The fraction found in both the Rite I and Rite II services in our 1979 Book of Common Prayer happens immediately following the Lord’s Prayer and before the invitation to and distribution of Communion. The Celebrant breaks the consecrated bread and then says, “[Alleluia.] Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” The congregation then replies, “Therefore let us keep the feast. [Alleluia.]” Now, this statement comes from Scripture, specifically 1 Corinthians 5:7. Well, actually it is a mistranslation of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:7, which is found only in the King James Version. The specific word that is mistranslated is the Greek word etuthe, which means a sacrifice that was completed in the past. Therefore, in most English translations, 1 Corinthians 5:7 is translated, “Christ, our Passover has been or was sacrificed.”

Now, why would this mistranslation make its way into the 1979 Book of Common Prayer when this form and placement of the fraction was never in any Anglican Prayer Book prior?

Read it all (if you need to know more about Peet Dickson see there).

The fourth deadliest known terrorist group has been named as the Fulani militant group operating in Nigeria and parts of the Central African Republic.

The little-known group, formed of individuals from the semi-nomadic pastorial ethnic group Fula people existing across several West African nations, has seen a dramatic escalation of its activities in the past year.

In 2013, the Fulani killed around 80 people in total ”“ but by 2014 the group had killed 1,229.

Read it all from the Independent.

Almighty God, whose only-begotten Son hath led captivity captive and given gifts to thy people: Multiply among us faithful pastors, who, like thy holy bishop Wulfstan, will give courage to those who are oppressed and held in bondage; and bring us all, we pray, into the true freedom of thy kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Almighty and everlasting God, the brightness of faithful souls, who didst bring the Gentiles to thy light and made known unto them him who is the true light, and the bright and morning star: Fill the world, we beseech thee, with thy glory, and show thyself by the radiance of thy light unto all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

O LORD, I love the habitation of thy house, and the place where thy glory dwells.

–Psalm 26:8

The Anglican Leadership Institute is an outgrowth of the Mere Anglicanism Conference that has been held in Charleston, SC for several years.

Bishop Mark Lawrence, in his 2014 Convention Address, called for the creation of a leadership training initiative that would bring future leaders in the Anglican Communion to South Carolina for periods of study, teaching, reflection and nurture.

The South Carolina Session was created in response to this call, offering men and women with a proven track of ministry a chance to spend a month in community under the guidance of expert leaders who have exercised faithful and effective ministry in their own contexts.

(The Anglican Leadership Institute Meets at the “Castle” in Sullivan’s Island, SC.)
You can read more about the program here.

Let’s be honest. The statement is not everything we had hoped for. I have just finished listening to the Primates Press Conference, where the Archbishop of Canterbury stated multiple times “These are NOT sanctions. Rather, they are consequences for acting autonomously in an interdependent fellowship.” When asked about the Task Group in paragraph 8, and whether at the end of three years it would simply do as previous task forces had done with respect to TEC ”“ to study, report and take no action, the Archbishop said “I don’t know.” The Primate of Hong Kong followed by saying the task force “will inquire and study.” These comments are not hopeful with regards to restoring the doctrine, discipline and order of the Communion.

It is true that the consequences spelled out in paragraph 7 remove TEC from (1) representation on ecumenical and interfaith bodies, (2) election or appointment to internal Standing Committees of the Anglican Communion, and (3) in all other “internal bodies” on which TEC may sit (like the Anglican Consultative Council) they will not take part in decision making on matters of doctrine or polity. These are more than reasonable, extremely measured limits on TEC.

I’m also an attorney, and I can spot a loophole when I see it. I’m not going to repeat the loopholes others have spotted; see the comments on Kendall Harmon’s blog here.

In reality, the Archbishop of Canterbury (ABC) is in the driver’s seat and it will depend on him. He is reported as having given his personal word to the Primates gathered together that he will follow through on paragraphs 7 and 8. But since there is no Biblical call for repentance in either paragraph, it is difficult to imagine what assignment or benchmark TEC will need to demonstrate to restore its relationship to the Communion. With even less clarity and specificity than the Primates gave to TEC at Dar es Salaam (2007), what reason do we have to believe that these “consequences” will have any more effect? What objective benchmark is there for this Archbishop, much less the task force, to measure TEC’s response over the next three years? Is it simply a reversal of the Same-Sex Marriage canon (Res. A054) at General Convention 2018, while everything else remains status quo?

At a deeper level, we must also recognize that the Instruments of Communion, including the ABC, still suffer a hopeless deficit of authority to resolve the doctrinal differences that deepen the wound in our Communion. Apart from the statement upholding traditional marriage in paragraph 4, the Primates statement does nothing to address that doctrinal wound. In fact, it leaves out most of the teaching in Lambeth Resolution I.10 (1998) on holiness of life, celibacy for those outside marriage, and holy orders.

Read it all

.@PCEditorials: Why we need #MartinLutherKingDay. https://t.co/AzGp7NplBn #chsnews pic.twitter.com/RJ0LfAK32C

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) January 18, 2016

The slaying of nine people as they studied the Bible at Mother Emanuel AME Church touched Charleston in profound ways: the horror of the hate-filled act, the fear that raw racism lurks where we least expect it, and the desire to see that nothing like that happens again here.

But most profound was the response of victims’ families, who didn’t speak in anger, as would have been justified. Instead they spoke of forgiveness ”” the message they learned in Bible studies and from church elders.

And the message of peace and love they also heard in the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King.

Read it all.

It’s been nearly 50 years since civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in Memphis at age 39.

Had he lived, King would have turned 87 this week in an America that’s dramatically different, in some ways, from the one he knew during the 1960s. The country has an African-American president, for example, and the Confederate flag has finally begun to fade into the mist of history.

Still, there also are distressing echoes of King’s time. Many see voting rights for minorities imperiled again and hear an update of George Wallace’s harsh “us vs. them” rhetoric at Donald Trump rallies. And the murders at a black church in Charleston last summer recall the deaths of four little girls in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing.

Read it all.

[Michael] Gilbreath (a CT editor at large) hearkens back to the 1963 Birmingham civil rights campaign, to the world of Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Shuttlesworth, and other heroic Christian leaders. Today, we idolize these figures for leading a beleaguered people to the Promised Land. But as Birmingham Revolution makes clear, the civil rights movement was no slam dunk. Uncertainty, scarce resources, and outside hostility could have ground its progress to a halt.

The Birmingham campaign was pivotal. On the heels of defeat in Albany, Georgia, victory in Birmingham restored the movement’s momentum. Failure could have crippled it, by drying up funding, discrediting the nonviolent method, and validating fears that the leaders were””take your pick””extremists, rabble-rousers, too Christian, not Christian enough, too Southern, or insufficiently urban.
How””amid the noise and ambiguity, the internal struggles and self-doubts, the bone-deep weariness and constant fear of death””did the Birmingham leaders maintain their focus? And how might their example instruct the church today? Gilbreath gives four answers.

Read it all.

Standing in front of Madeleine’s church are more than a dozen people who all look different. A heart is between each person.

Madeleine’s currently working on another drawing, this one of a group of dogs sitting in a field of grass.

“Being colorblind is awesome. You should give it a try,” is written across the top of the page.

Melanie says her family is active in the community, adding that she and her husband try to teach their two children the importance of kindness.

“I was talking to them about love and forgiveness and hope,” Melanie said. “And Madeleine said ‘I love the world HOPE for our little project we are doing. What else could it stand for?'”

Read it all.

Have not many of us, in the weary way of life, felt, in some hours, how far easier it were to die than to live?

The martyr, when faced even by a death of bodily anguish and horror, finds in the very terror of his doom a strong stimulant and tonic. There is a vivid excitement, a thrill and fervor, which may carry through any crisis of suffering that is the birth-hour of eternal glory and rest.

But to live,””to wear on, day after day, of mean, bitter, low, harassing servitude, every nerve dampened and depressed, every power of feeling gradually smothered,””this long and wasting heart-martyrdom, this slow, daily bleeding away of the inward life, drop by drop, hour after hour,””this is the true searching test of what there may be in man or woman.

When Tom stood face to face with his persecutor, and heard his threats, and thought in his very soul that his hour was come, his heart swelled bravely in him, and he thought he could bear torture and fire, bear anything, with the vision of Jesus and heaven but just a step beyond; but, when he was gone, and the present excitement passed off, came back the pain of his bruised and weary limbs,””came back the sense of his utterly degraded, hopeless, forlorn estate; and the day passed wearily enough.
Long before his wounds were healed, Legree insisted that he should be put to the regular field-work; and then came day after day of pain and weariness, aggravated by every kind of injustice and indignity that the ill-will of a mean and malicious mind could devise. Whoever, in our circumstances, has made trial of pain, even with all the alleviations which, for us, usually attend it, must know the irritation that comes with it. Tom no longer wondered at the habitual surliness of his associates; nay, he found the placid, sunny temper, which had been the habitude of his life, broken in on, and sorely strained, by the inroads of the same thing. He had flattered himself on leisure to read his Bible; but there was no such thing as leisure there. In the height of the season, Legree did not hesitate to press all his hands through, Sundays and week-days alike. Why shouldn’t he?””he made more cotton by it, and gained his wager; and if it wore out a few more hands, he could buy better ones. At first, Tom used to read a verse or two of his Bible, by the flicker of the fire, after he had returned from his daily toil; but, after the cruel treatment he received, he used to come home so exhausted, that his head swam and his eyes failed when he tried to read; and he was fain to stretch himself down, with the others, in utter exhaustion.

Is it strange that the religious peace and trust, which had upborne him hitherto, should give way to tossings of soul and despondent darkness? The gloomiest problem of this mysterious life was constantly before his eyes,””souls crushed and ruined, evil triumphant, and God silent. It was weeks and months that Tom wrestled, in his own soul, in darkness and sorrow. He thought of Miss Ophelia’s letter to his Kentucky friends, and would pray earnestly that God would send him deliverance. And then he would watch, day after day, in the vague hope of seeing somebody sent to redeem him; and, when nobody came, he would crush back to his soul bitter thoughts,””that it was vain to serve God, that God had forgotten him. He sometimes saw Cassy; and sometimes, when summoned to the house, caught a glimpse of the dejected form of Emmeline, but held very little communion with either; in fact, there was no time for him to commune with anybody.

–Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin

As [Ralph] Abernathy tells it”“and I believe he is right”“he and King were first of all Christians, then Southerners, and then blacks living under an oppressive segregationist regime. King of course came from the black bourgeoisie of Atlanta in which his father, “Daddy King,” had succeeded in establishing himself as a king. Abernathy came from much more modest circumstances, but he was proud of his heritage and, as he writes, wanted nothing more than that whites would address his father as Mr. Abernathy. He and Martin loved the South, and envisioned its coming into its own once the sin of segregation had been expunged.

“Years later,” Abernathy writes that, “after the civil rights movement had peaked and I had taken over [after Martin’s death] as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,” he met with Governor George Wallace. “Governor Wallace, by then restricted to a wheel chair after having been paralyzed by a would-be assassin’s bullet, shook hands with me and welcomed me to the State of Alabama. I smiled, realizing that he had forgotten all about Montgomery and Birmingham, and particularly Selma. ”˜This is not my first visit,’ I said. ”˜I was born in Alabama”“in Marengo County.’ ”˜Good,’ said Governor Wallace, ”˜then welcome back.’ I really believe he meant it. In his later years he had become one of the greatest friends the blacks had ever had in Montgomery. Where once he had stood in the doorway and barred federal marshals from entering, he now made certain that our people were first in line for jobs, new schools, and other benefits of state government.” Abernathy concludes, “It was a time for reconciliations.”

Read it all (my emphasis).

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”–then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.
There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”

Read it all.

As the nation observes the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, correspondent Kim Lawton catches up with the Grammy-nominated a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, which has been singing about racial inequality, social justice, and inspiring spiritual themes for more than 40 years. The women discuss the group’s music video tribute to King, “Give Love,” and the principles taught by King that are still important in race relations today. They also talk about the group’s new CD, “#LoveinEvolution,” which will be released on January 22nd.

Read it all.

You can find the full text here.

I find it always is really worth the time to read and ponder it all on this day–KSH.

Almighty God, who by the hand of Moses thy servant didst lead thy people out of slavery, and didst make them free at last: Grant that thy Church, following the example of thy prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of thy love, and may strive to secure for all thy children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Almighty Father, who didst inspire Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the Living God: Keep thy Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

O Lord Jesus, who by thy first miracle didst manifest thy glory, so that thy disciples believed on thee: Give us in our measure that faith which dwelt in them. Fill us with the riches of thy good Spirit; change thou our earthly desires into the image of thine own purity and holiness; and finally give us a place at thy heavenly feast; for the glory of thy holy name.

To thee, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in thee I trust,
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
Yea, let none that wait for thee be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know thy ways, O Lord;
teach me thy paths.
Lead me in thy truth, and teach me,
for thou art the God of my salvation;
for thee I wait all the day long.

–Psalm 25:1-4

We would appreciate your prayers.

Read it all.

A husband had a lot of explaining to do to his irate wife after driving off from a petrol station without her, according to reports in Brazil.

The man, only identified as Walter, was driving back to Argentina following a holiday in Brazil when he made the unfortunate error….

The couple’s 14-year-old son had also failed to spot his mother was missing as he was playing on his mobile phone in the front seat.

Read it all.

Leaders of the Anglican Communion are winding up a meeting in Canterbury on Friday after agreeing to temporary restrictions on the Episcopal Church in the United States for its position on same-sex marriage.

Responding to the decision, the head of the Vatican’s Council for ecumenical relations says he is “grateful” the bishops have excluded any more permanent divisions which could hinder the search for reconciliation between the two Churches .

Read or listen to it all.

In her 67 years as a registered nurse, she’s cared for veterans of the Spanish-American War, vaccinated thousands of children with the then new Salk polio vaccine, and was among the first to report the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. For the past quarter century, until her retirement this month, she has been caring for HIV and AIDS victims at the Veterans Administration hospital in Philadelphia.

“When you have a passion and you impact people’s lives on a daily basis,” she says, “it gives you a purpose.”

As a nursing student, one of her very first patients was a 12-year-old boy, Tommy Rios, who was riding double on the handlebars of a bicycle when he fell and was hit by a car, fracturing his skull and breaking his femur and pelvis. He was in a full body cast, in the hospital, for six months. Molly not only cared for him, but also brought him hoagies ”” the Philly word for submarine sandwiches ”” because he wasn’t eating the hospital food.

Molly’s niece Anne Harriott asked her the other day what ever became of the boy.

“I had lunch with him last week,” Molly replied.

Read it all.

Almighty God, who hast set in thy Church some with gifts to teach and help and administer, in diversity of operation but of the same Spirit: Grant to all such, we beseech thee, grace to wait on the ministry which they have received in the body of Christ with simplicity, diligence, and cheerfulness; that none may think of himself more highly than he ought to think, and none may seek another man’s calling, but rather to be found faithful in his own work; to the glory of thy name in Christ Jesus our Lord.

–H. J. Wotherspoon [1850-1930], Kyrie eleison (“Lord, have mercy”): A Manual of Private Prayers (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1905)

And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.

–Ephesians 4:11-16

Revelation 3:19-22

Sunday Worship live from St Helena’s Beaufort, SC
Listen live each Sunday here at 10:15 am Eastern time [3:15 pm London time]

From January 24th, 2016
+ Finding Hope in the Baptism of Jesus – Dr Kendall Harmon
+ When the Evil Day Comes – Bishop Jacob W. Kwashi at St Philip’s Charleston [Ephesians 6:10-20]
+ Something to Aim for – The Beauty of Total Commitment – Bishop Rennis Ponniah [Philippians 1:1-6]

From December 20th
+ Lessons and Carols from St Philip’s Church, Charleston – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
+ Called to Be The Body Together – Lewis Webber [1 Corinthians 12:1-11]
+ What has Bethlehem got to say to the Bataclan? – Vaughan Roberts [John 1:14]
+ Community of Love – Marc Boutan [John 1]
+ Choral Evensong from Chester Cathedral
+ Advent Devotional from Trinity School for Ministry
+ Advent Posts at Lent and Beyond

From December 13th
+ That we may without Shame or Fear Rejoice to Behold his Appearing – Dr Kendall Harmon
+ Bear Much Fruit – Vaughan Roberts at the Pear USA Assembly thanks to Kevin Kallsen
+ More of Vaughan Roberts’ talks

From December 6th
+ Stand On Your Guard – Bishop Raphael Samuel of Bolivia
+ On with the New – Vaughan Roberts [Colossians 3:12-4:1]
+ Church Planting: Fresh Expressions – Bishop Graham Cray at Trinity School for Ministry
+ Advent Carol Service from Trinity College, Cambridge
+ Choral Evensong with the mixed choir of Peterborough Cathedral

From September 27th
+ Choral Evensong from Portsmouth Cathedral
+ Jesus – our older brother – Dr Kendall Harmon [Hebrews 2:5-18]
+ Love each other – Vaughan Roberts [John 15:9-17]

From September 20th
+ Prayers Requested for South Carolina Supreme Court Hearing, September 23, 2015
+ Services, Talks and Resources for September 20th
+ Remain in me – Vaughan Roberts [John 15:1-8]
+ The Christian Life: Purity – Canon Terry Wong, the new Dean of St Andrew’s Cathedral, Singapore [Ephesians 5:1-21] [Frank content]
+ Faure’s Requiem recorded in 1967 in King’s College, Cambridge

Migration: World on the Move – Archbishop Mouneer Anis speaking at All Souls, Langham Place:
+ Talk 1 [Matthew 2:1-15]
+ Talk 2 [Deuteronomy 10:12-22]

Talks on Nehemiah ”“ Ajith Fernando
+ Passion for Our People [Nehemiah: 1:1-11]
+ Preparing for the Challenge [Nehemiah: 1:11b-2:18]
+ Responding to Opposition [Nehemiah 2:19-4:23]
+ Grappling with Inequality [Nehemiah 5:1-19]

From September 13th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for September 13th
+ Questions in the storm ”“ Simon Manchester [Mark 4:35-41]
+ Filled with the fullness of God – Bishop Rennis Ponniah [Ephesians 3:14-21]
+ Ruth: Lessons for Marriage, Love & Sex – 3 talks by Bishop Rennis Ponniah [Ruth 1-4]

From September 6th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for September 6th
+ What Is a Christian perspective on sin and Freedom? (Mark 7) – Dr Kendall Harmon
+ The Heart of the Matter (Mark 7:1-23) – Rev Matthew Rusch
+ Choral Evensong from St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, Northern Ireland during the Charles Wood Festival and Summer School

From August 30th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for August 30th
+ Called to Embrace God’s Perspective and Power (Eph 6) – Andrew O’Dell
+ Running the way of God’s commandments [Ephesians 5:15-20 and John 6:51-58] – Andrew Wingfield Digby
+ The Secrets of Long-Term Freshness: A Grace Colored Approach to Life and Ministry – Ajith Fernando

From August 23rd
+ Services, Talks and Resources for August 23rd
+ Finding Grace on Highway 174 – Alfred T. K. Zadig, Jr (Ephesians 4:25-5:2
and John 6:35, 41-51)
+ Praying the Psalms – Series of 5 talks from the Cathedral Church of St Luke and St Paul SC

From August 16th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for August 16th
+ Our national life matters to God [Isaiah 6:1-8] – Bishop Rennis Ponniah
+ Choral Evensong from Cheltenham College Chapel with the Eton Choral Course Choir

From August 9th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for August 9th
+ Paul and Silas at Philippi [Acts 16:6-34] ”“ Vaughan Roberts at Moore Theological College Chapel
+ Interview and Q&A with Vaughan Roberts
+ Choral Evensong from the Southern Cathedrals Festival

From August 2nd
+ Services, Talks and Resources for August 2nd
+ God feeds us [John 6:1-21] – Bishop Abraham Nhial
+ Talk and Q&A with Bishop Abraham
+ Choral Evensong from Hereford Cathedral

From July 26th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for July 26th
+ In the Fellowship of Elijah – Phil Ashey [1 Kings 17]
+ The father heart of God – Vaughan Roberts [Hosea 10:1-11:1]
+ Sunday Worship from the Keswick Convention
+ More talks from the Keswick Convention

From July 19th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for July 19th
+ Do we know the greatness of God? – Dr Kendall Harmon [Psalm 48]
+ A New Humanity – Bishop Rennis Ponniah [Ephesians 2:11-22]

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel : for he hath visited, and redeemed his people;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us : in the house of his servant David;
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy Prophets : which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from our enemies : and from the hands of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers : and to remember his holy Covenant;
To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham : that he would give us;
That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies : might serve him without fear;
In holiness and righteousness before him : all the days of our life.
And thou, Child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest : for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people : for the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God : whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us;
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death : and to guide our feet into the way of peace. [Luke 1:68-79 the prophesy of Zacharias]

From July 12th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for July 12th
+ Choral Evensong with the combined choirs of King’s and St John’s Colleges, Cambridge
+ A marriage made in heaven ”“ Vaughan Roberts [Hosea 1:1-2:1 and Revelation 21:1-4]
+ Christian Worship ”“ Paul Perkin [Hebrews 12:14-29]

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved. [Romans 10:9-10]

From July 5th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for July 5th
+ What does it Mean to Live Faithfully to Christ in our Time? – Dr Kendall Harmon
+ “Peace I leave with you” ”“ Vaughan Roberts [John 14:25-3]
+ Strengthened for Work ”“ William Taylor [Romans 1:1-17]

From June 28th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for June 28th
+ The Premier Lecture 2015 – Against the Flow – Professor John Lennox [Do you sometimes feel like you need to be encouraged in your faith, especially with the challenges you face in an increasingly secular culture?]
+ 2015 Trinity School for Ministry Graduation Commencement Address – Bishop Grant LeMarquand

From June 21st
+ Services, Talks and Resources for June 21st
+ Sunday’s Sermon from Emanuel AME Church in Charleston SC – Psalm 46 – Rev Norvel Goff
+ Do not be overcome by Evil, but Overcome Evil with Good [Mark 4] – Brian McGreevy today at St Philip’s Charleston
+ Jesus Who’ll Satisfy You – Vaughan Roberts [John 4:1-42]

From June 14th
+ Services, Talks and Resources for June 15th
+ Are We Ignorant of Satan’s Designs (Genesis 3:1-15) – Dr Kendall Harmon
+ Choral Evensong from Wells Cathedral

From June 7th
+ Sunday Services, Talks and Resources for June 7th
+ The Re-Evangelisation of Europe – Vaughan Roberts [Acts 16:11-34]
+ Church Planting in a Continent Experiencing Rapid Change – Martin Robinson
+ Choral Evensong from Truro Cathedral

From May 31st
+ Sunday Services, Talks and Resources for May 31st
+ Kendall Harmon’s Sermon for Pentecost 2015
+ When the Holy Spirit Comes – Bishop Rennis Ponniah [Acts 2]
+ The Most Important Question of All – Bishop Ken Clarke [Matthew 27]

From May 24th
+ Sunday Services, Talks and Resources for May 24th
+ The Nature of Christian Service ”“ Bishop Rennis Ponniah

From May 17th
+ Sunday Services, Talks and Resources for May 17th
+ A Bishop Mark Lawrence Sermon on the Ascension of Jesus
+ Sermons from St Helena’s Beaufort

From May 10th
+ Sunday Services, Talks and Resources for May 10th
+ Defending the Reconciling Gospel ”“ Bishop Michael Baughen [2 Corinthians 2:1 ”“ 6:18]
+ Do you have to lose your mind to become a Christian? ”“ William Taylor [Acts 26:24-32]
+ The Anglican Book of Common Prayer: What Relevance Does It Have to Today’s Contemporary Worship? John Yates II and John Yates III

From May 3rd
+ Sunday Services, Talks and Resources for May 3rd
+ The Uniqueness of Christ – Andrew Wingfield Digby [Acts 4:5-12 & John 10:11-18]
+ The Place of Unity – Dr Peter Walker
+ Choral Evensong from Exeter Cathedral
+ 3rd Sunday in Easter Confirmation Sermon at Christ St Paul’s – Bishop Mark Lawrence
+ My Lord and My God [John 20] – Archbishop Glenn Davies at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Singapore on April 13th

The previous post, Sunday on T19 is here

the difference between punishment sanctions (which could come from capricious action by the esteemed Primates) and simply requiring the Episcopal Church recognize the consequences of our actions is this: Sanctions proceed from power being exercised on the condemned, consequences proceed from the condemned own actions.

The difference is this: To the extent that the Episcopal Church did something wrong, it is their own fault, and we simply have to take the consequences.

Well there it is.

But it reminds me of something – the Anglican Covenant, a document by the way that has not been ratified by the Church of England, nor by the Episcopal Church. Here is what section four of that document says about consequences:

(4.2.7) On the basis of the advice received, the Standing Committee shall make recommendations as to relational consequences which flow from an action incompatible with the Covenant…

Read it all

Folks are still taking about how beautiful the service was at Christ Saint Paul’s Yonges Island, SC, as we gathered for a special and moving feast of lights in the darkened sanctuary, then from the Christ Candle, brought light to the church, people, and world as we burned our Christmas greenery. Many thanks to those who helped make the festivities afterward fun with the Kings cake, Oysters, and Chili.