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“You could sell your home, owe nothing more on your mortgage and get $30,000,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) said in the Aug. 17 letter obtained by Bloomberg News.

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Internet giants Google Inc (GOOG.O) and Facebook removed content from some Indian domain websites on Monday following a court directive warning them of a crackdown “like China” if they did not take steps to protect religious sensibilities.

The two are among 21 companies ordered to develop a mechanism to block material considered religiously offensive after private petitioners took them to court over images deemed offensive to Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

Two cases have been brought by individuals against internet companies in India, stoking fears about censorship in the world’s largest democracy.

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At 6.15pm on Tuesday, February 7th the United Reformed Church and the Church of England will both participate in a Service of Reconciliation, Healing of Memories and Mutual Commitment at Westminster Abbey. The service marks the 350th anniversary of the Great Ejectment of 2,000 nonconforming ministers following the 1662 Act of Uniformity…

The historic service marks a significant step forward in the development of a closer working relationship between the two Churches. At the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury will preach and the Archbishop of York, together with Mrs Val Morrison and the Revd Dr Kirsty Thorpe, moderators of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church, will lead a litany of penitence and act of commitment.

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Dr Rowan Williams said that giving terminally ill people a “right to die” would put both vulnerable patients and doctors alike under threat.

In an outspoken address to the Church of England General Synod, he drew parallels with the growth of abortion and warned that changing the law would create circumstances in which life would be “legally declared to be not worth living”.

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“The default position on abortion has shifted quite clearly over the past 40 years – and to see the default position shift on the sanctity of life would be a disaster,”… [Rowan Williams] said.

“We are not committed to the notion – the eccentric notion – that Christians believe we should cling to life at all costs.

“We are committed as Christians to the belief that every life in every imaginable situation is infinitely precious in the sight of God.

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Read it all, noting especially the final motion on the Independent Commission on Assisted Dying

Mrs Sarah Finch (London) moved:

‘That this Synod express its concern that the Independent Commission on Assisted Dying is insufficiently independent to be able to develop proposals which will properly protect the interests of vulnerable and disabled people.’

Following debate and amendment, the motion was carried in the following form:

‘That this Synod

a) express its concern that the Independent Commission on Assisted Dying was insufficiently independent to be able to develop proposals which will properly protect the interests of vulnerable and disabled people;

b) endorse the responses to the Commission on Assisted Dying referred to in paragraphs 7 and 8 of GS 1851B;

c) affirm the intrinsic value of every human life and express its support for the current law on assisted suicide as a means of contributing to a just and compassionate society in which vulnerable people are protected; and

d) celebrating the considerable improvement in the quality of care of the dying brought about by the hospice and palliative care movements and by the input of clinicians, clergy and others, encourage the Church’s continued involvement in the wider agenda of the care of those approaching the end of their lives and the support of those caring for them.’

In a full count of the Synod, there voted in favour 284, against none, with four abstaining.

Update: Riazat Butt did a liveblog of the proceedings–check it out.

…the only difference between the current arrangements for “flying” bishops, who are appointed to care for traditionalists, and the new “co-ordinate” bishops proposed by Dr Williams and Dr Sentamu, would be the source of authority.

With delegate bishops, the authority to conduct confirmations and other services would come from the diocesan bishop. With the new “co-ordinate” bishops proposed by the Archbishops, it would come from Synod, giving the traditionalist male equal authority in the diocese with the female diocesan.

But Jamaica-born Ms [Rose] Hudson-Wilkin, the first black woman chaplain to the House of Commons, told The Times that this was unacceptable. “If we are going to have women as bishops then we need to have women bishops. We need to stop moving the goalposts. I am not happy with anything that only begrudgingly makes women bishops.”

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There is now no doubt that the Church of England will consecrate its first woman bishop within the next couple of years. This will happen without any statutory provision for those who in conscience cannot accept women’s episcopacy. The significant minority of clergy and laity who oppose this innovation will simply be told to like it ”“ or lump it and go elsewhere. Thus tens of thousands of traditional and faithful Anglicans will be unchurched.
This stinking fish has been a long time on the slab. Back in 1992, the church voted to admit women to the priesthood, but this was only agreed upon the intervention of the then Archbishop of York, Dr John Habgood, who insisted that there were “two integrities” within the church: the one that could accept women priests and the other that could not. Room must be made for both. If Dr Habgood’s agreeable compromise had not been accepted then there would not have been a majority in favour of the ordination of women.

The radical innovators, illiberal “liberals,” non-believing secularists and intolerant feminists who together govern the church are determined not to make the same mistake again. They are saying to the opponents of women bishops, “Well, get out then!” ”“ except this injunction is not generally put even as politely as that.

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Police are investigating racist e-mails sent to Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, after he spoke out against gay marriage.

North Yorkshire Police confirmed they are treating e-mails sent to the Ugandan-born Archbishop as potential hate crimes….

A police spokesman said: “We can confirm that a complaint has been received from the office of Archbishop John Sentamu, following the receipt of e-mails containing racially offensive statements. The e-mails are being investigated as a hate crime.”

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We hear so often about Muslims as victims of abuse in the West and combatants in the Arab Spring’s fight against tyranny. But, in fact, a wholly different kind of war is underway””an unrecognized battle costing thousands of lives. Christians are being killed in the Islamic world because of their religion. It is a rising genocide that ought to provoke global alarm.

The portrayal of Muslims as victims or heroes is at best partially accurate. In recent years the violent oppression of Christian minorities has become the norm in Muslim-majority nations stretching from West Africa and the Middle East to South Asia and Oceania. In some countries it is governments and their agents that have burned churches and imprisoned parishioners. In others, rebel groups and vigilantes have taken matters into their own hands, murdering Christians and driving them from regions where their roots go back centuries….

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From here:

Air Serv International, which provides air services to humanitarian organizations in Africa and Asia, has named one of its aircraft “Spirit of John Stott”. This is tribute to John Stott, the late Rector Emeritus of All Souls Langham Place, London, evangelical Christian leader, and author of many well known books, including Basic Christianity and The Cross of Christ. John was also the framer of the Lausanne Covenant and founder of the Langham Partnership that supports a number of initiatives for Christian leaders and pastors, particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The aircraft which has been named “Spirit of John Stott” is a Cessna Caravan 208B.

Eliat, Israel–Vacationers in this glittering holiday city by the Israeli-Egyptian border, stroll along a seaside promenade trying to forget their nation’s troubles.

“We try not to think about politics too much,” said Nikhama Prat, pushing her 3-year-old son in a carriage along the wood-planked walkway. “There is always something happening with Israel. We’re threatened all the time.”
In a country endemic with strife, there are mixed feelings among Israelis over whether growing threats from Iran, or immediate localized issues, are of greatest concern.

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“The Diamond Jubilee celebrates much more than the length of Her Majesty’s reign, though that is remarkable in itself. She has been our Queen for as long as most of us can remember,” Dr Williams told the General Synod.

“None of us can imagine what it would be like to hold the same office for sixty years – Her Majesty’s life is one in which the privilege accorded by birth has been richly earned by generous service.”

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O God, who by thy Spirit didst call Cornelius the Centurion to be the first Christian among the Gentiles: Grant to thy Church, we beseech thee, such a ready will to go where thou dost send and to do what thou dost command, that under thy guidance it may welcome all who turn to thee in love and faith, and proclaim the Gospel to all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

O God, who hast bidden us to worship thee with the sound of the trumpet, with psaltery and harp, with stringed instruments and organs, and also to be glad in thee and to shout for joy: Help us to contrive by all means to set forth thy most worthy praise, that the art of man may be tuned to the glory of God; for the sake of him whose voice is as the sound of many waters, Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord.

–J. R. W. Stott (1921-2011)

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in you that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

–Hebrews 13:20-21

Heavy artillery fire has been rocking Homs, as Syrian troops step up an assault on the restive city.

A BBC correspondent there describes almost constant blasts, in the fiercest attack in the 11-month uprising.

US President Barack Obama said it was important to resolve the conflict without outside military intervention.

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Hosted by the Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi, the 11th CAPA Council meeting is bringing together Primates or their representatives, clergy and lay people from the 12 Anglican Provinces of Africa along with partners and other observers from around the world.

The Council of the Anglican Provinces of Africa, whose secretariat is based in Nairobi, Kenya, is a continental body that brings together the twelve Provinces of the Anglican Church in Africa.

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On Saturday 5 February Canterbury Diocesan Synod voted in favour of the Anglican Communion Covenant in all three houses (bishops, clergy and laity).

The vote held at the John Wallis Church of England Academy in Ashford, was in response to the General Synod’s decision in 2010 to refer the matter to the dioceses. All 44 dioceses in the Church of England are being asked to “approve the draft Act of Synod adopting the Anglican Communion Covenant.”

Described as the closest thing to a constitution for the worldwide Anglican Communion, the Covenant was first proposed in the Windsor report of 2004, following tensions in relation to same-sex partnerships in North America.

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Two of Buffalo’s most venerable mainline Protestant churches are in discussions to share space, staff and ministries — with one of the congregations possibly selling off its buildings and moving into the landmark structure of the other congregation.

Leadership of Trinity Episcopal Church on Delaware Avenue revealed the surprising proposal, which also involves First Presbyterian Church, in a letter this past weekend to Trinity church members.

The proposal calls for First Presbyterian, the city’s first congregation, dating from before the War of 1812, to sell its buildings on Symphony Circle and move to the Delaware campus of Trinity, which was formed in 1836.

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Voorhees College will celebrate Absalom Jones, the first African-American priest in the Episcopal Church, at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, in St. Philip’s Chapel on campus.

The Annual Absalom Jones Feast Day will feature the Right Rev. W. Andrew Waldo, bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, as chief celebrant, and the Right Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, as preacher.

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A combination of fewer people in the workforce and high levels of indebtedness leads to a very adverse economic environment, [Ajay] Kapur warned.

The aging population means that a serious reform of the social security and tax systems will be needed in Japan, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura at a press conference held Monday, according to a Feb. 1 report by the Daily Yomiuri Online.

In 1960 one retiree was supported by 11.2 workers. In 2010, one retiree was supported by only 2.8 workers. By 2060, it is expected there will be just 1.3 workers per retiree.

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Currently our focus and priority is on the identification and creation of stable Ordinariate communities. However, we are also aware that there are individuals or single families who will want to join the Ordinariate. Assigning individuals to the various local communities is going to take time; we first have to see where our communities are going to be located and get them established before we can begin connecting more isolated individuals/families to our existing communities. This mean that our individuals are going to need to be patient with us as these communities are created. We do not want anyone feeling neglected, however with limited time and resources our priority must be getting our communities established and our clergy ordained before we can turn our attention to our individual members. Nevertheless, we are maintaining a database of everyone who desires to join the Ordinariate to keep track of the names and locations of our members so that we will eventually be able to connect individuals with communities in their geographic area.

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Anglican women clergy are to rally in Westminster later at a march supporting plans to introduce women bishops.

The Church of England’s ruling body, the General Synod, is to discuss legislation on women bishops this week.

It will consider a proposal that women bishops should accept intervention in their dioceses by male alternatives if called in by traditionalist parishes.

Progressive Anglicans fiercely oppose the plans, claiming it would make women second-class bishops.

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The Church of England in Lancashire has launched a county wide debate to make it ‘fit for purpose’ in a decade of decreasing clergy.

Paid parish priests are set to fall to 106 by 2019, compared with 250 in 2000 and 156 currently. Numbers of unpaid clergy are rising, from 44 to 59 between 2006 and 2011, but such continuing growth cannot be guaranteed.

‘We cannot have fewer clergy and continue as we are,’ said the Bishop of Burnley, the Rt Rev John Goddard, who chaired the year-long, 15 member task force that drafted a report on the Church’s future.

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There were a lot of snickers last summer when Eli Manning had the audacity to inform us that he thought he was an elite quarterback.

It’s not like he beat his chest and issued a proclamation. Somebody asked him whether he thought he was an elite quarterback and he responded with a truthful answer.

“What do you expect the guy to say?” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said last night after Eli led New York to its second Super Bowl title in five seasons and also collected his second Super Bowl MVP award with a 30-for-40, 296-yard, one-touchdown performance in a 21-17, come-from-behind win over the Patriots.

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Last week he did it again, wading into a discussion of money ”” or, rather, of the “very poor” who lack it ”” and succumbing to yet another pink slip of the tongue. Mitt Romney is forever being tripped up this election cycle by the topic of wealth.

Not, interestingly, religion. That was the angst last time around, and the extent to which the dynamic has changed, with mammon supplanting Mormon as the bejeweled albatross around his neck, was reflected in another recent comment of his, one that prompted less notice and was interpreted in a particular and highly revealing way….

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Heavy artillery fire has been rocking Homs, as Syrian troops step up an assault on the restive city.

A BBC correspondent there says attacks resumed early on Monday with almost constant explosions.

Rebels say a clinic is being targeted in one of the fiercest assaults on the city in the 11-month uprising.

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