Embattled chaplains group forms new denomination named Anglican Reformed Catholic Church

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Friday, December 26, 2025

The Rt. Rev. Derek Jones, bishop of the Anglican Church in North America's Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy, gives a speech in March 2025. | YouTube/Saint Luke's Anglican, Hilton Head Island

A chaplains group facing a legal battle with the Anglican Church in North America has launched a new denomination known as the Anglican Reformed Catholic Church.

Bishops with the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy recently established the ARCC, with it being officially incorporated in Alabama as a new nonprofit organization.

JAFC Bishop Derek Jones will serve as the leader of the new denomination, according to Virtue Online. The group's leaders are calling ARCC “classic Anglican.”

“We live in the tradition and prayer book expression we have all known and loved in the JAFC for nearly 20 years,” they told Virtue Online.

“It is Reformed and Catholic as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, Bishop John Jewel, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, and other Anglican reformers envisioned — ancient in faithfulness to the witness of the Apostles and formulated in the ancient Creeds and Councils.”

Mainline Protestantism’s Fall?

Op-Ed

Published on
September 11, 2025

By\Mark Tooley



Mainline Protestant denominations have been declining for sixty years and some of these denominations will not meaningfully much longer exist. But will all their congregations recede or die with them?

Perhaps not. The collapse of denominational loyalties in America may be good news for many Mainline congregations.

In the old days, many congregants were deeply committed to the denominations, reading their publications, attending their conferences, heeding their pronouncements, financially supporting them generously and appreciating the wider identity they offered, often across generations. Many congregants across decades left their Mainline denominations with sadness as those denominations further liberalized and failed to offer a compelling spiritual message. Many did not leave, but their children and grandchildren were not interested in the Mainline denominations, leaving institutional religion altogether, or joining more evangelical churches that often were nondenominational.

The membership of Mainline Protestant denominations has declined by millions, and thousands of churches have closed. Many more thousands of churches, some barely surviving with a dwindling number of elderly members, will close soon. But thousands of Mainline congregations endure. Some are vital. A few are growing. And nearly universally they have very few members who care about their denominations. These members simply like their congregations.

I attend a United Methodist congregation. Several years ago, in the wake of the schism, I had anticipated joining the new Global Methodist Church. But the GMC is not present in my area and, so far, seems uninterested in planting in new areas. Of course, I do not like United Methodism’s newly liberalized standards and much else about the denomination. But these changes seem not to affect my church. Nobody there talks about the denomination. Last year I asked our since retired pastor if anybody in the church under the age of sixty cared about the denomination. He quickly replied no. I should have asked how many over the age of sixty cared. Likely not many.

We now have a new pastor. His opening sermon series was on the Nicene Creed. Our hymns and liturgy are traditional. As a traditionalist, there’s nothing to which I can object and much to enjoy. The next pastor could be very different. But likely many even very institutionalist clergy must adapt to the new reality of denominational indifference. No more are congregations kept through automatic loyalty. They must be retained through ongoing ministry that feeds their spiritual desires.

King Charles III. Defender of Faith? Or The Faith? || Fight For Freedo...

King Charles III: Keeper of the Faith, or Faiths?

Church of England plan for welcoming trans people under fire

More than 2,000 clergy and lay members sign letter asking bishops to withdraw guidance

Harriet Sherwood 

Religion correspondent

@harrietsherwood

Tue 29 Jan 2019 11.42 EST Last modified on Tue 29 Jan 2019 14.05 EST

The church issued guidance in December on services to allow trans Christians to celebrate their new identity and name. Photograph: Alamy

More than 2,000 clergy and lay members of the Church of England have signed a letter calling on bishops to withdraw or change recent guidance on welcoming transgender people to the church.

Last month the church issued advice to clergy and congregations recommending an adapted affirmation of baptism service to allow transgender Christians to celebrate their new identity and name.

The guidance was criticised by a group of bishops who described it as “theologically and pastorally questionable”. One member of the archbishops’ council, the Rev Ian Paul, suggested church leaders were “allowing themselves to be hijacked by these very small special interest groups”.

Now 2,155 clergy and senior lay members of the church have demanded the guidance be revised, postponed or withdrawn, saying “the notion of gender transition is highly contested in wider society”.

Their letter to bishops says: “Gender dysphoria is an emotionally painful experience that requires understanding, support and compassion. In recent years controversial new theories about the relationship between biological sex and the social meaning of gender have been linked to gender dysphoria. These ideas continue to be widely contested, with well-intentioned and thoughtful people on all sides of the debate.”

It adds: “The many ordinary parents and teachers who now express concern about these new theories do not wish to cause harm to the tiny number of children afflicted by gender dysphoria; but neither do they want to harm the potentially large numbers of children by potentially imposing untried and untested ideas on young children.”

Paul, an evangelical member of the general synod, said the letter highlighted “really important doctrinal, liturgy and pastoral issues that have not been adequately addressed”.

He said: “The fact that so many, from a wide range of traditions in the church, have been prepared to put their heads above the parapet is an indication of the strength of concern expressed here.”

Another signatory, Edward Dowler, archdeacon of Hastings, who is from the Anglo-Catholic tradition, said church leaders “might have been more circumspect about appearing to lend their support to an increasingly high-profile ideological movement whose aims and methods sit uncomfortably with the Christian gospel and are now being increasingly questioned throughout western society”.

Members of the general synod last year urged the church to go further in welcoming transgender people. But some conservatives believe gender is assigned by God and cannot be changed.

 

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The letter opposing the transgender guidance will be presented to next month’s general synod session. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA


Tina Beardsley, a trans clergy member who was consulted on the guidelines, said it was important to be given official recognition by the church.

“This guidance arose from a decision at the general synod which was passed by an overwhelming majority. The signatories to the letter can’t accept this decision,” she said.

“The advice is to use the affirmation of baptismal faith service to reaffirm someone’s faith post-transition with the name they have adopted. That’s all we’re talking about. There is an anti-trans narrative in this letter which is unhealthy, stigmatising and fear-mongering.”

The joy that comes from embracing trans identity shouldn't be so rare
Andy Connor

George Haggett, a trans pastoral assistant, said: “My main qualm is so much of this discussion is taking place above trans people’s heads. The letter is not free from transphobia by any stretch of the imagination, and there is a nasty suggestion that trans people are causing harm to their families. This is not being done in good faith.”

The C of E says its guidance does not propose “transgender baptism services” but that clergy could use existing liturgy for baptism “in a creative and sensitive way” to mark a person’s gender transition.

A spokesperson said: “The bishops will give the letter their serious consideration, especially in the context of the preparation of a major new set of teaching and learning resources on identity, relationships, marriage and sexuality, Living in Love and Faith, which will be published next year. The guidance is not a restatement or a new statement on matters relating to gender, nor does it change the C of E’s teaching.”

Source

Anglican liaison at Vatican out after sex misconduct charge

Associated Press 

Dec 22, 2018



Pope Francis greets Anglican Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi, director of the Anglican Center in Rome and the archbishop of Canterbury's personal representative to the Holy See, during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Nov. 8, 2017. (Credit: Paul Haring/CNS.)




ROME - The Anglican Church’s representative to the Holy See has resigned following an allegation of sexual misconduct.

A statement from the Anglican Centre in Rome, an ecumenical study center and headquarters for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy to the Holy See, announced the resignation Friday.

Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi, former Anglican primate of Burundi, was appointed in 2017. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Details of the alleged misconduct weren’t released. A brief statement issued by the center said Ntahoturi was suspended last week and that the governors of the center had accepted his resignation.

Anglicans split from Catholicism in 1534, after England’s King Henry VIII was denied a marriage annulment. The two churches have forged closer ties in the last few decades.

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Anglican Minister Urges Prayers for Prince George to Be Gay

By ALAN COWELL

DEC. 1, 2017

A crowd outside St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, west of London, in June. The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is to take place there in May. Credit Stefan Rousseau/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

LONDON — A prominent Anglican cleric and gay rights campaigner known for contentious gestures has urged believers to pray for Prince George — age 4, and third in line to the throne — to find the love “of a fine young gentleman” when he grows up so as to advance the cause of same-sex marriage in church.

Coming just days after Prince Harry — George’s uncle, and fifth in line — announced his engagement to Meghan Markle, a divorced American actress, the suggestion by the Very Rev. Kelvin Holdsworth seemed to illuminate once more the role of royal romance in Britain’s imagination and conversation, especially when it collides with tradition.

Prince Harry and Ms. Markle have said they will marry in May at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, west of London. But it is only since 2002 that the Church of England has permitted church marriages for divorced people, “in exceptional circumstances” at the discretion of parish priests. The church teaching is that marriage is for life.

While same-sex marriage is permitted by law in most of Britain, the Church of England says on its website, “it remains the case that it is not legally possible for same-sex couples to marry” in its churches.

Protesters call for greater gay rights in Church of England

Archbishop Welby: ‘The Year of Mercy inspired all Christians’

by Staff Reporter

posted Tuesday, 15 Nov 2016

Cardinal Nichols and Archbishop Welby at Vespers (Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk)



The Archbishop of Canterbury joined Cardinal Vincent Nichols for the closing of the Door of Mercy at Westminster Cathedral

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the Year of Mercy has “caught the imagination” of all Christians in a homily at Westminster Cathedral for the closing of the Door of Mercy.

Archbishop Justin Welby joined Cardinal Vincent Nichols at Vespers on Sunday. It was the first time the Anglican leader had preached at the Cathedral. Also present were bishops from throughout England and Wales, members of the Chapter of Canons, and other ecumenical guests.

“The Year of Mercy has caught the imagination not only in the Catholic Church but in all churches,” Archbishop Welby said. He cited Blessed John XXIII’s “visionary address” to the Second Vatican Council, in which the pope spoke of the Holy Spirit helping the Church move away from “acting in severity against error and sin to acting in mercy”.

“This great Year of Mercy 50 years after the end of the Council has been received as water in the desert for global churches sadly lacking mercy, and must be offered as the way of living to a world which sees mercy only in terms of exchange, and never as the excess of abundant love,” the archbishop said.

Cardinal Nichols follows Archbishop Welby to the Holy Door (Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk)

Mercy was a “word of immense beauty”, he said, and “when we walk through the Door of Mercy and allow its meaning to enter our hearts we become different people . . . It works in us like a benevolent acid, dissolving the hardness of our hearts and the selfishness of our lives.”

The archbishop added: “The Door of Mercy calls us through, but like the doors into Narnia in the CS Lewis series, what we find on the other side of the door is another world, where the deep magic of the Kingdom of God is what prevails.”

Archbishop Welby also described the frequent absence of mercy in everyday life.

“Whether it is in elections and referendums, or in the international politics of refugees, of trade and commerce, and even in our own lives and expressions through social media, mercy is often absent,” he said.

The Door of Mercy at Westminster Cathedral was opened by Cardinal Nichols last December and has stayed open throughout the Year of Mercy, receiving pilgrims from around the country.

The Jubilee Year will conclude on Sunday when Pope Francis will close the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica.

Meanwhile, in a separate address to head teachers last week, Archbishop Welby said Government officials knew so little about religion that
conservative Evangelicals would be counted as extremists by the officials’ own definition.

Cardinal Nichols and Archbishop Welby pray at the Holy Door (Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk)

The Government, he said, could see no difference between Muslim extremists and traditionalist Christians, so both groups were dismissed as “a bit bonkers”. He made the remarks to headteachers of Church of England schools in the Anglican Diocese of Bath and Wells.

The Telegraph quoted Archbishop Welby as saying: “Our Government generally is desperately trying to catch up, to understand a world in which they have no grip on what it is to be religious at all; where religious illiteracy is prevalent and extremely destructive of understanding and where they can’t really see the difference between an extremist Muslim group like the Muslim Brotherhood and a sort of conservative Evangelical group in a Church of England church.”

He added: “It’s fine to reject many of the things done in the name of religion, but you still need to understand what it is that can so catch hold of someone that they think life itself is not worth living if that contradicts what they believe.”

Source

What is a Protestant?

WORLD

AFP | Saturday, Oct 29, 2016




Photo: Pixabay



Protestants form a branch of the Christian faith that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation 500 years ago.

Pope Francis has nonetheless strengthened ties with several Protestant denominations, and his trip to Sweden to take part in events marking the anniversary of the Reformation could mark a new high in relations.

Here are some key points about Protestantism:


This is the date that marks the beginning of the Reformation, when German theologian Martin Luther published his "95 Theses".

These notably criticised how the Catholic concept of "indulgences" - whereby a repentant sinner could reduce the punishment for his sins in purgatory in return for a monetary contribution - had been corrupted into a lucrative cash-for-salvation scheme.

Luther was excommunicated - expelled from the Roman Catholic Church - on January 3, 1521. But his message spread quickly across Europe, disseminated by the printing press.

There are several theological differences between Protestants and Roman Catholics, including the following: - Protestants believe the Bible alone is the highest authority in matters of faith. Catholics acknowledge the combined authority of the Bible along with the traditions of the Church.

- For Protestants, salvation is through faith alone, while Catholic doctrine says "good works" can influence one's standing with God.

- There are also doctrinal differences over the bread and wine used in the eucharist or holy communion. For the Catholic Church, the bread and wine mystically transform into the actual body and blood of Jesus, while for Protestants, they remain a symbol of his sacrificial death on the cross.

The Protestant movement diversified into three main branches: Lutheranism, Calvinism - which includes the Reformed Church and Presbyterianism - and Anglicanism.

The Church of Sweden, which will host the pope, is Lutheran and adheres closely to principles established by Luther.

Other sizeable Lutheran congregations are located in neighbouring Scandinavian countries, as well as in Germany, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Tanzania and the United States.

Calvinists are inspired by French theologian John Calvin, who in 1536 founded the Reformed Church in Geneva. This is present primarily in Europe, North America, South Africa and Australia.

The Anglican Communion can be found on almost all continents, and adherents observe rites common to both the Catholic and Reformed denominations.

The Catholic Church reserves the priesthood for men, who must remain celibate; within Protestantism, clerics can marry and have children, and in many churches, women have been admitted to the priesthood and hierarchy.

In addition to its major branches, the Protestant church comprises many denominations that number tens of millions of members. They include Baptists, Evangelicals, Methodists and a group of more than a half-dozen churches based in Africa.

Other common denominations include Congregationalists, Seventh Day Adventists, Quakers, Unitarians and Mennonites such as the US-based Amish people that renounce modern technology.

Non-denominational, evangelical and charismatic or pentecostal churches are currently among those growing the fastest.

The precise number of Protestants is difficult to establish given the number of churches and offshoots.

The independent Pew Research Center has estimated that in 2011, Protestants numbered more than 800 million, "broadly defined to include Anglicans as well as members of independent and non-denominational churches."

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Pope Francis and Anglican leader vow joint action on poverty and environment

ECUMENISM

By Philip Pullella | 3 hours ago

Pope Francis smiles with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at the end of vespers prayers at the monastery church of San Gregorio al Celio in Rome, on October 5, 2016. Photo courtesy of Reuters/Tony Gentile



ROME (Reuters) The heads of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches said on Wednesday (Oct. 5) they would work together to help the poor and protect the environment despite their unity being blocked by differences over women priests and gay marriage.

Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby made the pledge in a joint statement at a vespers, or evening prayer service, in Rome to mark the 50th anniversary of the start of theological dialogue between the two Churches in 1966.

“While, like our predecessors, we ourselves do not yet see solutions to the obstacles before us, we are undeterred,” the joint statement said, specifically mentioning the ordination of women and “more recent questions regarding human sexuality.”

Last January the Anglican Communion rebuked its liberal U.S. branch, the Episcopal Church, for supporting same-sex marriage, a move that averted a formal schism in the world’s third-largest Christian denomination but left deep divisions unresolved.

The vespers were held in the same Rome church from where Pope Gregory I sent St. Augustine to convert the English in 597, nearly 1,000 years before King Henry VIII broke Rome in 1534 to start the Church of England.

After 1534, there had been no meeting between an Archbishop of Canterbury and a pope until 1966 when Michael Ramsey met Pope Paul VI.


In their joint declaration, the pope and Welby said their two Churches could do much together despite “the imperfect union we already share.”

“We can, and must, work together to protect and preserve our common home: living, teaching and acting in ways that favor a speedy end to the environmental destruction that offends the Creator and degrades his creatures,” the joint declaration said.

They vowed to fight “a culture of waste” where the most vulnerable of people in society are marginalized and discarded and to work together to work for peace and bring education, healthcare, food, clean water and shelter to the poor.

The Anglican communion counts some 85 million members and the Roman Catholic Church has about 1.2 billion.

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Pope will visit Anglican Centre in Rome in October in celebration of 50t...

Pope Francis should realise Catholics don't kill in God's name

Rev Jules Gomes: Pope Francis should realise Catholics don’t kill in God’s name

Posted 
3rd August 2016 

By Rev Jules Gomes


Last year Jorge Mario Bergoglio won the Vatican’s Got Talent contest for the most idiotically infallible (or should it be infallibly idiotic?) papal pontification of the year. Pope Francis told the world that atheists would go to heaven if they did good works. What if Richard Dawkins doesn’t want to go to heaven? Will God override Christopher Hitchens’s free will and force him into heaven using a lateral vascular neck restraint? Is Pope Francis finally making peace with the English monk Pelagius who taught that we are saved by our good works and not by grace through faith?

Now Francis, the Patron Saint of Knee-Jerk Papal Pronouncements, has secured a place at the ‘Top of the Popes’ chart for shooting from the lip ex cathedra and granting a papal indulgence to the holy warriors of the religion of peace. Last week on a five-day trip to Poland, after berating the nation for not undertaking a kamikaze mission of accepting more immigrants, Pope Francis uncorked the most fruity proclamation of his pontificate thus far. “I am not speaking of a war of religions. Religions don’t want war. The others want war,” he said.

Hours before the Krakow trip, Fr Jacques Hamel an elderly priest had been brutally killed in France by Islamic extremists while celebrating Mass.

At the end of his trip while returning to Rome, Pope Francis put the ripest cherry on the icing of his theological fruitcake: “I think it is not right to identify Islam with violence. This is not right and this is not true…. I don’t like to talk about Islamic violence because every day when I look at the papers I see violence here in Italy—someone killing his girlfriend, someone killing his mother-in-law. These are baptised Catholics. If I speak of Islamic violence, I have to speak of Catholic violence,” the Supreme Pontiff of Holy Naïveté told reporters aboard the plane.

Religions don’t want war? That is a revelation from outer space! The very first act of violence in the Bible is motivated by religion. In the world’s first fratricide, Cain murders his brother Abel, because the ‘Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.’

Wars between the gods are a ubiquitous feature of polytheistic religions from ancient Greece to popular Hinduism. The very act of creation is an act of divine violence in many religions. It is this ‘myth of redemptive violence’ that the creation story of Genesis 1 seeks to repudiate when it declares that the God of the Hebrew Bible creates through the sheer fiat of the spoken Word. As an Old Testament scholar I have to explain Israel’s holy wars against the Canaanites in context both to skeptics and Christians who are troubled by these texts of terror.

No doubt, such thorny Old Testament texts are descriptive rather than normative and are abrogated by later Jewish writings and supremely by our Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament, but the prescriptive nature of Holy War becomes a bigger hermeneutical problem in Islamic texts like the Koran and Hadith.

Is Pope Francis suffering from historical amnesia? Has he not heard of Europe’s Wars of Religion? Is he not aware of the numerous military expeditions led by Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam, which became a template for the more zealous of his followers? Does he not know that Islam divides the world into Dar al-Harb(territory of war) and Dar al-Islam (territory of Islam) and that the peoples of Dar al-Harb are called to convert to Islam? ‘I was ordered to fight all men until they say, “There is no god but Allah,”’ said Mohammed in his prophetic farewell address in March 632. Even the Muslim writer M J Akbar calls jihad ‘the signature tune of Islamic history.’ Jihad can mean inward spiritual struggle but the military meaning of jihad dominates the understanding of the classical Islamic theologians and jurists and is normative for today’s holy warriors.

In his book Islamic Imperialism: A History, Professor Efraim Karsh, founding director and emeritus professor of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King’s College, London, traces ‘a deep imperialist undercurrent that has characterized the political culture of Islam from the beginning.’ ‘Though tempered and qualified in different places and different times, the Islamic longing for unfettered suzerainty has never disappeared, and has resurfaced in our own day with a vengeance,’ he writes.

Contrary to the Hobbesian fallacy that ‘religion has nothing to do with war or evil’ former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his recent book Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence argues, ‘When terrorist or military groups invoke holy war, define their battle as a struggle against Satan, condemn unbelievers to death and commit murder while declaring “God is Great,” to deny they are acting on religious motives is absurd. Religions seek peace, but on their own terms. This is not a recipe for peace but for war!’

To compare baptised Catholics killing their girlfriend or mother-in-law with the terrorism perpetrated by Islamic jihadists is so bizarre that one wonders what Holy Smoke the Pope was inhaling when he made that claim! My Anglican clergy friends cloistered in the cocoons of woolly liberalism parrot the Pope’s argument ad nauseam. My response has always been: ‘When Christians commit violence in the name of their founder they are acting in direct contradiction to and flagrant defiance of the life and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Muslims commit violence in the name of their founder they are acting in slavish obedience to and uncritical imitation of the life and teaching of the Prophet Mohammed.’

So when did Italian Catholic Mafiosi go on a spree bumping off Catholics because they rejected transubstantiation? When did a baptised Catholic kill his girlfriend because she rebuffed the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception? Mario Puzo’s Godfather wasn’t particularly about killing people in the name of God our Father.

The story is told of Pope John Paul II fasting during Lent for forty days. At the end of his fast God appears to him and says: ‘Hiya Karol! Ask of me two questions and I will grant thee an answer.’ Wojtyla asks God his first question. ‘Lord, when will we have world peace?’ God replies, ‘Not in your lifetime.’ Wojtyla asks God his second question. ‘Lord, when will we have our next Polish pope?’ God replies, ‘Not in my lifetime.’ If I fasted for forty days and God appears to me I’d like to ask God, ‘Lord, when will Bergoglio be healed of this foot-in-mouth disease he is suffering from?’ I suspect God will reply and say, ‘Not in Bergoglio’s lifetime.’

(Image: Long Thiên)

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Myths and broken promises around Sunday trading

10 July 2015 by Bishop Alan Smith

Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget on Wednesday included a proposal to allow local control over liberalising Sunday trading.

The campaign in the 1990s for more Sunday trading was presented as a matter of freedom: “We should be able to shop on Sunday if we want,” but it was not about creating a more just society – it was about trying to find business advantage. A determined lobby successfully argued against total deregulation to preserve some of the value of a shared day off and some protection for retail workers and associated employees.

The legislation, which was passed in 1994, was a compromise which tried to balance rights and opportunities for all sections of society. That must still be the objective today.

Retail and associated workers are hardly well off, and it is they who will pay the price of longer opening hours on Sundays. While most of their bosses will still enjoy weekends off, many retail workers already find they have no choice over Sunday working. They have lost, for a large part, the premium payments they enjoyed at first. In addition, they will face more childcare costs, which will probably be more expensive on a Sunday, or lose precious family time.

The same claims in favour of Sunday trading are being made now as 21 years ago – that the economy will grow and that people will not have to work if they don’t want to. This time there is even more compelling evidence about how wrong this is.

The 2012 Olympic Games experience, when shops were opened for longer hours, is not persuasive. The growth in business in large shops took place at the expense of small shops, which lost business. There is only so much money in the economy, and loading businesses with the greater costs involved in longer opening hours cannot lead to growth.

Some distinguished business leaders voiced these arguments, before and after the Olympics, for example Stuart Rose, former executive chairman of Marks & Spencer, and Justin King, when he was CEO of Sainsbury’s. The Association of Convenience Stores, another part of vital social fabric, has surveyed this and leading accountants Deloitte also take this line.

More Sunday shopping is at odds with the Big Society, the vision outlined by David Cameron in 2010. Greater human flourishing is unlikely to come from even more consumerism. Our laws need to encourage citizens to be good neighbours, volunteers, carers and parents, which requires a balance of work and rest.

Research from the National Centre for Social Research shows how important this shared day of rest is for families and for relationships to flourish. If the time available on Sundays for family interactions is diminished (through the need to work) it is not made up during the week.

Our heritage is six days’ work, one day’s rest. We are zealous about preserving built heritage, and pay the considerable price for that because we recognise the social benefit to be gained. Yet this piece of cultural heritage is just as valuable and worth retaining, because it has real value to shaping what kind of society we want to be. That should be at the heart of our politics.

Bishop Alan Smith of St Albans sits in the House of Lords and has a special interest in economic matters

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Major British Hotel Chain Removes Bibles From Rooms Due to 'Multicultural' Society;Church of England Condemns 'Bizarre' Decision

BY STOYAN ZAIMOV , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER

August 18, 2014|7:56 am

(PHOTO: FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS/CHRIS YARZAB)

A man holds a Bible.

Travelodge, one of the largest hotel chains in Britain, is removing Bibles from its rooms reportedly because of the country's growing "multicultural" society. The Church of England has condemned the decision, describing it as "tragic and bizarre."

"The reason is because of diversity. With the country being increasingly multicultural, we didn't feel it was appropriate to just have the Bible because there are people of other religions. People were also taking Bibles away and with the redesign of the rooms, it was felt that it would be better to remove them," a Travelodge spokesman said, according toThe Daily Mail.

Another spokesman further explained: "In order not to discriminate against any religion, customers who would like a Bible can pick a copy from any one of Travelodge's 500 hotel reception desks across the country, whilst staying at the hotel. To date, Travelodge has not received any customer feedback regarding this decision."

The hotel chain added that the decision was made back in 2007, but has been "gradually implemented" over the following years.

The hotel company, which runs 500 hotels, apparently removed the Bibles along with the drawers where they were kept during a refurbishment of its rooms. The Bibles, provided for free by the Gideon Society, will be stored behind reception.

A Church of England spokesman condemned the decision and the reasoning behind it and said: "It seems both tragic and bizarre that hotels would remove the word of God for the sake of ergonomic design, economic incentive or a spurious definition of the word 'diversity.'"

Other major British hotel firms are reportedly keeping their Bibles, including Premier Inn, and InterContinental Hotels, owners of the Holiday Inn chain.

"Bibles are available in Premier Inn rooms," a Premier Inn spokesman said.

"On the rare occasion that a customer does not wish to have a Bible in their room, they can request this to be removed ahead of their stay by contacting the hotel directly."

Not all U.K. Christian leaders have found fault with Travelodge's decision, however. Kelvin Holdsworth, the provost of St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, wrote on his blog on Saturday:

"Travelodge have indicated that they'd be happy to supply Bibles from their front desk. And anyway, anyone with a smartphone can access the Bible. Christians should be encouraging new ways of engaging with the text," Holdsworth offered.

"Christianity doesn't depend on having bibles in hotel rooms. Bibles in hotel rooms depended on Christendom, but that is now gone. I don't think faith has much to fear," he added.

Gideons International provides Bibles free of charge throughout hotels, hospitals, schools, and other locations worldwide.

Last week, the U.S. Navy reversed its previous decision to start removing Gideon-provided Bibles from its lodge and guest rooms, after it had been pressured to do so by an atheist organization.

The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty had argued in favor of keeping the Bibles, and said that "a Bible in a hotel room is no more illegal than a chaplain in the military. They are there for those who want them."

Source
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40 years of women's priestly ministry in the US

Posted on: July 29, 2014 12:21 PM

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori with some of those involved with the Philadelphia 11 ordinations
Photo Credit: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service



[Episcopal News Service – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] A joyous celebration of the 40th anniversary of women’s priestly ordination on July 26 here included calls for people to realize that the dream of a more egalitarian and less patriarchal Episcopal Church – and society – that was embodied by the Philadelphia 11′s ordinations requires much more work.

“I wonder why we cannot speed up the work of gender justice and aligned oppressions in the days and years ahead,” Fredrica Thompsett Harris, Mary Wolfe Professor Emerita of Historical Theology at Episcopal Divinity School, asked during her keynote address to a symposium that kicked off a day meant to celebrate the July 29, 1974, ordinations of 11 women deacons at Church of the Advocate here. “This would be one way to honor our courageous sisters and those who stood with them.”

The Rev. Merrill Bittner, the Rev. Alison Cheek, the Rev. Alla Bozarth, the Rev. Emily C. Hewitt, the Rev. Carter Heyward, the Rev. Suzanne R. Hiatt, the Rev. Marie Moorefield, the Rev. Jeanette Piccard, the Rev. Betty Bone Schiess, the Rev. Katrina Welles Swanson and the Rev. Nancy Hatch Wittig were ordained on that day in 1974, slightly more than two years before the General Convention of the Episcopal Church gave its explicit permission for women to become priests.

Retired Colorado Bishop Suffragan Daniel Corrigan, retired Pennsylvania Bishop Robert L. DeWitt and retired West Missouri Bishop Edward R. Welles II (Katrina Wells Swanson’s father) were the ordaining bishops. They were joined by Costa Rica Bishop Antonio Ramos, the only one of the four who then was exercising jurisdiction in the church. Ramos did not participate in the actual ordination, but joined in the laying on of hands.

The group “40 Years Ordained – 2,000 Years in Ministry”, organized by the Diocese of Pennsylvania in conjunction with others throughout the church, designed the July 26 celebration not just to mark the Philadelphia 11’s ordinations – and those of the Washington Four on Sept. 7, 1975, at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. – but also to celebrate the ministry of all women, lay and ordained, in the past, present and future. The gathering included Holy Eucharist at Church of the Advocate, followed by a reception amid displays of various ministries in which women are engaged.

Speeding up the progress towards gender justice and eliminating other interlocking oppressions would be a good way to honor the first women ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, says Fredrica Thompsett Harris, Mary Wolfe Professor Emerita of Historical Theology at Episcopal Divinity School, during her July 26 keynote address. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

“This celebration must not be honored by excluding others,” Harris Thompsett said during her keynote address. “It should not be sentimentalized by Hallmark [greeting] card theology, or trivialized by invoking a too-small God, a non-controversial, semi-engaged complacent divinity.”

She gave three challenges to the approximately 230 women and men who attended the symposium. The first was to honor the first ordinations of women by becoming “much more insistent advocates for baptism as being chief among Holy Orders,” warning against what she called “creepy theology out there in everyday use” which assumes that deacons, priests and bishops are somehow more connected to God and called to be more prophetic than lay people.

The second challenge was to live truly into the “embodied nature of Anglican theology” that emphasizes the goodness of all creation and the dwelling of the incarnate Christ in us and us in him. All people, she said, must claim their bodies “as sacred vehicles of spiritual authority.”

Harris Thompsett’s third challenge was very specific, calling for making the House of Bishops 30 percent female in the next 10 years. That would mean electing about 50 or more “highly and diversely qualified women bishops,” she said. To do so would require more attention being paid to discrimination and tokenism in all search processes, including those for the episcopate, she added.

The symposium at Temple University also featured a panel of lay and ordained women who responded to Harris Thompsett’s speech. Participants included Bishop Carol Gallagher, the Rev. Miguelina Howell, the Rev. Pamela Nesbit, the Rev. Sandye Wilson and educator and social worker Nokomis Wood. The panel was moderated by the Very Rev. Katherine H. Ragsdale, EDS dean and president. Philadelphia 11 member Wittig closed the symposium with a meditation.

Wilson, the rector of St. Andrew and Holy Communion in South Orange, New Jersey, echoed comments made by her fellow panelists and Harris Thompsett about interlocking oppressions. For years black women were invisible in the Episcopal Church, she said.

“When they spoke of women, they spoke of white women, and when they spoke of black, they spoke of black men,” she said, adding that “we have to name these things because if we don’t name them, we’re subject to repeat them.”

Wilson, who was the fourth African-American woman ordained in the Episcopal Church, said “we need to be sure that we are radically welcoming everyone and that no one is left out or left behind, that the table is set for everyone and that no one on a committee has to advocate for one group or another.”

Ragsdale told the symposium that she heard a recurring theme about the “celebration of diversity along with the painful and … grief-giving and infuriating reality of how far we have yet to go in the church and the world to really celebrate that diversity” and the justice that ought to come with it.

She added that she also heard a call for people to value all four orders of ministry and to recognize that those in ordained orders must listen to the stories of the work done by lay people outside the doors of the church and empower those ministers to carry on.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori during her sermon at Church of the Advocate uses a pair of red high heels to illustrate the expectations set upon ordained women. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, preaching and presiding at the celebratory Eucharist later in the day, said the entire Episcopal Church gives thanks that women now serve in all orders of ministry. As the congregation of about 600 roared its approval, she turned in the Advocate’s ornate pulpit and bowed to the five members of the Philadelphia 11 and one of the Washington Four who participated in the Eucharist.

Jefferts Schori reminded the congregation that women priests have been told that they should not wear high heels or dangly earrings in the pulpit or at the altar. After brandishing a pair of red high heels, she said “Women in all orders of ministry – baptized, deacons, priests, and bishops – can walk proudly today, in whatever kind of shoes they want to wear, because of what happened here 40 years ago.”

“We can walk proudly, even if not yet in full equality, knowing that the ranks of those who walk in solidarity are expanding,” she continued.

“Try to walk in the shoes of abused and trafficked women. Walk on to Zion carrying the children who are born and suffer in the midst of war,” the presiding bishop said. “Gather up the girls married before they are grown, gather up the schoolgirls still missing in Nigeria, and gather up all those lives wasted in war and prison. March boldly, proclaiming good news to all who have been pushed aside, and call them to the table of God, to Wisdom’s feast.”

Video and text of the presiding bishop’s sermon is here.

Attending the celebration from among the 11 members of the 1974 ordinations were the Rev. Alison Cheek, the Rev. Carter Heyward, the Rev. Merrill Bittner, the Rev. Marie Moorefield Fleischer and the Rev. Nancy Wittig.

Retired Bishop of Costa Rica Antonio Ramos, who assisted at the Philadelphia ordinations but did not participate in the laying on of hands that day, processed with the women, as did the Rev. Betty Powell, one of the Washington Four, and retired Massachusetts Bishop Suffragan Barbara Harris, who this year is celebrating her 25th anniversary of being the first female bishop in the Anglican Communion.

Speaking during the announcement time, Ramos told the congregation that on July 26, 1974, “we decided to disobey the order of the church for the sake of the orders of the church.”

“We decided to end a discriminatory set of canons to make all the orders of the church both equally inclusive for men and women,” he said.

Pennsylvania Bishop Provisional Clifton “Dan” Daniel had been a priest for a year when he decided to participate in the Philadelphia ordinations (priests are often invited to join the ordaining bishop or bishops in the laying on of hands). He reminded the gathering that while the ordinations changed the history of the Episcopal Church, it was also a very personal event for the 11 ordinands.

“At the time I think we had a very different sense of what was at stake for us and of how much we had to gain or lose,” Heyward told ENS in an interview. “I just knew it was an important step to take given where the church was and given where I was in my life.”

In the same interview, Cheek said her already-raised consciousness “got raised a lot higher after her ordination. “It was a real big turning point in my life and I think that that was because quite a few oppressed groups of folk then reached out to us and wanted us to come celebrate for them,” she said.

The Rev. Merrill Bittner, one of the Philadelphia 11 who was honored at the 40th anniversary celebration July 26, distributes communion at the Eucharist. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

In addition to experiencing the typical feelings of a person preparing for and then being ordained, before and after, the women were barraged with criticism that veered into outright threats. Called unprintable names, their appearances and their voices were examined and found wanting as were their personalities and intellects. Some were told they would be good for the church because it would be better to see them in the pulpit than ugly, old male rectors. They were accused of being immoral and self-indulgent. One received a length of fish cord with the suggestion that she use it to hang herself, according Darlene O’Dell in her new book “The Story of the Philadelphia Eleven.”

On the day of the ordinations, buckets were lined up along the church’s wall in case of bombs or fire, plain-clothed police officers were among the 2,000 congregants, a busload of police were stationed down the street and the congregation included a group of radical lesbians, some trained in crowd control and karate, O’Dell wrote.

The path to the Church of the Advocate and beyond

When, after years of struggle and rejection, the Philadelphia 11 broke the traditional prohibition against the ordination of women to the priesthood of the Episcopal and Anglican Churches they entered a sort of limbo. There was no canon in church law that specifically forbade women from being priests and there was no canon that said only men could become priests.

However, the canons did and do still outline a process leading to ordination first to the transitional diaconate and then to the priesthood. The final step of that process before priestly ordination is the approval by one’s standing committee. For women, that never happened.

While all 11 had been through the canonical process for ordination to the diaconate (which had been open to women only since 1970), just one of them had received the necessary Standing Committee approval for priestly ordination. Her bishop refused to ordain her. Another’s bishop said he would ordain her if the Standing Committee approved. It did not.

None of the eight bishops who had authority over the 11 agreed to the ordinations and the bishop of Pennsylvania objected to the ordinations taking place in that diocese. Bishops in the Episcopal Church are required to ordain only those people who have gone through the ordination process in their dioceses, or they must have the permission of the bishop who supervised that process. Thus, the Philadelphia 11′s ordaining bishops were seen to have violated church law as well as tradition.

Charles V. Willie, who preached at the Philadelphia 11 ordinations, is greeted during the peace by the Rev. Renee McKenzie, vicar and chaplain of Church of the Advocate. Willie was vice president of the House of Deputies and a member of the Episcopal Church Executive Council at the time of the ordinations but he resigned both positions in protest when, three weeks later, the House of Bishops invalidated the ordinations. Willie read one of the readings during the July 26 Eucharist. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

On Aug. 15, 1974, the House of Bishops, called to an emergency meeting that reportedly was by turns rancorous and confused,denounced the ordinations and declared that “the necessary conditions for valid ordination to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church were not fulfilled.” In effect, the bishops said, nothing had happened at the Church of the Advocate and the 11 were still deacons – to whom they offered pastoral care.

Charges were filed against the ordaining bishops and attempts, ecclesial and otherwise, were made to prevent the women from exercising their priestly ministries.

Still, women’s ordination movement continued. Resigned Rochester Bishop George W. Barrett ordained four women deacons on Sept. 7, 1975, at the Church of St. Stephen and the Incarnation in Washington, D.C., despite Washington Bishop William F. Creighton’s refusal to allow the action. About 1,200, including 50 priests, attended. The Rev. Lee McGee, the Rev. Alison Palmer, the Rev. Betty Powell, all of Washington, D.C., and the Rev. Diane Tickell of Anchorage, Alaska, became known as the Washington Four.

In September 1976, the General Convention approved the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate by adding a new section to the church’s ordination canons that read: “The provisions of these canons for the admission of Candidates, and for the Ordination to the three Orders: Bishops, Priests and Deacons shall be equally applicable to men and women.”

The House of Bishops, during the 1976 convention, at first ruled that the Philadelphia 11 and the Washington Four would have to be re-ordained, calling the first actions “conditional ordinations” similar to the conditional baptism allowed in emergency situations when one is not sure if a person was baptized. The women said they would refuse to be re-ordained and, the next day, the bishops voted unanimously for a “completion” ceremony that would avoid the laying on of hands.

The Rev. Betty Powell, one of the Washington Four who were ordained in September 1975 and who was honored during the 40th anniversary celebration July 26, asperges the congregation during the Eucharist that emphasized the ministry of all the baptized. All six of the first women who attended the service sprinkled the congregation members with water from the baptismal font. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

The story was not yet over. In October 1977, the House of Bishops adopted “A Statement of Conscience” that assured that “No Bishop, Priest, or Lay Person should be coerced or penalized in any manner, nor suffer any canonical disabilities as a result of his or her conscientious objection to or support of the sixty-fifth General Convention’s actions with regard to the ordination of women to the priesthood or episcopate.”

The statement arose out of a meeting that began with Presiding Bishop John Allin saying he did not think “that women can be priests any more than they can become fathers or husbands,” and offering to resign as presiding bishop. The House of Bishops affirmed Allin’s leadership and adopted the “conscience clause” contained in a pastoral letter issued after the meeting.

Since the clause was never adopted by the House of Deputies, it had no canonical authority but a handful of bishops and their dioceses used it to bar women from the priesthood for 33 more years.

A more complete timeline of the history of women’s ordination in the Anglican Communion is here.

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Respect climate science: Anglicans urge Tony Abbott to change tack on climate change policies

DateJuly 4, 2014


Tom Arup
Environment editor, The Age




Environment Minister Greg Hunt is congratulated by colleagues after Carbon Tax Repeal Bills pass the Lower House. The Anglican Church has called on the Abbott government to change its policies on climate change. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

The Anglican Church has told the Abbott government to change its approach to climate change, urging it to respect and base its policy on scientific evidence.

At a meeting in Adelaide, the church's Australian general synod passed a unanimous motion calling on the government to "respect and act upon relevant independent evidence-based scientific advice’’ on climate change.

The 23 dioceses of the church said they were gravely concerned that Australia’s target to cut carbon dioxide emissions - five per cent below 2000 levels by 2020 - was well short of what was needed.

They said they deeply regretted that it was "future generations and other forms of life" that would "bear the real cost of our heavy dependence on carbon-based energy”.

Perth Bishop Tom Wilmot, a church leader on environmental issues, told Fairfax Media that the environment was such an important issue it should not be left just to politicians and economists to discuss it.

‘‘My concern is the Abbott government seems to be deconstructing almost everything that was put in place over the last decade or so to protect the environment,’’ he said.

‘‘It seems to be neutering any scientific voice and, in fact, any voice that seeks to speak on environmental matters.’

He said the appointment of businessman and self-described climate sceptic Dick Warburton to head a review of the renewable energy target was a cynical way of pre-determining its outcome.

And he accused Environment Minister Greg Hunt of being dishonest about the effectiveness of the carbon price, which is expected to be repealed next week with support of new crossbench senators.

Bishop Wilmot said he was concerned about the government's attitude to environmental policy generally, including handing approval powers for big developments to state governments.

He said the governments unsuccessful attempt to undo world heritage protection of some Tasmanian wilderness left Australia looking like a ‘‘vandal’’ and a ‘‘pariah’’.

He said he could not say that all bishops shared his views on the ‘‘cavalier attitude of the federal government to environmental protection’’, but the majority did privately.

Bishop Wilmot said the church had a unique voice to add to the environmental debate, adding a theological, moral and ethical dimension.

He said there was a long tradition in Christianity of respect and care for the environment, from the theology of the old testament to the parables of nature used by Jesus ‘‘to demonstrate straight truths about the kingdom of heaven’’.

‘‘My own theology is such that Christ isn’t just the redeemer of people, but the redeemer of the world,’’ he said.

‘‘We say in the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday in church ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done in Earth as it is in heaven'. Well, I take that literally.’’

In response to the church's motion, Mr Hunt's spokesman said the government fully accepted the science of climate change.

''The problem with the carbon tax is that it has an adverse impact on families, whilst failing to significantly reduce emissions,'' he said.

''We therefore hope the Anglican Church will agree that the Coalition’s approach of taking pressure off electricity prices and actually achieving a significant reduction in emissions is a far better policy.''


Source

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Transgender priest gives sermon at Washington National Cathedral

By Meredith Somers


The Washington Times

Sunday, June 22, 2014



The Washington National Cathedral was vandalized last week when paint was splattered ...more >



The first openly transgender priest to preach at the Washington National Cathedral urged the gay community Sunday to be brave and open-minded as it works to eliminate oppression.

The Rev. Cameron Partridge told the audience at the landmark Episcopal church that people need to be unashamed of who they are and embrace “the blessing of collaborating visions.”

“We need to see one another, to be revelations to one another, to go out into the world together across our differences,” Mr. Partridge said, “so that we might be able to show one another resources we literally may not be able to see or access on our own.”

Mr. Partridge is the Episcopal chaplain at Boston University and a lecturer and counselor for Episcopal and Anglican students at the Harvard Divinity School. He completed his transition to male in 2001, according to Boston University.

His sermon came at the conclusion of two weeks of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) advocacy for the cathedral.

The idea of revelation was at the heart of Mr. Partridge’s sermon, which referenced the scripture readings from earlier in the service.

“When Jesus tells his disciples to speak in the light, to uncover the hidden, to proclaim from the heights, he is asking them to join that stream, to become active participants in that blindingly good news,” Mr. Partridge said. “Of course, Jesus also explicitly warns that not everyone would experience such revelation as good, and that some might actively persecute the disciples for it. Doing this work would be utterly demanding.”

A good biblical example of someone with resilience and strength, Mr. Partridge said, is Hagar, the handmaiden who was forced to bear Abraham’s child only to be exiled with their son, Ishmael.

“Like Hagar, so many people in the LGBTQ community, and particularly in the trans community, have at one point or another or for a lifetime found ourselves in situations of intense oppression, isolation and despair,” he said. “We have been utterly unable to see beyond the horizon of our often multiple, intersectional margins.”

A 2011 study by the Williams Institute at University of California at Los Angeles estimated that there are about 700,000 transgender people in the United States.

Mr. Partridge applauded the progress that has been made to get acceptance of the LBTQ community, though he admitted there is still much to do, a feeling echoed by the dean of the cathedral, the Rev. Gary Hall.

“A lot of really positive things have happened in the past year, but we still have a long way to go,” said Mr. Hall, referencing the overturning of California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn part of the Defense of Marriage Act.

“I hope to see a day where civil marriage equality is a reality in every state of the nation and also religious equality … in all faith traditions,” Mr. Hall said.

The Right Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, also was present at Sunday’s service, and he expressed pride in the progress made by the church in the decade since he was elected, particularly the advocacy by the National Cathedral.

“What I’ve seen over the last decade, this beloved church of ours is risking its life,” Mr. Robinson said. “The cathedral’s voice is being heard in a new and powerful way. In a sense the cathedral has come out to the world in new and bold ways.”


Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jun/22/transgender-priest-gives-sermon-washington-nationa/#ixzz35TdBD2hW

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Bad News for LGBT Anglicans, Mormons, Adventists, Norwegians, Russians, Georgians, Egyptians, Kuwaitis, Saudis...

April 10, 2014
12:35PM



Post by Peter Montgomery


This week’s recap begins with three global churches affirming opposition to marriage by same-sex couples and in the case of the Adventists, even membership by non-celibate gays.

Anglicans: Archbishop of Canterbury: Gay Marriage = Death for Christians

Justin Welby, the head of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the Anglican Communion, said that if the Church of England accepts same-sex marriage, it will lead to the killing of Christians in Africa.

Speaking on an LBC phone in, Justin Welby said he had stood by a mass grave in Nigeria of 330 Christians who had been massacred by neighbours who had justified the atrocity by saying: "If we leave a Christian community here we will all be made to become homosexual and so we will kill all the Christians."

"I have stood by gravesides in Africa of a group of Christians who had been attacked because of something that had happened in America. We have to listen to that. We have to be aware of the fact," Welby said. If the Church of England celebrated gay marriages, he added, "the impact of that on Christians far from here, in South Sudan, Pakistan, Nigeria and other places would be absolutely catastrophic. Everything we say here goes round the world."

As the Guardian report noted, Anglican churches in Uganda and Nigeria have backed the brutal new criminal penalties imposed on gay people in those countries.

Mormons: Apostle Affirms Commitment to One Man-One Woman Marriage

Mormon Apostle Neil Andersen, speaking at a biannual national conference in Salt Lake City, affirmed the church’s opposition to same-sex marriage.


"While many governments and well-meaning individuals have redefined marriage, the Lord has not," said Andersen, an Apostle of the Quorum of the Twelve, the second-highest governing body of the church, according to the AP. "He designated the purpose of marriage to go far beyond the personal satisfaction and fulfillment of adults, to more importantly, advancing the ideal setting for children to be born, reared and nurtured."

Andersen also encouraged his fellow Mormons to remain steadfast in their convictions against what he said is an increasingly forceful pro-equality movement on social media.

Andersen reportedly said he admires those who "struggle with same-sex attraction” but “stay true to the commandments of God” by remaining celibate.

Today, April 10, the Tenth Circuit Court will hear the state of Utah’s appeal of a federal judge’s ruling overturning the state’s ban on same-sex couples getting married.

Adventists: Church Leadership Adopts Anti-LGBT ‘Guidelines’

We have reported on a recent summit in which global leaders of the Seventh Day Adventist Church discussed the church’s response to LGBT people. This week, church leaders officially adopted “Guidelines for the Seventh-day Adventist In Responding to Homosexual and Other Alternative Sexual Practices." The guidelines state clearly that pastors should not officiate at same-sex weddings but go further in saying that people who live outside biblical teaching on sexual conduct should not be admitted or retained as church members. The document was reportedly brought up at the very end of the day when about 80 of 200 delegates were still present, and without information usually provided about committees that had approved it.

Spectrum Magazine reported before the vote that the guidelines include the following language;

“The Seventh-day Adventist Church will encourage all its congregations, employees, ministry leaders, organizations, and entities to uphold church teachings and faith-based practices in Church membership, employment, education, and marriage ceremonies, including officiating at weddings. These teachings and faith-based practices, built upon the Bible’s instructions about human sexuality, are equally applicable to heterosexual and homosexual relationships. It is inconsistent with the Church’s understanding of scriptural teaching to admit into or maintain in membership persons practicing sexual behaviors incompatible with biblical teachings. Neither is it acceptable for Adventist pastors or churches to provide wedding services or facilities for same-sex couples.”

The document is presented as guidelines rather than policy because decisions about membership are made at the local congregational level. The General Conference may not be able to constitutionally enforce them, says a representative of SDA Kinship, but the guidelines will affect the climate in which local congregations and Adventist ministers, teachers, and nonprofits work. Last year, an Adventist pastor in Maryland was fired after he signed a civil marriage certificate in Washington state for his step-daughter and her partner.

 Norway: Church of Norway Won’t Let Priests Marry Same-Sex Couples

This week the Church of Norway, a protestant denomination, rejected a proposal that it allow religious weddings for same-sex couples, reports Agence France Presse, even though most of the country’s bishops supported the proposal.

Norway was among the first countries in Europe to grant homosexuals full rights, including marriage and adoption in 2009, but the Church does not marry same-sex couples.

Eight of Norway’s 12 bishops said in October they favoured such a move, but on Tuesday the Church’s highest decision-making body the synod rejected the proposal….

Delegates at the national synod also rejected proposals to allow priests to bless a gay marriage on the sidelines of a civil ceremony.

But they also voted against a proposal to maintain the status quo and reserve marriage for heterosexual couples, plunging the synod into chaos.

“It (the rejection of all options) is something that no one had foreseen and no one knows now what will happen,” bishop Tor Berger Joergensen told public broadcaster NRK.

“We must have a little time now to look into the procedures.”

Russia: Legislator Calls for Saudi-Style ‘Morality Police’

Vitaly Milonov, the author of a regional anti-gay “propaganda” law that helped build momentum for the passage of a national law last year, has called for the creation of a “morality police force” that would fine people who violate “traditional values.” His targets appear to include not only gay people but those from minority religions.

According to Agence France-Presse, the Milonov said the force would be made up of “spiritually whole people belonging to traditional faiths for Russia, without rotten liberal values.” He says, “Children must be shielded from debaucher, propaganda of sodomy, asocial lifestyles and sects.”

Georgia: Prime Minister Calls for Constitutional Marriage Ban

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has introduced a constitutional amendment to define marriage as only between one man and one woman in order to avoid “misinterpretation” of a proposed law against anti-LGBT discrimination. “If passed, Georgia would join six other EU Member states with constitutional same-sex marriage bans, including most recently Croatia, which in December 2013 passed its ban. Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland also ban same-sex marriage.”

South Africa: President ‘Respects’ Ugandan Law; Gay Judge Publishes Memoir

In response to a parliamentary question this week, South African President Jacob Zuma refused to condemn Uganda’s anti-gay law, writing, “South Africa respects the sovereign rights of other countries to adopt their own legislation.

Also this week, Edwin Cameron, an openly gay judge who joined South Africa’s Constitutional Court in 2009, launched a book that traces his personal journey as well as the country’s journey toward justice.

According to an Associated Press report by Christopher Torchia, Cameron’s book, Justice: a Personal Account, recounts personal hardships, including his 1986 discovery that he is HIV positive and illness that was beaten back with anti-retrovial drugs. Cameron told AP that he is troubled by the wave of anti-gay legislation in other African countries:“There’s absolutely no doubt that the end of this is going to be a recognition that homosexuality is as African as it is human anywhere in the world,” Cameron said. “Whether that’s going to take another 20 years or 30 years or in my grieving moments, 40 years even, I don’t know.”

Kuwait: Anti-Gay MP Calls for ‘Zero Tolerance’ But Willing to Seek ‘Cure’

Andrew Potts of Gay Star News reports, “Kuwaiti MP Hamdan Al Azimi, who earlier this month called for the police to raid gay people in their homes has said he is willing to meet with homosexuals who want ‘solutions for their issues.’”

Kuwaiti MP Hamdan Al Azimi has called for homosexuals to come forward to have their ‘physiological and psychological issues’ ‘treated’ by health professionals just days after he called for police to raid homosexuals in their homes to catch them in the act.

Earlier this month Al Azimi called on the Interior Ministry to launch raids on apartments where ‘gay people indulge in their illicit debauchery that could not be tolerated under any pretext.’

He now says he wants to talk to Kuwaiti homosexuals seeking “solutions” for their issues, but that gay foreigners should be “deported promptly” because “our virtue-based society has zero tolerance for them.”

Al Azimi heads a national commission against “negative phenomena” and said he wants the Interior Ministry to deal more harshly with gay people: “‘We feel that if the authorities were stricter in dealing with them, we would not see these gay people continue their decadence and depravity.’


‘The commission aims to achieve reform, but at the same time, it cannot tolerate disgraceful behavior or allow practices that are contrary to Islam and to moral integrity,’ Al Rai reported him saying on Sunday.

‘We do know some people have physiological problems that could be addressed properly by experts,’ he said, ‘We will start sitting with those who seek genuine help starting next week.’

Egypt: Four Men Reportedly Sentenced to Prison for ‘Debauchery’ in Anti-Gay Crackdown


Conor Sheils, an Irish writer living in Cairo, reports for Cairo Scene:

Four men have been jailed for hosting gay sex parties as part of a brutal crackdown on homosexuality in Egypt. The men were stood accused of hosting so-called "deviant parties" and cross-dressing in women’s clothes. Three were sentenced to eight years and a fourth to three years behind bars on trumped up debuachery charges.

The news comes after it emerged that three men arrested for so-called indecent acts (dressing in womens' clothing) last month at a party in Nasr City, are still being detained in secret. Sources close to the men who were arrested for dancing while wearing female clothing at a nightclub in the busy resort. He said: "The men have completely disappeared. Even their families do not know where they are. They are really scared."

Sheils quotes an anonymous source saying, “It is a very difficult time to be gay in Egypt right now. People are terrified, it is crazy."

Saudi Arabia: Police Arrest 35 for ‘Gay Party’

Thirty-five men attending a party were reportedly arrested by religious police in Saudi Arabia this week. According to Gay Star News:


The police took the arrested men to the station and kept the dresses and music equipment until an investigation is complete.

LGBTI rights in Saudi Arabia are non-existent. Homosexuality is taboo and punished with jail, flogging, chemical castration or even death.

Trans men and women are considered gay and suffer the same fate.

Entrapment by the religious police does not necessarily lead to prosecution, but often results in life-long financial and/or sexual blackmail.

Ali, a 31 year-old gay law student in Jeddah told Gay Star News: ‘Once the Hay’ah [religious police] have your identity on record for being gay, you are very likely to face financial and even sexual blackmail.

Argentina: President will Godmother to Child of Lesbian Couple

President Cristina Fernandez, who led Argentina to becoming the first South African country to legalize same-sex marriage, over the objections of the Catholic Church, has agreed to become the godmother to a lesbian couple’s baby, Pink News reports. won a battle with the Catholic church four years ago and Argentina became the first South American country to legalise same-sex marriage.

World Congress of Families Slams Obama Admin for Sanctions on Backer of Russian Adoption Ban

Don Feder, communications director for the World Congress of Families, told the right-wing WorldNetDaily that head of the Russian parliament’s committee on families Yelena Mizulina was included in the U.S. government’s list of Russian leaders sanctioned in the wake of the Crimea annexation because the Obama administration is “controlled by the gay lobby.”

Mizulina is among the organizers of the WCF’s 2014 summit, which is scheduled to be held in Moscow in 2014, though planning is now on hold. She promoted the anti-gay propaganda ban and the ban on Russian children being adopted by American parents.


Feder told WorldNetDaily that Mizulina was “absolutely right” in her push to ban American adoptions because children could end up adopted by same-sex couples. “The Russians are very traditional people,” he added. “They have a strong religious orientation. They haven’t got caught up in the whole politically correct thing that has captured so many people in this country.”

“They don’t want to see Russian children placed with homosexuals,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t blame them.”

Serbia: US and EU Ambassadors Meet with Activists

This week the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) met in Belgrade with US Ambassador Michael Kirby and Head of EU Delegation Michael Davenport in the wake of death threats against the leaders and members of the group. Kirby reportedly said “We talked to their activists about what had happened. We will continue to support the work of human rights of LGBT people, which for us is a basic human right.”

Caribbean: Dennis and Judy Shepard Meet with Officials and LGBT Activists

The Washington Blade reports that the parents of Mathew Shepard are meeting with LGBT rights activists and others in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica this week.


“We’re going again to talk about human rights and equal rights throughout these countries at the behest of organizations and human rights activists within those countries and with the support of our own government,” added Dennis Shepard. “If Matt was alive, we wouldn’t be doing this. It would be him.”

The Shepards’ visit to Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica is their fourth trip abroad with the U.S. State Department.

The couple traveled to Singapore, Taiwan and Sweden late last year. The Shepards visited Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Hungary in September 2012.

UK: Protest Against Planned Deportation of Lesbian Nigerian Asylum Seeker

Activists are planning a Friday protest against plans by the Home Office to deport 46-year old Apata Adejumoke, who claims she was subject to violence and her girlfriend was murdered in Nigeria and that she fears for her life if she is returned there. Anti-gay violence and official persecution has been on the rise since passage of a harsh anti-gay law in January.

Amnesty International Panel on LGBT Rights

This week a Ugandan LGBT rights activist Clare Byarugaba participated in a panel at an Amnesty International USA national conference in Chicago. Other panelists included All Out co-foounder Andre Banks and Chicago transgender educator Trian Alexander. According to a report in the Windy City Times, Byarugabe said, "I don't feel safe in my own country. Our leaders have sanctioned homophobia and intolerance of the LGBT community. [Our] leaders are calling for prosecution rather than protection."

More from the Windy City Times’ Jason Carson Wilson:


Religious influence, particularly the U.S brand of conservative Christianity, has created and exacerbated issues facing LGBTI people in the United States and abroad, which Byarugaba and Alexander have learned from experience.

"I'm uncomfortable in those spaces," Alexander said. "I'm not sure how I'll be perceived."

Their experience has made religious institutions suspect to them. Byarugaba said only one Ugandan clergy has shown support for LGBTI people.

"We don't have enough visible faces," she said. "We're not after your children. We just want to hold hands with our partners."


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