13 May 2012: New bishop of Singapore
The Straits Times reports that the assistant bishop, and vicar of St John's-St Margaret's church, Rennis Ponniah, has been chosen as the ninth bishop of Singapore. The Singapore Christian Post has this report.

12 May 2012: Deranged Harare ex-bishop gets even more extreme
The Standard (Zimbabwe) reported today that the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) has started buying land to build new churches to replace those seized by government troops in the name of deposed ex-bishop Nolbert Kunonga, who believes that he owns all Anglican churches in Harare. The report quotes Kunonga as having said '[These churches are] built for me as the law gave me custody of the church and all its properties.'

12 May 2012: Church of Ireland vote on sexuality
The Church of Ireland has been going through a long drawn-out process of debating 'Human sexuality in the context of Christian belief'. Thinking Anglicans has a complete roundup of what happened but not much interpretation of what it means. The vote is (at our time of publication) too recent for any of the usual columnists or pundits to analyze it, so we'll just quote one of the effectively anonymous commenters who attached their comments to the Thinking Anglicans article:

"The statement from the Church of Ireland would have been unthinkable in the '70s, groundbreaking in the '80s, progressive in the '90s, contemporary in the '00s, but by now so much of society has moved on that it feels a bit stale. Which makes me sad - I think Jesus would have us lead society rather than mopping up after the parade passes by."

11 May 2012: Seeing eye dog retires
The Anglican Journal reports that part of the service at the Church of the Ascension in Port Perry, Ontario was dedicated to honouring Imus, the seeing eye dog of one Sean Madsen. After years of service, Imus is retiring.

10 May 2012: Communiqué from the meeting of ARCIC III in Hong Kong
When was the last time you read a Communiqué from a group meeting and got a glimmer of benefit from it? Yeah, us too. If you know what ARCIC III is and why they met in Hong Kong and you are a skilled reader of communiqués there is a slight chance that you might find this one interesting. We love this phrase from the ARCIC website: 'The first phase of work was completed with the publication of the Final Report in 1981' and remain in awe of the ARCIC travel budget. The [Roman] Catholic Herald (London) sniffed 'ARCIC III sounds like a lot of hot air' and noted that 'After the creation of the Personal Ordinariate there's not much left to talk about.'

6 May 2012: Life imitates telly at the London Olympics
The Telegraph (UK) reported on the design of lapel badges for chaplains at the upcoming summer Olympics. When, in March and April, a BBC sitcom about the Olympics featured a clash of religious faiths, no one thought that life was about to imitate art — but it has. Religious symbols have been banned from a 'faith' badge designed for chaplains at the London Games lest they cause offence.

4 May 2012: New Bishop for Chichester
Church Times (UK) reported the appointment of Dr Martin Warner, seen as a 'traditionalist', as the next Bishop of Chichester.

2 May 2012: Canada considers Maritime amalgamation
CBC News reported Church officials discussed combining some of the seven eastern dioceses, from Quebec to Newfoundland, in an effort to save on administrative costs. The discussion took place at a meeting of the seven eastern dioceses, the purpose of which is to give members the chance to prepare to debate issues at the upcoming Provincial Synod scheduled for September.

2 May 2012: Inuktitut Bible completed and dedication scheduled
The Washington Post (US) reported on the completion of the translation of the Bible into Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit people and most widely spoken aboriginal tongue in Canada's Arctic. Begun in 1978, the massive task marks the first time in Canada that a translation of the whole Bible was accomplished entirely by native speakers of the language rather than by missionaries. The newly-completed Old Testament joins the already completed New Testament to create the first complete Bible in Inuktitut. The dedication is scheduled for 3 June at the igloo-shaped Nunavut cathedral. We also recommend you take a gander at the Canadian Bible Society release here.

1 May 2012: Celebrating 350 years for 1662 Book of Common Prayer
Ecumenical News (Geneva) reported on celebrations surrounding the 350th anniversary of the BCP. London SE1 reported the Prince of Wales opened a public exhibit at Lambeth Palace, Monarchy and the Book of Common Prayer, which runs through 14 July 2012. Please note the list of lectures accompanying the exhibition can be found as a link on the Lambeth Palace library site or directly here.

1 May 2012: Church online archive of sermons needs tagging. Want to help?
The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) reported All Souls Church, Langham Place in London, England, has appealed through Social Media and its website for volunteers to help 'tag' 3,600 free sermons and talks. 'Tagging' provides key words or descriptors to make searching by topic possible. The parish hopes to harness the interest and support of the many subscribers to their podcasts and recordings through crowd-sourcing. Interested? Learn more here.

30 April 2012: Communion life 'impeded' by insufficient communicators, says working group
ACNS reports on the meeting of the Communications Working Group in London. It doesn't surprise us that the group sees a shortage of 'qualified communicators' and posits 'Communion life [is] at risk of being detrimentally affected by some Provinces' inability to source and share their news and stories widely.'

29 April 2012: New Bishop of Wellington: a 'dreadlocked pioneer'
Anglican Taonga, the media arm for the Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, reports on the appointment of Justin Duckworth as the next Bishop of Wellington.

27 April 2012: Chair of Canterbury Crown Nominations appointed
The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) reports the Prime Minister (UK) has appoint the Rt Hon the Lord Luce KG, GCVO to be Chairman of the Crown Nominations Commission for its selection of the next Archbishop of Canterbury. If you prefer to read the Church of England posting, it is here. The official announcement from the Prime Minister can be found here.

27 April 2012: Progress towards creation of Nigerian Communion
The Church Times (London) reports on the suggestion from Nigeria and Kenya that the Archbishop of Canterbury no longer be the chair of the Primates' Meeting. No amount of spin doctoring conceals the core notion that this is another step towards wresting control of the Anglican Communion from Anglia.

27 April 2012: Art treasures found in Taranaki church
The Taranaki Daily News (NZ) reports on the uncovering of historic artwork in Holy Trinity, the first church built in Taranaki in 1845.

22 April 2012: The smallest church in Britain
About 70 people attend the annual rogation service at the tiny church in the abandoned village of Bremillham, in Wiltshire, but only the vicar and the organist fit inside. The Church Times notes that its claim to be the smallest church in Britain has been challenged by St Trillo's, in Rhos on Sea, North Wales, which holds services each Friday night for eight to ten persons. The priest who cares for Bremilham would be content to claim it as the smallest church in England.

21 April 2012: Diocese of Pittsburgh elects Dorsey W. McConnell as 8th bishop
The Episcopal News Service reports that the rector of the Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts,
has been elected Bishop of Pittsburgh. The Post Gazette in that city suggests that the election of this one-time horse wrangler, Fulbright scholar and former agnostic has been welcomed by conservatives and liberals alike.

20 April 2012: A female priest gives a new definition to 'Sunday best'
Dr Amy Richter is rector of St Anne's parish in Annapolis, Maryand. One of her sermons is about to be published in the Expository Times. But her other claim to fame is that, some time ago, she came in second at a physique competition at the Wisconsin State Fair. An article in the New York Times tells about her hesitations about wearing a red bikini instead of a black clergy shirt, and taking part in the contest.

16 April 2012: St Cuthbert Gospel
The BBC reports that the British Library, in partnership with Durham University and Durham Cathedral, has acquired Europe's oldest intact book dating from the seventh century AD: the St Cuthbert Gospel. A digitized version of the manuscript is available here.

15 April 2012: Easter Sunday in Tripoli
Forty parishioners — mostly Indian, with some Africans and westerners amongst them — celebrated Easter at the Church of Christ the King in Tripoli. The Toronto Star reports on the delicate balance between Christian and Muslim in that city.

15 April 2012: Moving ahead with a cardboard cathedral for Christchurch
The New Zealand Herald reports that the Anglican Church in that country (whose formal name is so long we'll not use it) has revealed plans for a 'transitional' cathedral in the city of Christchurch, made mostly of cardboard, with wood and steel where needed to make it safe. There has been discussion of a cardboard cathedral for some time, but today's announcement is the first official statement that it's really going to happen.

10 April 2012: Church finds multifaith homes in the wilderness
Episcopal News Service (ENS) reports on the moveable nature of worship at a church in Charleston, South Carolina (US). Grace Church was deemed structurally unsound following an earthquake in August 2011. Since that time, the parish has been welcomed to use the worship spaces of a number of different congregations from different denominations and faiths - including a local synagogue. "We've certainly learned a great deal about the kindness of people whose beliefs are different than ours... We are worshipping the same God and we've come to know that in a deep sense. I think none of us in our wildest dreams could imagine that we would find so many friends in Charleston."

8 April 2012: New holy thorn tree planted at Glastonbury
The Glastonbury thorn was planted, according to legend, by Joseph of Arimathea, was burned as a relic of superstition by Cromwell's roundheads, and was hacked down by vandals in 2010. But on Palm Sunday, according to Glastonbury People, a new thorn was planted, at a service presided over by the vicar of St John.

8 April 2012: He is risen!
The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) has compiled a number of Easter reflections and messages from around the Communion. The text of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter sermon can be found on the ACNS website here.

5 April 2012: Does your child know the Lord's Prayer?
The Church Times (UK) reports that the Archbishop of Canterbury said the Lord's Prayer should be taught more diligently in schools. He was responding to a survey conducted by the BBC pro­gramme Newsround, which found that only 55 per cent of children aged between six and 12 knew the prayer. The majority (92 per cent) of adults who were in that age group 40 years ago said that they knew the prayer as a child. The research was conducted with 1000 children and 1000 adults to mark the 40th anniversary of the programme.

2 April 2012: Commission to Communion: "Tell us your views on next Archbishop of Canterbury's Ministry"
ACNS reports the Crown Nominations Commission has an online comment form where all members in the Communion are invited to share their views on the ministry of the next Archbishop of Canterbury.