From Virtue Online

Anglican Church Leaders to meet in Tallahassee

January 31, 2012

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Tallahassee has been chosen as the meeting place for Anglican Church leaders from across the United States and Canada.

The Anglican Church in North America will hold its Archbishop's Cabinet and Executive Committee meetings, as well as Anglican Relief and Development board meetings in Florida Capital City.

The bishops and leaders will be shaping orthodox Anglicanism in North America.

There will be a Worship Service, followed by a reception, on Tuesday, January 31, at 7:00 p.m. The meetings will happen on February 1-2.

All events will take place at Saint Peter's Anglican Church, which is located on 901 Thomasville Road.

The Anglican Church in North America unites some 100,000 Anglicans in nearly 1,000 congregations across the United States and Canada. The Anglican Church is a Province-in-formation in the global Anglican Communion.

The Most Reverend Archbishop Robert Duncan is the archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America and bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.

END

(Anglican Church in Wales) Strong response to Church review

from TitusOneNine by Kendall Harmon

More than 1,000 people across Wales have had their say about the future of the Church in Wales as part of a root and branch review.

They met the three members of the independent Review Group at public meetings held in each of the six dioceses in Wales in November and January.

The Review Group was commissioned by the Welsh bishops and the Standing Committee of the Governing Body last year to address fundamental questions about the role and structures of the Church in Wales as it approaches its centenary in 2020. It is chaired by Lord Richard Harries, former Bishop of Oxford, and also includes Professor Charles Handy former professor at the London Business School; and Professor Patricia Peattie, former Chair of the Episcopal Church in Scotland’s Standing Committee.

Read it all.

ANY PORT IN A STORM

from Midwest Conservative Journal by The Editor

In one of the most unintentionally hilarious stories I’ve seen in a very long time, someone named Amanda Terkelof the Huffington Post claims that certain “religious leaders” vigorously support our idiot president’s recent decision to relieve himself all over the free exercise clause of the First Amendment:


A group of religious organizations Monday thanked President Obama for his administration’s recent decision on contraception, hoping to bring attention to religious pro-choice voices and to show that not all people of faith disagree with the new law.


Seven religious leaders from the Jewish, Unitarian, Baptist and other faiths addressed a letter to Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. All are members of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, a which includes more than 40 denominations and faith groups to promote education and issues of reproductive choice.


“We believe that all women deserve access to affordable birth control, regardless of their employer, and we hope that, in the future, HHS will expand the same preventive coverage to women across the board,” they wrote in the letter, obtained by The Huffington Post.


“As clergy, we are committed to upholding the important goals of reproductive justice and health, empowering women and men to make decisions about whether and when to have and bear children within their own moral and religious tradition, and assuring them the means and ability to raise their children in a safe and healthy environment. Access to reproductive health services recognizes a moral value embraced across the religious spectrum. We thank you for your decision supporting the fundamental value of reproductive health to women and families.”

Religious “leaders,” Gracie?  Not so much.  As the story notes, all these people are part of the Pseudo-Religious Coalition For Making Sure That You Don’t Have To Live With The Consequences Of Your Actions.  But if you read the letter(it’s at the link), you’ll discover that it was signed by four ministers, two rabbis and someone with the ”Justice & Witness Ministries” of the United Church of the Zeitgeist, all acting in their “individual capacities.”

I can see it now.  Some liberal Catholic puts down his Matthew Fox or his Joan Chittister, takes a sip of his Brunello and fires off an e-mail to our idiot president vigorously supporting the idea of the government forcing the Roman Catholic Church to worship Caesar provide contraceptive services.  If some other Huffington Post airhead heard about it, the headline of her story the next day would read, “Prominent Catholic Leader Dissents From Bishops’ Contraception Stance.”

Props to Damian.

Virginia Episcopal Diocese Bishop Outlines Property Transition Plan

from TitusOneNine by Kendall Harmon

Following on the recent court ruling remanding all properties currently occupied by breakaway congregations from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia back to the diocese, Virginia Episcopal Bishop Shannon Johnston called the current time "one of the most defining moments in all of our 400 year history" in a pastoral address given to the 217th annual Virginia Diocese Council meeting in Reston yesterday....

Read it all.

More on pecusa meltdown

Data pointing toward reality

from The Lead by Torey Lightcap

Lelanda Lee (Twitter: @LelandaLee) has kept careful track of the current Executive Council meeting, and I suspect many are carefully following her reportage. Using the hashtag #ExCounMtg, she's operating out of an ethic that the people of The Episcopal Church deserve optimal transparency from its administrative bodies.
Particularly illuminating was a section of tweets during a presentation by TEC's go-to guys for trends and data,

Kirk Hadaway and Matthew Price. Lee had many observations and extrapolations, and among them we find:

Hadaway showing membership of TEC domestic diocs 1951-2010, pretty consistent, steady (not precipitous) decline since early 1970sHadaway speaks to graph of 1991-2010 membership stats, decline since about 2002, abt 50K members per yr decline
Hadaway says since 2002/03 pctge decline began to overshadow any increases in membership
Hadaway: decline since 2002 has been more sizable; lots of graphs, too quick to appreciate & understand; will look at PPT later?

Leading us to wonder: shouldn't we all be paying pretty close attention to the facts and figures Hadaway and Price have presented to Executive Council?

We had best take an interest! Slide after slide tells the story of a numerically diminishing denomination, with a few bright spots and windows of opportunity (churches with younger members are more likely to grow; the Sunbelt as a place of church vitality).

The news is not great:
... slipping domestic membership
... fewer growing churches and more declining churches
... fewer pledge cards, members, communicants in good standing, and Easter pew-sitters

On a slide titled Broader Measures of Church Vitality, researchers use a number of measurements to "speak to a parish's integration in the community and the possibility for future growth."

• Change in church school enrollment: -33%
• Change in number of marriages performed: -41%
• Change in number of burials/funerals: -21%
• Change in the number of child baptisms: -36%
• Change in the number of adult baptisms: -40%
• Change in the number of confirmations: -32%

Conclusion:

While these numbers may not capture the totality of what is happening in the Church, we do not have a measure that is moving in a positive direction.

So, c'mon already: let's get into this and approach it with whatever realistic hope there is, and start making sense of our Really Real Reality. What do you think? Where would you start?

By the way, the totality of tweets about Hadaway's presentation(s?) is below. Just click READ MORE.
Due to the way Twitter works, you'll have to start at the bottom and scroll your way up.

Hadaway: decline since 2002 has been more sizable; lots of graphs, too quick to apprePB praises stats attn to non US diocs. Good info and some good insights can and do ariseQ re whether we track for those who are seeking vs those who are ordained; Price answers not being done now
Q re why not so many Gen X ordiantions: Price says not-joining profile of Gen X significant factor, diff experience from Boomers
Hadaway says figures of congreg losses in 4 diocs are reflected as nonreptg, noticeable but not signifcant against rest of stats
Q re whether 4 diocs losing large % of congregs is reflected in stats; Hadaway says recognized but not specific accted for
Hadaway - in resp to Q, giving to TEC somewhat better than general charitable giving
Q whether ethnic clergy figures are broken down? Price answers info avail as part of survey data but not recorded otherwise
Q re avg age of ordination: figures are based on annual info answers Price.
Hadaway: congregations reptg financial stress 78% of TEC vs 58% in US over 10 yrs til 2009/10
Hadaway back on finances. Avg pledge contd to incr to latest figures in 2009
Price: Avg age of active clergy at 56; avg age of ordination remains at 46
Price, statistician for CPF, 9000 active clergy & 6000 retd; numbers will cross at some point
Hadaway: 86.7% non Hispanic White in TEC; English only churches 28% are growing=95% of churches; > one language 61% are growing
Hadaway: churches w/more members 49 and younger more likely to grow. High correlation age w/growth & decline
Hadaway: TEC youth and young adults about 10% vs 20+% in other denoms. We are an aging church. We knew that.
Hadaway: more church closings (510) than opening (213) past ten yrs
Hadaway: sunbelt growth pattern across board of all denoms incl evangelical churches
Hadaway: increasing becoming more of a sunbelt church, incls southern diocs & CA & southwest
Hadaway: back to a sunbelt pattern, less decline there, in 2010; 40% ASA in southern diocs in US
Hadaway: ASA 1995-2000 from CPG mapping program, a map of Avg Sunday Attendance, growth in CA, TX, Miss, GA, VT
Hadaway: Other mainline denoms combined - TEC very close to their decline figures in early 2000's; also difficult for all denoms
Hadaway: larger declines in child & adult baptisms and in confirmations 30-40% rates; no measuremts showing positive direction
Hadaway: looking at broader measures of church vitality such as changes in church school enrollmt; marriages performed; burials
Hadaway: 22.1% decline in pledge cards; 22.3% decl in worship attendance; 20.1% decl in Easter attendance; 2002-2010 stats
Hadaway: Methodist Ch would look better than TEC; but Presbyterians would look worse in terms of declines
Hadaway: decline since 2002 has been more sizable; lots of graphs, too quick to appreciate & understand; will look at PPT later?
Hadaway says since 2002/03 pctge decline began to overshadow any increases in membership
Hadaway speaks to graph of 1991-2010 membership stats, decline since about 2002, abt 50K members per yr decline
Hadaway showing membership of TEC domestic diocs 1951-2010, pretty consistent, steady (not precipitous) decline since early 1970s

Kirk Hadaway & Matthew Price giving rept on Parochial Repts, demographics of TEC

LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, MD: Executive Council Tele News Conference

from VirtueOnline

LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, MD: Executive Council Tele News Conference

January 29, 2012

The following is a transcription of a press conference following the recent meeting of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church. This press conference was transcribed by Mary Ann Mueller for Virtue Online.

TEC PARTICIPANTS:

Neva Rae Fox: Public Affairs Officer Presiding
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori
House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson

REPORTERS --
VAL HYMES: Church of Maryland News
MARY ANN MUELLER: Virtue Online
MICHELLE LANGONE: Church Pension Group
MARY FRANCES SCHJONBERG: Episcopal News Service

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org

Executive Council roundup

from The Lead by Ann Fontaine

As the church moves towards General Convention 2012, the Episcopal Church's Executive Council finished its second to last meeting with the adoption of a preliminary budget that asks each diocese for support of 19% rather than the 15% also proposed. The Executive Council message to the church indicates a hard working session as vision and programs were balanced with a shrinking base of money and members. It includes a possible funding of a special session of General Convention to re-structure governance.

President Anderson, in her closing remarks, raises the issue that regardless of our hopes that we continue to support a church that is dependent on an executive staff-driven model that no longer works in a era of the need for flexibility and grass roots initiatives.
Episcopal News Service reports:

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council Jan. 29 approved a 2013-2015 draft budget that includes money meant to “open the door to doing long-term reform of how we do business as the church.”

Executive Council spent the majority of its Jan. 27-29 meeting here at the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute discussing the draft budget, alternating between discussing big-picture issues and negotiating specific line items. It also passed what Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori called a “highly significant” resolution expressing solidarity with the people of the Republic of Southern Sudan.
The draft budget represents $104.9 million in income from dioceses and investments plus other sources such as facilities rental, and an equal amount of expenses. It does not include the church’s refugee resettlement work, which is performed under government grants, according to Treasurer Kurt Barnes.
He said the draft budget is due to be posted here in the next few days.
The budget, which will not be final until General Convention acts in July, proposes to set aside money for a “churchwide consultation” on the Episcopal Church’s future shape and work. It also includes money for pilot projects that Chief Operating Officer Stacy Sauls said could show how the church’s purchasing and organizational power could help congregations and dioceses free up more of their resources for mission work.
The Executive Council message notes:

The draft budget for the 2013-2015 triennium overshadowed all the other Executive Council business at this meeting. The budget conversation began at the June 2011 Executive Council meeting, also held at the Maritime Institute, when members were challenged to “change the conversation,” to seek a way to take on the adaptive challenges facing all denominations in a post-Christian era of declining interest in the institutional church. The Joint Standing Committee on Finances for Mission (FFM) already had begun working with the treasurer in mid-2011 on a financial projection model and determined that the current spending model is unsustainable. At that time, it was pointed out that the chairs of Executive Council’s standing committees had previously not provided much input into the budget process. The Executive Council’s newly formed Executive Committee was charged with developing a process for the triennium budget that would challenge the church to new ways of engaging God’s mission.

A summary of resolutions is here.
President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson closing remarks noted her concerns about captivity to a model that is unsustainable:

We have worked hard and faithfully during this meeting, but I think the budget we have passed is captive to an ethic of survival of the institutional church as we know it. Here are my concerns:
Specifically:

I am concerned that the categories within the budget perpetuate the church’s continued reliance on an executive, staff-driven church. This model isn’t working for us, and it runs counter to the flexible networks that are being developed and embraced at other levels of the church and in the world. There are some glimmers of a future that is here, and for that, I am grateful.

If we keep relying on this old, bureaucratic model to run our church, we’re also continuing our reliance on the building at 815 Second Avenue that will cost us now up from $7.7 million dollars when I gave my opening remarks on Friday to $8.7 because of increased interest rates in facilities cost and debt repayment during the next triennium. If we continue to spend this kind of money on a building to house an executive structure, the only place we’ll be able to look for savings will be in areas that compromise the voices and leadership of clergy and laypeople in the church. That’s not faithful to our tradition as Episcopalians or to who I believe God is calling us to be.
The constraints of this meeting and our budget process have given us very little time to really understand this budget. This increases the high risk of unintended consequences.

From Ed Stetzer

Monday Is for Missiology: Three Important Church Trends and the Elephant in the Church

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Monday January 30, 2012   ~   4 Comments

I write a column in each issue of Facts and Trends magazine. In the most recent issue, I shared some observations of big issues in churches today. I thought I'd share it here at the blog.

I am often asked about the future of the church and, as much as I wish I knew the future, I don't. What I do have, however, is an accumulation of research, access to some of the best ministry thinkers and leaders across a spectrum of denominations and movements, and a critical eye on the ebb and flow of church culture. So, in looking at the trends in our churches, here are three I believe are worth taking note of today.

Decline

Everywhere you look you will hear tales of the decline of the American church. Some doomsayers are saying evangelicalism will die in a decade. This type of Chicken Little-ism is unnecessary.

The truth is that, yes, there is decline among self-identified Christians in America. According to the latest American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), the number of self-professing Christians is down 11 percent over two decades. But, that same ARIS study also revealed an actual rise in the number of evangelicals.

There are concerns - and I would say that we are increasingly losing our "home field advantage" in our culture.  Yet, Christianity is not in collapse.  It is, however, declining in influence and increasingly being marginalized in culture. 

To address the trend, we need a renewed vision and passion for God's mission in our churches.

Dropouts

Like the decline trend, the dropout trend is both troubling and troublesome. It is troubling because it is an ongoing trend. Young adults are dropping out of the church at a disturbing rate after graduating high school. But, again, although it is troublesome, the data is not as scary as some proclaim.

Our LifeWay Research data has placed the dropout number at 70 percent. But this number is not as definite as it sounds. It is not as if 70 percent of all young adults vanish in some kind of reverse rapture. More specifically, 70 percent of young adults who were active for at least one year in high school drop out for at least one year between 18-22. Half of those who leave stay gone. But then, half of those who leave return. Among evangelical churches, the number of dropouts is also lower.

To address the trend, we need parents and churches to get serious about equipping students to live their faith.

Discipleship

Or lack thereof. The elephant in the Christian church today is that we are not seeing robust disciple-making taking place. You are more likely to find evangelicals affirming that there is more than one way to get to heaven today than you were 15 or 20 years ago. Why? We've done great at getting them in the door and occupying their spiritual appetites, but we've done terrible at actually growing them up and grounding them in the faith.

Many churches are now rediscovering ways to push more depth from the Sunday morning stage, better ways to assimilate the crowds into small groups and discipling relationships, more organic ways to nurture spiritual formation, and stronger ways to create missional expansion in their communities and around the world.

To address the trend, we need to get serious about teaching believers who they are in Christ and how they are to live that out.

Trends matter--we look at them to see where we are and they help us to consider what we should be doing. With God's grace and discerning leadership, we can address these trends in biblically driven ways as we engage the future together.

---

Note: This article originally appeared in LifeWay's Facts and Trends magazine. Charles Long, one of our in-house graphic designers, read the line about the elephant the church and came up with the graphic. We have some extremely talented and creative people here at LifeWay.

Posted on January 30, 2012 at 11:00 AM   ~  

AS THE WORLD TURNS

from Midwest Conservative Journal by The Editor

Today: Bonnie and Katharine have a falling-out:


Dear Deputies and First Alternates:


A confusing situation has arisen and I’d like to set the record straight:


On Thursday, the Presiding Bishop released a video directed to the House of Deputies expressing her opinion about legislative issues that will come before General Convention this summer. Yesterday, the Office of Communications sent an email to bishops that mischaracterized my response to the video’s release and asked the bishops to forward the video message to their diocese’s deputies.


On Thursday afternoon, I received word from the General Convention Office that the Presiding Bishop, via the Office of Communications, had directed that office to forward a video message from the 
Presiding Bishop to all deputies. I had neither seen the video nor been consulted about it and so I told the General Convention Office to hold it.


In my nearly 25 years as a deputy, I don’t ever recall the Presiding Bishop speaking directly to the House of Deputies outside of a joint session or without giving the House due notice, while at General Convention. I don’t ever recall a Presiding Bishop corresponding directly with deputies outside of the General Convention, without the knowledge of, or in collaboration with the President.
I was surprised because I thought that the Presiding Bishop, her staff, and I had worked through some important issues of internal communications last fall. I had talked with both Bishop Sauls and the Presiding Bishop and asked that we proceed in a more collegial and cooperative manner. I thought we had agreed to do so.


But while the General Convention Office was holding the video, it was released by the Office of Communications to the whole church just hours before the Presiding Bishop and I were scheduled to arrive in Baltimore where we could have resolved the situation in person.


I am glad to tell you that, while we have been in Baltimore, Bishop Katharine and I have shared a meal and talked in person. I told her that I’m disappointed about what’s happened in the last few days and asked that we proceed toward General Convention with collegiality and a cooperative spirit even—especially—when we disagree. I also told her that I am concerned about the use of churchwide resources to lobby General Convention on only one side of a legislative issue.


Despite this productive conversation, upon direction from the Presiding Bishop, the Office of Communications sent the second email, this time to bishops, that mischaracterized my request that the video be held, thus putting me in a difficult position and making it necessary to spell all of this out.
I am confident that we can get back on track and work productively and faithfully to prepare for General Convention. I will continue to urge that those of us who lead the church talk directly with one another to resolve differences. I will also continue to ask that the resources of the Church Center be deployed in ways that present the full range of opinions on legislation that will determine how the church meets the challenges before us.


Thank you for your commitment to our work. I am looking forward to being with all of you in Indianapolis and to the work that we will accomplish together.


Peace,


Bonnie Anderson, D. D.
President, The House of Deputies

Will Katharine truly repent?  Will Bonnie forgive her?  Or will Bonnie begin to regard Katharine that same way that every other intelligent person does?  Tune in next week for As the World Turns.  Brought to you by Kellogg’s cereals.  K-E-Double L-Oh-Double Great!

PHILADELPHIA: Fr. Moyer Denied Pathway to Papal-driven Ordinariate 
TAC Primate John Hepworth faces ouster by his fellow bishops

By David W. Virtue 
www.virtueonline.org 
January 29, 2012

The former Anglo-Catholic priest of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, Fr. David L. Moyer has been denied his final step into the Roman Catholic Church following 10 years of ecclesiastical wandering that started with The Episcopal Church, migrated through the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Forward in Faith, the Church of the Province of Central Africa, and the Anglican Church in America, a branch of the Traditional Anglican Church.

Moyer said he received a letter from Fr. Jeffrey Steenson, Ordinary for the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, informing him that Archbishop Charles Chaput (Philadelphia) has declined to give him his votum (a promise) to proceed toward ordination in the Roman Catholic Church.

Moyer received a nulla osta (no impediment) from the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith in early November 2011, but a votum must be given by the local Catholic bishop for someone who resides in his diocese. 

TAC PRIMATE JOHN HEPWORTH

Moyer's fortunes have been tied to those of TAC Australian Archbishop John Hepworth as Moyer was consecrated a bishop in the TAC in 2006 by Hepworth, a move that many Episcopalians and Anglicans seriously questioned and actively discouraged.

Hepworth, a former Roman Catholic priest with a mixed past, expressed his intention of taking the TAC into Rome as an Anglican prelature. His hope was that he would be reinstated into the priesthood in the Ordinariate, bringing an alleged, but never confirmed, 700,000 Anglo-Catholics with him.

Hepworth hoped that revelations that he had been sexually abused by three priests would be mitigating circumstances to allow him to return to Rome as a priest. That did not happen. He revealed that he had been seduced by a sitting Roman Catholic monsignor who denied the charges. The Catholic Church in Adelaide says an investigation found no substance to allegations made by Hepworth against Fr. Ian Dempsey. 

Soon after these allegations, and the stories that followed going viral, the Roman Catholic Church told Hepworth he could return to the Roman Catholic fold, but only as a layman. He was denied his yearned for return to the Roman Catholic fold as a bishop or priest. Hepworth also ruffled too many Roman Catholic feathers when he publicly blasted what he saw as efforts by Roman Catholic authorities to take over parts of his Canadian flock.

Hepworth has rejected Rome's offer and mounted a campaign to pull together whatever fragments he can find of the TAC around the world to reignite his failed leadership.

Next month, the members of the TAC College of Bishops and Vicars General of the TAC will meet in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the expectation is that Hepworth will be formally voted out from leadership of the TAC. It is expected, though not confirmed, that Indian Archbishop Prakash will be elected to replace Hepworth. The senior bishop in the TAC will likely assume a more limited Primacy that is a more collegial primacy, a source told VOL. The TAC Concordat of 1990 will likely be revised.

Contacted by VOL and asked for a comment on his rejection to the Ordinariate, Moyer replied "no."

END

Via VirtueOnline

Lord Carey backs Christian psychotherapist in 'gay conversion' row
Leading church figures including the former Archbishop of Canterbury have sparked controversy by championing a psychotherapist who believes gay men can be 'cured' of their homosexuality

By Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
January 28, 2012

Lesley Pilkington was effectively barred from her professional register after attempting to convert a homosexual man in a therapy session at her home.

Her patient turned out to be a gay rights journalist, who had secretly recorded the sessions and then reported her to her professional body. Mrs Pilkington, a committed Christian, was subsequently found guilty of professional misconduct.

The therapy practised by Mrs Pilkington had been described as "absurd" by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and roundly condemned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

But ahead of her appeal against the BACP ruling, Mrs Pilkington has received backing from the Rt Rev Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

In a letter to her professional body, Lord Carey - along with a number of senior figures - suggests Mrs Pilkington is herself a victim of entrapment whose therapy should be supported. His comments - in a letter co-signed by, among others, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester and the Rt Rev Wallace Benn, the Bishop of Lewes - will cause controversy in the gay community and beyond.

The joint letter states: "Psychological care for those who are distressed by unwanted homosexual attractions has been shown to yield a range of beneficial client outcomes, especially in motivated clients ... Such therapy does not produce harm despite the Royal College of Psychiatrists and others maintaining the contrary."

It concludes: "Competent practitioners, including those working with biblical Judeo-Christian values, should be free to assist those seeking help."

Lawyers acting for Mrs Pilkington will argue at the appeal hearing on Wednesday that the counsellor did not get a fair hearing.

The case against Mrs Pilkington - first reported in The Sunday Telegraph a year ago - was brought by Patrick Strudwick, a journalist, who approached her at a largely Christian conference and asked her to treat him.

In May 2009, Mr Strudwick attended a therapy session at Mrs Pilkington's private practice, based at her home in Chorleywood, Herts, and recorded the session on a tape machine strapped to his stomach.

On the tape, Mr Strudwick asks Mrs Pilkington if she views homosexuality as "a mental illness, an addiction or an anti religious phenomenon". She replies: "It is all of that."

Last year, Mr Strudwick said: "Entering into therapy with somebody who thinks I am sick ... is the singularly most chilling experience of my life.

"If a black person goes to a GP and says I want skin bleaching treatment, that does not put the onus on the practitioner to deliver the demands of the patient. It puts the onus on the health care practitioner to behave responsibly."

Mrs Pilkington said her method of therapy - Sexual Orientation Change Efforts - is legitimate and effective.

The therapy is practised by a handful of psychotherapists in Britain. The method involves behavioural, psychoanalytical and religious techniques.

Homosexual men are sent on weekends away with heterosexual men to "encourage their masculinity" and "in time to develop healthy relationships with women", said Mrs Pilkington.

Her legal defence is being funded by the Christian Legal Centre (CLC), which has instructed Paul Diamond, a leading human rights barrister, to fight the case.

END

OHIO: Anglican congregations moving forward after losing church buildings

from VirtueOnline

OHIO: Anglican congregations moving forward after losing church buildings

By Colette M. Jenkins
Beacon Journal religion writer
http://www.ohio.com/news/
January 28, 2012

Rev. Scott Souders of Holy Spirit Anglican Church, (left to right) local Bishop Roger Ames and Rev. Michael Kravnik of St. Luke's Anglican Church talk about what has been happening at the local Anglican churches since losing their building to the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. (Ed Suba Jr./Akron Beacon Journal)

Anglican congregations moving forward after losing church buildingsJanuary 28,2012 02:24 PM GMTColette M. JenkinsBeacon Journal Publishing Co.

Carla Long is overcome with sadness every time she sees the unoccupied church building in her East Buchtel Avenue neighborhood.

"It's heartbreaking. That church has been a beacon of light in this neighborhood," said Long, 46. "We always called it a hospital because it was a place where you could go for comfort and healing."

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org

(Living Church) Sue Careless—Merry Times at Mere Anglicanism

from TitusOneNine by Kendall Harmon

It was particularly symbolic when the Most Rev. Benjamin Kwashi, Archbishop of the Province of Jos, Nigeria, climbed the winding staircase to the second-story pulpit [of Saint Philip's, Charleston] to preach. Two centuries earlier most black Africans in Charleston would have been house or plantation slaves. If they had entered this church, they would have been consigned to its balconies. Now a West African bishop preached to a predominantly white congregation, at the conference’s invitation.

The escalating violence endured by Christians like Kwashi in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria remains high. The day before the archbishop spoke, two bombs had been thrown at two churches in Bauchi, while in Kano at least 166 people were killed in eight violent attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram, an Islamist sect. The archbishop and his wife, Gloria, have shared in the suffering of persecuted Christians.

Although Gloria Kwashi did not attend the conference, her presence was felt. In many ways she represents the persecuted Church that does not retaliate but continues to serve others. A few years ago, a violent mob, intent on killing her husband, brutally assaulted her, leaving her blind for six months until treatment in America restored her sight.

Read it all.