Episcopal Church
Really good article on a priest and former army chaplain and his PTSD
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/military/story/2019-11-10/army-chaplain-ptsd-journey
UTO grants and the Anglican church in Spain
https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/11/12/uto-grants-helped-the-spanish-reformed-episcopal-church-survive-rebuild/
Local story from Oklahoma about ERD
https://www.enidnews.com/community/episcopal-church-inviting-public-to-join-in-m-match-for/article_bc53498e-0568-11ea-bfe6-177d51a15a6f.html
New (interim) chief lawyer for TEC
https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/pressreleases/suzanne-baillie-named-interim-in-house-counsel-for-the-episcopal-church/
California (I think) church celebrates 11th annual service honoring native Americans
https://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/2019/11/14/redlands-trinity-episcopal-church-to-hold-annual-native-american-worship-service/
Bishop Mark Van Koevering elected diocesan bishop after several years of interim work in Dio of Lexington
https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/11/14/diocese-of-lexington-elects-bishop-mark-van-koevering-as-bishop-diocesan/
Neil Alexander is stepping down as dean of the School of Theology at Sewanee
https://www.sewanee.edu/theology/seminary/media/news/neil-alexander-to-step-down-as-dean.html?fbclid=IwAR0_3W8erWJ_Zau58Gedh5Kv6QtLE9gqyvi_nIVK4OZhRTf3E0ieg26fkJc
Anglican Communion
This was from last week (I think) but a really good article on faith in a secular age
https://www.anglicanjournal.com/count-on-whats-true-to-do-its-own-solicitation-vsts-richard-topping-on-preaching-to-a-skeptical-world/
Archbishop of York on the persistence of racism in the CoE
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/john-sentamu-racism-is-still-a-big-issue-in-the-church-of-england-l5l6r28sw
Anglican and Catholic bishops in Melbourne, AUS worship together lighting a unity candle using a flame generated from another unity candle from 40 years ago
https://catholicoutlook.org/anglicans-and-catholics-in-melbourne-pray-together-as-their-archbishops-light-a-candle-for-unity/
A chicken-little-ish report on church stats in Canada
https://www.anglicanjournal.com/wake-up-call-cogs-hears-statistics-report-on-church-membership-decline/
The Pope and ABC are planning to travel to South Sudan together on a peace mission, which seems pretty worthwhile
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/11/13/pope-anglican-archbishop-affirm-desire-to-visit-south-sudan-together/
and
https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2019/11/pope-francis-and-archbishop-justin-welby-plan-united-visit-to-south-sudan.aspx
Other Interesting Items
A good op-ed from the Cleveland area, not an Episcopal priest, but good words nonetheless
https://www.record-courier.com/news/20191102/voices-of-faith-stop-trying-to-win?fbclid=IwAR0qWk9EdmnfhshDrDMx2b-RKol2O6dsGyO4ege5lX1F2Gtco5bbd94SG8Y
Op-Ed at RNS about recovery of the term “evangelical”
https://religionnews.com/2019/11/12/can-we-find-a-new-meaning-in-the-word-evangelical/
image: Mark Van Koevering, bishop of the Diocese of Lexington
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Can you please explain why you characterize the report on decline in the Canadian Anglican Church as “chicken-little-ish”? Are you implying that the church is not in decline? Or that the specific predictions are faulty? Or that the possible extinction of church membership by 2040 is not really bad news?
Numerical decline is real; Christians in the west are still figuring out how to be the church without being propped up by cultural and state privilege, but numerical decline is highly unlikely to lead to zero. It will likely level off at some number lower than now, which will bring with it fundamental changes how the church functions and organizes itself. Because despite there being overall decline, there are places in every diocese where the church is growing. The example of the communist states of the 20th century shows that Christianity is very difficult to eradicate. Cultural winds change; new ways of being the church will emerge, and the last Anglican isn’t going to keel over in 2040 or probably even 2140.