ACNS Weekly Review 14 ? 20 January, 2011

From Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>
Date Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:38:38 -0800

Posted On : January 14, 2011 11:00 AM | Posted By : Admin ACO
ACNS:
<http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/1/14/ACNS4767>http://www.aco.org/acn 
s/news.cfm/2011/1/14/ACNS4767


Weekly Review 14 ? 20 January, 2011


A weekly roundup of Anglican Communion news plus
opinion, reviews, photos, profiles and other
things of interest from across the Anglican/Episcopal world.

A big welcome to the first Weekly Review of the
year! Thanks for your encouraging feedback so far
about the stories we find to fill the review.
Please let us have any news or information you
have that you think would interest the rest of
the Communion. Send them to <mailto:news@aco.org>news@aco.org.


This edition includes...



* This week's Anglican Communion news


* Anglican Life - Church CB radio service

broadcasts success for housebound parishioners

* Anglican Life - A Time of Celebration in Irbid - A new church in Jord an

* Anglican Life - Beds and wheelbarrows - everyone wants to vote

* Anglican Agencies - Anglican members in 81 countries: The Mother's Un ion

* Publication of the Week ? Anglican Communion stories videos online

* Bookshelf ? Thank God for the New Atheists
and for Marilynne Robinson's Absence of Mind


* The coming week's Anglican Cycle of Prayer



________________
ANGLICAN NEWS


*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/1/14/ACNS4766>Nigeria
- Nigeria bishops: "We are in a deadly struggle
for the soul and survival of our nation"

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/1/12/ACNS4765>Australi 
a
- Primate's Letter to the Australian Bishops on the Brisbane Floods.

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/1/7/ACNS4764>Sudan
- The Anglican Communion rallies in prayer and support behind Sudan

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/1/5/ACNS4763>Primates'
Meeting - Archbishops' prayers for the upcoming Primates' Meeting in Dublin

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/1/4/ACNS4762>Egypt
- Egypt churches to have security barriers, cameras after New Year's Eve

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2011/1/14/Worldwide 
-Anglican-family-supporting-Queensland-flood-relief>Australia
- 'Worldwide Anglican family' supporting Queensland flood relief

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2011/1/13/Primate-l 
aunches-appeal-for-Queensland>Australia
- Primate launches appeal for Queensland

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2011/1/12/Australia 
n-Anglicans-brace-for-more-flooding-as-they-assist-those-already-inundated> 
Australia
- Australian Anglicans brace for more flooding as
they assist those already inundated

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2011/1/10/First-day 
s-voting-passes-peacefully-in-Diocese-of-Bethlehem-Kajo-Keji>Sudan
- First day's voting passes peacefully in Diocese of Bethlehem: Kajo Keji

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2011/1/7/Cathedral- 
escapes-disastrous-Queensland-floods>Australia
- Cathedral escapes disastrous Queensland floods

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2011/1/7/Archbishop 
-of-Jos-Dont-pin-Jos-bombs-on-religion>Nigeria
- Archbishop of Jos: "Don't pin Jos bombs on religion"

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2011/1/6/Utah-teens 
-raise-1-million-inspire-others-to-aid-local-homeless>USA
- Utah teens raise $1 million, inspire others to aid local homeless

*

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2011/1/5/The-Bishop 
-of-Clogher-speaks-of-reconciliation-on-visit-to-Kaduna-diocese>Ireland
- The Bishop of Clogher speaks of reconciliation on visit to Kaduna diocese


________________



ANGLICAN LIFE


Church CB radio service broadcasts success for housebound parishioners


By Ken Quinn, Church of Ireland Gazette


In 2004, Ofcom, the regulator for the UK

Communications Industries, began an experimental
trial for Northern Ireland churches to relay
service to housebound members of their
congregations. Ofcom licensed a number of local
churches to operate within the UK Citizen Band,
thus enabling them to transmit services through a
new system called Community Audio Distributions
System (CADS), which constituted a simple,
short-range and inexpensive wireless public address system.

Following the experimental trial piloted by 100
churches of all denominations through Northern
Ireland and Yorkshire, Ofcom deregulated church
radio broadcasts in December 2006. This made CADS
exempt from licensing and removed all regulatory
requirements on churches using the system. The
only restrictions for CADS broadcasts were that
they could not carry commercial messages of any
kind; were for intermittent use (church
services); were only available to broadcast to
the public in a geographically local area; and
had to be turned off when not in use.

Seapatrick parish, Banbridge, Diocese of Dromore,
was one of the first to engage in the initial
trials and has now been operating the system
successfully for five years, with some 50
parishoners tuning in each week to Sunday
services. The main function of the system is to
serve people who, for one reason or another,
cannot get to church, including the housebound
and those recovering from illness. These
parishioners can tune in every Sunday to morning
and evening services and, indeed, to any special
services held during the week.

This not only gives them the opportunity to share
in live workship but also enables them to keep in
touch with parish affairs on a weekly basis and
feel more included in parish life.

A Time of Celebration in Irbid - A new church in Jordan

From the

<http://www.jmeca.org.uk/images/biblelands_winter2010.pdf>magazine
of the Jerusalem and the Middle East Church Association

The people of Irbid, a major city in the north of
Jordan, have a new church! It was dedicated by
Bishop Suheil Dawani in the presence of priests
and lay people from the Diocese of Jerusalem,
ecumenical and political dignitaries and church
representatives. The service was attended by the
architect and the project manager whose
achievements were being celebrated. Out of
respect for all the Abrahimic Muslim brothers and
sisters of the region and knowing their regard
for the Virgin Mary, the church was consecrated
in the name of St Mary, the Virgin.

Fr Samir Esaid is the Pastor of the congregation
of St Mary?s, coupling it with his duties in the
Arab Episcopal School. Both the school and the
church are a continuing witness to the local
community and will, with this new facility,
expand the Christian presence and ministry in the
area. Above the Sanctuary is a verse from the
Magnificat. ?My soul doth magnify the Lord?
expressing the desire of every Christian and the
focus of worship in this new church.

The building is made of local stone with marble
flooring. It has wooden pews, altar and pulpit.
An outstanding feature is the wooden cross above
the altar which draws the eye into the Sanctuary.
The furniture was made by students and staff of
the Theodore Schneller School, an institution of
the diocese which provides educational and
vocational training for boys who have learning
challenges or who have been marginalised or
orphaned in the many conflicts of the land. Their
workmanship in the church truly reflects the
skill and creative design of those who are
trained at the School. The Schneller School has a
long connection with the churches of Germany and
it was good that they were well represented at
the ceremony. The occasion was a wonderful reward
for the hard work, the fund-raising and the
prayerful support of so many faithful people.

For a picture of the new church click

<http://www.jmeca.org.uk/biblelands_winter2010/biblelands_jerusalem_irbid.h 
tml>here

Sudan referendum: Beds and wheelbarrows - everyone wants to vote

By Trisha Wick, a

<http://www.cms-uk.org/tabid/151/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3297/Bed 
s-and-wheelbarrows--everyone-wants-to-vote.aspx>CMS
mission partner working with the local church in
discipleship training in South Sudan.

Day 5 of voting--Sick people are being carried
from hospitals on beds to Polling Centres, others
come in wheelbarrows. Prisoners are voting
too.Huge numbers of people voted on the first two
days, so queues are now rare in the voting
centres as numbers have reduced. The local Chiefs
and some Government officials are now going house
to house looking for those who have not yet
voted. The carnival atmosphere continues and
international observers are very impressed with the whole procedure.

It is an incredibly moving experience to witness
this Referendum. There is love, unity,
cooperation and laughter as we have never seen
before. God is great! Local ladies are looking
after polling staff and security personnel by
cooking food for them. It seems many people are
finding healing through the process. One man said
"When I voted all my heavy burdens were lifted from me. I feel free now."

Everywhere except Abyei has remained peaceful -
they are still waiting for their Referendum, to
vote as to whether they will be part of North or
South Sudan, as their area straddles the border.
Voting concludes on the 15th. Results will then
be announced in stages. On the 16th we will get
results from each Polling Centre. These are then
forwarded to County level, then State, then to
Referendum Headquarters in Juba in South Sudan.
These are all provisional results.

The final official result will be announced from Khartoum by 14 February.


_______________



ANGLICAN AGENCIES



Mothers' Union


Mothers' Union is an international Christian
charity that seeks to support families worldwide.
Its history stretches back to 1876 and now, in 81
countries, our members share one heartfelt vision
- to bring about a world where God's love is
shown through loving, respectful and flourishing
relationships. This is not a vague hope, but a
goal we actively pursue through prayer,
programmes, policy work and community
relationships. By supporting marriage and family
life, especially through times of adversity, we
tackle the most urgent needs challenging relationships and communities.

Our members are not all mothers, or even all
women. Single, married, parents, grandparents, or
young adults just beginning to express their
social conscience. For all 4 million members what
Mothers' Union provides is a network through
which they can serve Christ in their own
community - through prayer, financial support and
actively working at the grassroots level in
programmes that meet local needs. We lobby local
and national governments on issues affecting
family life and campaign to challenge legislation
that neglects the vulnerable and marginalised. We
are also represented at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Wome 
n.

Learn more about this crucial and influential
Anglican agency at its international website
<http://www.themothersunion.org/%20>http://www.themothersunion.org/


_______________



PUBLICATION OF THE WEEK


<http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/news/stories/>Trinity
Wall Street's Anglican Communion stories videos

Stories showing how people in the global Anglican
Communion are working together for the kingdom of God.

Communion countries covered include

<http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/webcasts/videos/profiles/anglican-communi 
on-stories/the-anglican-church-in-ghana-service-to-community>Ghana,
<http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/webcasts/videos/profiles/anglican-communi 
on-stories/uruguay-small-diocese-big-impact>Uruguay
and
<http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/webcasts/videos/profiles/anglican-communi 
on-stories/ministry-in-the-great-plains>South
Dakota and
<http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/webcasts/videos/profiles/anglican-communi 
on-stories/emerging-from-katrina>New
Orleans.


_______________



BOOKSHELF


Absence of Mind - by Marilynne Robinson - Yale University Press, 2010

Rob Forsyth in The Link (magazine of the

Australian diocese of Armidale), courtesy of Southern Cross.

Thank God for the new atheists. Why? Because
increasingly we are seeing excellent responses to
them that otherwise might not have been written.
I have been deeply impressed by Marilynne
Robinson's Absence of Mind. Robinson is best
known as the author of Gilead, the 2005 Pulitzer
prize-winning novel about a Christian minister.
Here she turns to issues of science and religion.
The book is a gentle, subtle and rapier-like
riposte to the those philosophers, scientists and
psychologists who present what is thought to be a
new and radical understanding of the human mind
based entirely upon science, but which in reality
diminishes the human experience of the self once
thought to be at the very centre of who we are.

For example, because every human quality has to
be explained as in our genetic self interest it
cannot be that we are ever really altruistic. We
are only ever moved by hidden self interest that
masquerades as something else. Our true self is
hidden from us. Does this matter? Robinson thinks
so, "Whoever controls the definition of the mind
controls the definition of humankind itself, and culture, and history." (p3 
2)

Robinson works not in generalities but by picking
particular elements of different writers, showing
narrowness and condescension about the past and a
lack of genuine scientific rigour, a phenomenon
which she characterises as 'parascience'. She
writes, "One of the characterising traits of this
large and burgeoning literature is its confidence
that science has given us knowledge sufficient to
allow us to answer certain essential questions
about the nature of reality, if only by dismissing them." (p33)

This brief review cannot do justice to this short
but profound book. It requires patience and care
from the reader, but is well worth the effort. (I
had to read it at least twice.) The fundamental
issue at stake caught in this summary statement
from towards the end of the second chapter. "Why
is the human brain the most complex object known
to exist in the universe? Because the
elaborations of the mammalian brain overshot the
mark? Or because it is intrinsic to our role in
the universe as thinkers and perceivers,
participants in a singular capacity for wonder as
well as comprehension. The anomalies that plague
accident as an explanatory model - the human mind
- and how else to describe the mind that makes us aware and capable?" (p72)

Although the book doesn't prove any

straightforward way that God exists, by refusing
to allow the mystery of what it is to be human,
to be simply explained away, Absence of Mind
shows the inadequacy and shallowness of 'parascientifc' New Atheism.


____________________


<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm?year=2010&month=11&day 
=14>THE
COMING WEEK?S ANGLICAN CYCLE OF PRAYER (click the
link for the full details of the ACP)


Friday 14-Jan-2011
Psalm: 119: 41-48    Isa. 45: 1-8
Limerick & Killaloe - (Dublin, Ireland)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=266>The
Rt Revd Trevor Williams



Saturday 15-Jan-2011
Psalm: 139: 1-10    Eph. 4: 25-32
Lincoln - (Canterbury, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=179>The
Rt Revd John Charles Saxbee
Lincoln - Grantham - (Canterbury, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/cathedral.cfm?IDNUMBER=17489>The
Rt Revd Timothy William Ellis
Lincoln - Grimsby - (Canterbury, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/cathedral.cfm?IDNUMBER=9210>The
Rt Revd David Douglas James Rossdale



Sunday 16-Jan-2011     The Epiphany 2
Psalm: 1    Eph. 5: 1-5
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=342>The
Most Rt Revd Nicholas Dikeriehi Okoh Archbishop,
Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria and Bishop of Abuja
Suffragan Bishop of Abuja - (Province of Abuja,
Nigeria)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/cathedral.cfm?IDNUMBER=17132>Vacant



Monday 17-Jan-2011
Psalm: 33: 1-6,12    Eph. 5: 6-14
Litoral Ecuador - (Province IX, USA)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=654>The
Rt Revd Alfredo Morante


Tuesday 18-Jan-2011     Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Psalm: 8    Eph. 5: 15-20
Liverpool - (York, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=182>The
Rt Revd James Stuart Jones
Liverpool - Warrington - (York, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/cathedral.cfm?IDNUMBER=8655>The
Rt Revd David Wilfred Michael Jennings


Wednesday 19-Jan-2011
Psalm: 100    Eph. 5: 21-33
Lokoja - (Province of Abuja, Nigeria)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=384>The
Rt Revd Emmanuel Sokowamju Egbunu



Thursday 20-Jan-2011
Psalm: 85: 7-end    Eph. 6: 1-9
London - (Canterbury, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=184>The
Rt Revd & Rt Hon Richard John Carew Chartres
London - Edmonton - (Canterbury, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/cathedral.cfm?IDNUMBER=7479>The
Rt Revd Peter William Wheatley
London - Fulham - (Canterbury, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/cathedral.cfm?IDNUMBER=4073>The
Rt Revd John Charles Broadhurst
London - Kensington - (Canterbury, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/cathedral.cfm?IDNUMBER=18431>The
Rt Revd Paul Gavin Williams
London - Stepney - (Canterbury, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/cathedral.cfm?IDNUMBER=16203>The
Rt Revd Stephen Oliver
London - Willesden - (Canterbury, England)
<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/cathedral.cfm?IDNUMBER=9226>The
Rt Revd Peter Allan Broadbent


___________________________________________________________________________ 
____________

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