What in Gods Name are we doing with Christmas, or are we?

As this Christmas time arrived as it does every year, local churches began to advertise their services in a variety of ways. But something has changed; whether it is just this year or whether it has been happening for a while, but I failed to notice it until now.
One church actually decided to advertise their "Christmas Eve service", which they had the nerve to start at 3.00pm! Right in the middle of summer daylight! Do they know what the word "Eve" means? I doubt it. Their defence is: they do not hold on to following "Cultural Christmas Eve Traditions with no substance of the Birth of Jesus" but the reality comes in the second statement; "we advoid having to deal with the local drunks". Not that far from this church, another managed an "Afterdark service", but just as the aimed for 5.00pm! But the downside was that on their website they advertised" This will be a short service to all of you to get to your own Christmas Eve festivities", what!!
Another church a little further into the centre of town, managed a 7.00pm service,but only as they were having a "Candlelght Carol Service", but it was pushed out of the main church & into their small chapel! When it comes to Tradition, Carol services are generally aimed for around the 21st of December, the shortest day of the year in the season of Advent; a season that most, if not all Denominations recognise! So what about the traditional "Midnight Mass' or "Christmas Eve Service". It kind of did not happen. Even the local Roman Catholic church let the side down. They had a "Midnight Mass" at 10.00pm which they declared: "We will finish by 11.00pm"!
Am I so much a traidtionalist that I have not seen the change of how things are done now? It has nothing to do with Denominations I believe, it has everthing to do with lazy priests and ministers as well as some trying to convince us that people do not come out lat on Christmas Eve, rather than admitting, they they do not want to come out, maybe they are the drunks they tell us about! If I was a minister/priest in a church I could not live with myself cheating everyone like this. Christmas Eve is to welcome in the dawn of Christmas Day, the recognition of the day that we celebrate the birth of Our Lord and Saviour! I know California where I live like to see themselves as "Cool", an overspill of the "Hippy Movement" & see themselves as braking the mold, but the reality of alot of this, is that they have no culture or heritage and try to recreate something of themselves, mainly by destroying what history has existed for generations at times such as Christmas and now they attempt to destroy it.
So why bother with a Christmas Eve service at all? After all, you are leaving Jesus Christ out of the service; "Christ out of Christ-mas", that's what it is!! While other faiths are being given inclusion, the Christian faith is being watered down. Traditionally, Christmas Eve has seen the largest attendence in church, but at this rate, it will lead to the smallest!
So who is at fault for this decline? Everyone!! The Bishop, President or whoever takes over overall authority of the clergy, the clergy themselves as well as the congregations who sit back and tolerate this!
I thought that Christmas Eve was bad enough, but it was not! There was NO Christmas Day Service at all, anywhere!! Then St.stephen's Day, Holy Innocents, etc... were just dropped in the rubbish with their brain cells! Once Christmas Eve was over, the vast majority have taken a nice long paid holiday until the early part of January, for many this is as much as two whole weeks!!
While growing up in the very traditional Anglo-Catholic Church of England, a priest was "called" therefore,everything was for the good of the people. This mean that Everyday, you worked, unless is was saturday, and only if you did not have a wedding or one day off in the week, unless an emergency turned up! Now it's "we seek them here, we seek them there". The missing, lazy clergy who count the days until their retirement & are fake as Disneyland Dollars! The Church needs an overhaul of its structure: Clergy selection, education, theological college reality training, especially in the area of "practical Theology", and finally stop clergy from seeing the church as a "freeride" at everyone elses expense. Oneday we return to the reality of real true, faithful God-fearing men like the late Archbishop Ramsey.If ever wonder why the churches are in decline, look at what i have just said!

Diocese of Quincy

Bulletin: Quincy members vote to leave Episcopal Church, align with Southern ConeBy Joe Bjordal, November 07, 2008
[Episcopal News Service, Quincy, Illinois] A majority of delegates to the 131st annual synod of the Diocese of Quincy voted on November 7 to leave the Episcopal Church and realign the diocese under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, which covers the southern portion of South America.
The action was carried out by the passing of two resolutions. The first formally annulled accession to "the constitution and canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America."
The resolution stated that the General Convention and leaders of the Episcopal Church "have failed to uphold the teaching and authority of Holy Scripture, have challenged or belittled core doctrines of the Christian faith, have refused to conform to the agreed teaching and discipline of the Anglican faith, have refused to conform to the agreed teaching and discipline of the Anglican Communion, and have rejected the godly counsel of the leaders of the Communion."
Members of Quincy's leadership, including former diocesan bishop Keith Ackerman, who retired on November 1, have been at odds with the wider church over such theological issues as the church's attitude toward homosexuality.
The vote on the resolution to leave the Episcopal Church was taken by orders. Members of the clergy voted 41 to 14 in favor of the resolution. Lay delegates voted 54 to 12 in favor of the resolution.
The second resolution stated that the Diocese of Quincy "wishes to accept the gracious invitation extended by the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone in November, 2007, to offer membership to extra-provincial dioceses on an emergency basis."
On the resolution to join the Southern Cone, clergy voted 46 to 4 in favor. Lay delegates voted 55 to 8 to approve the resolution.
Immediately following the vote, delegates were read a letter from Archbishop Gregory Venables, primate, or national bishop, of the Southern Cone, welcoming the Diocese of Quincy into his jurisdiction.
In the letter, Venables announced that he has appointed the Rev. Canon Ed den Blaauwen, a member of Quincy's governing standing committee, as Vicar General of the diocese, in the absence of a sitting bishop.
The Southern Cone includes the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. It also includes former members of the San Joaquin and Pittsburgh dioceses of the Episcopal Church.
Episcopal News Service will update developments as warranted.

The Struggle for Truth

For many generations throughout the world, the Church has been minimised to a social Institution where their services come available who seek the "Rites of Passage"; Baptism,Marriage or a Funeral. This behaviour is encouraged by Liberal-minded by Clergy of the major Denominations, encouraging the continous belief that the "order" is kept, despite the decline in Church attendance each week. The result is, that churches are put up for sale & many retired clergy are taking responsiblity for the congregation. Some clergy take charches of up eight churches every week!
The flip side of this is, that Evangelicals are standing up for truth in this evil world of ours. The world, where the truth of Jesus Christ is being killed or limited by interfering governments who use the "seperate of Church & State" as their tool to be agents of the Devil and go again the truth of Jesus Christ.
"You are truly my Disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.And you will know the truth,and the truth will set you free". John 8:31(NLT)

What is the Church of England Worth?

The Church's major shareholdings (value in £ millions):
Royal Dutch Shell 179.4BP 144.3Vodafone 133.7HSBC 125.6GlaxoSmithKline 87.2Rio Tinto 70.7Royal Bank of Scotland 59.3Legal & General All Stocks Gilt Fund 58.7Capital InternationalEmerging Markets Fund 55.3Anglo American 53.3BG 53.2Fidelity InstitutionalEmerging Markets Fund 52.1Tesco 48.0BHP Billiton 47.5AXA Global Emerging Markets Fund 47.2Astra Zeneca 43.3Barclays 40.4Lloyds TSB 35.8HBOS 34.5Xstrata 33.2Standard Chartered 32.7Unilever 30.7National Grid 27.0BT 27.0Reckitt Benckiser 26.1Prudential 23.4Aviva 23.2Scottish & Southern Energy 19.5Centrica 17.4Cadbury Schweppes 15.9Exxon Mobil 15.7Nestle 14.9Arisaig Asia Fund 13.9Man 13.0Old Mutual 13.0Marks & Spencer 12.2Microsoft 11.8Reed Elsevier 11.7Legal & General 11.6General Electric 10.7Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets 10.5Roche 10.3Genesis Emerging Markets 10.1

Former Employers!!!

STOP LOOKING AT MY BLOG, CREEP!!!!

Bishop chosen after secret ballot

The Venerable Andrew John (right) will be the 81st Bishop of Bangor
After two-and-a-half days locked in a cathedral, members of the Church in Wales have named their choice for the next Bishop of Bangor.
The Archdeacon of Cardigan the Venerable Andrew John, 44, is the ecumenical officer for the St Davids diocese in west Wales.
The 46-member electoral college had been meeting in the city's cathedral since Tuesday.
Mr John now has 28 days to decide if he will take on the role.
He will be the 81st Bishop of Bangor.
The Electoral College of the Church in Wales made the decision on the third and final day of its meeting behind closed doors at Bangor Cathedral.
Bangor is a very special diocese in a beautiful part of the world
Venerable Andrew John, Bishop elect of Bangor
The election follows the death of the former Bishop of Bangor, the Right Reverend Anthony Crockett in June.
He said he was looking forward to leading the Bangor diocese.
"I am aware that I have a hard act to follow and that the diocese is still grieving for Bishop Tony.
"I am very honoured to have been chosen and I hope I will quickly gain the support and the confidence of the people I will serve.
"Bangor is a very special diocese in a beautiful part of the world and I am very much looking forward to beginning this new chapter in my ministry," Mr John added.
'Uncertain period'
The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan the president of the electoral college, welcomed the appointment.
He said: "Andy John is a talented, energetic and popular priest with a good understanding of the needs and challenges of a predominantly rural and Welsh-speaking diocese, having served from quite a young age as Archdeacon of Cardigan.
The archbishop said the Bangor diocese has been through a "difficult and uncertain period" after the long illness and death of the former bishop.
But he said he was confident the new bishop would "take the diocese forward with fresh inspiration and vigour".

Members of the electoral college met for a third day of deliberations
Mr John, a married father-of-four whose wife Caroline is also a church deacon, grew up in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion and is a fluent Welsh speaker.
He graduated in law at the University of Wales, Cardiff, in 1986 and in theology at the University of Nottingham in 1988.
He studied a Diploma in Pastoral Studies in 1989 at St John's College, Nottingham.
He was ordained as a deacon in 1989 and as priest in the Diocese of St Davids in 1990 and has served all his ministry so far within that diocese.
He has been vicar of Pencarreg and Llanycrwys since 2006 and Archdeacon of Cardigan since 2006.

Printed by the BBC,8th October, 2008.

When I was a student in Aberystwyth:1994-97, the then Reverend Andy John was the Vicar of Holy Trinity, a church that played "second Fiddle" to the more popular St.Michaels. But are Evangelical in the Anglican sense, but Holy Trinity has been a breading ground for ordinands who eventually become part of the "middle of the Road" party.

My contact with Andy John was good most of the time, but he changed very little in 2000 when we later bumped into each other at St.David's Cathedral at the ordination of a friend. While the promotion within the church has been rapid, for many of us, not totally surprising. I will watch to see how things develop, as Andy John was always proactive, yet also slightly unpredictable and yet I believe that being a Bishop will be more for his sense of ministry that the parochial one!

Appointment of Bishops

Throughout the world wide Anglican Communion, there are many systems in place as to how to
appoint some Bishops and in the United States they have their own version of any aystem in regards to the role of Presiding Bishop, who in theory takes the title of "Archbishop".
Recently in the UK, there has been several new Bishops, mainly due to the retirement. Within the system it takes a seperate role as an "Established" church, with all Bishop appointments being royal appointments. While we see a common formula, which is appointing parish clergy as Archdeacons and then following as Bishop later. Occasionally, very occassionally except in Wales, a Cathedral Dean will become a Bishop.
It maybe worthy of thought; for parish clergy to become Bishops, and not via the position of Archdeacon or Dean. There are many a skilled clergy who benefit many a diocese by becoming a Bishop.

A Baptist Page PortraitChristmas Evans
To place Christmas Evans among the biographies of such noted Baptists as John Buyan and Isaac Backs may seem strange. Known as the "one eyed Bunyan of Wales", Evans remains an unusual and yet very useful servant in God's army. Christmas was born at Llandysul, Wales on the day from which his name is taken to Samuel and Johanna Evans in 1766. His long life would carry him until 1838 and leave a legacy of great Baptist leadership in his homeland of Wales. Early in Evans life, his father died leaving his mother nearly destitute. In desperation, Johanna Evans sent her nine year old Christmas to live with her brother and work on his farm. Unfortunately, Evan's uncle was a drunkard and a cruel man. Due to the circumstances of his life Christmas found himself illiterate and irreligious at the age of eighteen. Finally, sick of his condition, Evans headed to the town of Llwynrhcdowain to get away from his abusive uncle and the life which held him in its snare.
In God's sovereignty, a revival was waiting on Evans when he arrived at his new home town. It was there that he was converted and came to know the living and risen Lord. Late in his life Christmas wrote of this time:
"The fear of dying in an ungoldy state especially affected me ... and this apprehension clung to me till I was induced to rest upon Christ ... this concern was the dawn of the day of grace in my spirit." 1
Almost immediately, Christmas knew that he had to separate himself from his lost and wicked companions. Not long after his conversion he was attacked by six of his former rogue friends. They beat him unmercifully and blinded him in one eye with a stick. It was because of this cruel attack that Evans would be called later in life, "the one-eyed preacher of Wales." Christmas Evans could say along with the apostle Paul, "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Soon after his conversion, Evans felt the call to preach. His low upbringing and lack of education was a loss for the established church and a gain for Baptists. Because he lacked credentials, Evans could only preach in cottage meetings and it was there that he came into contact with Baptist Christians. Because of these Calvinistic Baptists, the "one-eyed preacher" began to study God's Word deeply for Himself. At the age of twenty, Christmas was baptized as a believer. He wrote:
"Having read the New Testament through, I found not a single verse in favor of paedobaptism (infant baptism) ... These Scriptures spoke to my conscience, and convinced me of the necessity of personal obedience to the baptism which Christ had ordained." 2
After his baptism, Evan's preaching changed. Everyone noticed the power with which he spoke. As he preached, the people who listened were moved to repentance and true revival. Reading his sermons definitely reminds one of the style of John Bunyan. There is deep Biblical truth accompanied by powerfully moving allegory. Perhaps, only in Wales could such a man have risen for that land is known for its fervent emotion. Christmas attributed much of his preaching style to a Calvinistic Methodist preacher by the name of Robert Roberts. Outside of church polity, Welsh Baptist and Calvinistic Methodist held much in common. Two names from the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist church should ring a bell, George Whitefield and Martin Lloyd-Jones. Christmas said of Robert Roberts:
"I went on one Sunday to hear him. He was one of the most insignificant looking persons I ever saw - a little hunchbacked man; but he neither thought nor said anything like other people; there was something wonderful and uncommon about him." 3
Like most Welshmen, Evans believed in a fervent religion of the heart. He had little use for much of what he called the "new hymn singing" because he thought it lacked meaning from the heart. Once he saw a church member pull a hymn book from his pocket. "You won't have those in heaven," chided Evans, "put it back in your pocket." 4 Baptists, in the south in particular, inherited much of their fervent and yet doctrinally sound religion from their Welsh and Scottish ancestors. Like Jonathan Edwards, they knew one did not have to divorce emotion from doctrine. One can, in fact must be, sound in doctrine and fervent in spirit. Christmas described himself as a fisher of men. He said:
"(my) line should not be of fine silk but of strong thread interwoven with the hemp of truth and dipped in the spirit of prayer, for what was wanted was not something nice to look at, but a line with a hook on one end to bite." 5
The preceding quote emphasizes a Baptist distinctive of preaching for decision. Our forefathers were doctrinally sound as can be seen in Evans reading of such weighty stuff as the complete works of John Owens. They also believed in a religion of the heart. They preached to see men and women soundly converted. To the wayward saints, they preached for godly sorrow which leads to repentance.
Another momentous time in Evan's life was when he met and married Catherine Jones. His beloved Catherine would prove to be a great stabilizing force in the preacher's life. As in most great men's lives, there is a great woman, often behind the scenes. Christmas and his wife moved to the Isle of Anglesey to begin a new work among the Baptists of that tiny island. During his ministry on the island that Evans began to read John Owen and to translate John Gill's, Body of Divinity into Welsh. The work was difficult and opposition was great but God blessed his efforts among a number of Baptists churches on the island.
Life has many strange turns and Christmas walked down a most crooked road as he approached his sixtieth birthday. First, his beloved Catherine was called home to Christ in 1823. Not long after that, Evans was named in lawsuit by creditors seeking to recover unpaid debts from some of the Angsley chapels. Then he spent nine months battling an infection which threatened to rob the sight Evans had left. If that wasn't enough, many of the Baptist church on the island began to chafe under Evan's leadership and made it plain that felt it was time for him to move one. One is reminded of the words of Paul in Corinthians when he names all of his troubles and adds "as well as care for all of the churches." In spite of all of these trials, Christmas never hesitated in his march for the kingdom of God.
Evans left Anglesey in 1826 and moved alone to the little village of Caerphilly. God once again blessed Evans in his love and gave him a loving new wife in Mary Evans. Christmas spent the last few years of his life preaching from one place to another, often returning to preach at the great annual assemblies of all evangelical Christians in Wales. On July 19th, 1838, God call Christmas home after a job well done. David Rhys Steephen preaching at Evans' funeral said:
"He had a heart swelling with love to God and man ... He was a man that feared the Lord God ... He walked before Him with great humility all the day long." 6
On the day of his death, Evans preached a sermon on the apostles on the day of Pentecost. He likened their mission as going out into a great naval battle:
"The captain of our salvation sent out twelve little boats to engage the whole fleet of hell. For a time all was enveloped in fire and smoke, and the issue of the day seemed doubtful; but when the conflict had ceased ... it was ascertained that the twelve little boats had captured three thousand of Satan's ships of war." 7
After preaching, Christmas Evans sat down and said, "This is my last sermon." And it was. Yet Evans still preaches from the past. His life of solid dedication to God and God's church is a monument to what it means to serve God with one's whole heart. The one-eyed preacher from Wales may not have had a face that was much to look at but he had a heart that was a work of art. May his legacy live in our hearts.


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This is just a fun jab everyone you need to be able to laugh at yourself sometime!!!

The Anglicans sit up in their ivory towers
The Baptists bring people to the water but don’t believe anything happens
The Roman Catholic Church missed the meaning of Catholic being universal
The Eastern Orthodox Church didn’t realize that orthodoxy came to the west also
The Lutherans Hate the idea of Saint Worship but they really really really venerate his holiness Martin Luther
The Methodists follow John Wesley but left his church.
The Non-denominational Churches are now a denomination unto themselves
The Pentecostals have the Spirit but seem to be missing the fruit of self-control
The Presbyterians have their deuteron canonical texts of confessions
The Church of Christ has the creed of no creed but Christ
The Mennonite and Amish missed the idea that “in the world not of it” didn’t mean leave.
The Messianic Jews didn’t get when St. Paul said we are all the seed of Abraham if we believe in Christ.
The Seventh-Day Adventists must of missed that Jesus rose on Sunday
The Assemblies of God don’t realize that the rest of us assemble under God also
Sometimes it’s Just good to step back and laugh at yourself!!!
Written by:Allen Bailey: aspirant of the Anglican province of America

Church of England schism

Source: TimesOnline By Ruth Gledhill October 14, 2008
...Evangelicals at a conference in London were told that the Church of England now consists of "two religions", one liberal and pro-gay and the other, conservative and strictly biblical. The Rev Rod Thomas, chairman of Reform, the conservative evangelical grouping that represents dozens of Anglican congregations, told parishes they should go ahead and seek alternative oversight, even if the Church of England fails to "accommodate" this solution through its General Synod.
Without agreement from the Synod of the kind that set up "flying bishops" for traditionalists who opposed women bishops, to seek alternative oversight from a bishop outside the diocese would be tantamount to schism in all but name. Two bishops in the frame to provide this oversight are the Bishop of Rochester Dr Michael Nazir-Ali and the Bishop of Lewes Wallace Benn. However, it is also possible that Reform could consecrate its own new bishops, in effect setting up a "rival" Church of England diocese.
Of the 25 congregations understood to be interested, several are already outside the formal structures of the established church, having failed to win recognition from their local diocese. A new structure would also bring these congregations into the fold.
It would be run under the auspices of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, the new body set up by the summer's Global Anglican Future meeting of conservative Anglican bishops, clergy and laity from around the world.
Evangelicals from Reform will continue the meeting today (October 15) to discuss the proposals. The aim is to find an "English" solution to the problem of splits in the Church caused by the growing divergence between conservative and liberal teachings, in particular on homosexuality but also on women bishops.
Although they want "conservative" oversight, English Anglicans do not want a split in the Church comparable to that in the US. There, costly litigation looms after two dioceses, San Joaquin and a few days ago Pittsburgh, voted to "leave" The Episcopal Church and re-align with the Southern Cone province in Latin America, headed by English-born primate Greg Venables.
Mr Thomas told the Reform conference, in Holborn in central London: "Taking alternative oversight first: the reason we're interested in Episcopal oversight at all is that we believe in being part of an Episcopal church for good theological and pragmatic reasons."
But he continued: "However, where the teaching and actions of a bishop promote an unbiblical way of thinking, then we simply have to look elsewhere for a bishop. If we fail to do this then our congregations will not see us taking New Testament teaching seriously and the process of accommodation will continue." He urged evangelicals to mobilise to take over the General Synod by making sure that evangelicals stood for election whenever possible.
"We want to insist that we are not setting up a separate ecclesial organisation," he said. "Rather, we are a fellowship operating within a wider federation. And as a fellowship we seek to reach out to whoever wants to be a partner in the gospel. We must win friends to the cause."

от определенной компании, прекращают смотреть на этот Блог. Вы не то, что важный, фактически Вы не важны, все, Вы гребаная голова дерьма, идут материал Ваше Эго, где солнце не светит, Вы короткое влагалище дерьма!!!

Dirty Language

What language we speak and the way we use it is of great important. Many people have a limited vocabulary, not because of any short comings in their actual intelligence ,but a mere fact in their association with those who themselves are people of few words. Sir Winston Churchill would make an attempt to learn a new word everyday, which by the end of his life, his knowledge of words in the English language was far greater than most people, even of the same intellectual level.
Jesus was a man of words; a man who was able to defend himself with the power of words. His knowledge of scripture was the best that anyone had ever heard then or ever since! The word: Unemployed is word that many do not want to hear,yet there are professionals as well as less skilled people who find themselves among the ranks of the unemployed. For many the church is where you will fail to find support or even understanding for your situation.
I have found myself in this position and I am still there! The churches and their leaders find on the whole it an embarrassing situation for them to discuss. Why would they you may ask? For the simple reason, that many of us who end up unemployed struggle, we need help, we cannot pay our bills, so obviously many churches feel that "people like you" as I am referred to, want handouts: God forbid! Secondly, while Christians should have a strong sense of faith for their situation, an understanding that Job knew, struggle and yet God revealed what he had in mind for Job and so we must have the same sense of conviction of trust in the Lord, yet many churches that we cannot always do this. Therefore, this is not good for business, the preaching business, especially if you are like me, someone who has been in the "ministry".
So as I fight into my very existence of understanding where God is in my life, what his plan is for it, there is also a discust of departure of friendships of those that use to declare their friendship; a friendship that was there when others thought I could be of benefit to them or if "knowing the Chaplain' was a Kudos for them. Now I have landed among the mortals and I am kicked to the heap like the rest of the luckless members of society.
I am no exception, for this is what society does all the time: The Homeless, the Working Poor; the ones who do not have an education or God forbid, no university degree or a disability or anything else that may single them out; with a form of name-calling, society isolates us all in one way or another. Even to the extent of our religious beliefs and Denominational associations. It is okay to be an Anglican in England, a Baptist in wales, a Presbyterian in the North of England, a Roman catholic in Liverpool, a Methodist in the West Country, but...here it is, can you reverse this? not without discomfort, or should associate with a Christian group of a Non-Denominational thinking, then you are out in the cold, that is why you will not find any Chaplains that are not part the Mainstream!
In the end, rather seen as God's children, we are put into life's boxes.

What's Important

For 16 days I was in the UK, which for me was a return to Home. As I made visits to friends and family, it was only a matter of time I would find myself in the company of those who want to discuss differences between the US and UK.
On all occasions, it was not out "Common Language" or the usual things that the media like to bring up, but theology. You cannot go to a church or read a newspaper here in the US for long before the theological politics start to appear. There is constant complaining and attacking each other making reference to those who disagree, but especially with reference to Women in Leadership, Gay Marriages, Gay Leaders and sometimes that good old favourite Music!
Welcome to America, that is what they think about all of the time, getting worked up about it. In one church, all Gays are Child Molesters, in another church, if you are not Gay you are not a majority and if you will not 100% declare you public acceptance, then you must be against them! This is not limited to the "Gay Issue". Is this Evangelicals against Conservatives, not always. It is a Mill of hatred that is everywhere. The freedom to disagree is not an option, if you do, you will be "sent to Coventry". Every mainline Denomination in the US has a breakaway element; therefore the Non-Denominational churches are the Mega churches which are the growth churches, maybe here is what needs to be thought about. Mega churches do not really exist in the UK, breakaway churches do really succeed in the UK really. In the end when you talk about the issues there what the US churches talk about, they look at you with the thought: "why are you bothering with such things, we think about child poverty, education, addictions, Homelessness". That is why the Episcopal church in the US are so removed from the Church of England; mainly because the Church of England comprises of two parts; 1. Theology which is limited to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer even if it is quantified in a new format.2. Culture, It is English as you will get.
To challenge the Church of England is to challenge the English themselves and only a total idiot would dare do that!
But this is not limited to Anglicanism or even England. I was privileged to be asked to preach in Wales to some very senior ministers of the Baptist Union of Wales and what was totally apparent was again culture as well as theology and if any US based baptist was to challenge them, the Welsh Dragon would raise its fire breathing head!
So US stop wasting time of theorising ideas that do not affect the majority and learn from the Mother Country and accept difference and do not think you can challenge the land where all this began.

The Sadness of Difference

The other day I was communication with a couple of old friends; one is a priest in the Church of England whom for years I high respect for. He was always willing to "Go into Bat" for you, help you and guide you. He had suffered problems throughout his life due to a physical disability and not always given the same acknowledgement as everyone else in society.
On many occasions he would discuss openly with me, the changes the Church of England was going through during the 1990's and although never expressed any problems with recognising women priests, he constantly brought up the notion that the church was going to be a woman dominated ministry in the near future. At that time in my understanding I could not grasp what all the fuss was, and it would be many years before I would!
The other is also a priest of the Church of England, who was at university with me, as well as his wife. He always professed this very conservative idea of being an Evangelical, yet both of the above whom I regarded as close friends in different forms decided that when I expressed my theological position and my own spiritual journey that had included being associated with a breakaway Anglican group that is very traditional, my friendships are ended with a stroke of key on the computer. Both of these priests come from the North of England, two counties apart, and historically are known for being out spoken and direct with you, even to the point of being offensive!
How sad it is, that opinions within the church are one sided. Is this the message we are presenting to the non-church, the marginalised?

Children's Ministry

If you ever look up a church on the Internet, maybe with a view to visiting or worshipping there, occasionally you will see a link that refer's to: Youth. This term can indicate anything from 10 year old up to those who are reaching their 18th birthday! The programmes that are offered are very dependent upon the size of the church, whether or not there is a full time paid Youth Minister/Worker, but generally speaking there is some progression in this area of ministry. Sadly, some clergy feel that this is a recruitment ground for new members of the choir,music group or serving team. This is wrong, cannot a member of the youth of the church be just that without holding some office?
Secondly, when we look at younger children, we see a totally different picture. On the whole, those who have young children, from new-born to around the age of 6 will only attend church if there is some kind of provision made for them. As a parent of a 3 year old, I know the issues. Until my son was 1 years old, he was in church with us, but after that first year, he needed some kind of daycare. Sadly the church we were attending failed to offer it,so we were forced to leave.Our next experience was a small room that failed to conform to the regulations that were set out.
How many churches, believe that their daycare services only need to be a small room with a few toys,many of which are broken and some willing victim to stay in the room with them. Is is this how they believe these children will grow in their Christian faith? Some do! The early years are vital, if not more so than the youth of the church. The mainline churches are the worst in alot of areas, both in the US and the UK, forcing alot of families to make a choice: bad child provision as I have already described in the Denomination that they are associated with or go to the Mega Churches that have a detailed and documented childcare provision, which comprises of separate room according to age, with several well qualified teachers and helpers, all of whom offer: exercise, Bible Stories, Drawing experience that relate to the Bible Story, plus a snack with the final minutes of regular play with toys that are not falling apart. In addition, they offer pagers, badges are worn by the children with a card that the parent(s) have to hand in before the child is handed back to them. Security is equally important as teaching the Christian faith alongside good old fashioned child's play. I know several parents who make the choice for the Mega church for what they offer. The belief is, that when their children can eventually join in church, they will revert back to their Denomination, but as they years pass, the Mega church will have them from that point on.
I realise that this is not the situation for all churches, but it is for most of them.We talk about presenting the gospel, evangelising and helping the needy, but why is young children's ministry but on the bottom of the list? For some families, the answer is, to simply not go to church at all and they and their children on the whole never return.

Walking the Steps of Saint Stephen

Have you ever found yourself asking this question, who's in charge? I certainly have, and many of us have. The reason being, that on the whole, when we need a question answered, we expect just one person to take on the responsibility of leadership.
In the Church it is no different, with the exception that on the whole, we know who is in charge and I do not mean Jesus either! Most of us will ask for "The Rector", "The Vicar", "The Priest" or "The Minister" , or maybe "The Pastor" or "Father". These are the ecclesiastical titles that we are familiar with to use. But sometimes there is a "Curate", "Assistant Rector, Minister" or "Associate Pastor". But when we are directed to them then we feel short changed. In the ever-changing world of ministry, we now have "Deacon" in the Roman Catholic & Anglican churches, those holding these positions are see in the same light, yet they can be more experienced or more suited to your needs. In the Anglican churches, there is also: "Pastoral Assistant", "Youth Minister"," Church Army Evangelist" and "Licensed Lay Reader". All those holding these positions are trained to carry out many duties and that includes presiding at non-communion services, yet they are seen as second class in the pecking order. While other Denominations share similar pecking order mentality, they at least are familiar to lay presidency, including Communion.
We cannot always expect theology to be changed, especially in light of priesthood, but we can begin to work on recognition of laity. Many of them, are unpaid and do it as they see it as their ministry.Yet they are seen as second class. A retired Vicar is respected more than a Lay Reader who continues to preside at Evensong each Sunday and conducts funerals in the parish!
Many feel that the "Minister or Vicar"needs to be in charge and that means the person who reside in the Vicarage or Manse. Why? Why cannot we have a Deacon-in-Charge or Lay Reader-in-charge? After all, the Deacon answers to the Bishop and so in theory assists in the parish due to the wiliness of the Bishop, which puts them: "walking the steps of Saint Stephen".

parking the Rolls Royce between the pigsties and the muck heap

This is how you can see church worship today. "The Church" is seen on the one hand welcoming to all, rich and poor alike, yet the establishment that all represent seem like Rolls Royce drivers who are an attempt at "parking the Rolls Royce between the pigsties and the much heap". The whole structure is slowing becoming the club of the middle class on the one hand and a drop in centre for the poor and marginalised.
This elitist attitude is becoming a danger to all that Christianity represents. Like a modern-day Pop Larkin who becomes a self-made man; is congratulated in his new fortune, but is told not to bring "his ways" here, and although he has done well, the Gentleman's club or Country club is not "for his type". This is how many marginalised people who come to Christ feel. They were not brought up in a Christian home or any kind of Christian environment and yet, while glad to see you on Sunday and not really welcome.
This is a particular strong force within the Evangelical wings of mainline denominations. It is within these groups that children's ministry fail. Their practise is; find a room ,get a load of junk toys and get some willing teenager or elderly person of the church to watch them for an hour.
As you dig deep, these middle class Christians are the grandchildren of the working poor, while the new 21st century working poor are not wanted. On the other hand, the moderate, mildly Liberal congregations do a great example of treating visitors/enquirers to their church, by "Sending them to Coventry".
What does it take? The dynamics of society are changing, yet the "members only" attitude in churches continues. People are people and all of us represent the Body of Christ; broken, fragmented, struggling, depressed, successful, powerful ambitious, snobby and loving as well as friendly. All of this and more. Once we welcome visitors, encourage without being over-bearing, contact without being threatening, teaching without being a paradigm of elitist attitudes, the Christian love will continue to grow as well as reach out to the marginalised as well as success, the rich as well as poor, where the gospel of Christ will be preached as well lived out to all in a relevant and person way.

Harvest Crusade 2008

Reverend Lee Stewart:Follow Up Team member
The evening of this year's crusade was 20,000, but the saturday attracted 46,000.
Many were Christians who attended to re-charge their spiritual batteries, but others had either being invited by Christian friends or who had made a decision to listen to Greg Laurie deliver the gospel. Several of them present were in a life of struggle: Drug Addiction, poverty,prostitution as well depression and other problems that made life seem hard and pointless. Towards the end of each evening, an Invitation was made to all to accept Jesus Christ into their lives and for those who are practising Christians to re-dedicate their lives. It was a powerful and emotional event and experience for all that were there.
Denominational affiliation played no part, for it was believed that it went right across the board and the attendence came from small groups to Greg Laurie's own church: Harvest Fellowship in Riverside. A large number came from across the country as well as overseas.
The music of Leyland added a bonus to all who were there.
A stadium that is generally the home to Baseball as the Home ground to the Los Angeles Angels in Aneheim, a stones throwaway from Disneyland, it was nothing short of magic to see such a faith based lively event that effected all that were there. The fact that Greg Laurie lost his 33 year old son: Chris not 3 weeks before, made everyone hang onto every word that was said, as grief was obviously being exerienced with every minute that Greg Laurie spoke.
Revival is happening and it is events that prove this, not just in Mega churches such as the ones that Greg Laurie ministers to, but every element of the Body of Christ and however it is expressed.

Welcome to America!

America is changing, the World is changing!

Cairo? No! Baghdad? No!

Los Angeles, California!!

Worried, Concerned, Don't Know the Future?

From the Press:The Three Challenges for evangelicals today By Revd. Dr. Martin Davie

The words of St Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:21-25 take us to the heart of the three theme of Bible, Cross and Mission which are the focus for the fourth National Evangelical Anglican Congress (NEAC4) this coming September.
First they explain why the cross lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It is because it is in the apparent folly of the cross that we find God's wisdom and God's power. In the words of Michael Green in his book To Corinth with Love:
What could be more ludicrous than to maintain in sophisticated Greek circles that God's wisdom and salvation lay in a despised and executed criminal? What could be more blasphemous to Jewish hearers than the suggestion that God's promised deliverance lay in a crucified man exposed in shame on his cross? Yet those who believed found that cross to both the wisdom and the power of God: God's wisdom in humbling pride and rescuing the hopeless, and God's power in breaking through the barrier of guilt and alienation which kept Jews and Greeks alike from God.
Secondly, they explain why we have to base our theology on the Bible. Although, as St Paul makes clear in Rom 1:19-20, the natural order objectively reveals God to us, in our fallen state we are unable to profit from this revelation. Our own natural wisdom only serves to lead us astray. It is through the divine wisdom manifested to us in the crucified Christ that we can know God rightly and the God given witness to Christ is found in the prophetic and apostolic witness in the Old and New Testaments.
Thirdly, they make clear what should lie at the heart of Christian mission. In recent decades it has rightly been emphasised that mission has to be about more than simply the conversion of individuals to the Christian faith. It has an inescapable social and political dimension as well. However, this having been said, we always have to remember that the primary calling of the Christian church is not to proclaim some programme for social and political change but to point to the crucified Christ as the sole answer to the deepest needs of the human race, to know what God is like and how our alienation from him may be overcome.
These verses also address the strengths and weaknesses of the three streams of evangelicalism that were explored at the recent Eclectics day conference at St Mary's, Islington.
The first stream, Conservative Evangelicalism, has rightly emphasised the importance of a cross-centred theology rooted in the teaching of the Bible, and it has also rightly emphasised the ever present danger of this theology being watered down by other forms of teaching that are rooted in human wisdom rather than in the wisdom of God.
All this is good. However, the weakness of conservative Evangelicalism lies in the fact that it can be tempted to ignore the fact that the message of the cross rules out all human boasting (1 Cor 1:29-31) including boasting about our own theological rectitude. That is to say, while it is vital to be concerned about theological correctness we must accept the fact that this should not be used as an excuse to sit in judgement on other people or avoid re-examining cherished formulations of the Christian message, and sometimes I think conservative Evangelicalism can fall into both these errors.
The second stream, open Evangelicalism, has rightly emphasised that if we are to preach the message of the cross effectively, we have to make connections between this message and the audience to whom we are preaching. That is why it has sought ways of re-expressing the evangelical message in ways that address current concerns and forms of thought. It has also rightly emphasised that the kind of disunity addressed by St Paul in 1 Cor 1:10-17 is incompatible with the reconciliation brought about by the cross, which is why open Evangelicals have worked to maintain the unity of the Church of England, and to foster wider ecumenical unity.
All this is good. However, I suggest that the weakness of open Evangelicalism lies in the fact that it can be tempted to water down the folly of the gospel message in order to make it more compatible with currently fashionable ways of thinking, and can be tempted to so emphasise the importance of unity that questions of theological truth are overlooked or set aside. To put it another way, if the temptation of conservative Evangelicalism is to say 'No' too loudly and too frequently, the temptation facing open Evangelicalism is to be too open and to say 'Yes' too much even when a clear 'No' is what is called for.
The third stream, Charismatic Evangelicalism, has rightly emphasised that in the New Testament the preaching of the crucified Christ was accompanied by acts of supernatural power wrought by the working of the Holy Spirit, and that we need to be open to these acts of power being performed in our day as well. It also reminds us that just as in New Testament times so also in our day such acts of power can often be very effective in creating an opening for the preaching of the cross.
All this is good. However, like the other two streams of Evangelicalism, Charismatic Evangelicalism also has its weakness, which is a temptation to an unrealistic triumphalism which can forget the fact that the message of the cross is about power manifested in weakness, and that often God's most important work is performed when there are no apparent acts of supernatural power and our prayers for God to act appear to go unanswered. As St Paul heard God telling him in precisely this situation: 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness' (2 Cor 12:9).
In summary, I suggest that if NEAC 4 is to succeed in taking Anglican evangelicals towards the future that God wants for them then there needs to be a concentration on the themes highlighted by St Paul in 1 Cor 1:18-2:5, and evangelicals need to have an honest conversation about the strengths and weaknesses of each of the three streams of evangelicalism so that they can learn from each other and go forward together, strengthened with a greater unity, to proclaim the message of the crucified Christ to a needy world.
Dr Martin Davie is a member of the Eclectics committee

Presiding Bishop to conduct post-lambeth live webcast 7th August

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will conduct a live webcast to talk about the Lambeth Conference on Thursday, August 7 at 2 pm Eastern time (1 p.m. Central, noon Mountain, 11 a.m. Pacific). Originating from the Episcopal Church Center, 815 Second Ave., New York City, the webcast will be accessible through the homepage of the Episcopal Church's website. Questions will be accepted from the live audience and via email. Phone-in questions will not be accepted. The 2008 Lambeth Conference, which concluded on August 3, is a meeting of the bishops of the Anglican Communion held once every 10 years at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The 2008 Lambeth Conference drew 670 bishops from 37 of the 38 Anglican provinces; about 135 bishops of the Episcopal Church registered. For more information about the webcast, contact Neva Rae Fox, program officer for public affairs at the National office.

The Church and the Poor

For centuries,poverty has been the sickness, even sin that has plagued society.
As long as anyone can remember, there has always been groups of society needing assistance; therefore there has been some kind of structure to help the needy. The Church was quick to see this as a ethical and Christian requirement to help.
Victorian England has always been seen as the greatest example of both poverty as well as Christian charity; this may well be the case, but today, it is happening again, but sadly, the Church are not at the forefront of giving. While Missionaries continue to work throughout the "third World" offering help to all who need it, yet the western society that most of us live in, have become an "underclass"; we work, yet the salary hardly feeds a family, those who loose their job, eventually are forced out of their home, due to failing to pay for their rent or mortgage. The larger the family, the worse it gets. Churches talk about the poor, but many are on their own doorstep!
Where is the children's programme offered for free, where is the foodbank, where is a lunch being offered, where is the career/financial help, where is the Internet access for free to apply for jobs, where is the legal services offered for free, where is the support network? Nowhere to be seen sadly! Is this an example of Jesus? Not in my Bible. If we are to present in a living way, then we need to do it in a practical way, in a way that assists those around us.

A Meeting of Change in the Church

Recently there was a meeting of clergy and theologians. But what is so important about that you may ask. It comprised of a variety of theological differences, so you may say and why wouldn't you, after all this is nothing new.

But this is where you are totally wrong!

First we have Reverend "A", Chaplain with years of experience, who spent his childhood as well as the early years in ministry as a Baptist, but after a few pastorates, he felt drawn to the Anglican church and now ministers as a Priest within the denomination.

Reverend "B" on the other hand was brought up as good old "True Blue"Anglican, but as he gets close to retirement, receives a Revelation from God, to leave the faith of nearly 60 years and become a Baptist, where he nows fulfills a second career as a Baptist Minister.

Reverend or should I say Father "C" was a good Anglican, but although brought up as Methodist, eventually follows his "Calling" to the Church of England, where for 30 + years is a parish priest for a growing congregation, but then following the ordination of women in 1983, he makes the brace step to leave a church for the second time in his life to evetually become a Roman catholic Priest.

Reverend "D" is a former Roman Catholic Bishop who "jumps Ship" and decides that the Anglican church is where he wants to be and so joins the small number of ex-catholics who are Anglican Priests.

Reverend "E" is the woman of the group; brought up Roman Catholic, gets divorced, cut off from the church ,and as a struggling single parent finds comfort with the United Reformed Church, where she evetually follows a call to become a URC minister.

All share the common history of having left their original Denomination, all left due to painful experiences as result of their orginal church family failing to accept their struggle, resulting in the fact, that all of them were left with a vital decision. Do I stay, knowing that those within do not accept me or my position or do I leave and go where I will be accepted, even though I am "stepping Out" of my own true faith, culture and even theological position, which has been forced to change to find acceptance away from my own upbring.
If this group had not suffered the way they did, would they have left? If they had not, would they had the same influence & impact with the Denomination they departed from? Their decision to leave became the topic of this meeting. The ordination of women, the acceptance of Gay priests, the accepting of Gay Unions, the destruction of "truth" and moving away from scripture was what finally made this group. All of them include one of those items on their list, some more than one.
So what did they learn, so that we can learn? We do not really know. Some decide to accept that there is room for all, whatever your Denomination, others feel that you cannot fight within, with facing a position of compromise! The decision is personal.But the result from all, is that they expressed and showed zealous behaviour for their "new" Denomination and nothing short of condemnation towards which they had left! The Church, as the Body of Christ, is fragmented and broken; broken as Christ was on the cross, but unlike Jesus Christ, the Church is very unlikely to resurrect, but infact to be cut down, forced into schism, growing further apart to the point of acting in resemblance to overseas nations in talks with each other; alot is said, but very little down and in the end, each one believes that they are right!!

A Broad Church, Narrow Minded?

Who cares if the Church of England tears itself apart this weekend? Its million active members in Britain are barely ahead of the Roman Catholics, from whose church it separated five centuries ago, and the 930,000 practising Muslims. Only 15% of babies are now baptised into the Church of England and few of them are likely to graduate to church membership.
Schism is the occupational disease of religion. If, through the defection of ecclesiastical conservatives, West Indians and Africans, there are soon to be two Anglican churches in place of one, most Britons will just not notice. But their established church remains a substantial national institution, custodian of British values even to the many who do not patronise it. When it suffers an attack of episcopal knife crime, a message goes out that “the centre cannot hold”.
The cause of the conflict, the gender and sexual orientation of bishops, is as arcane as the Pelagian heresy. It is sadly ironic that the church should be headed at this time by an archbishop, Rowan Williams, whose personality seems more ideally cast for martyrdom than leadership. His saintly pain at the refusal of the contending parties to hear his lofty platitudes has become a national agony.
Many find it unbelievable that a movement dedicated to peace, love and brotherhood should in 2008 find itself debating the ecclesiastical significance of 1st-century texts on sexual behaviour. No less baffling is that this has led to what amounts to illegal discrimination in appointments. African bishops may regard homosexuality as “an abomination”, but that is not the view of the British parliament. There should be an end to it.
The visible loathing of some Anglicans for gays and women – expressed in terms that would have them prosecuted in any other walk of life – is indefensible. The British make much noise opposing the intolerant practices of Muslims and other imported religions. They seem deaf to the intolerance of members of their home-grown church. That the conservatives have constant recourse to biblical texts has no more to do with the case than if Islamic scholars appealed to the Koran against the Crown Prosecution Service. The law of the land is the law of the land.
No less astonishing is that the parties are largely warring because the Church of England remains stuck in an imperial time warp. A global membership of some 80m – overwhelmingly in the new Commonwealth – is under the leadership of an archbishop in England, custodian of just a million souls, and a governing body meeting in Lambeth.
The origins of this dispute thus lie not so much in the biblical understanding of sexuality but rather in Anglicanism’s inability to handle global diversity in human behaviour. There is no way African cultures will regard sex in the same way as Asians or Europeans. Why does the church pretend otherwise?
This is a relic of the status of the Church of England as the established church in what was once a far-flung empire. It has struggled to mimic the diversity of the British Commonwealth, allowing archbishoprics to flourish and hierarchies to proliferate. But the trappings of doctrinal centralism remain in place.
The obvious solution to the row over gay and women bishops would be to live and let live. Let a thousand sexualities bloom under the capacious canopy of mother church. Do not impose on the cultures of Africa the sexual norms and gender equalities that have evolved under the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant aegis. There is no need for this dispute.
The trouble is that the English church failed to make a complete break with episcopal hierarchy at the time of the Reformation. It may have disliked the authority of Rome, but it liked that of Canterbury too much to dismantle its domestic power structure (and wealth). Unlike most reformed denominations, it kept its bishops. Scratch any controversy that has bedevilled the Church of England over recent years and you will find a bishop at the bottom of it. German and Scandinavian Christians have no such agonies.
The promotion of women, the ordination of gays, the fate of the Mappa Mundi, the affair of the Lincoln dean, you name it, a bishop has been involved. Last month 300 senior Anglicans met in Jerusalem to found the Global Anglican Future Conference in defiance of Williams. Every one was a bishop. The status – and sexuality – of bishops has become central to the dissension of the Anglo-Catholic wing of Anglicanism. It sees them as part of the apostolic succession and thus offering an emotional link back to Rome and the possibility of reunion.
It was just this link that the Scots Presbyterians shrewdly refused to countenance in the 16th century. It was just this hierarchy to which the Methodists objected in the 18th century. A modern church, said Wesley, should “think and let think”.
The iconoclastic Anglican author, Theo Hobson, wondered out loud last week, “If bishops were no more, would we miss them?” The 650 (out of 880) who have gathered this weekend at Lambeth are like admirals: the fewer souls in their charge, the more they multiply.
For the rest of us this would be of no account if the Church of England were not still in a position to deliver a modest punch. By virtue of its history and status, the church offers community leadership, however imperfectly, to a nation whose governments have done everything to exterminate communal authority. In some places Anglican clergymen are a one-stop shop for everything from marriage guidance to crime busting.
Even the most ardent atheist must accept that local churches, with their youth clubs and outreach programmes, are probably the largest unofficial social work agency in Britain. Their value to the state must run into billions of pounds, all free at the point of delivery. Priests are often the only resident professional presence in the grimmest urban areas.
Church buildings, many of them glories of medieval and Victorian architecture, are also prominent monuments. They are the museums of the people, galleries of vernacular art and custodians of local history. England’s landscape is inconceivable without them, yet the public money spent on them is paltry.
This is not just a historical foible. A successful working church is a force for social cohesion of all faiths and none. As Britain absorbs diverse immigrant groups, religious allegiances can bring them together or drive them apart. It is shocking that so little attention is paid to the latter danger in the rush to establish blatantly divisive faith schools.
The fracturing of the church might seem no more than a bad-tempered conversation in the privacy of a close. But it is reinforcing the image of organised religion as a force for intolerance. This can only impede the good work that churches do on the ground.
Talk of conservatives occupying the church chancel and the radicals the nave, of services (or entire churches) being segregated between gender-specific priests and communicants, is a measure of how far this once broad movement has buried its head in schism.
It is easy to conclude that the best way out would be to split again and allow each faction to worship in its own way. That should be abhorrent to all who believe that there is such a thing as community and that an institution called a church has a duty to supply it with social glue.

What do Open Evangelicals believe?

What does "Open Evangelical" actually mean?
We are unashamedly evangelical in our commitment to the authority of Scripture, the need for personal faith, the uniqueness of Christ and the free gift of eternal life for humankind only through his death on the cross. We recognize the truth of orthodox Christian belief as expressed in the early Creeds of the Church. We are open in a number of ways:
Open to the world around us. If we are to communicate the Gospel effectively we must be engaged in a process of "double listening" to the Bible and to the world, hearing the questions and the insights of others around us, and working to hear the message of the scriptures in the light of this.
Open to God's work in other Christian traditions. Evangelicals do not have a monopoly on the truth, and through partnership and dialogue we seek to be open to learn from what God has done and is doing in other parts of His Church. This refers to other Christians in our own Western setting, but must also increasingly include the voices of our fellow believers in the Two-Thirds World.
Open to playing our full part within the Church of England. Following the lead set by the National Evangelical Anglican Congresses at Keele in 1967 and Nottingham in 1977, Open Evangelicals are committed to involvement in the structures of the Church of England and to making a significant constructive contribution to the direction of the Church's life. And finally.
Open to God saying new things through the Bible and His Spirit. Being under the authority of scripture means we may need to be ready to change our mind as we understand more fully.
This fully understood through the ministerial training that takes place at: Trinity College, Bristol and Ridley Hall, Cambridge in the UK, both of whom are leading exponants of the "Open" theological position, as well as John Stott & NT Wright.

Women Becoming Bishops

The debate in General Synod in July 2008 concerning the ordination of women to the episcopate
has generated a great deal of media coverage and not a little speculation and misunderstanding.

We are aware that there will be a variety of reactions to the vote in General Synod. The fact that the
motion was passed by a two-thirds majority reflects a very strong affirmation of the ministry of
ordained women. We are also mindful that a third of the Synod voted against it. We believe that this
minority represents a significant number of people and their parishes, whose presence and ministry
among us we also value and affirm.
The partial and at times misleading reporting of the decision by sections of the national media has
perhaps obscured the very precise wording of the Synod’s decision. While re-affirming the view of
the majority that women should be admitted to the episcopate, it also affirmed that ‘special
arrangements be available, within the existing structures of the Church of England, for those who as a
matter of theological conviction will not be able to receive the ministry of women as bishops or
priests’.
It resolved that these should be contained in a statutory national code of practice and requested that
the drafting group should prepare draft legislation and a draft code of practice for the consideration of
Synod in February. It will be for the Synod, and in due course our own diocesan synod, to decide
whether the draft code is (to borrow the Archbishop of Canterbury’s word) ‘robust’ enough to provide
assurance for those who disagree with women bishops.
We recognise that there is a great deal of work to be done before suitable legislation can be drawn up
and agreed, and that discussion will be continuing for some years before it is enacted. We therefore
have the space for quiet reflection and continued listening to each other before the final decision
about the legislation is made.
We therefore urge everyone
• to pray for those who will be responsible for drawing up the legislation and the code of practice;
• to continue the fruitful discussions and exchanges of views that have already occurred, so that we
can all grow in our understanding of each other, and work with each other, in our common task of
bearing witness to Christ in the world;
• to participate fully in the process of discussion of the legislation through deanery chapters, deanery
and diocesan synods; and
• to refrain from pre-emptive actions or statements before the exact details of the legislation and
code of practice are published and agreed.
Finally, it remains our intention in this diocese to work for unity in mission and ministry with all
priests and church members alike. By maintaining good relationships of mutual affection and respect
we have the opportunity to model to the world a new way of dealing with differences and realising in
our own experience our Lord’s command to ‘love one another as I have loved you’.
Therefore we ask all to seek from God the grace to be charitable with one another, moderate in tone,
gentle in spirit, patient in listening, gracious in dissent and supportive of all who seek to lift high the
name of Jesus Christ in the world.

The General Synod motion moved by the Bishop of Gloucester:
That this Synod:
a) affirm that the wish of its majority is for women to be admitted to the episcopate;
b) affirm its view that special arrangements be available, within the existing structures of the
Church of England, for those who as a matter of theological conviction will not be able to
receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests;
c) affirm that these should be contained in a statutory national code of practice to which all
concerned would be required to have regard; and
d) instruct the legislative drafting group, in consultation with the House of Bishops, to complete
its work accordingly, including preparing the first draft of a code of practice, so that the
Business Committee can include first consideration of the draft legislation in the agenda for the
February 2009 group of sessions.
The motion was carried by a division of the three houses of Synod.
House of Bishops – For 28, Against 12, Abstentions 1
House of Clergy – For 124, Against 44, Abstentions 4
House of Laity – For 111, Against 68, Abstentions 2

What is a Liberal Christian?

Sometimes liberals are thought to be Christians who have backslidden; people who don't have enough faith, or are too "in the world." Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. Liberal Christians are committed believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, who have thoroughly studied the scriptures and traditions of the Church, and have examined their faith in the light of reason and experience. They believe in:
Diversity
Perhaps the defining characteristic of liberal Christians is that they are comfortable with ambiguity and diversity. They realize that life is a complex spiritual journey, and that each person on that journey is confronted with unexpected revelations and unique experiences. Liberal Christians therefore welcome a variety of approaches to understanding God, and are open to new ways of talking about the divine. Religious questions are seen as complex, and answers only tentative. Certain that "now we see through a glass, darkly" (1 Cor. 13:12), liberals are cautious about making dogmatic statements or claiming to have a monopoly on the truth. They see the search for truth as an ongoing task, rather than one that has already been completed.
A Non-Literal View of Scripture
Conservative Christians are often content to answer religious questions by appealing to the absolute authority of Scripture. Liberal Christians, on the other hand, find such an approach to be flawed. Many see the Bible as a witness to revelation, or generally inspired, rather than completely inspired in all its parts. Just as Jesus was fully human and wholey divine, so one must also see the Bible as a product of both human and divine influences. Indeed, liberal Christians are quick to point out that the falleness and imperfection of its human authors gives the Bible an imperfect quality and authority.
Liberals view Scripture through a critical lens, and are not afraid to challenge traditional assumptions and interpretations. They rely heavily on higher criticism of the Bible, which looks into the origin and composition of the biblical texts, revealing a great deal about the human aspect of Scripture. Modern philosophical, biological, and cosmological theories that are well supported by evidence, and reflect the true nature of the world around us, can also shape the way liberals interpret Scripture. Traditional Christian doctrines, such as the Virgin Birth, the Atonement, the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and the Resurrection, are sometimes given new interpretations by liberals.
Perhaps more so than evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians, liberal Christians see the teachings of Jesus as having a central place. Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience are each given equal footing in determining Christian faith.
An Intimate, Personal View of God
Imminent and personal images of God in Scripture are attractive to liberals. For some this takes on the form of a belief in panentheism (Everything-in-God-ism). Liberals also see little distinction between the natural and the supernatural, and therefore do not look for "miracles" to confirm the existence of God. Instead, they feel that faith in God allows one to see the Spirit moving in the everyday stuff of life.
Universal Salvation
The concept of personal salvation is not typically stressed by liberal Christians. Accordingly, traditional images of heaven, hell, and the End Times are not given much weight in their theologies. When salvation is discussed, liberals are more apt to stress its "this worldly" aspects, and appeal to a universalist interpretation of Scripture when confronted with questions of eternal punishment and rewards.
For many liberal Christians, social justice is a central concern, and the transformation of society, rather than that of the individual, is more typically stressed. Equality for racial minorities, women, homosexuals, and the economically disadvantaged is seen as an essential part of the Gospel message. A concern for the environment, and other typically liberal social issues, also find a great deal of support among liberal Christians.
Fellowship & Community
Liberals tend to stress the centrality of community in the Christian experience. They can be found in almost all churches (from Roman Catholic to Southern Baptist), but tend to be in greater numbers in the mainline Protestant denominations: American Baptist Churches, USA; Disciples of Christ; Episcopal Church; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Presbyterian Church, USA; United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church. The Unitarian Universalist Association and the Metropolitan Community Churches are even more liberally minded.

Time to Think!

What is the future? Where does everyone go from here?

Women Bishops and the problems that they face!

Adventure

Adventure,where does it begin or end?

North Wales Baptist College, Bangor

Chaplain's Job

Having spent several years in Chaplaincy, especially in health care, I feel I have the right to state what makes a good chaplain or at least what qualities are expected and possessed by those looking for a position as a chaplain.

While the Lord will constantly open up doors for you, as he moves you to where he wants you, at the same time, having spent the last two years in the "One Horse Town" known as as Redlands in California, I wonder what the purpose was. After all, there are churches which are led by corrupt clergy pressurising the elderly members of the congregation to "pay up"! If that is not bad enough, there are Drug Addicts in ministry, along with those Pastors having affairs with the younger members of the congregation.

But as I decide to go to pastures new; the hills that sings or the valley that screams, life is truly going to become interesting!

Local Ecumenical Partnerships: the way forward?

The LEP's as they are commonly known are a growing entity within the UK structure, but especially in England. Both the Church of England as well as the United Reformed Church are innovators for the majority of them; there is also a large degree of cooperation from the Methodist & Baptist churches as well.

The question that sits in most people heads is; why do we need this? After all, each Denominational group comes from its own perspective and how on earth can everyone come together in agreement? Is this not just another form of the Ecumenical movement, after all the Catholic church are involved?

Over the past decade several things have been happening, some of which I or "we" have covered in previous blogs posts, but they are worthy to bring up again. However we like to approach this, the numbers of church attendance has began to fall on the whole. Now there is always the acception to the rule, where there is actual growth. This has occurred where numerous increases in East European Immigrants have arrived and therefore added to the Roman Catholic population. On a few occasions, those from "Catholic Countries" have not been Catholic, but Baptist, this is especially from Poland.But right across the country there has been a steady decline in regular attendance.

As a result many new ideas have been introduced and tested for growth. As the generations that were dedicated to "their church" die off, a growing group have emerged with wanting a "church" that presents the gospel as real and in a relevant way to their lives. Now the "name across the door" does not matter, nor does the historical looking building or anything else.

The LEP's can be led by an Anglican priest in a Church of England building or a Baptist or URC minister in an Anglican building or even an Anglican priest in Baptist chapel;this is where LEP's come in.
Maybe this is where "The Church" truly becomes "The Church" as Christ intended, rather the separate versions on different Denominations sneering at each other. So far, the LEP's are limited to the "mainstream" as it seems inconceivable that anyone else from other church Denominations would be accepted! But maybe this is the future that will take the Ecumenical movement to a new and positive level.

Interview with Chaplain Mumina Kowalskim

Since 1999, I have been the Muslim Chaplain at the State Correctional Institution at Muncy, the first woman to work in this capacity in the Pennsylvania state system. Located in the north central sector of the state, this prison is the largest facility for women in Pennsylvania, with approximately 900 females incarcerated at five levels of security, including capital cases.

: What kind of education and training do you have that enables you to perform in this capacity?

My educational background includes a liberal arts degree and numerous professional training courses with organizations such as the Islamic Foundation of America, Pennsylvania Prison Chaplains’ Association, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of North America, Alternatives in Criminal Justice, and Arab World and Islamic Resources. Prior to my job in the prison, I worked for many years as a teacher and later principal of an Islamic weekend school. I have served as the secretary for the Pennsylvania Prison Chaplains’ Association and the vice president of the Islamic Society of Central Pennsylvania

: What are the specific duties that you are required to perform as the prison Muslim Chaplain?
My contract specifies that I provide chaplaincy service in the following areas:
Conduct formal Muslim religious services, counsel inmates on personal and religious needs, maintain participation records and reports, visit inmates in the infirmary, community hospital, Mental Health Unit, Behavioral Adjustment Unit and Restricted Housing Units, conduct group religious counseling, distribute religious literature, participate in special religious programs, attend religious conferences at the request of the institution, relate in a positive way to other religious perspectives found among the inmate population and perform any other chaplaincy services reasonably expected of a member of that profession and faith.

: Are there any materials or methods that you find particularly helpful in your teaching?
Presenting myself as a resource person rather then an authority, I was able gain the trust and appreciation of many Muslim inmates when I started. I concentrated on bringing in quality, up-to-date English language materials, but I did not immediately displace the materials and routines already in place. I feel it is critically important to work with the inmate leaders who have established the Muslim program, especially inmates doing life or long sentences, and to act as mediator between inmates. Misconceptions and recalcitrant positions on controversial topics by Muslim inmates can be addressed gradually and through indirect methods. For this I have used the video/audio tapes of leading Muslim scholars in America who understand the American context.
In my conversations and counseling sessions with inmates I try to bring positive advice and encouragement to the women at Muncy, adding to the rehabilitative programs at the institution. The prison experience causes many inmates to turn to religion, and opens the door to ‘come back’ to their faith or learn about a new faith. I have prepared beginner’s packets of information, containing streamlined information on Islam in clear modern English and geared for the prison environment. Topics such as taking shahada, how to pray, participating in Ramadan, obtaining permission to wear hijab, and how to attend Jumu’ah are some of the materials I have prepared specifically for the institution. These I hand out to inmates when they come in to see me for the first time.
It is important to stock the Muslim library with literature that is broad, normative and well translated or written for English-speakers. Inmates take a great deal of their information on Islam from books and pamphlets, so it is wise to gradually weed out overly complicated or divisive, sectarian books and pamphlets.

: What would you say are the major challenges and rewards that you encounter in your work?

Correctional institutions within the state of Pennsylvania vary in their policies and procedures governing the practice of religion, at the county, state and federal levels. This factor, along with the history of Islam in American prisons, often clouds the vision of clear educational objectives. The Muslim Chaplain also impacts his/her own program in terms of materials, attitudes and styles. From my experiences in Pennsylvania, I think Muslim chaplains would benefit from a general model of an appropriate Muslim educational program in correctional facilities.
Lack of Muslim volunteers in prison programs is another area where we need improvement. Creating viable models of prison outreach and identifying Muslim communities that could incorporate these programs would serve inmates, help prison chaplaincy programs and connect outside communities to meaningful social activism.
Muslims suited to work in prison chaplaincy are those committed to serving and educating in a multifaith environment and who understand the role of prison chaplain as spiritual advisor, role model and advocate. I have learned that the challenges in this field are many, but the power of positive influence in teaching the transforming concepts and pillars of Islam, gives back genuine rewards. I see the small but significant changes that take place in a woman’s perception of herself and her responsibility to others when she has changed through the spiritual teachings of Islam. This rekindles my personal conviction as a Muslim and inspires me to work for improvement in my own practice and in how I present Islam to others.
The opportunity to teach the true peaceful nature of Islam to non-Muslims is another benefit of this job. At the request of the Drug and Alcohol unit I have spoken on various issues, notably the events of 9/11, the month of Ramadan and Hajj. Non-Muslim inmates listened to my perspective and asked pressing questions, which staff later related had a positive effect on the group as well as helping staff manage individuals with serious disruptive issues.

.: What would you say to others considering prison Chaplaincy as a profession?

Islam in American prisons is a significant arena and a vital opportunity for Muslims to participate in the important discourse that religion plays in American institutions. If we can construct successful educational and service programs for Muslim inmates we will be performing a great service to both incarcerated Muslims in particular and to our society in general. Muslim Chaplains in prisons will, by the grace of Allah, be able to contribute to the “greater good” and bring hope and help to an eager and growing segment of the American population.