7 February 2010: Church of England General Synod
The General Synod of the Church of England begins February 8. The C of E's synods are held frequently enough that it is rare for more than one major issue to surface in a synod. The major issue this time appears to be a 'private member's motion' that the Church of England declare itself to be in communion with a breakaway group in the USA. Dr Alan Wilson, a bishop in the Diocese of Oxford, notes in The Guardian that 'How the General Synod works is more important than anything it decides.' Thinking Anglicans has done its usual enclopedic job of collecting information about the synod, and Thinking Anglicans principal Simon Sarmiento has become a player in the pre-synod wars by writing a rebuttal to the facts stated in that motion, whereupon parts of his rebuttal were themselves rebutted by the American Anglican Council, whose website is much flashier. The Church Times notes that Canadian priest Alan Perry has challenged the accuracy of the private member's motion as it references the Anglican Church of Canada, and was in turn slightly rebutted by Anglican Essentials Canada.

7 February 2010: Controversial New Zealand clergyman reported suddenly gone
The New Zealand Herald reports that 'The Anglican clergyman behind a controversial Christmas billboard of Joseph and Mary in bed is no longer Archdeacon of Auckland, but the city's Anglican Bishop denies he has been sacked.' We contacted him by email, and he noted numerous errors in the Herald article, and pointed out that all seven archdeacons must offer pro forma resignations in advance of the installation of a new bishop in April. We still think it was a great billboard.

5 February 2010: UK churches retain their legal right to discriminate
The Church Times reports that the UK Minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman, has said that the exemption given to churches by the UK employment and non-discrimination law will remain as it is.

5 February 2010: Badgers and goats at church in Leeds
The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that a church in Leeds (England) has borrowed a herd of goats to help it maintain its grounds. Wasn't it Percy Dearmer who insisted that a parish ought to have a sheep to keep its grounds tidy?

5 February 2010: Middle East presiding bishop resigns from Standing Committee
The Church Times (London) reports that Dr Mouneer Anis, the President-Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East has resigned from the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion because he couldn't get anybody to see things his way. If you think we're being snide by reporting it this way, please read his official statement of resignation and the accompanying explanation. This report from the US Episcopal News Service gives some context and background.

5 February 2010: Church of England sells Vedanta Resources shares
The Church of England has sold its shares in the mining company Vedanta Resources because of concerns over the corporation's human rights record. The Independent reports that the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group visited the site in the Indian state of Orissa in November, and recommended disinvestment.

3 February 2010: Canadian church grants sanctuary to former Chinese spy
The National Post (Canada) reports that a man who spied on Chinese dissidents in the United States has been living in an Anglican church in Toronto.

1 February 2010: Pittsburgh judge orders return of assets taken from Diocese of Pittsburgh
The Episcopal News Service reports that 'A judge has told the organization headed by former bishop Robert Duncan that claims to have withdrawn from the Episcopal Church in 2008 that it must turn over control of the Diocese of Pittsburgh's assets.' The Diocese of Pittsburgh issued this news release.

31 January 2010: Queen's adviser meets Archbishop of Westminster after Pope's offer to Anglicans
The Telegraph reports that the Queen took the unusual step of having the Lord Chamberlain (the most senior member of the Royal Household) meet with Archbishop Nichols following Pope Benedict's invitation to Anglicans to convert to Rome. Damian Thompson suggests that the Queen was unhappy about aspects of the scheme. The New Zealand Herald went so far as to use 'irked' in the headline for its report on this.

31 January 2010: Bishop of Washington to retire
The Washington Post (US) reports the Bishop of Washington (DC), the Rt Revd John B Chane announced at the diocesan convention that he will retire next year.

30 January 2010: Church and state in Zimbabwe
Baton-wielding police officers drove out 60 children from a church nursery school, because their parents do not support excommunicated bishop Nolbert Kunonga, reports ZimOnline. Over 4,000 worshippers gathered in Unity Square in Harare, because the police were denying them access to the adjacent cathedral, according to AFP News.

29 January 2010: ABC's statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day
Starting in 2006, 27 January has been designated by the UN as Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Christian Post (Singapore) reports on the day and includes quotes from the remarks of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The full text of Dr. Williams' remarks are here.

29 January 2010: Kidnapped Nigerian bishop released
Last week we reported that the Bishop of Benin, Peter Imasuen, was kidnapped on his way home from the cathedral, and held for ransom. This week, the Vanguard reported on a protest organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria, of which the bishop is chair. The protest was led by a Catholic cleric and almost brought the city to a standtill. The Punch (Lagos) reports the bishop was released a few days after his capture.

28 January 2010: Bishop speaks in Nigeria
AllAfrica.com picked up a story from The Daily Independent (Lagos) in which the Rt Revd Emmanuel Chukwuma urged voters to 'shun moneybag politicians' and vote for a candidate of integrity in the upcoming governorship election in Anambra State.

28 January 2010: Diocese of British Columbia officially takes its head out of the sand
The Christian Post reports on a major restructuring being planned by the Diocese of British Columbia because of declining membership. The official 51-page diocesan report is here; like all 51-page official reports few of you will read it. The 2-page summary and press release is here, but even two pages is more than most people seem to want to read these days. So here's the one-sentence summary (fewer than 140 characters, even): 'A culture change is necessary for the Church to continue: a culture that focuses on service outwards rather than inwards upon itself.' If the bishop and his diocese actually accomplish this plan, they will change the world. The Times Colonist, whose reporter seems actually to have read and understood the 51-page report, notes that the diocese plans to close ten churches.

27 January 2010: Remembrance of a faithful caretaker of historic church clock tower
The Telegraph-Journal (Saint John, NB) carried a story on Jim Groundwater, recently deceased, who was dedicated to maintaining the clockworks at Trinity, an historic church in Saint John. 'He was incredibly...conscientious and would regulate the clock so that it never was more than a second or two away from the national standard in Ottawa.'

26 January 2010: Church of England writes off US$78 million from Manhattan property investment
In 2007 the Church Commissioners invested heavily in Stuyvesant Town on the East River, in the largest real estate deal in American history. The Episcopal News Service reports the fall in property values and other factors have led to a massive loss.

26 January 2010: Row over condoms ends in Tanzania
The Citizen (Dar Es Salaam) reports that the long-simmering conflict between the Rt Revd Simon Makundi and parishioners in the diocese of Mt Kilimanjaro over condom use to prevent HIV/AIDS has ended. The Rev Andrew Kajembe said: 'The row has been diffused after both sides realised that it was going to split the ... diocese down the middle.'

24 January 2010: Erratum
A correspondent informs us that we were very confused in our description of the CAN election and Bishop Imasuen's role in it. He says 'Archbishop Peter Akinola was defeated in 2007 as CAN President. But the contest was with Archbishop John Onayeikan of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, who is still the incumbent President of the umbrella Christian body in Nigeria. The way CAN is structured, there is only one (National) President while the State leaders are addressed as Chairman. So rightly Bishop Peter Imaseun is the State Chairman of the Edo State Chapter of CAN.' We apologize for the mistake.

24 January 2010: Nigerian bishop kidnapped at gunpoint
The Compass (Lagos) reports that gunmen have abducted Peter Imasuen, Bishop of Benin, from his hiome. Benin City is the capital of Edo State in Nigeria. Bishop Imasuen, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, defeated incumbent president Archbishop Peter Akinola in a bitter election in 2007.

24 January 2010: Church and state in the UK
The Equality Bill being debated in the UK Parliament is complex, contentious, and potentially far reaching. Debate about the concept, if not the bill, has been going on for nearly 7 years. Thinking Anglicans keeps its extensive coverage of equality-bill issues current, and Thinking Anglicans editor Simon Sarmiento has written this comment for The Guardian on the current state of that Bill.

24 January 2010: Anglican leaders in Haiti explain their priorities
The US Episcopal News Service reports that the Bishop of Haiti gave a briefing to Episcopal Relief and Development workers outlining the diocese's priorities in rebuilding after the recent earthquake. That report also contains a fairly detailed description of the damage sustained by the Episcopal Church in Haiti. The US Episcopal News Service has major coverage of the goings-on in Haiti.

24 January 2010: Australian bishop urges repentance for student attacks
The Australian reports that Australian bishop Philip Huggins urged a congregation in Melbourne to repent on behalf of their culture for recent violence against Indian students in Australia.

22 January 2010: New bishop coadjutor appointed for Cuba
The US Episcopal News Service reports that the Revd Griselda Delgado Del Carpio has been appointed as bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Church of Cuba. Read the article to learn who did the appointing and the details of her upcoming consecration.

22 January 2010: Agenda for upcoming Church of England General Synod
The Church Times reports that the agenda for the upcoming Synod in England includes pensions, Fresh Expressions, and religion on television. The Church Times also reports that a private member's motion has been proposed in the General Synod to 'express the desire that the Church of England be in communion with the Anglican Church in North America” (ACNA)'. Women and the Church 'notes with deep regret that there will be no debate on the draft legislation for women bishops.'

21 January 2010: Second All Africa Bishops Conference
The New Vision (Uganda) reports that the Second All Africa Bishops Conference will be held in Entebbe in August 2010. The first such conference was in Nigeria in 2004.

19 January 2010: Church violence in Nigeria
The Daily Triumph reports that 35 people have been arrested and several weapons recovered following an attack on worshippers at an Anglican Church in the Diocese of Enugu. Punch Nigeria explains that the Bishop of Enugu says that this was 'internal terrorism', sectarian violence. This Day (Lagos) reports that the Nigerian military has taken control of the city of Jos to restore normalcy.

16 January 2010: Scottish church votes not to elect Britain's first female bishop
Reuters reports that the Scottish Episcopal Church voted against electing Britain's first female bishop, choosing instead a more experienced male candidate.

16 January 2010: Former priest, trustee of Church of North India arrested
The Mumbai Mirror (India) reports on the arrest of octogenarian Prabhakar Amolik on charges of fraud related to his role and influence with the Bombay Diocesan Trust Association. The Trust has been selling off church properties despite court challenges. Daily News & Analysis (Mumbai) provides some background on the long-standing dispute.

15 January 2010: Retired former ABC and politics in the UK
The US Episcopal News Service reported that former ABC Lord Carey is stirring the pot with recent comments on immigration. This prompted many thoughtful replies, one of which, by the sitting Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, was reported in The Times.

15 January 2010: Church and state in Nigeria
This Day (Lagos) reports that the Primate of the Church of Nigeria spoke out to criticize politicians harping on the virtual disappearance of the country's president. As outlined in this BBC report, President Umuru Yar'Adua has been in Saudi Arabia since November, receiving medical treatment.

15 January 2010: ABC to be honoured by US Jesuits
The Ethiopian Review (yes, that Ethiopia) reports that the US Jesuit weekly magazine America has named the Archbishop of Canterbury winner of its 2009 Campion Award. Even Roman rivers are cold in January.

15 January 2010: Australian bishop dresses down his dressed-down clergy
The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah, USA) carried the Religion News Service story that Bishop Robert Forsyth of South Sydney has complained that his clergy dress like bums.

13 January 2010: Obituary: The Rt Revd Kenneth Leslie
The Cowra Guardian (Australia) reports on the passing of the oldest bishop in Australia, the Rt Revd Kenneth Leslie OBE, who was widely loved as a 'people's bishop'.

13 January 2010: Corpus Toasti
The Telegraph (UK) reports that a British artist has made a sculpture of the Crucifixion entirely out of burnt toast. There is, of course, no shortage of cold dry burnt toast in Britain.

12 January 2010: Completing the change in Portsmouth
The Portsmouth (UK) News reports on the 2 new treble bells being cast by Taylor Eayre & Smith for the cathedral in Old Portsmouth. The bells are due to be installed alongside the existing 10 bells in the tower in March, bringing the ring to a full complement of 12.

12 January 2010: Bless the plow, bless the BlackBerry
The Telegraph (London) reports on the service of blessing villagers' tools, including those that use lithium ion batteries, at St Lawrence Jewry.

11 January 2010: Archbishop accuses China over role in Sudan
Reuters reports on Sudanese Archbishop Daniel Deng's remarks on China's relationship with Sudan: 'China is looking only for minerals, they are looking for economic benefit. That is all. That is damaging the country. They are not even making peace'. He urged Beijing to use its influence to ease tensions ahead of elections in his country.

10 January 2010: Church and sectarian violence in Malaysia
Radio Australia News reports that a petrol bomb was thrown at a Roman Catholic convent school, the fifth recent arson event against Christian churches in Malaysia.

9 January 2010: Church and politics in Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe Telegraph (Harare) reports on the continuing government-sponsored harassment of the Diocese of Harare, which is being orchestrated by its ousted former bishop. The Independent (London) reports this (never-ending) story in considerably more detail.

8 January 2010: Bishop and union in UK clash over bullying
The Unite trade union has 2500 members in its faith-workers branch, and, according to the Church Times, cases of bullying among the clergy are becoming more frequent and nastier. The Bishop of Ripon & Leeds, John Packer, doesn't believe that the bullying is rife. But the readers of the Church Times seem to think that it is, when they responded to this week's online question, 'Do you have experience of the bullying of clergy?' The numbers change as more people reply, but when we checked, the vast majority said yes.

7 January 2010: Obituary: Graham Leonard
The Telegraph (London) has published an obituary of the Rt Revd Mgr Graham Leonard, former Bishop of London who became a Roman Catholic when the Church of England begain ordaining women.

6 January 2010: Loyalist beer mug could fetch $100,000
The Reverend John Stuart was a loyalist and founder of the Anglican church in Upper Canada. When he and his wife fled from New York in 1781, one of the few possessions they took with them was a silver tankard made in Philadelphia in 1742 for her parents' wedding. The mug was discovered in a vault in London where it had lain for a century, and it is now being offered on auction by Christie's. CanWest News forecasts that it might fetch US$100,000 at auction.

5 January 2010: Church and politics in Nigeria
The Daily Independent (Lagos) reports ' Thugs Disrupt Church Service in Ogun - Cleric Probes Senator's Involvement'. The Venerable Olumuyiwa Ilekoya, was preparing to lead a thanksgiving service at a packed church in Sodubi Onilolobo, when his way was barred by six men - two of them with guns. When most of the congregation had escaped, the Baba Ijo (Father of the Church), Senator Femi Okurounmu told the church's lay reader to conduct the service for the handful who remained. Punch (Lagos) reports that the senator had been complaining about the vicar's blunt sermons. The bishop is investigating.

4 January 2010: First female priest from Bermuda
The Royal Gazette (Bermuda) reports on the ordination of the Revd Joanna Hollis as Bermuda's first woman priest. She is not yet a priest in Bermuda, as the US Episcopal News Service explains more clearly.

1 January 2010: Cleric wants those against cultural organisation stoned
The Monitor (Uganda) reports on remarks by the Revd Esau Omara concerning those who are against the Lango Cultural Foundation. His ire was directed at politicians and others he sees as not respecting cultural institutions.

1 January 2010: Vicar resigns over 'barrack-room' language
The Daily Mail (London) reports on the resignation of the Revd Richard Grey after complaints about his use of 'coarse' language. It doesn't help matters that he is a 'close friend' of the ABC.

1 January 2010: Olympic torch accompanied by 'Happiness Ambassadors'
The Anglican Journal (Canada) has a story on a young ACC woman, one of the 'Happiness Ambassadors' who accompany the Olympic torch on its way to Vancouver.

31 December 2009: Churches sent final text of covenant - 'not a penal code'
The Church Times has a summary of responses by provinces to the Anglican Covenant. It refers to the Archbishop of Canterbury's discussion of the covenant on YouTube, and stresses his claim there that 'it's certainly not going to be a penal code for punishing people who don't comply' (although Uganda wants to expel 'erring members'). In the same issue, Giles Fraser writes with reluctant resignation that this Anglican Covenant thing is going to happen, suggesting that it 'isn't at all like the commitments of a marriage service. It is more like the anxious and untrust­ing legalism of that thoroughly distasteful feature of modern life, the pre-nuptial agreement.' Thinking Anglicans has a Covenant roundup here.

30 December 2009: Prayer Book Society calls for boycott of Letts diaries
The Times (London) reports on the Society's response to changes made in the names of Sundays in the diaries. The names now match Common Worship rather than those in the BCP.

30 December 2009: Priest pelted with pasta after shoplifting remarks
We reported last week on the sermon given by the Revd Tim Jones in which he suggested it was acceptable for those in dire need to steal to feed their families. This week, the Guardian reports Fr Jones had a bucket of pasta thrown on him by someone offended by the sermon.

28 December 2009: Charity urges Church of England to sell land to solve rural housing crisis
The Telegraph (London) reports on research by the National Housing Federation that the affordable housing crisis in rural parts of England could be eased if the Church of England sold or leased land to local housing associations. Around 500 churches are in hamlets with 80 people or less.

27 December 2009: Ugandan Busoga diocese proposed to be split
The New Vision (Kampala) reports that next month's synod will take up the division of the Busoga diocese into three.

26 December 2009: Archbishop of Wales in war of words with BNP
According to Wales Online, the Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, has denounced comments by the leader of the British National Party linking it with Christianity. A spokesman for the party responded that, unlike church leaders, it was defending Christianity.

25 December 2009: Archbishop of Canterbury still alive
The Anglican Communion News Service has let us know that the Archbishop of Canterbury has evaded his enemies and has lived to preach another Christmas Sermon, which, astonishingly, does not mention sex. It has been widely rumoured that just hours after delivering that sermon he was jetting back to his winter villa in Bukakata.

24 December 2009: Sentamu condemns Ugandan bill
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has broken his silence about the anti-homosexual bill in his native Uganda, and told the BBC that the proposed law is victimising, and diminishes the individuals concerned.

24 December 2009: Police stop Anglicans attending Christmas services in Harare
Despite a recent court order that sought to restrain them, police loyal to ousted bishop Nolbert Kunonga have continued to intervene on his behalf, according to SW Africa Radio. The Episcopal News Service reports that the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have condemned the renewed police intimidation. Voice of America points out that the police had agreed not to interfere. Clearly not all of them agreed.

24 December 2009: Astral mystery endures in Nova Scotia church
Radio Canada reports the story of a Lunenburg church rebuilt after being destroyed by fire. The ceiling was gilded with stars, and in the course of the restoration, what constellations the stars depicted was discovered.

24 December 2009: Church of England seeks ways to attract young
Radio Canada reports on new initiatives the Church of England is proposing after admitting that past efforts have largely failed.

22 December 2009: Bishop 'abandons' church to vie for parliament seat
The Citizen (Dar Es Salaam) reports that the Rt Revd Gerard Elias Mpango has stepped down from his pastoral position to 'serve God through the Parliament as requested by the people in Kasulu East'.

21 December 2009: Research reveals sharp decline in faith in Britain
The Church Executive (Phoenix) reports on new research from the National Center for Social Research which found a large drop in the number of people who self-identify as Christian, mostly due to the steady decline in numbers belonging to the Church of England.

21 December 2009: Does shoplifting violate the eighth commandment?
The parish priest of St Lawrence and St Hilda, York, Father Tim Jones, made headlines when he told his congregation that stealing from large national chains was sometimes the best option many vulnerable people had. Police and politicians interviewed by The Press (York) disagreed, and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, branded him as 'misguided and foolish'.