27 December 2010: A Christmas in Wales
In his Christmas sermon, the Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, worried that cuts in government spending will turn Wales' most deprived areas into Cinderella communities, that high income areas will be more successful in lobbying for cash than communities where the need is greatest, according to a report in Wales Online.

27 December 2010: Bishop advises priest to leave the church
The Lusaka Times reports that the Bishop of Lusaka has told a Kitwe priest 'to stop using the name of the church for his political schemes with immediate effect and advised him to leave the church.' We understand that the priest in question, Father Richard Luonde, has had a rather tense relationship with church authorities in the past.

22 December 2010: Continuing turbulence in Ballarat
The Age (Melbourne) reports 'Anglican Bishop Michael Hough, forced to resign over complaints of bullying, did not go quietly on Monday. The controversial bishop's last act was to sack his vicar-general - the man who will run the diocese until a bishop is elected - and install his staunchest supporter, retired priest Arthur Savage. ' The next day, that newspaper reported that the Archbishop revoked the sacking. A seriously unhappy member of that diocese wrote us a Letter to the Editor this week to complain about our recent coverage of things Ballarat, but we note that other newspapers and other bishops seem to be agreeing with our source.

20 December 2010: An anxious Christmas in Baghdad
Though most churches in Baghdad cancelled Christmas services because of the risk to their congregations, St George's Church held its Christmas worship, behind barricades and razor wire. The Church Times describes the attacks on Christians in Iraq this past year, and the exodus from the country. Meanwhile, relatives of a released hostage have criticised the claims of Canon Andrew White, the 'vicar of Baghdad', that he played a prominent part in freeing him, according to an article in the Telegraph.

19 December 2010: Ballarat bishop a sore loser
The Courier (Ballarat, Australia) reports that 'A bitter Anglican Bishop made a defiant stand during his final homily in Ballarat on Saturday, smashing a chalice with a hammer.'

17 December 2010: Chorister vows to sing on at King's College Chapel
Alex Stobbs is a 20 year old musical prodigy with cystic fibrosis, who has to struggle to sing. The Church Times reports
that he hopes to defy his doctors to sing for the last time at the Festival of Lessons and Carols in King's College Chapel, Cambridge on Christmas Eve.

17 December 2010: Nick Baines to be Bishop of Bradford
No 10 Downing Street has announced that the blogging bishop Nick Baines, who is currently Area Bishop of Croydon, has been approved as the next Bishop of Bradford.

16 December 2010: Church and state in Africa
Three reports arrived simultaneously. The Bishop of Kumasi (Ghana) exhorted his people to apply pressure on ex-president Gbagbo of the Cote d'Ivoire so that he recognizes the 'ex' part of his title. The Bishop of Lango (Uganda) has suspended a priest for taking sides in partisan politics in that country. And the evil Nolbert Kunonga, an ex-bishop who also refuses to recognize the 'ex' part of his title, has taken advantage of his cozy relationship with Zimbabwe's dictator to convert Harare Cathedral into a school so that it cannot be used for worship.

14 December 2010: Major New York church predicts organ failure
The New York Times reports on the sorry state of the pipe organ at St Thomas Fifth Avenue, one of the cardinal parishes in New York and home of world-famous music performances.

13 December 2010: New bishop in Kigali
The New Times (A "government supporting daily" in Rwanda) has covered the consecration of Louis Muvunyi as the next Bishop of Kigali.

12 December 2010: Bishop in India accused of embezzlement
New Delhi TV reports that police are investigating reports of embezzlement against S Vasanth Kumar, bishop of Karnataka Central Diocese and moderator of the Church of South India.

12 December 2010: Ancient Christian site in UAE opens to visitors
The National (UAE) reports on a 1,400 year old monastery, the only known pre-Islamic Christian site in the UAE, on Sir Bani Yas Island which has opened to the public. The monastery complex, a multi-building compound located on the eastern side of the 87-square-kilometre island, was discovered in 1992 during an archaeological survey and is believed to have been an important destination for pilgrims travelling along a trade route to India.

12 December 2010: Worship, Baghdad style
The Express (UK) has a story which describes what worship at St George is like: 'The congregation receives death threats, there are 35 soldiers manning the perimeter fence and the vicar travels to work with 12 bodyguards in three armoured vehicles. Welcome to Christian worship, Baghdad-style'.

12 December 2010: Disgraced Australian bishop officially removed
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that the primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, Reverend Phillip Aspinall, has officially approved the removal of disgraced South Australian bishop Ross Davies from the Diocese of The Murray. Rather than risk a trial, former bishop Davies resigned one day before he would have faced those charges.

12 December 2010: Wikileaks: Pope's offer risked inciting violence
The Telegraph and The Guardian (both of London) report that an American diplomatic note suggested the British ambassador to the Vatican was worried the pope's offer of the ordinariate might fan latent, perhaps violent, anti-Catholicism in England. Austen Ivereigh, who knows the ambassador, told the BBC that the ambassador was likely misunderstood.

12 December 2010: Loaves and fishes are for sale in the narthex
The Telegraph (London) tells us that the Church of England is expected to issue guidelines on how to add convenience stores and automated teller machines to English churches. We find ourselves expecting slot machines next, in which case the altar bells could be sold and the ka-ching of the slot machines used at the Words of Institution and the elevations.

10 December 2010: Baby Jesus sonogram sparks Christmas controversy
Churchads is an ecumenical organization supported by the Church of England. Its Christmas Baby Scan Jesus poster depicts a sonogram of a baby with a halo in its mother's womb. Click Liverpool reports that the National Secular Society is upset, claiming the image carries an anti-abortion message.

10 December 2010: Dioceses in West Yorkshire might merge
The Church Times reports that the Dioceses Commission of the Church of England has recommended that three Yorkshire dioceses, those of Bradford, Wakefield, and Ripon & Leeds, be combined into a single, larger diocese. The new diocese would carry the name Wakefield, but the existing names would be preserved with area bishoprics. The Telegraph claims that in those dioceses, Muslims outnumber Christians by seven to one. The BBC considered it a regional story but had this to say.

9 December 2010: Ancient Holy Thorn tree in Glastonbury chopped down by vandals
The BBC reports that the Holy Thorn in Glastonbury, said to be 2000 years old, has been chopped down by vandals, presumably in misguided revenge for the collapse of the business of the owner of the land where it grew. The Mirror, whose readers do not demand a high level of editorial accuracy, claims that this particular tree is less than 100 years old and was planted from a cutting from an older tree. This is Somerset, a local newspaper, asserts that the damaged tree is the original and that the others are sprouted from cuttings. All of the news reports do agree that pieces of this ruined tree can be made to sprout again. Practice resurrection. Wikipedia, probably more reliable than The Mirror, claims that the recently-vandalized tree is a replacement for the original tree that was destroyed by Cromwell's men during the English Civil War.

9 December 2010: Archbishop to help flush toilet saga
Times Live (Johannesburg) tells that the Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, has offered to mediate a dispute between the residents of Makhaza and the City of Cape Town. The toilets of the settlement were originally unenclosed; a judge ordered the city to provide enclosures; ANC youth members tore down the corrugated iron structures erected by the city because they felt they were inadequate; and the city then removed the toilets altogether. (A photograph of the Archbishop commiserating with residents is entitled, 'Naught for your comfort".)

8 December 2010: Strong words from a bishop
The Episcopal Diocese of Texas notes that the bishop, Andy Doyle, has demanded that those causing unrest at Trinity Church, Houston, should cease doing so. The parish website displays the strongly worded letter from the bishop. The Episcopal News Service recently featured the Lord of the Streets outreach program for the homeless of Houston, which had been started by Trinity Church.

8 December 2010: More troubles for GTS
Faced with large debt, the General Theological Seminary (US) has made the painful decision to sell some of its real estate. DNAinfo, a 'a digital news service covering stories vital to Manhattan's local communities', reports that tensions with the local neighborhood are also heightened.

6 December 2010: Solar lighting a gift for people, planet
The Diocese of Melbourne website has a story about the efforts of AngliCORD, an overseas relief and development agency of the Anglican Church of Australia, to provide solar lighting in the developing world. The initiative is the focus of this year's AngliCORD Christmas Appeal.

5 December 2010: Church helps bees weather winter
Honey bee colonies have been declining in recent years, so when a colony nested under the eaves of St Philip in Marysville, Washington (US), the congregation worried about whether they would survive a cold winter. The Herald (Everett, Washington) reports that they sought expert advice, and, with the aid of the local fire department, erected a wood panel over the exposed hive to protect it from the elements.

4 December 2010: New Bishop for Northern Michigan
Episcopal News Service (ENS) reports the election of the Revd Rayford Ray as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Northern Michigan (US). Pending a successful consent process he will succeed Bishop James Kelsey, who was elected in 1999 and died in an auto accident in 2007. The newly elected Ray is no relation to the currently serving Assisting Bishop Ray in the diocese.

2 December 2010: Persecution of Pakistani Christians could threaten future church leadership
ACNS has a report about remarks by Pakistan's first and only female Anglican priest, the Revd Jane Shaw, who has warned that persecution of Christians in the country is prompting talented potential future church leaders to settle abroad. She said that while there have been incidents of Christians being attacked and killed, the majority of persecution was more insidious.

2 December 2010: Historic lead roofs targeted by thieves
Reuters reports on the rise in the theft of lead from the roofs of Church of England churches. Commissioner Tony Baldry cited statistics that about 8,000 churches have made insurance claims for lead theft worth about £23 million during the past three years. 'This is a crime that has to be taken seriously. Night after night, lead is being stolen from church roofs, and thieves now use Google Earth to identify targets, including church roofs.'

1 December 2010: Hue and cry over potential sale of paintings (continued...)
We reported earlier on the plan of the Church of England Estate Commissioners to sell paintings that have been housed in Auckland Castle, the official residence of the Bishop of Durham, for 250 years. The Telegraph and the Jewish Chronicle reported the Commissioners are reconsidering due to protests and outcry from local MPs, worshippers and the community at large. The Teesdale Mercury reported that a local museum would bid to try to keep the paintings, although the museum has said the best option is for the artwork to remain in their current location.

29 November 2010: Bishop Installations in Cuba, Rwanda and Chelmsford
The Miami (Florida) Herald reports on the installation of the Rt Revd Griselda Delgado Del Carpio in Cuba. The ENS report is here. ENS also reported that the Rt Revd Laurent Mbanda was installed in the Rwandan Diocese of Shyira. The Yellow Advertiser (Essex, UK) reported on the installation of the Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell in the Diocese of Chelmsford.

28 November 2010: Australian diocese notes big reduction in sacraments performed
The Canberra Times reports that from 1997-2007 there was a 35 percent reduction in the number of baptisms, confirmations, and weddings in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn. And 'By comparison, church funerals, mainly involving older people, declined only 9 per cent.'

28 November 2010: New Bishop of Kurunəgala
The Sunday Leader (Sri Lanka) reports that the Venerable GSK Francis has been appointed as the fifth bishop of Kurunegala. Some have questioned the appointment, since he failed to get the necessary two thirds majority at the election held in April. One of the candidates at the election lived in Australia, and there had been some lobbying against choosing an 'outsider'. We note that the Anglican Communion Office spells the diocese 'Kurunagala' and the local newspaper spells it 'Kurunegala'. We suspect that both are approximations of 'குருனகல்'.

26 November 2010: More no-shows for January primates meeting in Dublin
The Church Times tells us that at least ten conservative primates have announced that they will not attend the Dublin meeting. If we recall correctly, this is the same group that has been pushing for the Primates' Meeting to have more global authority, so it's not clear to us how this will all play out. The aforementioned Church Times article contains the full text of the statement (from the GAFCON primates meeting), and the Associated Press headlined that statement 'Anglican conservatives reject global unity plan'.

25 November 2010: Obituary: Colin Slee
The Very Revd Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark Cathedral, died of cancer this week. Obituaries thus far in The Guardian and The Telegraph. And quite possibly there's an obituary in that other London newspaper, the one that has a typeface named after it, but who's going to pay to find out? Not us, and not search engines.

24 November 2010: General Synod opens in England
The Church Times reports that Queen Elizabeth has opened the General Synod. This prompted Cole Moreton to opine in The Guardian that 'The Church of England must relinquish its association with power and pomp'.

21 November 2010: New bishop in West Missouri
We failed to note previously the election of the Very Revd Martin Field as Bishop of West Missouri. We don't know how we managed to miss it: the Kansas City Star published this sweet article, the US Episcopal News Service sent around this press release, and the bishop search website is bursting with information.

21 November 2010: Church historian elected bishop of Western New York
The Buffalo News announced the election of Dr William Franklin as Bishop of Western New York. The Episcopal News Service notes that since his ordination to the priesthood in 2005, he served as associate priest at St Paul Within the Walls in Rome and associate director of the American Academy in Rome, fellow and associate priest of the Anglican Centre in Rome, interim vicar of the Church of the Resurrection in Orvieto, Italy, and professor of theology at the Pontifical Angelicum University.

19 November 2010: 50 priests to leave Church of England over women bishops
The Telegraph (London) asserts that 'Fifty Anglican priests and up to 600 worshippers will convert to Roman Catholicism from January'. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster says, according to the Church Times, that they will not bring their buildings with them.

19 November 2010: Church bats
The Church Times reports on the 'Conservation Forum 2010: The Conservation Issues Caused by the Presence of Bats in Churches' held recently at Lambeth Palace. UK law protects bats, but nothing protects churches from bats. For some odd reason, the secular press has not covered this important event.

19 November 2010: Uruguay wants to join a different province
The Church Times reports that the diocese of Uruguay has announced that it will separate from the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, after its hopes of having women ordained to the priesthood were dashed.

16 November 2010: British Columbia Court of Appeal upholds church property decision
According to Canada's Anglican Journal, the British Columbia Court of Appeal has ruled that the Diocese of New Westminster should retain four disputed properties in the Vancouver area. Bishop Michael Ingham's pastoral letter on the matter can be found here.

16 November 2010: Three priests dismissed in Nigeria
The Vanguard (Nigeria) reports that when Bishop Emmanuel Iheagwam addressed the synod of the Diocese of Egbu, he announced that three priests had been dismissed - two had absconded and the third had a long history of financial mismanagement.

14 November 2010: Reflection on David Livingstone
The Zambia Post has a reflection on the work of the Anglican Church in Zambia since the arrival of David Livingstone 100 years ago.

13 November 2010: An Episcopal fire truck
John and Mary Armbruster, members of All Saints Episcopal Church on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, learned from the bishop of the Dominican Republic that a local fire department was in urgent need of a firetruck. They just happened to have one they didn't need, and the parish raised the money to fit it out and send it. The Island Packet said some of the firefighters of Juma were so excited that they decided to join the Episcopal Church. The All Saints website has a more detailed version of the story.

12 November 2010: An Episcopal fire
St Matthew's Church in Houma, Louisiana was a Gothic revival-style church, built in 1896 of local cypress wood, listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The Episcopal News Service reports that it has been destroyed by fire. Coverage on a local television station suggests that the presence of one more fire truck wouldn't have made much of a difference.

12 November 2010: Repurposing church property for religious use
The Church Times reports the exposure of a 'secret plan' to sell valuable paintings that hang in the residence of the Diocese of Durham, with a plan to use the money 'on ministry and mission'. We wouldn't normally report this sort of thing as news of international import, but we think that it is a good milepost in the necessary but sticky transition of church cultural structures to match 21st-century needs. We applaud the Church Estates Commissioner who said 'The Commissioners work to support the ministry of the Church across the country. We are not custodians of great works of art.'

12 November 2010: The power of just one song
The Anglican Journal (Canada) reports on the new song for this year's one song project modeled on their 'Amazing Grace' project in 2008. This year's number: 'Silent Night'.

11 November 2010: Diocese of Enugu to launch microfinance bank
MicroCapital.org (Boston) reports on the plans of the Rt Revd Emmanuel Chukwuma to establish a microfinance bank in his diocese in Nigeria. The Business Day article from 3 November about the plans can be found here.

11 November 2010: Sticky Wicket
During an extended visit to the Diocese of Lichfield, Rowan Williams was asked, 'What's your favourite firework?', and replied, 'I think the wrong answer to that would be a Roman candle', reports the Shropshire Star. The Bishop of Lichfield spoke of the inspiration that thousands of Christians received during the visit. The Archbishop of Canterbury also launched a new beer, Sticky Wicket, to mark the Lichfield Diocesan Clergy Club winning the Church Times Cricket Cup. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Daily News notes that St James Episcopal Church in Lancaster (Pennsylvania, US) is launching its new ale at Iron Hill Brewery.

9 November 2010: Bishop Consecrated in Ghana
The Ghana news agency reports the Diocese of Tamale has a new bishop coadjutor: the Rt Revd Dr Jacob Kofi Ayeebo.

9 November 2010: Episcopalian to lead Christian students' federation
The Christian Century reports on the election of Christine Housel as the new general secretary of the World Student Christian Federation, a global grouping of student groups that promotes dialogue, ecumenism, social justice and peace.

8 November 2010: Some gains in microinsurance reported
The Anglican Communion News Service reports on the October meeting in Geneva of the Anglican Health Network. Pilot projects for the health microinsurance programme are starting to yield 'results and lessons'.

7 November 2010: ABC insists that all manner of things will be well
The Press Association has written that 'The Archbishop of Canterbury has insisted that the worldwide Anglican Communion has a secure future despite divisions over issues such as homosexuality and women bishops.'

5 November 2010: Arguing about the proposed Covenant
The Church Times reports on name-calling in the Church of England that has become part of the ongoing dialog there. Meanwhile, various people opposed to an Anglican Covenant have organized to form No Anglican Covenant, which says it has broad international membership (its website is Pittsburgh-based). We do not see any name-calling or warlike rhetoric in No Anglican Covenant, though.

5 November 2010: We couldn't let Auckland get hold of her
Stuff (New Zealand) notes with a smile that a piece of local driftwood, which looks like a giraffe, has been bought by the administrator of ChristChurch Cathedral which, reasonably enough, is in Christchurch. The lucky buyer hopes to make it into a bishop's crook, or perhaps to convince Bishop Matthews that it already is one. If it could talk, would it channel Richard Nixon: 'I am not a crook'?

5 November 2010: Southern Cone Provincial Synod
The Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de America was formed as an Anglican province in 1981. With 22,000 members, it is one of the smallest provinces in terms of numbers, but one of the largest geographically. At its recent synod, it installed Bishop Hector 'Tito' Zavala as primate, in place of Gregory Venables. Bishop Zavala, of the Diocese of Chile, is the first Anglican of Spanish heritage to serve as primate. The Episcopal News Service reports that the synod failed to get the required two-thirds majority in all houses for canonical changes that would have allowed the ordination of women to the priesthood. This province might well be the last autonomous province in the world that doesn't have a website.

4 November 2010: The 'Bugatti of organs' in small County Cork church
The Irish Times tells us that a small church Crosshaven, County Cork, has just installed a 17th-century replica mechanical pipe organ, the first of its kind in Ireland. The reporter presumes it to be 'a carefully crafted replica of what was probably one of the most advanced pieces of human engineering of the pre-enlightened era'.

4 November 2010: Pursuing reconciliation in Iraq
The Harvard Law School newsletter has announced the availability of a video recording of Canon Andrew White delivering at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy a lecture entitled 'Pursuing Reconciliation in Iraq: The Art of Mediation Between Warring Religious Factions'. Canon White is Rector of the only remaining Anglican church in Iraq and has entirely too much first-hand exposure to warring religious factions.

3 November 2010: Sri Lanka bishop seeks reversal of death sentence
CathNews (India) tells us that Bishop of Colombo Duleep de Chickera is working to gather support from other church leaders to help save a 17-year-old girl who has been sentenced to death in Saudi.

3 November 2010: Bishop of Lewes criticized for remarks on women bishops
The BBC has reported that the Rt Revd Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes, has compared the debate over the ordination of women bishops to the outbreak of World War II. We have heard that The Times had a similar story, but we don't read The Times any more because they charge too much and you can get news from so many other places.

1 November 2010: Parish buildings returned to Diocese of Niagara
The Diocese of Niagara has announced that the Anglican Network in Canada has returned the assets and property of St Peter's church back to the diocese. An amicable agreement was reached after a two year dispute over control of the property.

29 October 2010: Diocese of Bradford says 'not so fast!'
The Diocese of Bradford has pointed out that last week's newspaper story about its demise is quite premature. It was, after all, in the Daily Mail.

29 October 2010: Statistics on C of E parishes opposing women priests
The Church Times reports that 'The Church of England this week published for the first time figures showing the number of parishes declared to be opposed to the ordination of women as priests.' The results are not easily summarisable beyond what the Church Times has done, so if you want to know the numbers you should click here.

28 October 2010: Seminary chapel fire ruled accidental
The Virginia Theological Seminary (US) suffered a catastrophic fire on 22 October which heavily damaged its 129-year old chapel. The investigators' report was completed on 28 October. The evidence shows the fire started in the sacristy and was accidental.

27 October 2010: The silencing of St Andrews
As part of a series on the changing demographics of Canada, CBC's The Current aired a documentary on St Andrew's church in La Tuque, Quebec. There aren't enough English-speaking Anglicans there to keep the century-old church going, and last month it was deconsecrated.

25 October 2010: Philippine lay minister assassinated
A lay minister in the Philippine Independent Church, which is in communion with the Anglican church, was shot dead as he walked home from church. Church officials claimed that the shooting of Brother Maximo Bernardo was part of a systematic attempt by Filipino authorities to target human rights workers. The Episcopal News Service notes he is the third lay minister of the church to be killed this year, and that more than 1,200 extrajudicial killings have been documented since 2001.

24 October 2010: Death threats against Zimbabwean bishops
Th Zimbabwean (Harare) reports the office of the ABC has revealed that there are assassination threats against the Rt Revds Chad Gandiya and Julius Makoni.

24 October 2010: Women bishops, ordinariates, popes, and conflict in the Church of England
Riazat Butt, the religion correspondent for the Observer/Guardian, writes about and summarizes the state of things related to ecclesiastical sexual politics in England.

24 October 2010: Diocese of Bradford may merge into Ripon and Leeds
The Mail (London), noting in passing that there are twice as many Muslims as Anglicans inside the boundaries of the Diocese of Bradford, reports that plans exist to merge it into a neighbouring diocese. If you worry that uniting two dioceses spells the demise of either of them, you ought to spend some time looking around the diocesan structure of the Church of Ireland.

22 October 2010: Church of England women bishops measure likely to be blocked in General Synod
The Church Times observes that conservative church politicians believe that conservatives have made enough gains in the elections of members of General Synod to be able to block legislation on women bishops. It seems that, as in all similar situations, that it's mostly about power and money.

21 October 2010: Countering potential Church of England defectors
The Telegraph (London) reports that 'The Archbishop of Canterbury moved last night to counter secret plotting among disaffected Anglicans who are planning to defect to Rome.'

20 October 2010: ABC upbeat on Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion News Service reports on an interview given by the Archbishop of Canterbury to The Hindu, a large Indian newspaper headquartered in Chennai.

19 October 2010: Uganda newspaper identifies 100 gay men, asks its readers to kill them
The Associated Press reports that the Uganda newspaper Rolling Stone (Kampala) has published names, addresses, and photographs of Uganda's 'top homosexuals' and urges its readers to hang them. The original Rolling Stone, a US entertainment magazine, made this comment. Upon looking at the evidence, it seems quite likely that this Uganda Rolling Stone was created entirely to publish this article.

18 October 2010: Old Crow Anglican minister Bruce dies
Ellen Bruce was the first northern aboriginal woman to be ordained in the Anglican church (in 1987), was dedicated to keeping the Gwich'in language alive, and was a recipient of the Order of Canada. CBC news reports that she died at her home in Old Crow, Yukon, at the age of 98.

17 October 2010: Left and rival in archbishop jostle
The Archbishop of Canterbury's Indian tour includes a visit to Kerala, where his wife, Jane, was born. The Calcutta Telegraph reports that Christian voters make up a fifth of that state's electorate. Although the church has tended to oppose the left, candidates of all political stripes are anxious to suggest they have the attention of the Archbishop. An official of the seminary he is visiting warned them against trying to gain political mileage out of the trip. (Your News Centre editor finds the food of Kerala to be the best sort of Indian food.) Pronounce it CARE-uh-luh.

17 October 2010: Pastor in alleged money-making ritual killing
The Compass (Nigeria) reports on the alleged involvement of an Anglican chaplain in the Diocese of Lokoja in a for-profit ritual killing. There is always more to these stories than the newspapers report, but this story seemed pretty sure of itself.

16 October 2010: Southern Cone archbishop disciplined by Anglican Communion Office
The Church Times reports that the Rt Revd Tito Zavala, of Chile, has been removed from membership on the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order because of his province's violation of the wishes of the Primates' Meeting. We continue to look for documents that define the authority of the Primates' Meeting. The US Episcopal News Service (whose owner, the US Episcopal Church, had received similar sanctions in the past) filed this report on the ACO's action.

15 October 2010: Row over Sacred Heart statue at cemetery
When the old Killenummery Graveyard was restored, a sculpture was unveiled at the ecumenical service which marked the occasion (the Church of Ireland cemetery contains both protestant and RC graves). Some Church of Ireland folk, however, were disturbed by an image that showed the Sacred Heart, an object of Roman Catholic devotion. The Independent reports on the dispute.

15 October 2010: Chile miners rescued
There was such spotty coverage of the recent mine rescue in Copiapó that you might not have heard about it. There seem to be about six or seven billion people in the world, and judging from news reports, only one billion of them were following the rescue on television or radio or internet. Even if you have somehow heard about the successful but underpublicized rescue, you might enjoy reading this treatise on its spiritual aspects by the amazing Revd Frank Logue.

15 October 2010: Sydney synod defies Tribunal decision
In the diocese of Sydney, clergy are only ordained to the priesthood when they become rectors, and a third of the clergy are deacons. In 2008, Sydney's General Synod affirmed that deacons and lay people might administer the Lord's Supper, but the Australian church's appellate tribunal ruled that diaconal presidency is unconstitutional. A recent synod reaffirmed the earlier stand, according to reports in the Church Times and on Sydney's diocesan web site.

15 October 2010: Diocese of South Carolina takes steps towards secession
The US Episcopal News Service reports on recent votes taken at the re-convention of the Diocese of South Carolina. Wasn't Fort Sumter in South Carolina?

13 October 2010: Diocese of Sydney reported to be in dire financial straits
The Sydney Morning Herald, no great fan of the Diocese of Sydney, reports that the diocese is in dire financial circumstances and is planning further deep budget cuts.

10 October 2010: ABC in Kolkata
The Telegraph (Kolkata, but refers to itself as being from Calcutta) reports on the recent visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury to that East Indian city. The Christian Post describes the full extent of his 16-day visit to India, and the Archbishop's own website has this brief note about his trip.

6 October 2010: Chessun named Bishop of Southwark
London SE1 (a publication of Bankside Press) reports the announcement of Rt Revd Christopher Chessun as the next Bishop of Southwark. Chessun currently was serving as Bishop of Woolwich, in the northern part of the Diocese of Southwark.

6 October 2010: Retiring Bishops #1
RTE reports that the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr John Neill, will retire in January shortly after turning 65.

5 October 2010: Tanzanian Bishop's unfortunate speech triggers uproar
The Citizen (Dar es Salaam) reported on the follow-up to remarks made by Archbishop Valentino Mokiwa on 3 October: '[it] is not sinful to receive money from foolish and corrupt politicians, who are hell-bent on winning elections by manipulating voters'. However, he urged those who receive such cash not vote for the corrupt politicians. Among those responding was the Registrar of Political Parties, Mr John Tendwa, who rejected the cleric's advice, saying it amounted to legalising corruption.

5 October 2010: Restructuring of General Synod offices announced in Canada
The Anglican Journal reports on infrastructure cuts made to achieve a balanced 2011 budget for the Church of Canada.

4 October 2010: Retiring Bishops #2
Newsday (Port-of-Spain) reports the Rt Revd Calvin Bess, Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago, will demit office on December 18, his 72nd birthday. A Bishop Coadjutor will be appointed.

3 October 2010: Church of Denmark signs the Porvoo Agreement
The blog of the Rt Revd David Hamid, Suffragan Bishop in Europe, known as 'Eurobishop's blog', has a report on the celebrations marking the signing of the Porvoo Agreement in Copenhagen. 'After close to 500 years of separation, visible communion has been restored between the Anglican Churches of Great Britain and Ireland and the Church of Denmark.'

1 October 2010: Adèle Kelham elected President of Swiss Ecumenical Council
Eurobishop's blog also notes the election of the Revd Adèle Kelham, the priest-in-charge of Christ Church, Lausanne, as President of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen in der Schweiz, whose website contains a similar announcement for our multilingual readers.

1 October 2010: One of Sudan's Lost Boys finds his calling
Abraham Tel Nhial was nine when he was separated from his family and became one of the 3000 Lost Boys of Sudan who went to the United States seeking a new life. Now he is the new bishop of the Diocese of Aweil, in southern Sudan. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram tells his story.