Reluctant Anglicans (Part 6) – Culture and Sharing

Peregrinus continues his series of posts which looks at why some Anglicans may be reluctant to accept Anglicanorum Coetibus. Parts 6:

A few words now about recognizing elements of Anglican Patrimony. But first we need to set the stage by acknowledging the contributions of Anglo-Catholics and especially those who have been identified as Anglo-Papists (or Anglo-Papalists)…

Read on here.

Part 1 here.

Part 2 here.

Part 3 here.

Part 4 here.

Part 5 here.

 

The Gate

Joel Kramer writes:

My current video project, The Soul Shepherd, has had me filming Bedouin shepherds and their flocks over the last two years. Today I begin sharing some of that footage with you in this video short, The Gate.

As you watch, ponder the metaphor of our human souls as sheep needing the care of a shepherd. Let the visuals and scriptures help you see more clearly your relationship with “our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep”. (Hebrews 13:20).

 

Is This the High Priestly Palace Where Jesus Stood Trial?

In the 1970s, renowned archaeological architect Leen Ritmeyer, with his training in both ancient architecture and conservation of historic sites, supervised the team that reconstructed a large palace not far from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He has tentatively identified the “Palatial Mansion” (or “Herodian Mansion”) as the place of residence for Annas the high priest. If this is correct, then this would be a “look inside” the first phase of Jesus’s Jewish trial. And it may explain things like where the courtyard was located and how Jesus could look at Peter though they were in two different locations (Jesus inside and Peter outside, warming himself by a charcoal fire).In doing background research for a forthcoming volume co-authored with Andreas Köstenberger (Jesus’s Final Week: An Easter Chronology and Commentary), I corresponded with Dr. Ritmeyer, who was kind enough to answer a few questions and to share some of his reconstruction drawings with us…

You can read the Q&A here.

It’s well worth checking out if you, like me, are into Biblical Archaeology.

 

Wife Charged with Murder of Priest

Anglican priest’s body was discovered by his two young children.

The Sowetan:

The wife of a Butterworth Anglican Church priest yesterday made a brief appearance in the Butterworth Magistrate’s Court in connection with the murder of her husband earlier this month.

Lungiswa Xuba, 40, and Vuyo Mehlo, 40, were arrested in Elliot last week Friday by Butterworth police detectives in connection with the death of Xuba’s husband, the Reverend Ongama Xuba.

At this stage it is not clear what Mehlo’s relationship is to Xuba.

Butterworth police spokesman, Captain Jackson Manatha confirmed their arrest and charges.

“After their arrest on Friday last week they were detained by police until they appeared in court yesterday. They made a brief court appearance and are expected back in court next week for a formal bail application.

“Both are charged with the murder of Xuba,” Manatha said.

Ongama was found lying dead in a pool of blood on August 3 inside the St Peters Anglican Church house yard in King Street, Butterworth.

He had multiple stab wounds to his upper body.

His body was discovered by his two young children who arrived home with their mother after returning from a shop.

“After seeing his body in a pool of blood, the two children returned quickly to inform their mother that their father was covered in blood.

“It is alleged that the mother and her two children had gone to town to buy something for the deceased.

“It is not clear how the perpetrator gained entrance to the house,” Manatha said.

At the time, Manatha said the motive for the murder was not known and that nothing had been taken from the house.

Ongama’s death shocked many in Butterworth and his church leader, Bishop Elliot Williams of the Mbhashe Anglican Church, described his death and the news of his wife’s arrest as “terrible”.

Eastern Cape Council of Churches leader Reverend Mpumelelo Qwabaza said police should not leave any stone unturned in their investigation.

“It is sad news to hear that the wife of the deceased has been arrested in this case.

“But we call for people to cooperate with the police investigation and we are praying that the congregation must be calm and let the police do their work.”

Qwabaza said they wanted a speedy investigation into the matter so that the truth could be revealed.

“There are children involved in this and two families, so it would be nice to see the investigations speedily resolved to have closure in this matter.

“(Ongama) was a leader who did not deserve to die like that.”

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Luxolo Tyali confirmed the case and said the two would appear in court next week Wednesday. “They are currently remanded in custody.

“By next week they will both be given an opportunity to exercise their right to have their legal representatives in the case,” Tyali said.

 

Fourth Century Christianity in Carinthia

Bread and Circuses:

Exciting news in the Austrian press about what is likely to be the oldest traces of Christianity in Carinthia, in Virunum. A church dating to the 350s was found a couple of years ago, but further excavation suggests that there was a bishop’s palace there – in other words that it was a much significant centre of Christianity than first thought. From Kleine Zeitung:

“Vor sechs Jahren haben wir bereits eine Bischofskirche aus dem vierten  Jahrhundert entdeckt.” Doch nach einer exakten Analyse der Daten könne  man nicht mehr nur von einer Kirche ausgehen. Die Ausmaße auf dem  spätantiken Areal nahe Maria Saal scheinen größer als bisher angenommen. “Wir haben eine weitere Kirche und sechs Klerikerwohnungen entdeckt.”  Zudem vermuten die Archäologen eine dritte Kirche auf der anderen Seite  der Hauptstraße. “Anhand des Grundrisses könnte es sich dort eine  weitere Kirche befinden”, sagt Dolenz. Ob es so ist, wird sich Ende  Oktober herausstellen. Denn dann sollen die neu gewonnenen Erkenntnisse  durch geomagnetische Untersuchungen untermauert werden.

There is more at Orf.at with a good number of photographs.

 

Fr Anthony Chadwick: A Couple of Snippets…

On the Traditional Anglican Communion – past and present.

Do give his post a read over at As the sun is in its orb.

UPDATE:  Deborah Gyapong weighs in and comments on the above.

… I believe that Hepworth understood that the communal and ecclesial way would include a more corporate “front-end” reception, more respect for the bishops’ as guardians of Catholic doctrine rather than an insistence on individual lay conversion, and more respect for the legal and corporate identities of the TAC churches so they could come in as Bishop Craig Botterill once said to me, “lock, stock and barrel” rather than having to disband, potentially leave all behind, come in as individual converts and then attempt to re-assemble after the fact.  Our ecclesial bonds were not regarded as important and consequently our parish families and our dioceses were disintegrated.  Imagine, will you, if every Roman Catholic parish suddenly had to have the individual faith of each of its members examined  (polls show only about half even believe in Real Presence) on pain of not receiving communion if they would not sign on the dotted line that they believed everything the Church holds to be true, whether on contraception to the male priesthood etc.   But most of the TAC bishops showed they did not hold or, as their actions now indicate, aspire to hold the Catholic faith as it is presented in the Catechism.  So, in retrospect the Holy See was perhaps wise to do it the way it did…

Rest here.

 

Pedophiles Want Same Rights as Homosexuals

This was inevitable.

Claim unfair to be stigmatized for sexual orientation.

Using the same tactics used by “gay” rights activists, pedophiles have begun to seek similar status arguing their desire for children is a sexual orientation no different than heterosexual or homosexuals.

Critics of the homosexual lifestyle have long claimed that once it became acceptable to identify homosexuality as simply an “alternative lifestyle” or sexual orientation, logically nothing would be off limits. “Gay” advocates have taken offense at such a position insisting this would never happen. However, psychiatrists are now beginning to advocate redefining pedophilia in the same way homosexuality was redefined several years ago.

In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. A group of psychiatrists with B4U-Act recently held a symposium proposing a new definition of pedophilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders of the APA…

Rest here.

The position of the Church should be obvious. Christians cannot in any way approve or support such sinful, evil behavior (cf.  (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10).

 

Drought to Impact Altar Bread Prices

CNA reports:

Manufacturers of altar bread are preparing to face rising costs of wheat flour as grain prices fluctuate in the wake of a severe drought that continues to plague the Midwest and Western Canada, although they expect to pass along only a minimal price increase to their customers.

In Clyde, Mo., Benedictine Sister Rita Claire Dohn, manager of the altar bread ministry of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, has witnessed a 25 percent increase in the price of wheat flour since the convent last received a delivery two months ago.

“That’s pretty steep when there isn’t a large profit margin,” Sister Dohn emphasized, adding that the convent is the largest religious producer of altar breads in the world. The sisters offer their altar breads wholesale to many smaller convents that resell the life-giving breads to support their community.

“You have to be competitive,” she continued, noting that the sisters are being cautious and have yet to increase the prices of their goods.

She added that the sisters will “hold off as long as possible,” on passing on to their customers any price increases. In addition to making altar bread, the 52-member community is supported by the sale of liturgical vestments and gourmet popcorn.

Sister Dohn said the Clyde monastery produces about 125 million altar breads per year, from whole wheat or white bread. A package containing 500 hosts costs $5.

A farmer in Kansas produces the whole-wheat flour they use, and the white flour comes from a commercial miller in Missouri. Because of contractual obligations, the sisters would not release specific information regarding wheat prices or their suppliers.

Sister Dohn said that the prolonged drought has already taken a toll on the monastery grounds, where new landscaping has withered and died.

“The trees are totally burned,” she lamented. “It looks like fall; the leaves are falling off the trees.”

She added that many of the monastery’s lay employees are also farmers, and many have had corn and soybean crops destroyed by the drought.

According to the National Weather Service, Climate Prediction Center, based in Maryland, drought has affected more than 60 percent of the contiguous 48 states as of mid-August, although significant expansion stopped during the last two weeks.

About one-quarter of the country has experienced extreme to exceptional drought, primarily in a large area extending from the central Rockies eastward through the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. Many parts of the Midwest received 8 to 12 inches less precipitation than normal from April 1-August 14, with a few areas reporting deficits exceeding one foot of rainfall.

Locally, at the Cavanagh Company, in Greenville, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of altar breads, the Midwest drought has yet to make its impact felt.

General Manager Andy Cavanagh said the company hasn’t yet witnessed an increase in the price it pays for its wheat flour, although it has been notified by its supplier to expect higher prices in the near future as the price of wheat continues to rise.

“We have not felt the effects of this yet,” Cavanagh said, adding that the price of wheat flour doubled in 2008 when a wheat shortage developed as a result of Midwestern farmers shifting their focus to corn, which at the time was more lucrative.

“It’s tough to foresee what the future prices will bring,” Cavanagh added, noting that the company currently pays about $29 for 100 pounds of wheat flour.

The fourth generation altar bread manufacturer said that while his company is utilizing its current inventory of wheat flour, he does expect a slight increase in the cost of the next shipment in a few weeks.

“I’m assuming it won’t be much of a price difference,” he continued. “We pass it on as gently as possible.”

Cavanagh added that the company would increase prices by two percent on October 1, which he attributed to rising employee medical insurance and energy costs, and other operational factors, but not because of an increase in the price of wheat flour.

The company currently produces hosts in whole wheat and white varieties and larger celebration breads in whole wheat.

Cavanagh said that the company operates 24 hours a day, and uses 100 pounds of wheat flour every 20 minutes, for a total of 1.9 million pounds a year. The altar breads are distributed to church goods stores and other retailers, such as convents, throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Africa and the Caribbean.

He emphasized that because the company produces altar breads in volume, the cost to retailers should not be significantly higher.

Father David Green, pastor of St. Martha Church, East Providence, said he has witnessed slight periodic increases in the cost of altar breads during the 11 years he has been a pastor.

“It hasn’t become prohibitive,” he said, noting that the higher prices are in line with the cost of living increases that affect most products…

 

Jesus Christ ‘May Have Suffered from Mental Health Problems’, Claims Church of England

Again, making the case as to why one CANNOT in good conscience remain an Anglican in communion with the Church of England.

A Suggested sermon produced by the Church of England for clerics attempting to tackle the stigma of mental health pulls no punches.

Written by the Rev Eva McIntyre on behalf of the Church’s Archbishops’ Council and the Time to Change mental health campaign, it suggests John the Baptist, St Paul, St Francis and other figures from the Bible may all have been mentally ill.

It even asks followers to consider accusations made in the New Testament that Jesus “had lost his mind”.

It reads: “Many of the people we read about in Bible stories might today be considered as having mental health issues. “For example, ‘Would Jesus’ family maybe on occasion have said, ‘Cousin John is a bit odd, bless him!’ when John the Baptist took to his eccentric style of life?

“It has long been thought that King Saul, in the books of Samuel, was displaying mood swings that suggest he had bi-polar disorder and some think that St Paul’s Damascus Road experience was the result of some sort of breakdown or psychotic episode…

Good grief! What convoluted and inaccurate theology. Heresy.

The rest and what is a downright blasphemous sermon (written by a priestess) is here.

 

Anglican Use Conference – 2012

For those in the US who may be interested, Fr Christopher Phillips posts:

The 2012 annual conference of the Anglican Use Society will be held from Thursday, November 8 through Saturday, November 10. It will be hosted jointly by the parish of St. Therese of Lisieux and the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. The Ordinary of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, Msgr. Jeffrey N. Steenson, will take part in the conference. Most activities will be held at the Catholic Center at 20 West Ninth St. in Kansas City.

Reservations for the conference and for the hotel can be made at the Conference web site.

The Society’s website is here.