Daily Archives: March 9, 2026

(Church Times) Weak financial controls and ‘disempowered’ trustees were background to Bangor débâcle, review says

 Financial controls were dismantled, and trustees were “disempowered”, in Bangor diocese, a review of the situation over the five years before the previous Archbishop’s resignation has found.

The independent governance review of Bangor Diocesan Board of Finance (BDBF) and Bangor Diocesan Trust (BDT), published on Friday, was told by trustees that it had became apparent that “they should not challenge what was being done because it was already agreed, and dissent would not be appreciated.”

During the period studied — the five years leading up to the retirement as Bishop of Bangor and Archbishop of Wales of the Most Revd Andy John, in 2025 — several serious-incident reports were sent to the Charity Commission relating to Bangor Cathedral (News, 14 May 2025).

A Visitation and safeguarding audit heard about “weak financial controls” and was told that there was “no protection for those raising concerns” (News, 3 May 2025). Archbishop John announced his retirement in the wake of its publication, apologising for “errors of judgement” (News, 27 June 2025).

Read it all.

Posted in Church of Wales, Ethics / Moral Theology, Ministry of the Laity, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry

(AAC) Canon Mark Eldredge–A Declaration and a Beginning: Reflections on GC 2006 in Abuja and the Reordering of the Global Anglican Communion

In many ways, the Global Anglican Communion now finds itself at the beginning of a similar kind of process. GAFCON and the Global Anglican Communion are only at the early stages of what will likely be a long period of development as a reordered Anglican Communion takes shape.

Having just attended the G26 gathering in Abuja, Nigeria, I was struck by how much the moment felt like the Second Continental Congress, where the early structures of American governance began to take form. One of the most significant developments was the decision to dissolve GAFCON’s previous governing body, the Primates’ Council, and establish a new Global Anglican Council. In that way, the Global Anglican Communion becomes more like a representative democracy, which gives a voice to disciples of Jesus from every level of the Church!

It truly is a new day. What is emerging is a Global Anglican Communion no longer dependent on the structures tied to the theological trajectory of The Episcopal Church and the See of Canterbury. Instead, we are seeing the beginnings of a reordered, biblically faithful Anglicanism that many believers have prayed and longed for over many years.

At the same time, it would not surprise me if further adjustments are needed as this new structure takes shape. There are still questions about how the Global Anglican Council will function and how the life of this newly reordered Communion will develop. Just as the founders of the United States worked for many years to refine their system of government, the Global Anglican Communion will likely continue working through the details of its new structures. After all, reordering a 500-year-old communion cannot be fast, easy, or perfect from the start. Major historical shifts rarely are. Change of this magnitude takes time.

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Posted in - Anglican: Commentary, GAFCON, Global South Churches & Primates, Nigeria

(MIT News) Jonathan Haidt-Personal tech, social media, and the “decline of humanity”

“Around the world, people are getting diminished,” Haidt said. “Less intelligent, less happy, less competent. And it’s happening very fast … My argument is that if we continue with current trends as AI is coming in, it’s going to accelerate. The decline of humanity is going to accelerate.”

Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business and the author of the recent bestseller “The Anxious Generation,” which suggests that the widespread adoption of social media in the 2010s has been especially damaging to young women, making them prone to anxiety and depression.

But as Haidt has continued to examine the effects of social media on society, he has started focusing on additional issues. Our inability to put our phones away, our compulsion to check social media, and the way we spend hours a day watching short-form videos, may be causing problems that go far beyond any rise in anxiety and depression.

“It turns out, it’s not the biggest thing,” Haidt said. “There’s something bigger. It is the destruction of the human capacity to pay attention. Because this is affecting most people, including most adults. And if you imagine humanity with 10 to 50 percent of its attentional ability sucked out of it, there’s not much left. We’re not very capable of doing things if we can’t focus or stay on a task for more than 30 seconds.”

Read it all.

Posted in * Culture-Watch, --Social Networking, Anthropology, Blogging & the Internet, Science & Technology

Prayers for the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina this week

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * South Carolina, Ministry of the Laity, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Saint Gregory of Nyssa

Almighty God, who hast revealed to thy Church thine eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like thy bishop Gregory of Nyssa, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who livest and reignest now and for ever.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer, Theology

A prayer for the day from Bishop William Walsham How (1823-1897)

O Almighty Father, giver of every good and perfect gift, who hast made the light of thy truth to shine in our hearts: Make us to walk as children of light in all goodness and righteousness, that we may have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Lent, Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Scripture Readings

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou who leadest Joseph like a flock! Thou who art enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before E’phraim and Benjamin and Manas’seh! Stir up thy might, and come to save us!

–Psalm 80:1-2

Posted in Theology: Scripture