The Heidelberg House
Bonclarken Conference Center
Flat Rock, North Carolina pic.twitter.com/O7r67oJ3ro

— Matt Richardson (@greenkayak73) June 6, 2023

Almighty and eternal God, from whose love in Christ we cannot be parted, either by death or life: hear our prayers and thanksgivings for all whom we remember this day; fulfill in them the purpose of your love; and bring us all, with them, to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them’#RemembranceSunday #Remembrance2024 #LestWeForget pic.twitter.com/EkwP5nwA3J

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) November 10, 2024

Almighty Father,
whose will is to restore all things
in your beloved Son, the King of all:
govern the hearts and minds of those in authority,
and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin,
to be subject to his just and gentle rule;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

“One breath of #autumn
is pure joy to the senses.”

~ Laura Jaworski #SundayYellow 🍁💛🍁#London 21/10/2024 pic.twitter.com/XsZ0FEhgaK

— Margaret O'Connell🌻 (@MargaretOC6) November 10, 2024

O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.

–Psalm 96:1-4

Poppies On The Yorkshire Coast. pic.twitter.com/K7r0SMKhvk

— The Whitby Photographer (@WhitbyPhotos) November 10, 2024

Gracious God, we offer thanks for the lives and work of Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, and Margery Kempe, hermits and mystics, who, passing through the cloud of unknowing, beheld thy glory. Help us, after their examples, to see thee more clearly and love thee more dearly, in the Name of Jesus Christ our Savior; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Richard Rolle was a hermit, mystic and writer in the first half of the fourteenth century. Believed to have been born in Thornton-le-Dale, he studied at Oxford before returning to Yorkshire where he lived as a hermit in various locations. pic.twitter.com/VpTYmeTFb8

— HistoryandHeritageYorkshire (@GenealogyBeech) February 12, 2024

O God, grant that looking upon the face of the Lord, as into a glass, we may be changed into His likeness, from glory to glory.  Take out of us all pride and vanity, boasting and forwardness; and give us the true courage which shows itself by gentleness; the true wisdom which shows itself by simplicity; and the true power which shows itself by modesty.     

Autumn colour on a grey day in Glastonbury. Walking towards Avalon Orchard this morning. pic.twitter.com/6anY6KKRU1

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) November 9, 2024

For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up; but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another…

–Psalm 75:6-7

Unlike usual clouds in the troposphere. Nacreous clouds are rare & form in the lower stratosphere over polar regions when the Sun is just below the horizon. The clouds are illuminated from below & often glow in vivid colours

Beautiful, like a painting. 💕#clouds #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/B2wAHaNKaQ

— Zoë Watson (@ZoeWatsonArtist) November 9, 2024

One finding concerns the impact of setting targets in the first place. A recurrent theme of the evaluations is a feeling that many targets were unrealistic, or not “owned” at a grass-roots level. The finding in Salisbury was that such programmes “risk being an extra pressure point for already over-stretched people, contributing to a crisis-like situation for those managing it”.

Such evaluations are relatively scarce in the public domain, and this fact coincides with the identification by reviews of a crisis of trust in the Church, for which Sir Robert Chote observed that the SDF programme had served as a “lightning rod”. Anxiety about the reaction to a transparent account of projects, including missed targets, is hardly misplaced: those involved may find it hard not to take criticism personally. Nuances may be missed amid the broader angst about the distribution of resources.

Stacey’s public reckoning with results included the suggestion that it might be the underlying approach (resources = output) that deserved attention. It finds a contemporary echo in Dr Stefan Paas’s diagnosis of the dearth of anthropology in church-growth literature, in which “most if not all attention is directed towards the strategic action of the Church.” Is this the real failure at hand?

Read it all.

What had originally been scheduled as a fall Diocesan Men’s Hike was transformed, this past month, into a Hurricane Helene Assistance trip. Seventeen men from 11 different churches travelled to the Lutheridge Camp and Conference Center in Arden, NC, to help make it ready for them to reopen.

“We had a group that planned to go hiking,” says Les Sease, Diocesan Coordinator for Men’s Hikes, who organized the trip. “But the trails were closed so we pivoted. I’m so glad we did!”

The men travelled caravan-style on October 10, 2024 with cars, trucks and trailers full of water, gas, food and other supplies.

“While the roads were passable, Lutheridge was a mess,” says Sease. “Piles of debris lined the main road.”

Read it all.

#SouthCarolina Diocesan Men’s Group Pivots from Hiking to Relief Assistance https://t.co/YMfbQvLwFK '“It felt great to help Lutheridge out,” says [Les] Sease. “Our upcoming Men’s Conference, which will be held in February, will be there. This was a way for us to help them reopen… pic.twitter.com/3B0sK6BGEg

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 8, 2024

After years of internal strife, it was a dispute about economic policy that finally toppled the German government. Now Europe is facing months of political paralysis just as its many simmering crises are coming to a boil.

With both France and Germany led by minority governments, the continent’s key powers are facing months of impotent introspection as challenges pile up, from a hostile second Trump administration to the economic headwinds from China and Russia’s steady advances in Ukraine. 

The political currents tossing governments across Europe are similar to those that propelled Donald Trump to win back the presidency, the Senate and very possibly the House. Voters on both sides of the Atlantic are in a restive mood, unhappy with the economy and unimpressed by politicians’ efforts to control a surge in illegal immigration.

But while America’s overall economy is strong, Europe’s recovery from its recent economic shocks has been lackluster, especially in the industrial heartlands of Germany.

Read it all.

"Europe Rudderless"

Both France and Germany now have minority governments.https://t.co/s2WbcRtpOi

— Axel Merk (@AxelMerk) November 7, 2024

Donald Trump is projected to return to the White House next January, according to the Associated Press, and is poised to spur the most dramatic reimagining of the staffing of government in more than a century.

That’s because Trump has vowed to revive Schedule F, a controversial abortive effort at the end of his first term to strip the civil service protections of potentially tens of thousands of career federal workers in “policy-related” positions, effectively making them at-will employees. Trump and many of his former staffers have frequently bemoaned that “rogue bureaucrats” inhibited his policymaking power during his first stint in the White House.

Though President Biden quickly rescinded Schedule F when he took office in 2021—before any positions could be converted out of the federal government’s competitive service—that hasn’t stopped Trump and his allies from working on the initiative in absentia. Both the Heritage Foundation and America First Policy Institute, which have organized dueling unofficial transition projects have endorsed reviving Schedule F, going so far as to creating lists of upwards of 50,000 current career civil servants to strip of their removal protections and threaten with termination.

Read it all.

What Trump’s win means for the federal workforce https://t.co/rCiwJi8BUN

— Nextgov/FCW (@NextgovFCW) November 6, 2024

As in previous years, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) calls on the church worldwide to unite for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Christians (IDOP).

“The reality of persecution today is sobering. In the past year, around 5,000 Christians were murdered simply because of their faith. Over 14,000 Christian properties were attacked, and more than 4,000 have been detained, often in harsh and inhumane conditions”, says WEA Ambassador for Religious Freedom, Godfrey Yogarajah.

For Yogarajah, “in a world where religious freedom is under threat, our prayers are more crucial than ever. We stand with our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ, encouraged by their example and committed to supporting them in their time of need”.

Read it all.

Christians worldwide are called to join for International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on November 10th.https://t.co/4UQcNcRC1B

— Evangelical Focus (@Evan_Focus) November 7, 2024

Grant us, O Lord, not to mind earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to cleave to those that shall abide; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

🍂Guten Morgen 🍂☀️🍂 pic.twitter.com/EaJ2Z9ZG6b

— 💫Stein_harmonie🍀🧚‍♀️ (@SteinHarmonie) November 8, 2024

At that very hour some Pharisees came, and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

–Luke 13:31-35

Finding the path amongst the leaves – happy Friday, friends #ScotlandisNow #StormHour #photography #photooftheday #landscape #OutAndAboutScotland #landscapephotography @VisitScotland @ScotsMagazine #friends #ThePhotoHour #stvsnaps #beautiful pic.twitter.com/nns9aypI50

— Mike Wood (@MikeMikwd) November 8, 2024

The current Archbishop of Canterbury was a dormitory officer at the Iwerne holiday camp in the late 1970s, when Smyth was one of the leaders. He has always maintained that he was unaware of any abuse until 2013 and initially denied that Smyth was Anglican (News, 18 April 2019) — one of a number of inaccuracies in his account which the review corrects.

He told the review that he had been warned in 1981 by the Revd Peter Sertin, the Chaplain at St Michael’s, Paris (where the Archbishop was a worshipper), to “stay away” from Smyth, who was “really not a nice man”. The warning was “vague”, the Archbishop told the review. An exchange of Christmas cards with Smyth and donations that he made to Smyth’s ministry in Zimbabwe were not indicators of closeness, he argued.

The review concludes that, on the balance of probabilities, it is “unlikely that Justin
Welby would have had no knowledge of the concerns regarding John Smyth in
the 1980s in the UK. He may not have known of the extreme seriousness of the
abuse, but it is most probable that he would have had at least a level of
knowledge that John Smyth was of some concern.”

A former Bishop of Chelmsford, John Trillo, who died in 1992, was informed of the abuse in 1983 while chairing a selection conference at which Smyth was assessed. The review also reports that the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey was informed of the abuse while Principal of Trinity College, Bristol, and was sent a copy of the outline of the Ruston report, which he denies seeing.

Read it all (registration or subscription).

The “prolific, brutal and horrific” abuse perpetrated by John Smyth, a Reader in the Church of England, was covered up by “powerful evangelical clergy”, the long-awaited Makin review has concluded.https://t.co/67tmeMGVVS

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 7, 2024

On the day after Americans went to the polls in presidential elections, Archbishop Timothy Broglio has expressed the US Bishops’ prayers for President-elect Donald Trump and all members elected to represent the American people at the national, state, or local levels.

In an interview with Vatican News, the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said the Catholic Church is “not aligned with any political party,” adding that the US Bishops’ look forward to working with elected representatives to promote the common good.

“As Christians and as Americans,” he said, “we have a duty to treat each other with charity, respect, and civility, even if we may disagree on how to carry out matters of public policy.”

Archbishop Broglio also noted that the US Bishops will seek to uphold the rights of all people, including the unborn…

Read it all.

Prayer for the United States Government by Archbishop John Carroll

“We pray, O almighty and eternal God,
who through Jesus Christ has revealed thy glory to all nations,
to preserve the works of your mercy,
that your Church, being spread through the whole world,
may continue with… pic.twitter.com/4m8p9BNfeT

— ChurchPOP (@Church_POP) November 6, 2024

Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer and cause of cancer death for women in the United States, affecting one in eight women overall.

Most women with breast cancer undergo lumpectomy surgery to remove the tumor and a rim of healthy tissue surrounding the tumor. After the procedure, the removed tissue is sent to a pathologist to look for signs of disease at the edge of the tissue assessed. Unfortunately, about 20 percent of women who have lumpectomies must undergo a second surgery to remove more tissue.

Now, an MIT spinout is giving surgeons a real-time view of cancerous tissue during surgery. Lumicell has developed a handheld device and an optical imaging agent that, when combined, allow surgeons to scan the tissue within the surgical cavity to visualize residual cancer cells.  The surgeons see these images on a monitor that can guide them to remove additional tissue during the procedure.

Read it all.

By providing a real-time view of breast cancer during surgery, MIT spinout Lumicell may enable more complete tumor removal. “The technology we developed allows the surgeon to scan the actual cavity,” W. David Lee says. https://t.co/LAZi3iuTa8 pic.twitter.com/vfnlaammXN

— Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (@MIT) November 6, 2024

Mr. Trump appeared to improve his performance on election night among many types of counties, including ones that had supported him in past elections as well as ones that have historically leaned Democratic.

Read it all.

This "shift from 2020" visualization from the NYT is something.

The movement was toward red, even in deep blue states. pic.twitter.com/4HJerGFQgq

— Prasanna (@BhogalePrasanna) November 6, 2024

O Lord our God, who dost call whom thou willest and send them whither thou choosest: We thank thee for sending thy servant Willibrord to be an apostle to the Low Countries, to turn them from the worship of idols to serve thee, the living God; and we entreat thee to preserve us from the temptation to exchange the perfect freedom of thy service for servitude to false gods and to idols of our own devising; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Nov 7: Feast of Willibrord (658-739), archbishop of Utrecht. Northumbrian who studied at Hrypis (Ripon) and at Rath Melsigi, Ireland. An evangelist in the Netherlands, he was appointed archbishop of the Frisians in 695. He founded a monastery at Echternach, Luxembourg. 📸Rp pic.twitter.com/2lzEyz9whh

— North Ages (@NorthAges) November 7, 2024

Almighty God, whose blessed Son taught in all honesty the way of life that thou requirest: Grant that we may so live as dutiful and loyal citizens of our earthly country, that we may show ourselves to be members of that heavenly country whereof thou art sovereign Lord and King; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Good morning 🌍🫶🍂❤️🍁 happy Thursday all you amazing people 🍂🧡 #GoodMorning #Glasgow #Nature #Thursday @StormHour @ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/4cmrP4lM2V

— Dr.P_78Glasgow (@AbhaPaulina) November 7, 2024

But I will hope continually,
and will praise thee yet more and more.
My mouth will tell of thy righteous acts,
of thy deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come,
I will praise thy righteousness, thine alone.

–Psalm 71:14-16

Autumn pic.twitter.com/UUvsIoKMCT

— Roger Wellens (@WellensRog) November 7, 2024

Beginning with two works by Titian, Noli Me Tangere (c.1514) and Bacchus and Ariadne (1520-23), Mr MacGregor says that they tell essentially the same story. Noli Me Tangere has an added resonance because it was one of the paintings chosen by wartime Londoners to be the National Gallery’s picture of the month, when the entire national collection was sheltered from the bombing in a Welsh mine.

“The thing that fascinated me was how much more difficult people found it to engage with that picture if they were not Christian than to engage with Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne. But the Bacchus and Ariadne and Noli Me Tangere are about the same subject.

“They’re about a woman who has loved someone, who has been abandoned, and then who encounters a god, and the encounter with a god changes her life, and brings her new life, new hope. And, for most visitors, it’s much easier to engage with the Bacchus and Ariadne . . . because we know it’s a myth. We know it is about a truth that is absolutely universal and perpetuates, even though that event may never have happened. It speaks to the permanent truth, and enduring truth.”

Read it all.

Neil MacGregor tells Susan Gray about the challenges of publicly displaying works of art which represent faithhttps://t.co/ueDipommqx

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 2, 2024

A vicarage in a deprived area of Bristol has been transformed by the installation of solar panels, insulation and an air source heat pump.

Formerly, the 1970s vicarage, which had gas central heating, “was cold on a warm day”, according to the Rev Derek and his wife Anne Maddox.

Accompanied by Basil the dog, they “were often found under blankets watching the telly,” says Anne. The gas heating system “wasn’t fit for purpose,” she adds.

Then, this summer, the Diocese of Bristol began a programme of making 130 of its vicarages more fuel efficient, as part of the Church of England’s ambition to reach net zero carbon by 2030.

Read it all.

Bristol Diocese is committed to Netzero 2030
https://t.co/DFqdE2gpdd via @churchofengland

— Bishopviv (@Bishopviv1) November 6, 2024

[Bill] Pannell loved Jesus and his church. As a preacher, his heart beat for the gospel and its biblically rooted values of evangelism, discipleship, and justice. His teaching was grounded in a strikingly honest understanding of how Christianity and the church really operate in the world. He was frank about how they are often accessories to the sins of racism and social injustice rather than proponents of reconciliation. 

A lack of real discipleship was at the core of our troubles, Pannell believed. “Christ’s parting command was that we go and make disciples of the nations,” he wrote in his last book, an expanded edition of his 1993 release, The Coming Race Wars? “It wasn’t build more churches; it was make disciples. It seems fairly clear today that we have far more churches and Christians than we have disciples.”

Before going into hospice care earlier this month, Pannell more or less worked until his 95-year-old frame could go no further. He preached via Zoom, finished a memoir, and conducted interviews for two documentaries, including one about his life and ministry. Throughout our three decades of acquaintance, he and I would periodically call or send a text to check in on one another. I never took the gift of his friendship for granted, but now that he’s gone, I’m appreciating those exchanges even more. 

Read it all.

Remembering my friend Dr. William Pannell: https://t.co/61QiwrIzWw

— Edward Gilbreath (@EdGilbreath) October 14, 2024

Donald J. Trump rode a promise to smash the American status quo to win the presidency for a second time, surviving a criminal conviction, indictments, an assassin’s bullet, accusations of authoritarianism and an unprecedented switch of his opponent to complete a remarkable return to power.

Mr. Trump’s victory caps the astonishing political comeback of a man who was charged with plotting to overturn the last election but who tapped into frustrations and fears about the economy and illegal immigration to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris.

His defiant plans to upend the country’s political system held appeal to tens of millions of voters who feared that the American dream was drifting further from reach and who turned to Mr. Trump as a battering ram against the ruling establishment and the expert class of elites.

In a deeply divided nation, voters embraced Mr. Trump’s pledge to seal the southern border by almost any means, to revive the economy with 19th-century-style tariffs that would restore American manufacturing and to lead a retreat from international entanglements and global conflict.

Read it all.

Nyt has it now after calling wisconsin #election #electionresults #politics #usa pic.twitter.com/DFfGWwjOcx

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 6, 2024

O God of light and love, who illumined thy Church through the witness of thy servant William Temple: Inspire us, we pray, by his teaching and example, that we may rejoice with courage, confidence and faith in the Word made flesh, and may be led to establish that city which has justice for its foundation and love for its law; through Jesus Christ, the light of the world, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Church of England celebrates today the lesser festival of the great Archbishop William Temple, one of my great heroes in the faith.
A timely reminder today of all days. pic.twitter.com/qHSQbOlZZG

— Tim Howles (@AimeTim) November 6, 2024

Heavenly Father, who hast called us by thy grace to be a colony of heaven here on earth: Deepen within us, we beseech thee, a sense of our citizenship with the saints in glory; and grant that through all the days of our pilgrimage in this world we may humbly walk with thee in the way of holiness, and faithfully care for the needs of others, till we come to thy everlasting kingdom; through the mercy of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Morning sky #Shetland pic.twitter.com/PBiE8Nlr0k

— Catherine Munro (@CatherineMMunro) November 6, 2024

‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name for ever; may his glory fill the whole earth!
Amen and Amen!’

–Psalm 72:18-19

"Autumn Beauty by the Riverside"#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #FallColors #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/57fUAwS7Tp

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) November 6, 2024

Frank Weston had been Bishop of Zanzibar since 1908 when he died unexpectedly on 2 November 1924, aged 53. He was a remarkable figure. He had excommunicated the Bishop of Hereford and had charged the Bishops of Mombasa and Uganda with heresy and schism. Vilified as the “Zanzibarbarian” by his critics, he had been mentioned in dispatches and appointed OBE for his military service in the First World War. In 1964, he was declared a saint by the diocese of Zanzibar. His grave at the Holy Cross, Magila, in Tanzania, remains a place of pilgrimage.

Although Weston had an Evangelical upbringing, he was increasingly attracted to Anglo-Catholicism. Studying theology at Trinity College, Oxford, in the early 1890s, he was drawn to Christian Socialism, but found the Christian Social Union too moderate, and joined Stewart Headlam’s more radical Guild of St Matthew. During Weston’s studies, Bishop Smythies of Zanzibar visited Oxford and, in a sermon at St Barnabas’s, Jericho, appealed for volunteers to bring Christ to Africa. Weston signed up, but subsequently failed the medical.

In 1893, Weston took a first in theology. Despite encouragement from William Sanday to pursue an academic career, his heart was set on the Church. After leaving Oxford, he lived at the Trinity College Mission, Stratford, in east London. In 1894, he was ordained deacon, and, in 1895, priest by the Bishop of St Albans. Weston’s Anglo-Catholicism and socialism seem to have alarmed the leaders of the mission, and he resigned in 1896. There followed a curacy at St. Matthew’s, Westminster (1896-98), where a monument now stands in memory of his time at St Matthew’s and his subsequent African ministry.

Read it all.

Frank Weston, who died a century ago, was an Anglo-Catholic bishop who strove for racial justice in Africa — while challenging perceived threats from Protestantism and ‘modernism’, writes David R. Lawhttps://t.co/ednDM6LiK7

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 7, 2024

Five Grammys. Sixty Dove Awards. Fifty No. 1 radio hits.

Steven Curtis Chapman is not lacking in industry honors. But this week the Christian music veteran is getting a little extra special recognition. On Friday, he’s going to be inducted into the membership of the Grand Ole Opry. 

After nearly 40 years in the industry, Chapman’s entry into the country music institution is a full-circle moment. He first performed on the storied Nashville stage as a 19-year-old aspiring musician, just starting his career. Now, he will have a permanent place there.

The Grand Ole Opry, a live radio program broadcast from Nashville since 1925, has a rich history, featuring some of the biggest names in country and popular music—artists like B. B. King, Mahalia Jackson, and The Beach Boys have all appeared as guests. Membership is a lifetime invitation to be part of the regular roster of Opry performers. There are currently only 74 members, including Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Luke Combs, and Lainey Wilson. 

Country artist Ricky Skaggs surprised Chapman with the membership announcement during a live show at the Opry in July. Chapman will be the first contemporary Christian music (CCM) star to become a member.  

Read it all.

Thanks to my friends at @CTmagazine for this great article!https://t.co/OhokiVeeFe

— Steven Curtis Chapman (@StevenCurtis) October 31, 2024