O Almighty God, Who sittest upon the throne, make all things within us new this day. Renew our faith, and hope, and love; renew our wills, that we may serve Thee gladly and watchfully with all our powers; renew our delight in Thy truth and in Thy worship; renew our joy in Thee, our longing that all may know Thee, our desires and labours to serve others. And so take care of us Thy people, who embrace the Cross of Thy Son and desire to walk in the light and power of Thy Spirit, now and evermore.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants–not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations” –in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, “So shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “reckoned to him as righteousness.” But the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

–Romans 4:13-25

Digital advertising on platforms such as Google, Facebook and Alibaba is set this year to overtake spending on traditional media for the first time, a historic shift in market share that has been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Excluding online ads sold by old media outlets such as news publishers or broadcasters, digital marketing is predicted to account for more than half the $530bn global advertising industry in 2020, according to GroupM, the media buying agency owned by WPP.

Separate forecasts released last week by Magna, part of IPG Mediabrands, also expect 2020 to be the year traditional media is upstaged.

The digital revolution in marketing under way since the millennium, when the internet accounted for under 2 per cent of spending, has transformed the ad market at a pace and scale that far outstrips the advent of television in the 20th century.

Read it all.

And there it is: “Digital advertising on platforms such as Google, Facebook and Alibaba is set this year to overtake spending on traditional media for the first time, a historic shift in market share that has been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.” https://t.co/lIUXv9kkre

— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) June 23, 2020

Check it out.

Our new wesite is live. Check it out!https://t.co/IqeggQf19K pic.twitter.com/HLetvu9W0z

— ACNA (@The_ACNA) June 20, 2020

St. Andrew’s Mt. Pleasant and St. Michael’s, Charleston, are partnering together in offering a Christian Fellows program called “Holy City Fellows.” It is a a nine-month (September-May) Christian leadership program for women and men in their 20’s and early 30’s who want to bring their faith to bear in every dimension of their lives – relationships, family, church, work, and culture. This program is designed to develop emerging Christian leaders.

Now through the summer, they are taking applications for their next class of Fellows that begins in late August. They look for young adults from various local churches who love the Lord, are active in their church, exhibit maturity and humility, are teachable, are willing to apply themselves, have a desire to grow in leadership abilities, and can fulfill the program commitments. More info can be found on their website HolyCityFellows.com or hear several Fellows share their experience in this Zoom video chat.

Read it all.

The Latest Edition of the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Enewsletter–St. Andrew’s Mt. Pleasant and St. Michael’s, Charleston, are partnering together in offering a Christian Fellows program called “Holy City Fellows” https://t.co/SCgGoTu9ue] #parishministry #lowcountrylife pic.twitter.com/8csY8AHZMn

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) June 23, 2020

Kevin Kallsen and AS Haley talk about the latest court victories for the ACNA. And, some of the challenges the US Supreme Court’s recent decisions will bring religious communities.

The Archbishop of Canterbury together with the Bishops of Salisbury, Oxford, Truro, Dover, Woolwich, Sherborne, Loughborough, Kingston, Reading and Ramsbury, and former Archbishop Rowan Williams have joined a list of eight archbishops and 38 bishops worldwide in signing an open letter stating that black lives are predominantly affected by the effects of climate change, as well as police brutality and the spread of COVID-19.

Published by the Anglican Communion’s Environmental Network, the letter reads (extract):

The world is slow to respond to climate change, hanging on to an increasingly precarious and unjust economic system. It is predominantly Black lives that are being impacted by drought, flooding, storms and sea level rise. The delayed global response to climate injustice gives the impression that #blacklivesdontmatter. Without urgent action Black lives will continue to be the most impacted, being dispossessed from their lands and becoming climate refugees.

We stand at a Kairos moment – in order to fight environmental injustice , we must also fight racial injustice.

Read it all.

A warning on “environmental racism”

Archbishop of Canterbury and fellow Anglican leaders link Black Lives Matter movement to fight against climate change, warning that black people bear the brunt of havoc wreaked by droughts, flooding and sea-level risehttps://t.co/WqlvE1P5aJ

— Kaya Burgess (@kayaburgess) June 22, 2020

‘Rob Kenney is using YouTube to share lessons he wished he had learned as a child growing up without a father. On his page, “Dad, How Do I?” Kenney shares useful advice on tasks such as tying a tie, changing a tire, and fixing a toilet, while providing encouragement to his over two million subscribers.’

Watch it all.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us, we have to live in a world we will never fully understand, predict, or control. The huge cost — in terms both of lives and money — of the world’s collective failure to apply precautionary reasoning to the coronavirus will hopefully continue to wake people up. If we are to survive, let alone flourish, we need to change things up; we need to imagine big, along the lines that I’ve been suggesting. This pandemic is our chance, probably our last such chance, for a new beginning. From its horror, if we retrieve the drive to localise, we’ll be building the best possible memorial to those hundreds of thousands who have unnecessarily died.

The coronavirus crisis is like the climate crisis, only dramatically telescoped in terms of time. We have seen what happens when there is a short-term protective contraction of the economy. The lifestyle-change that was required by the pandemic is more extreme than what will be required of us in order adequately to address the climate crisis. Why not make the less extreme changes required to live safely within a stable climate?

The coronavirus pandemic is like an acute condition: both individuals and entire societies need to respond quickly to it, but probably not for an extended period of time — certainly not if prevention or elimination is successfully achieved. The climate crisis is a chronic condition: it will take decades upon decades of determination, commitment, and “sacrifice” not to be overwhelmed by it. But the changes we need to make in order to achieve that goal are more attractive than those made in order to fight the coronavirus. The life we live in a climate-safe world can be a better life: saner; more rooted and local; more secure, with stronger communities and less uncertainty about our common future; less hyper-materialistic; more caring; more nurturing, and with greater exposure to the natural world.

What is required is the building of care, ethical sensibilities, and precautiousness into the very warp and weft of our lives.

Read it all.

‘Imagining the world after #Covid_19‘

My new piece for @ABCReligion 👇https://t.co/b53Z3oHiqa pic.twitter.com/QjjvZuklpy

— Rupert Read 🌍 (@GreenRupertRead) June 22, 2020

Speaking after the Angelus in Rome, the pope said the pandemic had made people reflect on the relationship between humankind and the environment.

“The lockdown has reduced pollution,” he said. It had enabled people to rediscover the beauty of many places free from traffic and noise.

“Now, with the resumption of activities, we should all be more responsible for the care of the common home,” he continued. Mentioning the many emerging grass-roots environmental movements, he called for citizens to be “increasingly aware of this essential common good”.

Read it all.

O Lord Jesus Christ, exalt me with Thee so to know the mystery of life that I may use the earthly as the appointed expression and type of the heavenly; and by using to Thy glory the natural body, I may be fit to be exalted to the use of the spiritual body.

Come and enjoy the celebration of Charles Kingsley’s Bicentenary this June 12th – June 6th, at Clovelly.

There will a host of activities, talks, workshops, and more for
adults and children.

Visit https://t.co/JdDqb5hswC for more details!

photo by @Wikipedia pic.twitter.com/cWWmJA8XVV

— Westward Ho! (@westwardhodevon) June 6, 2019

What then shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. So also David pronounces a blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:

Is this blessing pronounced only upon the circumcised, or also upon the uncircumcised? We say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, and likewise the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but also follow the example of the faith which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

–Romans 4:1-12

The best title for this tale was devised by my Hoover Institution colleague, the economist John Cochrane. He called it “The Dumb Reopening.” A smart reopening is the sort that has been possible in countries such as Taiwan and South Korea, which were so quick to ramp up testing and contact tracing that they didn’t need to do lockdowns in the first place. Among European countries, Germany and Greece have also successfully adopted these methods, which ensure that any new outbreaks of Covid-19 can quickly be detected, so-called super-spreaders isolated, their recent contacts swiftly traced and tested, and the outbreaks snuffed out.

Other signs of smartness are the persistence of behavioral adaptations by ordinary people, such as social distancing and wearing masks. We know that these practices, which can be adopted by citizens without any government decree, are effective in restricting the spread of the virus SARS-CoV-2.

Less widely appreciated is that social distancing is more effective as policy than lockdowns, as a forthcoming paper in the journal Nature shows. This is also the implication of work by researchers at Oxford’s Blavatnik School who show that there is no correlation between the stringency of government measures and containment of Covid-19. Measures designed to protect groups that are especially susceptible and vulnerable to Covid-19 — notably the elderly, especially those with pre-existing conditions — are also smart.

A dumb reopening eschews all such precautionary measures. So is that really what the U.S. is doing? The answer is pretty much yes. Testing has improved, but contact tracing is primitive. And social distancing and mask-wearing are least prevalent where reopening is happening fastest.

Read it all.

The U.S. isn’t following the example of countries that have shown what a “smart reopening” entails https://t.co/Oa6oEA18LZ

— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) June 22, 2020

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today announced 1,002 new confirmed cases and 2 new probable cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, and 6 additional confirmed deaths. There are currently 731 hospital beds occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 25,666, probable cases to 35, confirmed deaths to 659, and zero probable deaths.

Four of the deaths occurred in elderly individuals from Clarendon (1), Greenville (1), Marion (1), and Richland (1) counties, and two of the deaths occurred in middle-aged individuals from Darlington (1) and Lancaster (1) counties.

Read it all.

DHEC announced 1,002 new confirmed cases and 2 new probable cases of COVID-19, and 6 additional confirmed deaths.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 25,666, probable cases to 35, confirmed deaths to 659, and zero probable deaths. https://t.co/cmHzp045U6

— SCDHEC (@scdhec) June 22, 2020

If coronavirus cases continue to rise as they have been for the last few weeks, K-12 students will not likely return to in-person education in the fall, a top official said Monday.

“If it continues on the same path we’re on right now it’s going to be extremely difficult for us to be able to go back face-to-face,” S.C. Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said at a Monday press conference. “Hopefully we’ll see a change and things will start decreasing.”

There is no question being able to teach in-person is better — especially for young students — than being purely online, Spearman said. However, she said she will not risk student and teacher safety to meet that goal.

Read it all.

As we wait for word on when NC schools will reopen, @thestate reports today that neighboring South Carolina students may not return to schools if COVID-19 spread doesn’t slow. #nced #ncpol #coronavirus https://t.co/ZMTKMFpoF8

— Keung Hui (@nckhui) June 22, 2020

An unprecedented expansion of federal aid has prevented the rise in poverty that experts predicted this year when the coronavirus sent unemployment to the highest level since the Great Depression, two new studies suggest. The assistance could even cause official measures of poverty to fall.

The studies carry important caveats. Many Americans have suffered hunger or other hardships amid long delays in receiving the assistance, and much of the aid is scheduled to expire next month. Millions of people have been excluded from receiving any help, especially undocumented migrants, who often have American children.

Still, the evidence suggests that the programs Congress hastily authorized in March have done much to protect the needy, a finding likely to shape the debate over next steps at a time when 13.3 percent of Americans remain unemployed.

Democrats, who want to continue the expiring aid, can cite the effect of the programs on poverty as a reason to continue them, while Republicans may use it to bolster their doubts about whether more spending is needed or affordable.

Read it all.

Important story by @JasonDeParle on the impact stimulus has had in preventing more poverty during this economic disaster. And a reminder that much of that aid has been distributed or will expire soon. Our economic challenges will be with us a lot longer. https://t.co/plRcBmH1Db

— Robert Gibbs (@Robt_Gibbs) June 23, 2020

Saudi Arabia said it was curtailing this year’s hajj pilgrimage to only a small number of people already in the kingdom, rather than the millions who usually flock to Islam’s holiest sites, amid concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus.

The hajj, the Muslim world’s most important religious pilgrimage, is considered a pillar of Islam and has been held since the seventh century in Mecca. All Muslims who are able to are required to make the journey at least once in their lifetimes.

The five-day event, which begins in late July this year, is a source of great political and religious prestige for Saudi Arabia, while also generating an estimated $8 billion in revenue for the kingdom each year.

Please note there is also an audio only version available to listen to or download there.

The Church of England’s online weekly service will hear a call for action to build a fairer world ahead of a minute’s silence to lament the racism experienced by the Windrush generation and other black and UK minority ethnic people.

Father Andrew Moughtin-Mumby, Rector of St Peter’s Church in Walworth, south east London, will lead the service in which his sermon will describe racism as one of three pandemics faced by the world, alongside the climate crisis and COVID-19.

Read it all.

Our weekly service, led by @StPeterWalworth, will be available from 9am Sunday.

Recognising Windrush Day, the service includes a minute’s silence to lament the racism experienced by the Windrush generation and other black and UK minority ethnic people.https://t.co/K5efpEg49r

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) June 19, 2020

Almighty God, by whose grace and power thy holy martyr Alban triumphed over suffering and was faithful even unto death: Grant to us, who now remember him with thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to thee in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Martyrdom of Saint Albans, First Martyr of Britain, from the Saint Alban’s Psalter c.13th century, English. pic.twitter.com/OJqU6U126F

— Edoardo (@EdoardoDFanfani) June 22, 2016

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who when on earth wast ever occupied about Thy Father’s business; grant that we may not grow weary in well-doing. Give us grace to do all in Thy Name; be Thou the beginning and the end of all; the pattern Whom we follow, the redeemer in Whom we trust, the master Whom we serve, the friend to Whom we look for sympathy. May we never shrink from our duty through any fear of man; make us faithful unto death: and bring us at last into the eternal presence, where with the Father and the Holy Ghost Thou livest and reignest for ever.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

“Holiness is made for all. It is the end for which we were made” Edward Bouverie Pusey pic.twitter.com/fi5FxfdFOL

— laudablePractice (@cath_cov) September 16, 2016

I will sing of thy steadfast love, O LORD, for ever; with my mouth I will proclaim thy faithfulness to all generations. For thy steadfast love was established for ever, thy faithfulness is firm as the heavens.

–Psalm 89:1-2

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today announced 907 new confirmed cases and 1 new probable case of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, and 9 additional confirmed deaths. There are currently 692 hospital beds occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

This brings the total number of people confirmed cases to 24,661, probable cases to 32, confirmed deaths to 653, and zero probable deaths.

Six of the deaths occurred in elderly individuals from Chester (1), Colleton (1), Florence (2), and Richland (2) counties, and three of the deaths occurred in middle-aged individuals from Richland (1), Spartanburg (1), and Sumter (1) counties.

Read it all.

DHEC announced on Sunday 907 new cases of COVID-19 and 9 new deaths, as the state total nears 25,000 total cases and state death toll hits 653.https://t.co/rEAsMOpq4R

— ABC News 4 (@ABCNews4) June 21, 2020

From there:

We give our thanks, Creator God, for the fathers in our lives.

Fatherhood does not come with a manual, and reality teaches us that some fathers excel while others fail.
We ask for Your blessings for them all and forgiveness where it is needed.

This Father’s Day we remember the many sacrifices fathers make for their children and families, and the ways–both big and small–they lift children to achieve dreams thought beyond reach.

So too, we remember all those who have helped fill the void when fathers pass early or are absent; grandfathers and uncles, brothers and cousins, teachers, pastors and coaches and the women of our families.

For those who are fathers, we ask for wisdom and humility in the face of the task of parenting. Give them the strength to do well by their children and by You.
In Your Holy name, O God, we pray.

Amen.

Data from the London-based Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases shows that coronavirus cases are set to double in South Carolina every 14 days.

That rate exceeds disease spread in Georgia, which is set to see cases double every 43 days; North Carolina, every 16 days; and Tennessee, every 20 days, the data shows. In Florida, cases are set to double every 13 days.

Public health experts continue to urge everyone to take precautions such as practicing social distancing, wearing a mask in public, avoiding group gatherings, washing your hands regularly and staying home if you’re sick.

Although experts disagreed on whether masks were an effective form of protection during the first couple of months of the pandemic, it is now broadly accepted that face masks or cloth face coverings can help reduce the virus’ ability to spread.

Read it all.

1,157 new coronavirus cases reported today in South Carolina, another record-breaking number of positive tests. https://t.co/MM5BGWXWHW

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) June 20, 2020

O Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Word of God, Creator and Redeemer, possess our mind and conscience, our heart and imagination, by Thine indwelling Spirit; that we and all men, being purged of pride, may find and rest in that love which is Thy very self.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

Today at the 11am service of Holy Communion at Santa Margarita, Menorca, we will commemorate William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942-1944. https://t.co/gMOQMbiNLU pic.twitter.com/xWszeTUzuG

— Rev Paul Strudwick (@anglicanmenorca) November 6, 2019

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, reporting the conversion of the Gentiles, and they gave great joy to all the brethren. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up, and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.”

The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you make trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

And all the assembly kept silence; and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

–Acts 15:1-12

Here are some things that define you more than your current relationship status, your job performance, your CV, your genetics, your appearance, your health, your past, your successes, your failures and pretty much everything else.

Hurray!

– you are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)
– you are a child of God (1 John 1:3)
– you are no longer a slave (Galatians 4:7)
– the most authoritative being in the Universe sets you free: you are free indeed (John 8:36)
– you have the Spirit of the Son in your heart (Galatians 4:6)
– in fact, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)
– you are a friend of Jesus (John 15:15)
– you are a sibling of Jesus, and he’s glad about it (Hebrews 2:11)
– your life IS Christ (Colossians 3:4)
– you are no longer darkness but light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8)
– you are more than a conqueror through Him who loved you (Romans 8:37)

Read it all.