Category : Uncategorized

(Church Times) Professors Andrew Village and Leslie J. Francis–Is the parish system viable for the future?

We wanted to know what people felt about their parish in terms of its financial viability and the general principles that should guide the wider Church. The sample of 3219 clergy and laity who took part in our survey and answered all the questions about parishes seemed to be reasonably representative of the Church as a whole. We presented them with six items with which they could agree or disagree. Their responses are shown in the table. When we analysed the overall figures in more detail, the results confirmed some widely held assumptions, but challenged others.

One third of respondents (32 per cent) agreed that their parish was not financially self-sufficient, and almost as many (28 per cent) agreed that their parish could not meet its share of diocesan costs. This has to be a worrying sign, even if the majority do not think this to be so. Fear of financial pressures was greater among those who worship in congregations of less than 50, and it was more keenly appreciated by stipendiary clergy than others. Lay people in large congregations may not understand the perils faced by their fellow worshippers in other parts of the C of E.

A similar proportion (33 per cent) felt that parishes (or benefices) should pay for their clergy. Unsurprisingly, stipendiary parish clergy, whose lives depend indirectly on parish giving, were much more likely to agree with this idea than did lay people (42 per cent versus 29 per cent). Evangelicals were more likely than others to agree with this (36 per cent versus 26 per cent), but even here this was a minority opinion.

There was strong agreement (75 per cent) across the Church that rich parishes should subsidise poor ones….

Read it all.

Posted in Uncategorized

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Evelyn Underhill

O God, Origin, Sustainer, and End of all creatures: Grant that thy Church, taught by thy servant Evelyn Underhill, guarded evermore by thy power, and guided by thy Spirit into the light of truth, may continually offer to thee all glory and thanksgiving, and attain with thy saints to the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast promised us by our Savior Jesus Christ; who with thee and the same Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever.

Posted in Uncategorized

(First Things) Carl Trueman–Pelvic Theology, Pelvic Justice

I challenge those Catholics and Protestants who use the term “pelvic theology” to expand the logic of their position to other areas. Take the law, for example. The fact that the law treats sexual crimes in a qualitatively different way to other assaults reflects what is perhaps one of the last moral intuitions still common in Western societies. A punch to the face, however damaging, will be treated as less heinous than sexual assault when it comes to prosecution and penalty. Why? Taking the logic of the “pelvic theology” critics, we might conclude that this is because the culture of making and enforcing laws in the West is dominated by sex-obsessed cranks pushing for “pelvic justice.” Therefore, if you use the term “pelvic theology,” you must also use “pelvic justice.” To refuse to do so is to give the game away: You are not using the term to make a serious point about the metaphysics of the body; you are performing as a useful idiot for the sexual revolutionaries who have wreaked such havoc on our societies.

The alternative to such politically selective rhetoric is to acknowledge the reality that underlies both the justice and the theology: Sex is not one human act among others but touches the heart of what it means to be human. The sexual constitution of the body is central to who we are, such that behavior involving such—whether criminal, consensual, or consequential—carries unique significance. To trivialize it, theologically or judicially, is to trivialize humanity itself.

Read it all.

Posted in Uncategorized

A prayer for the day from the Church of England

O God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Posted in Uncategorized

A prayer for the day from the Mozarabic Sacramentary

O Christ, the King of Glory, who through the everlasting gates didst ascend to thy Father’s throne, and open the Kingdom of heaven to all believers: Grant that, whilst thou dost reign in heaven, we may not be bowed down to the things of earth, but that our hearts may be lifted up whither thou, our redemption, art gone before; who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, ever one God, world without end.

Posted in Uncategorized

(Gallup) How Buy Now, Pay Later is used in U.S. Shopping

Ten percent of Americans report using installment plans frequently when making purchases online, and another 17% use them occasionally. A total of 51% have used installment plans for online purchases, while 48% say they never have.

Lower-income Americans (those with annual household incomes under $48,000) are more likely to frequently or occasionally use installment payments (37%) than middle-income (between $48,000 and $89,999) and higher-income (at least $90,000) Americans are (29% and 21%, respectively). There are no statistically meaningful differences in installment-plan use by age, education or gender.

The results are based on an April 1-15 survey of 1,024 U.S. adults who are members of the Gallup Panel. Gallup did not ask respondents which types of purchases they use these installments for or how much they spend on purchases with these plans.

Read it all.

Posted in Uncategorized

A Message from the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina’s Standing Committee about recent ACNA matters

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We are writing to you today on behalf of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina to ask you to pray. As schools close and many scatter for the summer, it is easy and natural to lose track of important provincial gatherings that will occur this season. We are writing to remind you that much is at stake in our Province and for our Diocese, and to ask you to pray for:

The May 19 Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) Executive Committee Meeting
The May 20 hearing in the Archbishop Wood case in Charleston, SC
The June 15-17 College of Bishops Meeting in Tulsa, OK
The June 17-19 Provincial Council Meeting in Tulsa, OK
The June 25 virtual Provincial Assembly
The July 20 Trial for Archbishop Wood in Charleston, SC

As we remind you to pray for these important events, let us commend to you the work of our Diocesan Standing Committee on your behalf. We have maintained a strong and united call for accountability in the Province. In the past three weeks, members of our Standing Committee have met with the Executive Committee of the ACNA and Bishop Julian Dobbs, the Dean of the Province, via zoom, and have shared our concerns with members of the Executive Committee who visited with us in Charleston. The Executive Committee in many ways shared our concerns and encouraged us in the action steps below.

We are currently working for you and for justice and transparency in the Province in the following ways:

  1. We have submitted resolutions regarding the public release of the transcript of the Ruch trial and the findings of the independent investigation to the Executive Committee for consideration at Provincial Council.
  2. We are seeking to build a coalition of other ACNA dioceses who share our concerns about the work of the Court for the Trial of a Bishop and the importance of transparency.
  3. We are doing everything in our power to ensure that the complainants in our Diocese receive fair treatment and transparency in the process. To that end, we want to publicly say how disappointed we were when a video (see details here) of a lecture given given by an ACNA bishop promoted falsehood about the complainants as well as prognostication about the outcome of the trial. While he apologized privately to the College of Bishops and granted permission for his apology to be shared, we believe that, given the wide dissemination of that video (now removed) he should disseminate his apology as widely, and we call on the Province to address this matter.

Please do pray for us and for the Standing Committee. The spiritual warfare that surrounds a struggle for the heart of the church is always intense. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Blessings,
 
The Rt Revd Chip Edgar
Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina


The Very Revd Shay Gaillard
President of the ADOSC Standing Committee

Posted in * South Carolina, Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), Parish Ministry, Uncategorized

Douglas Farrow on the Meaning of the Ascension for Ascension Day

Ascension theology turns at this point to the Eucharist, for in celebrating the eucharist the church professes to know how the divine presents itself in our time, and how the question of faithfulness is posed. Eucharistically, the church acknowledges that Jesus has heard and has answered the upward call; that, like Moses, he has ascended into that impenetrable cloud overhanging the mountain. Down below, rumours of glory emanate from the elders, but the master himself is nowhere to be seen. He is no longer with his people in the same way he used to be. Yet he is with them, in the Spirit.

–Douglas Farrow, Ascension Theology (New York: T and T Clark, 2011), p. 64

Posted in Uncategorized

From the Morning Bible Mornings

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

–Psalm 1:1-3

Posted in Uncategorized

“The most profound revelation of the heart of God apart from the crucifixion”

From Rod Whitacre here:

In the story of the footwashing, then, we have the most profound revelation of the heart of God apart from the crucifixion itself. We also learn more of the relation between Jesus and his disciples, the relation of the disciples with one another in humble service and the mission of the disciples to the world. These themes are similar to those of the Eucharist developed earlier…. The community that Jesus has been forming here takes more definite shape, revealing more clearly “the law of its being” (Bultmann 1971:479), which is humble, self-sacrificing love.

Posted in Uncategorized

A Prayer for the Feast Day of James Solomon Russell

O God, the font of resurrected life, draw us into the wilderness and speak tenderly to us, so that we might love and worship thee as did thy servant James Solomon Russell, in assurance of the saving grace of Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Posted in Uncategorized

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

Merciful God, who didst call Cuthbert from following the flock to be a shepherd of thy people: Mercifully grant that we also may go without fear to dangerous and remote places, to seek the indifferent and the lost; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Posted in Uncategorized

From the Morning Scripture Readings

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; therefore, as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord.”

–1 Corinthians 1:20-31

Posted in Uncategorized

A prayer for the day from the ACNA Prayerbook

O Lord, our heavenly Father, keep your household the Church continually in your true religion, that we who trust in the hope of your heavenly grace may always be defended by your mighty power; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.  Amen.

Posted in Uncategorized

A prayer for the day adapted from a poem by Winfred Ernest Garrison (1874-1969) [sometimes called the fisherman’s prayer]

O Lord, who art Master of the stormy winds and alone canst order them to be still: Be with us in all the voyage of our life; for our boat is small and the ocean is wide.  When the winds are contrary, give us to know that thou rulest the raging of the sea; and when our faith is little and we cry to thee out of the midst of our fears, hear thou our prayer and grant us thy peace; for the glory of thy great name.

Posted in Uncategorized

From the morning Bible readings

Now Sar′ai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar; and Sar′ai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sar′ai. So, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sar′ai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And Sar′ai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sar′ai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sar′ai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, maid of Sar′ai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sar′ai.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ish′mael; because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. He shall be a wild ass of a man, his hand against every man and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “Thou art a God of seeing”; for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?” Therefore the well was called Beer-la′hai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

–Genesis 16:1-14

Posted in Uncategorized

(AI) Tiffany Butler, ACNA director of safeguarding, stepping down

The Anglican Church in North America is advertising for the position of a new director of Safeguarding and Canonical Affairs, according to posting made to its website on January 17, 2026. A spokesman for the ACNA stated the present director of safeguarding was leaving her post. Tiffany Butler “felt increasingly called to pursue a career in research, education, and to explore a calling to monastic orders.”

The ACNA spokesman added: “We anticipate filling the role before she departs.”

The director of safeguarding had been under fire for her handling of the controversies surrounding Bishops Derek Jones and Stewart Ruch, and Archbishop Steve Wood. Supporters of Ms. Butler tell Anglican.Ink she was not properly resourced by the ACNA and her work did not have the support of the church’s top leaders – leading to frustration from victim advocates and from current and former ACNA staff.

Read it all.

Posted in Uncategorized

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: I Have a Dream

You can find the full text here.


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

Posted in Uncategorized

A prayer for Christmas from the Scottish Prayer Book

O God, who hast given us grace at this time to celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ: We laud and magnify thy glorious name for the countless blessings which he hath brought unto us; and we beseech thee to grant that we may ever set forth thy praise in joyful obedience to thy will; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Uncategorized

From the Morning Bible Readings

Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart; they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness. You did not so learn Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

–Ephesians 4:17-32

Posted in Uncategorized

From the Morning Bible Readings

And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

–Revelation 12:1-10

Posted in Uncategorized

From the Morning Bible Readings

For thus says the Lord of hosts: “As I purposed to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, so again have I purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, says the Lord.”

–Zechariah 8:14-17

Posted in Uncategorized

A prayer the day from Bishop William Walsham How

O Almighty Father, fountain of light and salvation, we adore thine infinite goodness in sending thy only begotten Son into the world that, believing in him, we may not perish but have everlasting life; and we pray thee that, through the grace of his first advent to save the world, we may be made ready to meet him at his second advent to judge the world; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Uncategorized

From the Morning Scripture Readings

And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead. Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

–Revelation 3:1-6

Posted in Theology: Scripture, Uncategorized

From the Morning Scripture Readings

The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane and sober for your prayers. Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another. As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

–1 Peter 4:7-11

Posted in Uncategorized

(Bloomberg) The Risks Lurking in Wall Street’s Insurance Takeover

No one worries about the insurance industry quite like Tom Gober.

From his home office outside of Pittsburgh, the forensic accountant has been tracking, documenting and highlighting the weaknesses of the $9.3 trillion sector responsible for the financial well-being of millions of Americans.

“I’ve been seeing warning signs for years, and I’ve been very vocal about it,” Gober, 66, said in a recent interview in his living room. More recently, he’s been paying attention to what he says is the most troubling development yet: The influx of private equity’s billions.

The industry waves off its critics as needlessly alarmist, always predicting a disaster that never comes. But that mid-October afternoon, Gober’s phone began to light up. Josh Wander, the co-founder of 777 Partners, a private equity firm on Gober’s radar, had been charged with cheating investors and lenders out of almost $500 million — an alleged fraud enabled in part by its opaque and intricate ties with some US insurance companies.

Read it all.

Posted in * Economics, Politics, Corporations/Corporate Life, Economy, Ethics / Moral Theology, Housing/Real Estate Market, Psychology, Stock Market, Uncategorized

(Anglican Ink) Peter Frank–How shall we seek to get perspective on the recent ACNA developments?

The warning is this: we need to think hard and honestly about how we got here. We need to recognize that part of the problem is us and the story we like to believe about ourselves.

That story goes something like this: a heroic group of men and women stood for the Gospel, the ethical teachings of Jesus Christ, and the discipline of the Church, even the unpopular bits. Because they did that, God blessed them and the organizations they led. Many lost their property and possessions, but our churches grew and flourished anyway. We got the people; the other guys got the empty buildings. Despite fierce opposition, something new and good was born, something on the leading edge of God’s work of saving souls and purifying His Church in our time.

This story is powerful and mostly, but not entirely, true. To begin with, there were both heroes and villains at work in the formation of the ACNA and still at work in it today. Churches will always attract both. This is why repeatedly vetting leaders and practicing safeguarding at every level and at every decision point is so important.

It also needs to be said:  sometimes, growing churches and dioceses are not signs of God’s blessing and approval but rather time bombs built on ambition, personality, and manipulation.

Read it all.

Posted in Uncategorized

A prayer for the day from the ACNA Prayerbook

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Posted in Uncategorized

Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadian Blog readers!

Posted in Uncategorized

A Prayer to Begin the day from the Pastor’s Prayerbook

O God, author of the world’s joy, bearer of the world’s pain; Make us glad we are men, and that we have inherited the world’s burden; deliver us from the luxury of cheap melancholy; and, at the heart of all our trouble and sorrow, let unconquerable gladness dwell.

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

Posted in Uncategorized