“Neighbors immediately called 911 after a 6-year-old girl was kidnapped while outside with her bike in Louisville, Kentucky. Police officers quickly located the car to rescue the little girl.”

Watch it all.

Read it all.

What if the Nones Really Do Herald the Decline of Religion? – Philip Jenkins, @anxious_bench https://t.co/X5YHFEQZMt

— Baylor ISR (@BaylorISR) July 9, 2021

The UK is in the grip of an “epidemic of loneliness” among the young, according to a think tank that says the pandemic may have worsened the problem.

The proportion of people aged between 18 and 34 who say that they have one or no close friends has tripled in a decade, the report from the Onward think tank said.

Those aged between 18 and 24 are now nearly half as likely to say that they often speak to neighbours compared with 1998, the research found. They are also a third less likely to borrow and exchange favours with neighbours.

Onward’s Age of Alienation report, combining data from official surveys with polling by Stack Data Strategy, says that declines in younger generations’ interpersonal social networks have become far worse in recent years. It says this suggests that the pandemic “may be contributing to an ‘epidemic of loneliness’ among young people”. The report calls on ministers to introduce national civic service for people aged between 18 and 35, with a voluntary expectation that every young person completes ten days of volunteering a year. Volunteers could be encouraged, the think tank proposes, by civic rewards that could be redeemed against student loan or training course costs.

Read it all (subscription).

The proportion of people aged between 18 and 34 who say that they have one or no close friends has tripled in a decade, the report from the Onward think tank said https://t.co/aRNKlx0jKb

— The Times Scotland (@thetimesscot) July 9, 2021

And on that subject, and mindful of a date most of us will have in our diaries for Sunday evening, I have turned to scripture for help, where I find, encouragingly, at Ezekiel 40.28 these words: “He brought me to the inner court – that is to the prize and victory we long for – by the south gate.” This, surely, is the inspiration we are looking for as a nation.

We have also been the Synod who have lived through the first waves of the Covid pandemic. We have learned how to zoom. This has been hugely testing and I want to acknowledge the disappointment and frustration of some members who are challenging us to go further to make sure that no one is disadvantaged by the way we use or don’t use technology.

But there have also been many wonderful stories of Christian resourcefulness, creativity and tenacity as in our parishes, chaplaincies, church schools and just about every other expression of church life we have found ways of sustaining the life of worship, built new on line communities of faith, and served our local communities.

As we emerge into the next phase of our learning how to live with Covid, we don’t know how many people will return to worship; we don’t know quite what will happen with the new communities we have nurtured online; we don’t know the full extent of the financial challenge. I know how difficult this has been in parishes and dioceses where at every level of church life we have had to make difficult decisions. But I want to encourage you. I think what the Church of England has done in the past 18 months, especially in the local church, is magnificent.

Just this week the Bishop of London spoke powerfully about how inspired she was by the way churches have risen to the challenge, finding new ways of gathering to worship God, reach out and serve their neighbours in these difficult times. I too want to thank clergy and lay leaders for their faithfulness and perseverance. I am deeply sorry if anything that has been said from the centre ever caused anyone to doubt this.

Apparently, in some quarters it has been suggested that clergy are a limiting factor on church growth. I agree. A shortage of clergy would really limit us. We need more vocations. Read it all.

The text of @CottrellStephen’s presidential address is now available online: https://t.co/YwxLv3nrGL

— General Synod (@synod) July 9, 2021

Before training for ordination, Richard worked as Music Operations Manager with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he watched a play in 2011 that completely changed the course of his life.

Richard explained: “In my previous job at the RSC, we did a play called Written on the Heart.

“It was about the writing of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. In one scene, two men – Lancelot Andrewes and William Tyndale – debated translations of The Beatitudes.

“As I sat, and watched, and listened, these words came alive for me.

“Gradually, I realised that I had been wrong all my life about God.”

As a direct result, Richard bought a copy of the Bible and began to attend a church in Kidderminster.

Read it all.

"Questions and debates are often more important than answers – and doubts don’t deny one’s faith."

Richard Sandland is being ordained in @CofEWorcester, after a play at @TheRSC inspired his faith.

Explore his story on our website. 👇🏾https://t.co/W1nag9PUPC

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) July 2, 2021

O Lord Christ, who dost call thy disciples not only to follow thee but to become fishers of men: Give to us and to thy whole Church grace to obey thy word and to engage in a bold and adventurous evangelism; and grant that, attempting great things for thee, we may also expect great things from thee; to whom be glory for ever and ever.

"Sunrise on a picture-perfect morning at Owls Head Lighthouse."

📷 Kim Higgins

Upload your #Maine photos for the chance to be featured in an upcoming post. ➡️ https://t.co/H8dEHBeEk9 pic.twitter.com/T5hBzzNVPc

— Down East Magazine (@MagazineofMaine) July 9, 2021

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
who shall prepare thy way;
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight”
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

–Mark 1:1-8

One of my favorite sunrise shots from Yosemite pic.twitter.com/GaeX3Iji32

— Jeff Mihaly (@jeffmihaly) July 9, 2021

LLF is a set of resources exploring questions of human identity, sexuality, relationships, and marriage, launched on 9 November 2020.

All 42 dioceses have appointed ‘LLF Advocates’, who are enabling churches to engage with the LLF resources in ways appropriate to local contexts.

More than 85 percent of all dioceses (36) will have held an ‘LLF taster’ event day for clergy and lay people by the end of the month, with more than 5000 people participating in these so far.

Since the launch of LLF, requests for the resources have also been unprecedented: more than 13,000 copies of the LLF Course have been distributed whilst the LLF book has been reprinted three times since publication due to strong demand.

The LLF resources – which include a 5-session course for local groups – are designed to facilitate open, honest, and gracious learning and discussion among churchgoers across the country.

LLF draws together the Bible, theology, science, and history with powerful real-life stories, in what is understood to be the most extensive undertaking of any church to hear and articulate as wide a range of voices, lived experiences and theological understandings as possible in this area.

Read it all.

I appreciate your prayers. The parish website is there.

State health officials are concerned that the COVID-19 Delta variant will continue to spread quickly in South Carolina because of the large unvaccinated population.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is reporting 10 identified cases of the Delta variant in the state, although more are likely present.

This variant is more transmissible than other strains of the virus and carries a greater chance of severe disease, DHEC said.

Dr. Jane Kelly, assistant state epidemiologist, said more than half of the new confirmed coronavirus cases in the nation have been the Delta variant.

“The best thing you can do to protect yourself from the Delta variant is to make sure you’re fully vaccinated,” Kelly said. “Encourage your friends and family to get the shot as well.”

Read it all.

State health officials are concerned that the COVID-19 Delta variant will continue to spread quickly in South Carolina because of the large unvaccinated population. https://t.co/gZVeofuFcW

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) July 7, 2021

As many as one billion seashore animals along the Salish Sea may have died as a result of the heat wave in British Columbia.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia say the heat caused a mass die-off of creatures like sea snails and sea stars, as well as mollusks like clams and mussels.

Chris Harley, a professor with UBC’s Department of Zoology, said large quantities of dead sea life were spotted at beaches across Metro Vancouver.

Read it all.

WATCH: Researchers say the heat caused a mass die-off of creatures like sea snails, sea stars, clams and mussels. https://t.co/GTOCvWKdFG

— Global BC (@GlobalBC) July 7, 2021

God of grace and might, we praise thee for thy servants Priscilla and Aquila, whom thou didst plenteously endow with gifts of zeal and eloquence to make known the truth of the Gospel. Raise up, we pray thee, in every country, heralds and evangelists of thy kingdom, that the world may know the immeasurable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today the Church remembers Saints Priscilla and Aquila. Pray for us! pic.twitter.com/WryqiwK2yJ

— Archdiocese of NY (@NY_Arch) July 8, 2017

Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Sunrise in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda pic.twitter.com/po12LzRQmK

— Africa story Live (@AfricaStoryLive) July 8, 2021

I love thee, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.

–Psalm 18:1-3

still thinking about this sunrise pic.twitter.com/qD4Sn2qRYL

— idil (@idillmohamed) July 7, 2021

"England are in a final — a final! — and these are the strangest, rarest and most beautiful of words to write. Can 55 years of hurt really be about to end?" @henrywinter #ENGDEN https://t.co/KL8Yh0A9nA

— The Times (@thetimes) July 7, 2021

“Trust me!” Jesus says, and the more he says it, the less the crowd is inclined to go along.

John’s idea of what it means to believe is far different from ours in our scientific, post-Enlightenment world, of course. It’s not assent to an intellectual proposition the apostle is after, it’s that his readers come to better know Jesus, the bread of heaven. The relational aspect finally saves the story from itself. Even as the author fumes about the crowd’s blindness, his main character invites them into relationship. Jesus, ever the teacher, wants to see the light in their eyes as the world opens up before them. He knows there’s no margin in making them feel stupid.

The leader of an immunization advocacy group recently told me it’s well known in that world that you simply cannot argue someone into taking the necessary steps for public health. They may listen to the logic and consider the evidence, but if they’re skeptical, it all goes in one ear and out the other. The only thing to do, in her words, is to offer them “positive feelings strong enough to outweigh the bad.”

The thing to do, then, is to show people “that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” by listening to them, taking them seriously, and building a relationship. In encouraging vaccination, avoid the temptation to scoff at plain ignorance and recalcitrance. In reading John, stop demanding that people think the same way we do. It doesn’t always work—people can be pretty stubborn, after all—but when it does, it brings the joy of watching someone realize for the first time how wonderful and strange life is in the light of God’s love. Why would you want to miss out on that fun?

Read it all.

“The thing to do is to show people ‘that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’ by listening to them, taking them seriously, and building a relationship.” — @pastordan #lectionaryhttps://t.co/9iiMbYwgQG

— theChristianCentury (@ChristianCent) July 6, 2021

Which is absolutely laudable: a church without a mission is just a monument in memory of the Messiah. And a parish-based innovation which is overseen by qualified parish clergy is welcome if it leads people to Christ. But church leaders who have not submitted to a “long, costly college-based training” will have little theology and poor (or no) formation. You end up with a Wesleyan model of church (conveniently forgetting that the Wesleys were steeped in theology and had a profound understanding of Anglican orthodoxy), with all the inherent dangers of error and heresy being lay-preached. Reading Against Heresies: On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis and writing tedious 5,000-word essays on the definition of ‘Applied Theology’ is what helps to qualify you to teach, preach and minister effectively. Some eager disciples yearn to get out into the community and ‘do stuff’, but that stuff is far better done when it is led by people whose skills have been honed, mettle tested, and vocation discerned.

And who are all these lay leaders waiting to be ‘released’? Are they all wealthy or self-employed with a lot of spare time on their hands and the ability to labour for nothing, like parliamentary candidates for the Conservative Party?

Or perhaps there are no lay leaders waiting and yearning to be ‘released’ – and certainly nothing like the army necessary to birth and nurture 10,000 church plants.

Isn’t it a curious vision for renewing and reinvigorating the Church of England that the strategy is apparently to inculcate a new generation with the theology of the Free Church: you don’t need knowledgeable priests, you don’t need beautiful buildings, and you don’t need rigorous qualifications in theology: these are key limiting factors to mission. All you need is a passion for Christ and the ability to lead a Bible study. The rest is otiose.

Now, when will someone write a paper on the key limiting factors in the House and College of Bishops?

Read it all.

For what need the Church of Key Limiting Factors when the Church of Release and Liberation is just down the road? What need an expensively-formed priest in cassock and stole when there’s a free RE teacher in trackie bottoms and trainers just down the road?https://t.co/WR8w8nbP5Y

— Archbishop Cranmer: key limiting factor since 1520 (@His_Grace) July 3, 2021

THE Church needs to plant churches to “let Jesus out”, the Archbishop of Canterbury told a conference last week.

MultiplyX 2021, hosted online by the Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication, secured an endorsement for an urgent programme of church-planting from both Archbishop Welby and the Archbishop of York, the Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, who emphasised the historical precedent for the work.

“Every church we ever go to has been planted at some point or another,” Archbishop Welby said. “In every generation, if we are going to make a difference, we have to get the church out. And we have to get out of the church as it is normally seen. . . To quote Pope Francis, we have locked Jesus into the church and we need to open the church and let him out.” New churches “go out because there is no choice, because there is no one coming in”.

He diagnosed a need for culture change. “It’s a new discipline for quite a lot of people, Anglicans, that we are meant to witness. That we are not meant to leave Jesus inside the church when we go out, and pick him up again when we come back in the following Sunday but to go with him. . .”

Read it all.

Good write up of multiplyx in the @ChurchTimes , encouraging Christians of every tradition to participate in planting & pioneering, to remember Christ's work in the world calling us to be the Church in the present for the future @MadsDavies @stmellitus https://t.co/fhEHklwgqt

— Fr Simon Cuff (@frsimoncuff) July 2, 2021

The U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans’ departure more than two hours after they left, Afghan military officials said.

Afghanistan’s army showed off the sprawling air base Monday, providing a rare first glimpse of what had been the epicenter of America’s war to unseat the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks on America.

The U.S. announced Friday it had completely vacated its biggest airfield in the country in advance of a final withdrawal the Pentagon says will be completed by the end of August.

“We (heard) some rumor that the Americans had left Bagram … and finally by seven o’clock in the morning, we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram,” Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, Bagram’s new commander said.

Read it all.

What the heck is the US doing 🤦🏻‍♂️
“The U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, https://t.co/mssSQFGqsw

— Alireza Nader علیرضا نادر (@AlirezaNader) July 6, 2021

Read it all.

My Sunday column (tweeted belatedly): The Excesses of Antiracist Educationhttps://t.co/DRVFgc3tWA

— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) July 6, 2021

Grant, O blessed Lord, that thy Church in this our day may hear anew thy call to launch out into the deep in the service of thy glorious gospel; that souls for whom thou hast died may be won for thee, to the increase of thy kingdom and the glory of thy holy name.

Good Wednesday morning! Caught a glimpse of this sunrise over the Harbor today ☀️ #downtown #baltimore @wjz pic.twitter.com/Gc5klLFXsH

— Rachel Menitoff (@RachelMenitoff) July 7, 2021

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

–1 Samuel 16:7

Il sorgere del sole a #Stromboli.
————————————-
The sunrise in #Stromboli. pic.twitter.com/awISnT5baM

— Stromboli's Pictures (@PhotoStromboli) July 7, 2021

Read it all.

Three years after failing to qualify for the World Cup, Italy advances to Euro 2020 final.https://t.co/l33aoGOTPl

— CNN International (@cnni) July 6, 2021

After 8 years serving as Bishop of Liverpool, The Rt Revd Paul Bayes has announced he intends to retire in February 2022. His farewell service will be on February 12th 2022 at Liverpool Cathedral.

In a letter to clergy, churchwardens and other ministers, the bishop said “I’m deeply grateful to God for the years spent ministering alongside my outstanding colleagues and friends here in Liverpool Diocese. For me the time has come to prepare for a new chapter in life and ministry, and to contribute in a different way”

Bishop Paul, who joined us from St Albans Diocese where he served as Bishop of Hertford, has steered the diocese on our journey as we seek to grow and serve our communities. Adopting the growth agenda on his arrival, he helped us think as a diocese on how we ask God for a bigger church to make a bigger difference with more people knowing Jesus and more justice in the world. In consultation with the Diocesan Synod he developed and framed our thinking around a Rule of Life for our spiritual disciplines with the inward journey of pray, read, learn matched by the outward journey to tell, serve and give.

Read it all.

The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd @paulbayes announces his retirement in February 2022

Find out more on the news section of our Diocese website:https://t.co/TSCpPJgSoH pic.twitter.com/mHZf4K24e2

— Diocese of Liverpool (@LivDiocese) July 2, 2021

“Kansas teachers Mason McDowell and Alexandra Stamps, both first-year teachers, invited their third and fifth grade students to be junior bridesmaids and groomsmen at their wedding.”

Watch it all.

A church shouldn’t have to compromise its identity, he said.

“Do you have to have an elaborate document in order to get permission to preach the gospel?” Pearson said. “That shows me there’s something not quite right in the relationship from the get-go. It really was those core issues that were being brought to bear and of course, yes, they manifest themselves in the sexuality issue.”

He was not pressing other churches to change to the Advent’s position, he said.

“In one of our earlier conversations the president of the Standing Committee said to me, ‘Well, Andrew, what would you say if an Episcopal Church in Birmingham hired a transgendered clergy person to be their associate?’” Pearson said. “My answer was, ‘What I’d say is ‘Welcome to the Episcopal Church.’”

It was more about the Advent’s right to keep its tradition, he said.

“The issue really became, for me anyway, I think the individual congregation should have the ability to go in the direction they feel called to go, but I’d ask the same for the Advent,” he said. “I wasn’t really concerned what other Episcopal churches in the diocese were doing, but there seems to be a great concern from other churches as to what the Advent is doing.”

Read it all.

Andrew Pearson on why he left Advent Cathedral and dealing with the diocese. “I would often engage in conversations with leaders of the diocese and at given points it was clearly said that Jesus’ death on the cross was just a political accident.” https://t.co/gPsEhk5Jvd

— Jeff Walton (@jeffreyhwalton) July 5, 2021

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, together with the Bishop of Carlisle, James Newcome, the Church of England’s lead bishop for health and social care, and the Bishop of Newcastle, Christine Hardman, said people with disability should be “valued, respected and cherished”.

The “#downrightdiscrimination” campaign led by Heidi Carter (née Crowter) and Máire Lea-Wilson argues that the law discriminates in its treatment of people with Down’s Syndrome.

The bishops said: “The Church of England has consistently argued that the law on abortion is discriminatory on two counts.

“In the first instance, it permits abortions to be carried out solely on the basis of disability; secondly, it removes the twenty-four week time limit for abortions in cases of disability.

“We do not believe that such discrimination, founded on the probability of disability, is justifiable.

Read it all.

"People with disability should be valued, respected & cherished”. @CottrellStephen @BishopNewcastle & Bishop @CarlisleDiocese voice support for a legal challenge at the High Court to the law relating to abortion & Down's Syndrome https://t.co/U9DAtqELRk#DownrightDiscrimination

— Church of England in Parliament (@churchstate) July 6, 2021

He protested against the ecclesiastical system, he preached in favour of reform in the Church and advocated a return to the poverty recommended by the Scriptures. Indeed, the Scriptures were the only rule and every man had the right to study them. In Questio de indulgentis (1412) he denounced the indulgences.

He admired Wyclif’s writings and defended him when he was condemned as a heretic. He was excommunicated. An interdict was pronounced over Prague and he had to leave it and go to southern Bohemia, where he preached and wrote theological treatises, notably the Tractatus de ecclesia (1413), known as «The Church».

Read it all.

Řekl jsem mu: „I kdyby mi to celý svět říkal, já, maje rozum, jehož nyní užívám, nemohl bych to říci bez odporu svědomí." – Jan Hus 1415 (a aktuální i teď…právě teď). pic.twitter.com/1uMUt3Wj9l

— Zbyněk Drozd (@Dromed86) July 4, 2021

Faithful God, who didst give Jan Hus the courage to confess thy truth and recall thy Church to the image of Christ: Enable us, inspired by his example, to bear witness against corruption and never cease to pray for our enemies, that we may prove faithful followers of our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

ℹ️ In the Czech Republic, 6 July is celebrated every year as a public holiday in commemoration of the life and work of Jan Hus, religious leader and advanced thinker who died for his beliefs more than 600 years ago. https://t.co/0AdiudwwxT pic.twitter.com/E7Mw8H6mxm

— Prague Morning (@PragueMorning) July 6, 2021

Set a watch, O Lord, upon our tongue, that we may never speak the cruel word which is not true; or being true, is not the whole truth; or being wholly true, is merciless; for the love of Jesus Christ our Lord.–Daily Prayer, Eric Milner-White and G. W. Briggs, eds. (London: Penguin Books 1959 edition of the 1941 original)

Good morning 🌹🌹 pic.twitter.com/s5SQtXiUe6

— Cheryl (@CherylCoppola3) July 6, 2021