boeing from building the plane in North Charleston.

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O God our heavenly Father, who to redeem the world didst deliver up thine only Son to be betrayed by one of his disciples and sold to his enemies: Take from us, we beseech thee, all covetousness and hypocrisy; and so strengthen us, that, loving thee above all things, we may remain steadfast in our faith unto the end; through him who gave his life for us, our Saviour Jesus Christ.

My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. But thou, O LORD, art enthroned for ever; thy name endures to all generations. Thou wilt arise and have pity on Zion; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come. For thy servants hold her stones dear, and have pity on her dust. The nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. For the LORD will build up Zion, he will appear in his glory; he will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their supplication. Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD: that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, 20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die; that men may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise, when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

–Psalm 102:11-22

China will implement a new regulation to further control the online industry after a dispute between two Chinese Internet giants, Tencent and Qihoo 360, caused harm to their users, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Wednesday.

Zhang Feng, director of the ministry’s Department of Communications Development, made the announcement at a press conference concerning China’s first-quarter industrial operations.

“We have finishing soliciting opinions for the new regulation and will publish it soon,” Zhang said.

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For the first time ever the Vatican newspaper will now provide a daily news service in English.

Up until now L’Osservatore Romano has only printed a weekly English edition. Its daily edition meanwhile has always been in Italian. But now the Vatican’s semi-official paper has launched a new website aimed at providing constantly updated coverage in both English and Italian.

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As the Diocese of Virginia and several Anglican District of Virginia congregations approach a new round in court April 25, the diocese has reached a settlement with a second congregation.

Under the settlement, announced April 19 by the diocese and by Church of the Word, Gainesville, the parish keeps the property and the diocese keeps $1.95 million of a payment made by the Virginia Department of Transportation for construction-related damage to the property.

The settlement, like others reached in recent months, requires the parish to cut its ties with the Anglican Church in North America for five years. Church of the Word also must cut its ties to the Anglican District of Virginia, which will vote in May on whether to become a diocese of the ACNA.

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Americans consume a lot of prescription drugs. And they seem especially fond of those to lower their cholesterol, relieve their heartburn, cheer them up and take away pain. Overall, however, their spending on such drugs is slowing.

A new report from consulting firm IMS Health offers a quick, but thorough, look at Americans’ consumption of, and spending on, prescription drugs. In 2010, the report says, we spent more than $307 billion on medication. That’s up over 2009, but only by 2.3%.

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The newly-appointed Archbishop of Cardiff spoke today of the “gracious” and “understanding” approach of the Church of England as around 900 former Anglicans in England and Wales prepare to be received this Easter into a special grouping within the Catholic Church.

The Rt Rev George Stack, who is to take up the most senior role in the Roman Catholic Church in Wales, said the personal ordinariate had allowed former Anglicans to join the Catholic Church as a group and maintain their identity.

“I think mainstream Anglicans recognise that there are people who feel that they must make this journey and I must say, I think they have dealt with it very, very well,” the Rt Rev Stack said.

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised Libyan rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil Wednesday that France would intensify air strikes on Muammar Gaddafi’s army, the president’s office said in a statement.

It gave no detail on how the strikes would be ramped up.

“We are indeed going to intensify the attacks and respond to this request from the national transition council,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement after Sarkozy met Abdel Jalil in Paris, their first face-to-face meeting.

“The President said ‘We will help you,'” the Elysee said.

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The nation’s college-bound students are increasingly looking for green ”” and no, that doesn’t mean just money.

Green means eco-friendly, and 69% of college applicants this year say having information about a college’s commitment to environmental issues would contribute to their decision to apply to or attend the school, according to a survey of 8,200 students by The Princeton Review. That’s up from 64% in 2008.

Academic reputation and financial aid still matter most, but “the environmental factor (is) definitely one of the things that makes a difference,” says Tucker Johnson, 19, of Harrison, Maine, who was offered admission to nine schools and must commit to one by May 1. Like other students nationwide, he is visiting campuses this month with a checklist of criteria. Among them: a sincere commitment to sustainability.

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Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan has given his support to a growing move to give royal daughters equal rights to succeed to the throne as their brothers.

Dr Morgan is the latest senior UK figure to call for the rule, which stops the eldest daughter of a monarch from inheriting the British throne if she has a younger brother, to be scrapped.

The Anglican leader considers it absurd the present Queen would never have been crowned if she had a brother.

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She does have two principles that she would like to see followed.

“Our task is to see that the value of those gifts [to the Episcopal Church] not be inappropriately disposed of. We have to recover some approximation of fair market value for properties,” she said.

The second principle “is that we shouldn’t be in the business of setting up competing ecclesiastical interests with Episcopal Church resources.”

She can’t simply give the property to the people who want to leave the Episcopal Church, because that would violate her responsibility to guard the inheritance of the denomination that she leads, she said.

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The creeping acceptance of homosexual conduct as a moral good may be a sign that the end times are near, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria has warned.

In an interview published by the Church of Nigeria News, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh said the cultural hostility towards Christian morality in the West and the celebration of lust as godliness was a sign that “we are getting deeper and deeper into the age that was spoken of by Timothy when people will love themselves more than God, when the pleasure and comfort will determine many things.”

“We are in the end time and in this end time there are boundless opportunities of evil,” the archbishop said on April 7 drawing upon 2 Tim. 3:2, but added “but the joy of it all is that evil will not win in the end.”

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In response to criticism of the USCCB statement, Cardinal Wuerl’s 13-page resource highlights the complementary role that should be played between bishops and theologians.

“It is the privilege of theologians to delve more profoundly and systematically into the meaning of the faith, according to the ancient adage, ‘fides quaerens intellectum’ (faith seeking understanding),” the cardinal wrote. “Since this faith is handed on by the Church through the ministry of the magisterium, the bishop and the theologian have a special relationship that can and should be reciprocally enriching.”

“Bishops benefit from the work of theologians,” he continued, “while theologians gain a deeper understanding of revelation under the guidance of the magisterium. The ministry of bishops and the service rendered by theologians entail a mutual respect and support.”

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The State Department has a “rigidly narrow” view of diplomacy that neglects religion’s role in foreign affairs, a prominent Catholic ambassador charged on Sunday (April 17) as he announced his resignation.

Other foreign policy experts have another name for it: Religion Avoidance Syndrome.

And the departure of Douglas Kmiec as ambassador to Malta, they say, is symptomatic of a longstanding God gap in American foreign policy.

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Western powers eager to help Libyan rebels sell oil from territories they control are ignoring the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions committee, leaving Libyan crude in legal limbo, envoys and analysts say.

Without definitive guidance on the legal status of Libyan oil from the politically divided U.N. sanctions committee, U.N. diplomats and traders say the oil could remain virtually untouchable as major trading players take care to avoid running afoul of the U.N. sanctions.

U.N. diplomats told Reuters that Security Council members eager to escalate the pressure on Gaddafi’s government — above all France and Britain — rushed through the two packages of sanctions and may not have foreseen how difficult the U.N. measures would make it to aid the rebels.

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O Lord, who didst spend this day in quiet retreat at Bethany, in preparation for thy coming passion: Help us ever to live mindful of our end; that when thou shalt call us to pass through the valley of the shadow of death, we may fear no evil, for thou art with us, who didst die that we might live with thee for ever.

–A. McCheane