It was announced today at the Forward in Faith National Assembly that Stephen Parkinson will be retiring at the end of December, after over 19 years as the Director of FiF. He will be succeeded by Dr Colin Podmore, who is currently the Clerk to the General Synod of the Church of England.

FiF Chairman Bishop Jonathan Baker commented: ”˜It is thanks to the tireless work of Stephen Parkinson that Forward in Faith has been able to make such an impact on the life of the Church of England. As its Director, he has played a pivotal role in building Forward in Faith into the distinctive and dynamic organisation that it is today. It is a tribute to Stephen’s achievement that we have been able to attract so distinguished a successor.’

”˜Colin Podmore will bring to the role a wealth of experience at senior level in the Church of England. He is passionate about the faith and order of the catholic Church as received by the Church of England and has long been committed to the visible unity of the one Church of Jesus Christ,’ Bishop Jonathan added.

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What… [his mother] didn’t know was that about halfway through the run, there had been a problem with.. [Ben Baltz’] leg; It hooks together with screws and one of them had come loose, so the leg literally broke in half. This isn’t the first time it’s happened, either. This active boy has managed to break 10, supposedly “indestructible” prosthetic legs (made of carbon fiber, mind you!).

Now, here’s where you need to get out your hanky, because it was this moment that had the spectators in tears:

“All of a sudden the announcer just said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to turn around and look at what’s happening on the course’ … Everybody was crying,” she says. A young Marine had lifted the boy and carried him across the finish line.

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On a still summer evening more than 40 years ago, next to a ruined watermill on the banks of the River Avon in Gloucestershire, I was trying to work out how to use the Graflex 5in x 4in Speed Graphic camera I had just bought from Exchange & Mart, the eBay of the era. I had this wonderful object but no subject, and ”“ frustrated by the dull routine of studying for an engineering degree ”“ I was desperate to be a photographer. I planned to travel the country photographing English cathedrals, then to travel the world photographing wars. Should I continue with my degree or go to Vietnam? It never quite happened that way; I changed to psychology and completed my degree. But I did become a photographer.

Strangely enough, in 2007 ”“ more than 25 years later ”“ I won a commission to photograph eight British cathedrals for the Royal Mail. Then, with English Cathedrals (1989) by Edwin Smith and Olive Cook as my guide and a pack of “Anglican Cathedrals of England” Classic Trumps, I set out to photograph all 42.

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A scientist who gave up his job in alternative technology to train as a vicar stars in a new TV series starting next week.

Marcus Zipperlen from Penparcau, Aberystwyth, is one of a number of trainee priests who were followed around for a year by the cameras at St Michael’s College, Cardiff. His journey will be featured in Vicar Academy on BBC1 Wales starting on Monday 15 October.

Made by an independent company, Presentable, Vicar Academy shadowed several full-time students, (“ordinands”) from St Michael’s College ”“ Wales’ only theological college ”“ who came from all corners of the country.

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Tom Lehman, one of the world’s finest golfers, has struggled with perfection.

For years, he tried to achieve it. When he failed, he felt guilty, ashamed, depressed.

Then, in 1998, after the missteps had stacked up, Lehman came to the back nine, a realization that signaled the start of what he called the second act of his life: God had forgiven him; now it was time to forgive himself.

This was the core of his message Tuesday morning at the annual Charleston Leadership Prayer Breakfast, an ecumenical Christian event that drew about 1,000 to the Charleston Area Convention Center.

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One could postulate explanations for why our policymakers, military and civilian, continue in such a repetitive and self-destructive vein. Yes, there is the military-industrial complex to be fed. Yes, we are interested in the control of crucial resources, especially energy, and so on.

But it’s probably more reasonable to say that a deeply militarized mind-set and the global maneuvers that go with it are by now just a way of life in a Washington eternally “at war.” Military actions have become the tics of an overwrought great power with the equivalent of Tourette’s syndrome. They happen because they can’t help but happen, because they are engraved in the policy DNA of our national security complex. In other words, our leaders can’t help themselves.

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Jeremy Hill capped his breakout game by leaping the fence dividing the field from the stands at Tiger Stadium and embracing a jubilant throng of students as they celebrated LSU’s quick ascendance back into the national title discussion.

Hill highlighted a 124-yard, two-touchdown performance with a 50-yard scoring run, and the ninth-ranked Tigers handed No. 3 South Carolina its first loss of the season, 23-21 on Saturday night.

Hill’s clutch runs, showcasing his tackle-breaking power as well as breakaway speed, were precisely what LSU needed a week after stumbling to its lone loss of the season at Florida, where the offense had been stagnant.

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As sharply contested parliamentary voting approached in Georgia last week, the country’s Orthodox patriarch implemented his own peculiar pre-election ritual: He arranged for an airplane carrying icons and holy relics to circle over Georgian airspace while priests prayed over the country’s future, in an updated version of an ancient practice employed ahead of enemy invasions and other calamities.

It was a revealing gesture from Georgia’s church, which exerts a profound but mostly behind the scenes influence on political life. The elections brought an end to the eight-year dominance of President Mikheil Saakashvili and his team ”” as well as their sometimes aggressive push to introduce Western ways to this conservative society. That quest drove Mr. Saakashvili’s government into occasional conflicts with the church, which worsened as the country approached a highly competitive election.

“They hoped, I think, that in the critical moment the patriarch would back them, which apparently was wrong,” said Levan Abashidze, a religious scholar. Instead the church repeatedly stated its neutrality in the race, he said, sending a signal to voters that it was not endorsing the government.

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Almighty God, renew us day by day by thy Holy Spirit, in whom thou hast sealed us for thine own: Let all bitterness be put away from us, all anger and evil-speaking and malice; may we be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as thou, O Father, hast forgiven us for the sake of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.

For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things. I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

–1 Corinthians 4:9-16

A very fun game to watch played in very difficult conditions.

There is no excusing Armstrong’s behaviour. He shouldn’t have taken the drugs and he shouldn’t have compelled others to do the same. But the latest revelations do show how a beautiful sport had been corrupted and how anyone seeking to succeed could have been drawn into such behaviour.

But there are still reasons to admire this obviously deeply flawed man. Armstrong has done wonderful things – on and off the bike – and given me memories that I still savour.

On drugs or not, he was capable of magnificent and daring feats. On stage nine of the 2003 Tour de France, Armstrong swerved to avoid a fellow rider, Joseba Beloki, who had crashed badly on a descent. The American was forced to ride across a steep paddock, jump a drainage ditch and rejoin the race on the road below. It was dramatic, bold and impressive.

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Christ Our King Anglican Church will dedicate a 16,000-square-foot multipurpose building at 10 a.m. today at its campus in New Braunfels.

In addition, the event will include the ordination of Issac Rehberg and Rodney Wood as transitional deacons by Bishop Bill Atwood of the International Diocese [of the] Anglican Church in North America….

Read it all and the parish website is here.

It’s been 140 years since the Right Rev. Henry H. Whipple, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, established St. Luke’s Church in Detroit Lakes ”” and the congregation is getting ready to celebrate.

This Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m., the church will host a special evening prayer service, followed by a reception where the 140th anniversary cake and refreshments will be served. The service is being held in conjunction with the Feast Day of St. Luke, the church’s namesake.

Read it all and you may find the parish website here.