At the heart of our Anglican polity—our Anglican “decision-making process”—is the principle of conciliarism. We take council together, just as the apostolic church did in the great Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. It is a way that we walk together in the light (I John 1:7-9) so that we are truly a one, holy, apostolic, and catholic church in Christ. One of the guiding principles of conciliarism is that “what touches all must be decided by all.” In the Church, this means that whenever an internal church law (the canons) touches all it should at least be reviewed by all. In that spirit, the Governance Task Force of the ACNA has proposed the enclosed amendments to our canons for review by all members of the ACNA. Please take some time to download this First Draft of the GTF 2022 Report and watch the video.

Read it all.

Governance Task Force Calls for Feedback from Anglican Church in North America Members on Proposed Canonical Amendments https://t.co/qmlcoNa9FK pic.twitter.com/qBqTlb4soV

— ACNA (@The_ACNA) March 8, 2022

There is a reasonable chance that an embargo will set off the internal disintegration of Vladimir Putin’s siloviki regime (KGB mafia), though by what mechanism and on what timetable remains obscure. Will Russia’s patriotic generals agree to devastate the Varingian cradle of Kievan Mother Rus with cluster bombs? I doubt it.

Professor Alan Riley from the Atlantic Council said the combination of central bank sanctions, ejection from the Swift payments system, and an energy embargo could test this brutal but narrow and brittle regime to destruction. “We may reach the point where Putin can’t even pay his troops,” he said.

Those in Europe still baulking at an energy embargo should study what happened in 1935 when Benito Mussolini launched a 400,000-strong invasion of Ethiopia, to the indignation of a world moving beyond imperialism.

Half measures proved to be the worst of all worlds. Calibrated sanctions enraged Mussolini without stopping him. They pushed him into an alliance with Hitler, bringing about what the democracies most feared.

Read it all.

"What is clear is that the Western democracies no longer deem it morally defensible to fund Putin’s war machine with purchases of oil, gas, and coal" | Writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard https://t.co/qhNn86aooS

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 8, 2022

Amen. pic.twitter.com/3HjYfQuAv6

— Taylor Wilton-Morgan 🇺🇦 (@TaylorWMorgan) March 8, 2022

War broke out in August and in September 1914 Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy wrote these words in his parish magazine:

“I cannot say too strongly that I believe every able-bodied man ought to volunteer for service anywhere. Here ought to be no shirking of that duty.”

This from the man who would, before long be writing this, “Waste”:

“Waste of Muscle, waste of Brain,
Waste of Patience, waste of Pain,
Waste of Manhood, waste of Health,
Waste of Beauty, waste of Wealth,
Waste of Blood, and waste of Tears,
Waste of Youth’s most precious years,
Waste of ways the Saints have trod,
Waste of glory, Waste of God–War!”

Read it all.

The Church also remembers Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, more often known as ‘Woodbine Willie’. The great First World War Padre who brought comfort to many, along with many Woodbines! pic.twitter.com/NyBl0hTz9I

— OurCofELike (@OurCofELike) March 8, 2022

Glorious God, we give thanks for high and holy things as well as the common things of earth: Awaken us to recognize thy presence in each other and in all creation, so that we, like Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, may love and magnify thee as the holy, undivided Trinity; who liveth and reigneth one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessed Lord, who wast tempted in all things like as we are, have mercy upon our frailty. Out of weakness give us strength; grant to us thy fear, that we may fear thee only; support us in time of temptation; embolden us in time of danger; help us to do thy work with good courage, and to continue thy faithful soldiers and servants unto our life’s end.

Hood River Oregon with Mount Hood in the distance #photography #landscapephotography #oregon #hoodriver #farm #orchard #flowers #barns pic.twitter.com/A14xsKByQg

— Gary A Randall (@thegaryarandall) March 8, 2022

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.”

And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zeb′edee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zeb′edee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

–Mark 1:14-20

A wintery sun shining on beautiful Cranshaws Church #scottishborders @VisitScotland @ThePhotoHour @StormHour pic.twitter.com/gDm8qQjo3i

— ShutterBugShots (@ShotsBug) March 8, 2022

The Archbishop of Canterbury has called for peace negotiations in Ukraine and compassion for refugees, as the humanitarian crisis in the country worsens.

Speaking to pupils at a school in Crawley, on Saturday, Archbishop Welby said: “We need negotiation, mediation, getting people to support peace but not creating more war.” He also called for UK citizens to show generosity towards refugees. “We need to turn towards each other and care for each other,” he said.

More than 1.6 million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion on 24 February, according to UN figures.

On Friday, USPG and the diocese in Europe announced an emergency appeal to help those caught up in the conflict. Funds will go to Christian charities and churches working on the ground to support people fleeing Ukraine.

Read it all.

“We need negotiation, mediation, getting people to support peace but not creating more war.” https://t.co/XgylKiJFnE

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) March 7, 2022

Poland has long warned its Western partners about the risk of Russian aggression in Ukraine, and indeed beyond, and the need to anchor its neighbour in NATO and the EU. Today, as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country is on the frontline of a potentially explosive conflict. The role it seems to play is as important as it is dangerous. Poland is fast becoming the lynchpin of the Western effort to defend Ukraine and deter Russia, a role that exposes it to considerable danger at the same time as it is playing principal recipient of the most extensive and rapid movement of refugees in Europe’s post-war history.

Hundreds of Stinger missiles, Javelin anti-tank weapons and other munitions have been pouring into Ukraine, through Poland and Romania, as part of America’s $350m package to assist the besieged country. Pentagon officials say that most of the weapons have already reached Ukraine. America has also proposed that Poland supply Ukraine with its own MiG-29 fighter jets, and receive American F-16s in exchange, according to Antony Blinken, the secretary of state. So far, Polish officials say they will not be sending warplanes to Ukraine, though there are reports that they may be supplied in unassembled form.

People are making their way across the border as well. Most of the world’s attention has been on the 1.6m Ukrainians who have escaped abroad since the start of the war, including the 1m refugees who have reached Poland. But many are heading in the opposite direction. Over the first ten days of the war, Polish border guards recorded 217,000 crossings into Ukraine. Of these, a large share are by Ukrainians, men and women, coming back home to enlist.

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Now it appears that Mr. Xi’s display of solidarity may have, possibly unwittingly, emboldened Mr. Putin to gamble on going to war to bring Ukraine to heel.

A retracing of Beijing’s trail of decisions shows how Mr. Xi’s deep investment in a personal bond with Mr. Putin has limited China’s options and forced it into policy contortions.

Before and shortly after the invasion, Beijing sounded sympathetic to Moscow’s security demands, mocking Western warnings of war and accusing the United States of goading Russia. Over the past two weeks, though, China has sought to edge slightly away from Russia. It has softened its tone, expressing grief over civilian casualties. It has cast itself as an impartial party, calling for peace talks and for the war to stop as soon as possible.

The quandaries for China, and Mr. Xi, remain.

Read it all.

Publicly, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin had vowed that the friendship between China and Russia had "no limits." Now it appears that Xi's display of solidarity may have, perhaps unwittingly, emboldened Putin to gamble on going to war. https://t.co/Dd3eMjFM32

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 7, 2022

Read it all.

The Latest Edition of the #Anglican Diocese of South Carolina Enewsletter https://t.co/nPK8Lq6dwY #parishministry #anglican #religion #southcarolina #communications pic.twitter.com/akya2tigla

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) July 14, 2021

The Very Revd Charles “Chip” Edgar will be consecrated as the next Bishop of The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina in a special service at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul in Charleston on Saturday, March 12, 2022.

The service will begin at 10 a.m. with a processional of the Bishop Elect, members of the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America, retired Bishops and clergy of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, the Diocese of the Carolinas and the Reformed Episcopal Church.

The consecration will be led by the Most Revd Foley Beach, Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America.

The Revd Dr. Jamey Graham, Pastor of Saint John Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, will be the preacher. Pastor Graham and Bishop Elect Edgar began meeting together and developed a close friendship following the racial unrest in Baltimore in 2015. They have preached in one another’s pulpits and deepened the relationships between their families and congregations in the years since.

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Today, Wednesday, January 12, 2022, the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America in consented to the election of the Very Rev. Chip Edgar as bishop for the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina. More to come. pic.twitter.com/GDv1TfMoqD

— Anglican Diocese of SC (@anglican_sc) January 12, 2022

O God, the King of Saints, who didst strengthen thy servants Perpetua, Felicity, and their companions to make a good confession and encourage one another in the time of trial: Grant that we who cherish their blessed memory may share their pure and steadfast faith and win with them the palm of victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today the Church of England celebrates Perpetua, Felicity and their Companions, Martyrs at Carthage, 203 https://t.co/8GPtnxK96N

Image: Martyrdom of Perpetua, Felicitas, Revocatus, Saturninus & Secundulus, from the Menologion of Basil II, c. 1000 AD, Public domain, via Wikimedia pic.twitter.com/fPRk9TMq7x

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) March 7, 2022

O Almighty God, who has taught us that thy Word is a lantern unto our feet and a light unto our path; grant that we, with all who devoutly read the Holy Scriptures, may realize our fellowship one with another in thee; and may learn thereby to know thee more fully, to love thee more truly, and to follow more faithfully in the steps of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God blessed for evermore.

–Robert W. Rodenmayer, ed., The Pastor’s Prayerbook: Selected and arranged for various occasions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960)

One of my favourite castles…Malahide!

💚🤍🧡#Dublin #Ireland #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/aJtEWDhtz6

— Emma McArdle | Ireland 🇮🇪 (@McArdlePhoto) March 7, 2022

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

The sun fighting through the clouds over the River Tyne this morning after sunrise 🌤️🌥️ #StormHour #ThePhotoHour #weather #sunrisephotography pic.twitter.com/6XYoHyTqmO

— Coastal Portraits – It's Grim up North (@johndefatkin) March 7, 2022

NATO is already supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons and imposing harsh sanctions on Russia. It can and should do more. One idea is for Poland to give Ukraine some of its old Soviet-made fighter aircraft. It could also bolster Ukrainian air-defences with longer-range systems than the portable Stinger missiles they have received so far. Both would help more than asking NATO pilots to do the job for them.

Another good idea would be to degrade Russia’s economy further by imposing embargoes on buying Russian oil and gas. The current sanctions avoid energy, but Russia desperately needs hard currency from oil and gas exports to pay for its imports, because existing sanctions have frozen its reserves.

Both arms supplies and an embargo also risk escalation. And sanctions on Russian energy would come at a high price to the world economy. But they entail less risk and a lower price than a no-fly zone would. What is more, they might actually work.

Read it all (registration or subscription).

A no-fly zone is an alluring proposal. It is also wrong-headed https://t.co/hNUVuzs6zd

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) March 6, 2022

Heavenly Father,
your Son battled with the powers of darkness,
and grew closer to you in the desert:
through your Holy Spirit help us to use these days to grow in wisdom and prayer
that we may witness to your saving love
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen (slightly edited-KSH).

Bore Sul bendigedig i chi gyd…heddwch,llonyddwch a chwmni da i ddachre’r dydd🙏🏻❤️

A very good Sunday morning to you all…calm ‘n peaceful and great company to start the day🙏🏻❤️@StormHour @ThePhotoHour @SallyWeather #Sundaymorningbliss pic.twitter.com/a6RdzmGu9o

— Aled Hall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@AledHall) March 6, 2022

O God, thou art my God, I seek thee,
my soul thirsts for thee;
my flesh faints for thee,
as in a dry and weary land where no water is.
So I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary,
beholding thy power and glory.
Because thy steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise thee.
So I will bless thee as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on thy name.

–Psalm 63:1-4

#Sunday morning in #Grasmere. #LakeDistrict #LoveUKWeather @CumbriaWeather @StormHour @ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/QYh3S07tDB

— Faeryland Grasmere (@faerymere) March 6, 2022

Bishop Mark Lawrence has, upon the unanimous recommendation of the search committee, called the Very Rev. Ken Weldon to serve as the next Executive Director of St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center.

‘Boo’ (Weldon’s wife) and I are humbled to accept the call to St. Christopher, a place and ministry that has been so important to so many,” says Weldon. “We are grateful for the 14 years we have had at St. John’s, Florence, and excited to see what the Lord will do moving forward.”

Read it all.

Ken Weldon called to Serve as the Next Director of Saint Christopher Camp and Conference Center https://t.co/gjHzU1xGuv #anglican #Southcarolina #ministry #lowcountrylife pic.twitter.com/gBokBYLtjl

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) March 6, 2022

Lord, make me conscious of Thy holiness and majesty: teach me to know and do Thy will: pour into my heart such love towards Thee, that, loving Thee above all things, I may obtain Thy gracious promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Robert W. Rodenmayer, ed., The Pastor’s Prayerbook: Selected and arranged for various occasions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960)

Slight detour further along before a coffee from Gairloch farm shop #iphone13pro pic.twitter.com/n5pxkTYYRi

— mark littlejohn (@mark_lj) March 5, 2022

I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me; you were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I complain of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me.

–Philippians 4:10-13

They say patience is a virtue. All I know is I was freezing, waiting for 45 minutes on the top of Glastonbury Tor for the sun to peep through the clouds. 😂 pic.twitter.com/UBjj9nltCe

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) March 5, 2022

The church prays with Ukraine because their cause is just and because they, like we, are vulnerable and imperiled, and they know it.

Ash Wednesday is about remembering that we will die, and that’s important. We are told to “number our days” (Ps. 90:12) and to remember that life is a vapor soon to vanish (James 4:14).

But it is also about how we died. Joined to Christ, we have died with him—in the most humiliating and shameful way possible. The way to glory is not the way of Rome, of Russia, or of our own desire to exalt or protect ourselves. The way to glory is the way of the cross.

In wartime, dictators should remember that, win or lose, they will die and that there will be no invading or conquering the kingdom of God. At Ash Wednesday—and all year round—we should remember this too.

Read it all.

“In wartime, dictators should remember that, win or lose, they will die and that there will be no invading or conquering the kingdom of God.” @drmoore on this Ash Wednesday:https://t.co/7twyqJwzzk

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) March 2, 2022

Mayor Ihor Kolykhaiev laid out the new rules in a Facebook post. His constituents could leave home in groups no bigger than two. Cars should drive at low speed. Arrangements were made to collect corpses of Ukrainians killed in the main square and other parts of town, which the city said numbered at least 49, mainly civilians.

“We are experiencing colossal difficulties with collecting and burying the dead, delivering food and medicines, rubbish removal, accidents removal, etc,” Kolykhaiev said.

“For now, the flag flying above us is Ukrainian,” he added. “And in order to stay that way, these requirements must be met. This is all I can offer for now.”

Alongside Kherson, smaller cities that fell to Russian forces this week are Berdyansk and Melitopol, which were captured on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

However, Ukrainians say the Russian hold on these cities has been incomplete and that the occupiers have shown little sign they are equipped to run them, or interested in doing so.

Read it all.

Russian military rule in Kherson: no groups larger than two people. Cars must drive slowly. The dead should be collected from the main square. "For now, the flag flying above us is Ukrainian. And in order to stay that way, these requirements must be met." https://t.co/sc6uYXCp6A

— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) March 4, 2022

Mr Biden has been keen on arms control since he first ran for the Senate, the same year that Nixon went to China. Last year he extended the New start treaty, which limits American and Russian deployments of strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 each. He has also tried to entice China into arms-control talks. And he has argued that America should shift to a doctrine declaring that the “sole purpose” of nuclear weapons is to deter nuclear attack.

Such a change now looks unlikely. China is fast building up its nuclear warheads. The Pentagon reckons a total in the “low-200s” in 2020 might reach 1,000 or more by 2030. America’s allies have lobbied hard for America to preserve “extended deterrence”, which leaves open resorting to nuclear weapons against superior conventional forces. Russia’s threats supply a powerful new argument. Mr Abe says Japan should think of hosting American nuclear weapons, as Germany does. This would be a big shift from Japan’s long-standing “three non-nuclear principles”: not making nukes, not possessing nukes, and not allowing nukes to be stationed in the country.

Like much of the new geopolitics, the effect on nuclear strategy around the world will depend to some extent on what transpires in Ukraine. “If Putin’s threat is seen to be successful, it could spur further proliferation,” says James Acton of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think-tank. “If the threat ends up being seen as bluster because nuclear weapons are not usable, then it might end up actually reducing proliferation pressures.”

But some worries apply however the war ends. A wounded but victorious Russia may feel emboldened to further threaten nato; a Russia bogged down by a Ukrainian insurgency may want to lash out at those equipping Ukrainian fighters; a Russia which tries to topple its leader will be unstable. The early years of the cold war, notes Thomas Wright of Brookings, were filled with danger—from the Soviet Union’s blockade of West Berlin in 1948-49 to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962—before detente eventually brought greater predictability. As Mr Wright points out, “We are at the beginning of a new era, and beginnings can be dangerous.”

Read it all.

How the war in #Ukraine is changing geopolitics. Democracy v autocracy; Europe sheds its pacifist robes; Russia cleaves to China; nuclear escalation; and whether America can stitch together its alliances on the Eurasian "Rimland" https://t.co/6q4POINIzB

— Anton La Guardia (@AntonLaGuardia) March 3, 2022

Religious leaders in Ukraine have urged its citizens to continue resisting the Russian invasion…, as churches around the world condemned the war, and Anglicans in Europe held a special service for peace.

“Remember firmly that the truth is on our side — and where the truth is, there is God and victory,” the leader of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphany Dumenko, told Christians this week.

“Defenders of Ukraine, brothers and sisters, you have ruined the aggressor’s intentions for a quick victory. The whole world admires how Ukraine has successfully resisted Russian aggression.”

The message was released as Russian tanks continued to advance on Kyiv, despite aborted peace talks. By mid-week, dozens of Ukrainian civilians had been reported killed by missiles and shells in the country’s second city, Kharkhiv.

In a new sign of its distancing itself from the Moscow Patriarchate, the Primate of the Moscow-linked Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Metropolitan Onufriy Berezovsky, instructed all parishes to pray for God’s mercy amid the “cries and groans of the Ukrainian people” and “making the authorities wise and strengthening our army with courage”.

Read it all.

“Remember firmly that the truth is on our side — and where the truth is, there is God and victory.” https://t.co/xaJccdOXA6

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) March 2, 2022

Record food commodity prices are an ordeal by fire for some 45 poorer countries that rely heavily on food imports: the Maghreb, the non-oil Middle East, swaths of Africa, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan. The World Food Programme warned of “catastrophic” scarcity for several hundred million people last November. The picture is worse today.

“Everything is going up vertically. The whole production chain for food is under pressure from every side,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, the ex-head of agro-markets at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

“I have never seen anything like it in 30 years and I fear that prices are going to go much higher in the 2022-2023 season. The situation is just awful and at some point people are going to realise what may be coming. We’re all going to have to tighten our belts, and the mood could get very nasty even in OECD countries like Britain,” he said.

Read it all (registration or subscription).

"A billion of the world’s poorest people will go even hungrier thanks to Putin’s deranged misadventure, and some will starve. Our next moral mission is to help them" | Writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard https://t.co/EldrZ5NhzV

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 4, 2022

Almighty God, who dost empower evangelists and preachers: Help us to proclaim thy Word with power, like thy servant Paul Cuffee, that more might come to a deeper life in thee; in the Name of thy Son Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

O Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son hast taught us that whosoever will be his disciple must take up his cross and follow him: Help us with willing heart to mortify our sinful affections, and depart from every selfish indulgence by which we sin against thee. Strengthen us to resist temptation, and to walk in the narrow way that leadeth unto life; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)

DEEP HORIZON
Dawn at New Bedford Harbor – Friday, March 4, 2022 at 5:50 AM. 10-minutes before sunrise. The temperature was 19.7 and wind chill 11 degrees above zero. https://t.co/Z7jt91MXOi pic.twitter.com/yew3qkuhl0

— M.L.Baron (@westislandwx) March 4, 2022

Therefore, my brethren, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

I entreat Eu-o′dia and I entreat Syn′tyche to agree in the Lord. And I ask you also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.

–Philippians 4:1-9

Hazy sunrise over Charleston on this Friday morning! pic.twitter.com/s6OlZSlZIk

— JoeyLive5 (@JoeySovine) March 4, 2022