Archbishop Akinola is often the subject of critical comment here on Preludium, and for good reason. But there have been times when we have urged people to look also at the Archbishop’s willingness to speak out against the corruption of the state and corporations and against the excesses of certain church practices.In an interview for the Church of Nigeria webpages, Archbishop Akinola speaks to
Originally posted here:
Akinola interview: Credit where credit is due.
There was a lot of controversy about President George W. Bush’s attempt to expand federal grants to faith-based organizations involved in social services work. Now comes a new study by Duke Divinity School professor of sociology Mark Chaves which says the initiative had no impact whatsoever on persuading churches to expand their social-services ministries.
See original here:
Did Bush’s Faith-based Initiative Expand Church Social Services? Nope.
When all is said and done — in a few years’ time — The Episcopal Church could find itself out of the international Anglican Communion and the Anglican Church in North America would be in. That would have more symbolic significance than practical, but it would be galling, no doubt, to The Episcopal Church.
See the original post here:
Church of England Ponders Embracing Episcopal Church’s Rival
He left the priesthood after publishing ‘A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church,’ a national bestseller. James Kavanaugh, a former Catholic priest who came to fame in 1967 with his controversial bestseller calling for reform in the church and later wrote bestselling books of poetry and other works, has died
Read the original post:
James Kavanaugh dies at 81; former Catholic priest wrote book calling for church reform
Another brief thought sparked by a good conversation. The friend I was chatting with made an observation. He said that in a lot of churches it seems like the gospel, the good news, is that we are good news. Interesting thought. Imagine if the gospel was just that we are the gospel. But honestly, if that’s it, then it doesn’t seem worth it. (There are other gospels on the loose today, also not worth it. If the gospel is just that we can be rich in this world – not worth it. If the gospel is just that we can protect the environment – not worth it.) We won’t get into precise definition of the gospel here, although there is huge need for that. But the basic conclusion was this – the gospel surely is something about what God has done in Christ. If we let the gospel shrink to an us-size gospel, rather than a Christ-size gospel, we do everyone a profound disservice. Now a Christ-size gospel, a work of God gospel, that reaches us and does what only God could do for people who deserve anything but
Read the rest here:
Gospels That Aren’t Worth It
I recently read a book about a certain denomination in this country (not important which denomination here), and it made an interesting observation. Over the course of a generation it seemed like there was a wholesale loss of confidence. This showed in evangelism, in church health, in preaching, etc. Today I was enjoying conversation with a friend who made a similar observation about the same denomination. A loss of confidence in Scripture, in our ability to understand it, and therefore in our ability to preach it. This raises the issue of confidence in preaching. Being self-confident is not the goal here. Our confidence has to be in God – in His Spirit, His Word, His work in us and others, His gifting. Tied into this is a certain level of confidence needed in our hermeneutics so that we are not grasping around trying to find “a message” instead of diligently and prayerfully pursuing “the message” in a passage
View post:
Where Did the Confidence Go?
Christian Post reported yesterday that a new report for 2009 on “Crimes Against Christian Organizations in the United States” indicates that there were at least 1,237 crimes committed against Christian churches and ministries in the United States last year. The report issued by the Christian Security Network says that over 700 of the incidents were burglaries.
See the original post here:
Report Details Crimes Against U.S. Christian Churches In 2009
Yesterday’s Georgian Daily says that Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirrill is positioning the Russian Orthodox Church for a greater role in Russian politics. The paper first cites a speech by Kirrill to the Russian Academy of State Service in which he argued that Russia should be judged by its unique values and not by “alien” European criteria– a position that echos the views of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Second, he has strongly criticized Europeans for surrendering their values to “passionate” Muslims
Go here to see the original:
Orthodox Church In Russia Poised For More Political Involvement
With cult leader Sun Myung Moon turning 90 in February, how the movement will survive beyond him is unclear. Moon’s children are at odds over how to run the church’s business empire. Some second-generation Unification Church members are now looking for a less-radical version of their faith
Original post:
Children of Sun Myung Moon church’s mass-wedding age face a crossroads
It was a busy New Year’s weekend for Mark Barna, religion reporter for the Colorado Springs Gazette , who covered the growing split between James Dobson and Focus on the Family, the powerful and prominent evangelical parachurch organization he has led for decades. Focus, which has struggled with declining income and layoffs, has for years been concerned about its future and its transition to a new generation of leaders
Read more here:
Dobson’s family squabble