30 September 2012: Selection of next ABC is deadlocked and may stall for months
The BBC reports that the Crown Nominations Commission that was set up to choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury has been unable to reach a consensus and might take months to do so. The Daily Mail (London) is rarely considered authoritative, but its religion writer has good access to insiders and had this to report. A hilarious but scatalogical video mocking the process that is making the rounds introduced the slogan 'ABY: Anybody But York'. You can probably find it with a search engine, but we shan't link you to it on account of its coarse language. The official announcement is quite terse.

30 September 2012: Grenade attack on Anglican church in Nairobi
The Christian Science Monitor reports that a grenade attack on an Anglican Church in Kenya's capital has left one child dead and seven others injured in what is viewed as a response by the Somali Islamist group Al Shabab to the capture of its stronghold Friday by Kenyan troops.

29 September 2012: New Primate for West Africa
The Anglican Communion News Service has announced the recent election of the Rt Revd Dr Solomon Johnson as the ninth Archbishop and Primate of the Church of the Province of West Africa. Dr Johnson has been the Bishop of The Gambia, a member of that province.

29 September 2012: Anglican ordination in United Arab Emirates
The National (Abu Dhabi) reports on the recent ordination of a Jo Henderson as deacon, to become a priest after a year. She is one of the first women to be ordained in a Gulf country and she is the first Anglican to be ordained in the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf.

22 September 2012: Zimbabwe fallout continues: Donors shun hospital
Newsday (Harare) reported that the Church-owned Bonda Mission Hospital is in financial and medicinal dire straits after losing all its donors following the takeover by excommunicated bishop Nolbert Kunonga last year. Doctors and nurses are reportedly leaving the hospital en masse as the institution struggles to fund operations and buy medicines.

21 Septembeer 2012: Attack on Pakistan Anglican church
The Anglican Communion News Service reports on the attack by thousands of people on an Anglican church compound in Pakistan, destroying most of the buildings. The Pakistan Daily Times (Karachi) says that Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari issued a public condemnation of that vandalism as un-Islamic.

20 September 2012: Excommunicated former bishop Kunonga reportedly selling off stolen church properties
Newsday (Harare) also reported that the inimitable Nolbert Kunonga has started selling off CPCA properties in Harare of which he was made custodian by a government tribunal last year. It's obvious that the Anglican world in Zimbabwe is going to remain in crisis until Robert Mugabe is gone.

20 September 2012: Andrew Brown reviews possible ABC candidates
Andrew Brown, arguably Britain's most provocative religious writer, has written this report on the possible candidates to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

20 September 2012: Moravian pastor to lead US Episcopal congregation
The US Episcopal News Service tells us that the Revd Carl Southerland was installed as rector of an Episcopal Church in North Carolina, thereby becoming the first Moravian pastor of an Episcopal parish.

18 September 2012: Australian appellate court doubles sentence of Anglican sex offender
The Australian reports that a sexual predator guilty of 27 counts of sexual misconduct has had his sentence doubled after an appeal by the prosecution.

18 September 2012: Cardboard tubes for NZ cathedral construction arrive in Christchurch
3News (Christchurch, NZ) reports that the construction of Christchurch's cardboard cathedral is about to get underway, with the arrival of its 320 giant cardboard tubes. The project is behind schedule because it is short of funds. You can make a donation here. We did.

14 September 2012: 'Recognise Christ in one another,' urges IASCUFO chair
The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) posted an update on the 6-day meeting of the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order (IASCUFO). The commission, chaired by Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi, is working on deepening communion between the Churches of the Anglican Communion, and within the global Christian family.

14 September 2012: Skeleton discovered on Richard III site
After the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Richard III was buried in the Grey Friars church opposite Leicester Cathedral. The remains of that church were buried under a parking lot, but have recently been unearthed, and a skeleton with spinal abnormalities has been found which may be that of the king. The Church Times reported that testing will commence to confirm whether they are in fact the bones of Richard. The Telegraph had this report.

13 September 2012: This fragile earth, our island home
The Episcopal News Service (ENS) reported on the funeral for Neil Armstrong in the National Cathedral, Washington DC. During her homily, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde said that the astronaut often spoke about experiencing the fragile-appearing earth from his spacecraft, and that he worked for the survival of the only planet we human beings call home.

10 September 2012: Perth priest plans synod motion on same-sex relationships
The West Australian reported on the efforts of the Revd Chris Bedding, rector of Darlington-Bellevue (St Cuthbert and St Michael & All Angels), to introduce a motion at next month's synod formally acknowledging same-sex relationships.

9 September 2012: Conditional Blessing of the Animals: no snakes, please
The Kent News (UK) reported that St Nicholas Church will be holding a Blessing of the Animals service but snakes are not invited. The parish priest did say that he 'would probably give a special blessing to the owner [of a snake] because if you have a snake, you need all the help you can get'.

8 September 2012: An XO for the Archbishop of Canterbury?
The Guardian (London) reports that the Anglican Communion Office is planning to delegate some of the global duties of the Archbishop of Canterbury to a 'presidential' figure. The ABC made these comments in an interview with The Telegraph. The ACO issued a denial the next day.

8 September 2012: Talk of shared 'supercathedral' for NZ
NZ City reports that Anglicans in Christchurch are talking about rebuilding a super-cathedral shared with Roman Catholics, a move that would be unprecedented worldwide. The Timaru Herald tells us that 'An Anglican leader has rubbished ... [such] reports.'

2 September 2012: Nigeria Inaugurates Missionary Diocese of the Trinity in US
The Guardian (Lagos) reported on the recent visit of the Most Revd Nicholas Okoh to Indianapolis to inaugurate a 'missionary diocese' of the Church of Nigeria in the US in Indianapolis, Indiana, 'to salvage the expired gospel that is being propagated in TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada'.

1 September 2012: Former Dean of Sydney Cathedral is dead
The Sydney Morning Herald reports on the death of prominent Sydney clergyman, author and monarchist the Reverend Canon Boak Jobbins. The Diocese of Sydney published this report.

1 September 2012: Tutu asserts that Blair and Bush should be prosecuted for war crimes
Writing in The Observer (London), Archbishop Desmond Tutu laments the immorality of the Iraq war and says that former PM Tony Blair and former President George W Bush should be prosecuted for their roles in the Iraq war. The BBC filed this report on Tutu's latest criticism of that war.

30 August 2012: ABC releases report condemning child-abuse safeguards in Chichester
The BBC reports on the publication of a report by the Archbishop of Canterbury which savages the Diocese of Chichester for the way it permitted and failed to prosecute clergy child abuse. You can read the actual report (46 pages of PDF) here. Other UK press coverage includes the Guardian, the Independent, the Telegraph, and the Daily Mail.

30 August 2012: Archbishop of Brisbane apologizes to victims of forced adoption
The Herald Sun (Melbourne) tells us that the Diocese of Brisbane released a statement saying it was sorry, and acknowledging the church's role in forced adoptions in the mid 20th century in Queensland.

29 August 2012: Anglican priest's efforts to preserve the Torah scrolls of Iraq
Aish HaTorah's website, aish.com (Jerusalem), tells of the 365 Torah scrolls, the largest collection in the world, deteriorating in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. The Vicar of Baghdad, Canon Andrew White, saw them in 2005, neglected, stacked on the dirty floors, rat-eaten. He is not certain whether his pleas to have them better protected were heeded, or even if they are still there. The museum does not display or catalogue them, but refuses to part with them because they are part of the country's past. The Jewish population of Baghdad, once 150,000, is now only a handful, living in fear, with falsified identity cards and no communal life other than rare holiday prayer services in the United States embassy, where Canon White arranged for them to have access. He continues his effort to protect the scrolls.

28 August 2012: Former Bishop of Milwaukee is dead
The Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee) reports the death of Roger White, former Bishop of Milwaukee.

25 August 2012: Sydney brides may submit rather than obey
ABC News reported that the diocese of Sydney has introduced new wedding vows, which involve a woman pledging to submit to her husband. They are an alternative to traditional vows that use the word 'obey'. The church denies that the vows are sexist, but it hasn't convinced Julia Baird, a former member of the diocesan synod, who wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald that the diocese is 'No place for spirited women'.

25 August 2012: NZ bishop gives up priesthood
The Dominion Post (NZ) reports that the former bishop of Wellington, who resigned fom the bishopric six months ago, has voluntarily surrendered his license as a priest.

24 August 2012: Paralympics update on b-ball in St Paul's Cathedral
The Telegraph (London) reported on the preparations for a special Paralympics service in St Paul's Cathedral to include wheelchair basketball as part of the service. The report includes video of the basketball practice ahead of the service held 26 August. The Church Times followed up in its issue of 31 August.

24 August 2012: Indian Ocean province re-elects primate
The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) reported the Most Revd Ian Ernest has been re-elected as the Primate of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean.

24 August 2012: Faith, Politics, and the National Cathedral
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly interviewed the Revd Dr Frank Wade, Interim Dean of the National Cathedral (Diocese of Washington, US), about the post-earthquake restoration of the cathedral as well as the role of the cathedral in faith, politics, and modern society.

23 August 2012: New university planned in Melanesia
The Solomon Star reported on the progress the Anglican Church of Melanesia is making toward the opening of the new John Coleridge Patterson University. JCPU will begin with a focus on two main faculties; education and theology. 'By focusing on these two areas to start, JCPU will provide high quality graduates to teach at the primary and secondary level and high quality clergy to work in churches, schools and social services across the country.'

18 August 2012: New bishop for Lexington
The Diocese of Lexington has announced the elction of the Very Revd Dr Douglas Hahn as its 7th bishop.

17 August 2012: Legal challenge to Australian process for clergy discipline
The Herald Sun (Adelaide) tells us that the disciplinary processes for dealing with rogue priests in almost every Anglican diocese in Australia are in doubt because of a landmark court challenge to their validity.

17 August 2012: Paralypians to celebrate games in St Paul's
The Church Times reports that a wheelchair basketball game will be played beneath the dome of St Paul's cathedral in London, to mark the opening of the Paralympic Games.

10 August 2012: Muriel Porter says struggle was worth it
The Australian (a News Corp publication) reports that Dr Muriel Porter, one of the people who led the push for women priests in Australia, has said in retrospect that the effort was 'worth it'.

10 August 2012: Legacy leaves church out of pocket
When the church council at Holy Trinity, Milton Regis, learned that it had been left £67,000 in a will, they spent £6000 on repairing the roof. The Church Times reports that they were unpleasantly surprised to learn that the bequest was intended for Holy Trinity, Sittingbourne, just down the road. The parties are working together to resolve the problem, without incurring any further legal cost.

9 August 2012: New attacks in Nigeria worry church leaders
The Anglican Communion News Service reports that tensions have heightened in Nigeria following the recent killing of four people near a mosque, one day after 20 worshippers in a church in the Okene area of Kogi state, were shot dead.

8 August 2012: Archbishop of York urges UK government to stay the course against Mugabe
Writing on his own website about an article he wrote for The Times (London), in which he expresses great dismay at plans announced by the British government to relax sactions against Zimbabwe and its dictator Robert Mugabe. Since The Times is behind a paywall, the Archbishop has generously included the text of his article on his website.

7 August 2012: Church of England disinvests from News Corp
The Anglican Communion News Service reports that the Church of England has announced that it has sold all of its shares in News Corporation as a consequence of last year's electronic privacy scandal.

4 August 2012: Zimbabwe updates
ACNS reported worshippers in the Diocese of Masvingo are (once again) being threatened with arrest and are being barred from the shrine commemorating Arthur Shearly Cripps. Since the new dates set for the commemoration were this weekend, we await word on what may have occurred. Newsday (Zimbabwe) reported on the plans announced by the Rt Revd Chad Gandiya to build three new churches despite Kunonga's threats.

3 August 2012: NZ cathedral could be restored at a price, says bishop
Radio New Zealand reported Bishop Victoria Matthews said the Anglican church has always believed the cathedral could be rebuilt, but the cost would be excessive. "Once you're at $100 million, you have to ask if that's a moral response to a desire for a beautiful building".

1 August 2012: Episcopal Church (US) seeks nominees
The Episcopal News Servce (ENS) has announced that nominations are open for the new General Convention-mandated 24-member task force charged with presenting a plan to the next General Convention in 2015 "for reforming the Church's structures, governance, and administration".

1 August 2012: Cathedral Camp - a different sort of vacation
The Anglican Journal posted an ENI story on Cathedral Camps where young people (ages 16-25) spend their holidays doing voluntary conservation work on ancient cathedrals, chapels and churches. "The experience is a chance to see the hidden corners of some of the nation's most iconic religious buildings in England, Scotland and Wales."

31 July 2012: New suffragan for Virginia
The Episcopal News Servce (ENS) reported on the consecration of the Rt Revd Susan Ellyn Goff as bishop suffragan in the Diocese of Virginia. Goff, most recently canon to the ordinary in the diocese, is Virginia's first female bishop.

30 July 2012: Saskatchewan elects first diocesan indigenous bishop
The Anglican Journal reported the Ven Adam Halkett, archdeacon of Saskatchewan and priest-in-charge at St. Joseph's, Montreal Lake First Nations, has been elected the first diocesan indigenous bishop of Saskatchewan. He was chosen July 28 by the diocese's general assembly in Prince Albert. The election and consecration of a diocesan indigenous bishop is part of Mamuwe Isi Mywachimowin ("Together in the Gospel"), a proposal adopted by the indigenous council and executive committee of Saskatchewan and approved by the metropolitan and executive committee of the province of Rupert's Land in 2011.

29 July 2012: Global South Primates lobby Crown Nominations Commission
Episcopal Café (Washington DC) has the story behind a letter sent from the recent meeting of Global South Primates in Bangkok to the chair of the Crown Nominations Commission in the UK explaining to him how necessary it is that the next Archbishop of Canterbury be someone who agrees with them.

26 July 2012: Religion and the Olympics
Episcopal News Service (ENS) reprinted an Ecumenical News International (ENI) piece on the role religion has played in the Olympics since the days of Ancient Greece. ENI also reported on the strong role religion is playing in the background of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. (An aside: while watching the opening ceremonies on the telly, we spotted the ABC seated just behind the Queen. Does that constitute religion in the foreground?)

23 July 2012: New bishop in Western Louisiana
ENS reported on the ordination and consecration of the Rt Revd Jacob W Owensby in Western Louisiana.

23 July 2012: Construction of cardboard cathedral to begin
Fairfax NZ News tells us that all necessary consents to begin construction of the 'cardboard cathedral' to serve as a substitute place of worship for the earthquake-destroyed Christchurch Cathedral have been received. The official name of this joyful temporary structure is The Transitional Cathedral. We predict that when it is time to give it up and move to a 'real' cathedral, there will be protests every bit as forceful as those protesting the disassembly of the ruined stone cathedral.

20 July 2012: ABC urges 'do not give up'
The Church Times reports on a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury in which he urges Anglicans not to give up on one another even if they believe that there are irreconcilable differences amongs them. This is of course the same Archbishop of Canterbury who has been hard-selling a Covenant that would under some circumstances require one group to give up on another. Perhaps the forces that would normally result in giving up can be channeled into writing communiqués.

20 July 2012: Global South Primates end Bangkok meeting, issue communiqué
The 150-person meeting of Global South Anglican held in Bangkok has closed with the issuance of a communiqué. You can read it on globalsouthanglican.org. We didn't see anything written there that we found surprising. If you read the list of participants carefully, you will see that the meeting was actually comprised of "Global South Anglican Primates and People who Share their Point of View".

19 July 2012: First woman bishop elected in Africa
Twenty years after the Anglican Church of Southern Africa began ordaining women as priests, the Revd Ellinah Ntombi Wamukoya, 61, has been elected as Bishop of Swaziland, and the first female bishop in Africa. The Anglican Communion News Service notes that she was ordained in 2005, was priest-in-charge at the University of Swaziland, and until recently was Town Clerk of Manzini Municipal Council.

17 July 2011: Clergyman says raiders should be flogged
According to the Donegal Democrat (Ireland), Canon David Crooks of Taughboyne Parish has called the masked men who threatened a young woman behind the counter of the St Johnston post office vermin, and advocated that they should be given the birch and made to hard labour. In 2008, after vandals attacked his church in Carrigans, he told BBC radio that such criminals should be birched or sent to military camps.

14 July 2012: Vicar behind the barber's chair
The Revd Ben Norton was a hairdresser before he was ordained. Now that he is at St Cuthbert in Marton (where Captain Cook was baptised), his job is to engage with people who don't have faith. The Evening Gazette (Middlesborough) reported that he is doing this by picking up a pair of scissors and cutting hair every Monday at a local hairdresser's. The owner, who wishes Ben could work full-time, says, 'If he tells a customer, they think it's a bit strange but it's a great way for him to get to know the community.'

13 July 2012: Fellowship for Falkland
The Vernon Morning Star (North Okanagan, CA) reported on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Falkland and District Community Church. The community church was built by five denominations — Anglican, Alliance, Roman Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist and United Church. The idea first came up in 1977 when there were three churches — United, Roman Catholic and Anglican — all with 50-year-old buildings and dwindling congregations. There was general agreement that cooperating to erect one building could work, but nothing was done for the next nine years. The building was completed and dedicated in July 1987 and has become 'a beacon in the community'.

13 July 2012: Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia General Synod/Te Hinota Whanui
Anglican Taonga, the official news arm of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, has extensive coverage of the General Synod that was held in Fiji this week. Radio Australia has posted two interviews (audio) with Archbishop David Moxon (available here and here).

12 July 2012: ACO 2011 Annual (self) Review
Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) reports on the publication by the Anglican Communion Office of its first ever Annual Review. 'The ACO officially exists as the permanent secretariat for the Instruments of Communion: the Lambeth Conference, the Primates' Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.'

12 July 2012: US Episcopal Church General Convention wrap-up
Episcopal News Service (ENS) has summarized the events and actions of the US Episcopal Church's triennial General Convention. The tag line is 'Re-envisioning church for the 21st century'.

11 July 2012: Good to bee back
It had been thought that every native British bee had been wiped out in 1919 by a strain of Spanish flu. But, nearly 80 years later, a thriving colony of 'British blacks' has been discovered in the rafters of Holy Trinity Church, in Whitfield, Northumberland. The Daily Mail reports that plans are being made to transfer the bees to a hive.

11 July 2012: Christchurch Cathedral update
The Press (Christchurch) reported New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has confirmed the deconstruction of Christchurch Cathedral is on hold while the Church considers an independent report which says "maximum retention" of the cathedral is feasible and can be achieved without any safety risks.

9 July 2012: General Synod postpones vote on women bishops
Ecumenical News International (ENI) reported on the Church of England General Synod actions pertaining to the 'Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women)'. Once you have read this summary article, you might want to visit Thinking Anglicans for a more in-depth perspective. For those wanting a simple timeline of milestone events in the ordination of females across the Anglican Communion, Bermuda's Royal Gazette has published one.

8 July 2012: Church of England General Synod
We publish weekly, and the C of E General Synod is in session right now. When it's over we'll report what happened; if you want a blow-by-blow as-it-happens narrative, you should look in Thinking Anglicans.

8 July 2012: US Episcopal Church General Convention
Three years ago, at the previous General Convention of the US Episcopal Church, made worldwide news (though mostly the news reports focused on issues of sex and gender). This time around almost nobody even knows that it is happening nor has much of a stake in its outcome. The 'Episcopal Digital Network' is running this blog to inform anxious fans of what is happening at General Convention. We keep injuring ourselves trying to read it: we fall asleep at the screen and bang our heads on the desk when we keel over.

8 July 2012: Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia General Synod/Te Hinota Whanui
Anglican Taonga (New Zealand) reports on the opening of General Synod (known as 'Te Hinota Whanui' in the Maori language). This year the event is being held in Fiji. The previous General Synod was in May 2010. From reading about the three meetings taking place this week, we think the food looks best in Fiji.

8 July 2012: NZ Anglican Churches urged to sell stone buildings
The Press (Christchurch, NZ) reports that since the earthquakes, insurance costs for stone churches have skyrocketed, prompting calls for Anglican Church officials to sell off some of its buildings.

5 July 2012: Small Australian town set to buy back church building released by Diocese of Grafton
The Northern Star (Goonellabah, Australia) reports that the residents of Federal have reached the $200,000 target to buy back their Anglican church building from the Diocese of Grafton, despite being the ones who raised the funds to build it more than a century ago. If you'd like to make a donation, here is the fundraising website. We don't see any obvious means of making donations from overseas, but we've asked for clarification.