30 September 2011: Church insurance against earthquakes discontinued in New Zealand
The New Zealand Herald tells us that 'New Zealand's largest insurer of churches and heritage buildings announced yesterday that it would stop offering earthquake coverage throughout the country.' The Star (Christchurch, NZ) observes that this makes the very existence of cathedrals in Christchurch be uncertain.

29 September 2011: New bishop in Uganda
The Anglican Communion News Service tells us that the House of Bishops of the Church of the Province of Uganda has elected a bishop for the new diocese of South Ankole.

29 September 2011: Church of England to sell Rose Castle in Carlisle
The Church of England has announced the decision 'to sell Rose Castle, which was the residence of the Bishops of Carlisle until it was declared unsuitable as a See House in 2009'. Christopher Howse, in The Telegraph (London), finds it alarming that the Church of England is selling off its treasures.

27 September 2011: Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem granted residency permit
Haaretz (Tel Aviv) reports that Israeli authorities have granted a residency permit to the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt Revd Suheil Dawani "after months of legal wrangling." The Diocese of Jerusalem reports it here.

27 September 2011: Bishop of Barbados insists Anglican church is alive and well
Stabroek News (Guyana, of all places) quotes Dr John Holder, Bishop of Barbados, that his diocese, his country's Anglican church, is healthy.

27 September 2011: Lutheran pastor appointed dean of Anglican diocese in Canada
The Anglican Journal reports that the Diocese of Rupert's Land has appointed a Lutheran pastor as dean of the diocese and incumbent for St John's Cathedral in Winnipeg.

22 September 2011: Lord of the Haka
An image of Jesus as an All Black rugby player has gone on display in Wellington Cathedral to coincide with the Rugby World Cup tournament in New Zealand. According to the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS), the Dean said that rugby is often likened to the real religion of the country, and that this slightly tongue-in-cheek painting might remind people that God, in Christ, became human.

21 September 2011: Welsh Archbishop weighs in on organ donation
BBC Wales reports the Most Revd Dr Barry Morgan spoke in opposition to a government white paper outlining a system of 'presumed consent' for organ donation.

21 September 2011: Sarawakian elected Archbishop for Province of South East Asia
The Borneo Post reports on the election of the Rt Revd Datuk Bolly Lapok, Bishop of Sarawak & Brunei, as the fourth Archbishop of the Province of South East Asia. You can read the official ACNS release here.

21 September 2011: Pakistan flood appeal
ACNS reports the Diocese of Hyderabad has launched an appeal for funds to help its local flood-stricken community hit by severe flooding for the second time in just two years.

20 September 2011: Diocese of Central Ecuador leadership to resign
The Episcopal News Service (ENS) reports that the bishop and the diocesan leaders of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Ecuador have agreed to resign. Bishop Luis Ruiz, a Colombian, has been in 'exile' in Colombia since the escalation of an ongoing coflict between him and the standing committee. Bishop Walter Scantlebury, a Panamanian, retired as an assisting bishop in the Diocese of Chicago and has been appointed interim bishop.

18 September 2011: Lucian Freud is buried; Rowan Williams officiates
The Independent reports that the Archbishop of Canterbury officiated at the funeral of the controversial painter. The incident is also reported by The First Post.

18 September 2011: New Zealand roll call on the covenant
An update on where the New Zealand dioceses stand on the Anglican Covenant can be found here.

17 September 2011: Bishop Walter Righter dies
There are a number of obituaries online of the Episcopal Church in the USA bishop who was tried for heresy in the 1990s; here is one in the New York Times. It uses the word 'insouciant', which we like, and which we think Bishop Righter would have liked.

16 September 2011: Church in Wales looks at pension rights for clerics' partners
A two-day meeting this week of the Governing Board will take up the issue, writes Martin Shipton in Wales Online.

14 September 2011: The war of the roses
In The Telegraph, Clive Aslet weighs in on the the Church Commissioners' plan to sell Rose Castle, the Bishop of Carlisle's traditional residence.

14 September 2011: High noon in Harare
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku has summoned lawyers representing the feuding Anglican Church factions to a meeting scheduled for Wednesday at noon, reports RadioVop Zimbabawe. Most recently an orphanage in Murewa has been left without caregivers for more than 100 orphans, after the Kunonga faction evicted three Anglican nuns on staff. That story was reported by News Day Zimbabwe.

13 September 2011: High prices for holy places
The New Zealand Herald laments the necessity of entrance fees to England's cathedrals, reporting that a priest was accused of 'pretending' to avoid paying.

11 September 2011: Westminster Abbey organ scholar sacked for criticising Royal Wedding composer
An organ scholar at Westminster Abbey, Edward Tambling, used 'colourful language' on Facebook to criticise composer John Rutter. The Daily Mail reports that Mr Tambling has been dismissed.

9 September 2011: Not authorised in Jersey?
To mark the 400th anniversary of the King James (Authorised Version) Bible, the Reverend Martyn Shea of St Mark's church in St Helier, Jersey and other island churches produced CDs of St Mark's gospel, to be delivered to households. But, according to the Jersey Evening Post, the post office refused to deliver them, because they could be deemed offensive. Jersey Post has since admitted that they got it wrong.

11 September 2011: ABC to return to academia?
The Sunday Telegraph (London) reports the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, is planning to resign next year. Other news outlets picked up the story including Reuters and the Daily Mail. The latter report states the Bishop of London may have been suggesting that it was time for Williams to step down which then led to a report in the Guardian with Chartres' denial of making such a suggestion.

9 September 2011: African communicator sought to help Anglicans to tell their stories
The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) reports church leaders have welcomed a decision to appoint a Communications Officer in Africa to help Anglicans there better share with the world their stories of life and ministry. Initially funded as a pilot project with grant support from Trinity Wall Street, the position description and application instructions can be found here. Applications are due in London by 23 September 2011.

8 September 2011: Reports from the Zimbabwe war zone
Any experienced war correspondent will tell you that news reports from a war zone are usually contradictory, confusing, and manipulative. The war between Zimbabwe's tyrannical government and its Anglican church is no exception. The Diocese of Harare announced that the police arrested a parish priest for theft of property (his church) which rightly belonged to the government. Zim Eye reports his release. Voice of America reported the government eviction of all staff supporting a church-owned orphanage housing 100 children. The Press Association (UK) assures us that not long after the last Anglican is arrested or killed in Zimbabwe, the Archbishop of Canterbury will bring Robert Mugabe a covenant and ask him to form committees to discuss it. The aforementioned Zim Eye also draws our attention to some Wikileaks material showing that Mr Mugabe tried to stage fake coups-d'état against himself, offering as evidence of fakery that the leaders of these coups are still alive a week later. The Church Times reported a raid by government thugs on the bishop's house.

7 September 2011: More damage at US National Cathedral
The Washington Times (US) reports that a crane being used in the post-earthquake repair work to damaged spires and buttresses at the cathedral, toppled damaging vehicles and other buildings on the cathedral grounds. The Washington bureau of the NBC network posted a report on 10 September that 9/11 10th anniversary events scheduled to take place at the cathedral have been moved to alternate locations due to the damage.

6 September 2011: Canadians appoint new general secretary
The Anglican Journal reports Archdeacon Michael Thompson, rector of St. Jude's Anglican Church in Oakville, Ont., has been appointed general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada. Thompson succeeds Archdeacon Michael Pollesel as chief operating officer for General Synod on Nov. 1. The Council of General Synod (CoGS) ratified Thompson's appointment by an e-mail vote on Sept. 2.

6 September 2011: The next Bishop of Winchester announced
The Diocese of Winchester announces that the next Bishop of Winchester will be Canon Tim Dakin. Canon Dakin, who is currently head of the Church Mission Society, was born to missionary parents in Tanzania, and grew up in East Africa and the UK. He is an honorary Canon Theologian of Coventry Cathedral.

1 September 2011: Catholic donation to US Episcopal cathedral
The National Catholic Reporter tells of the gift of $25,000 from the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington to help repair the damage done to the (Episcopal) Washington National Cathedral, to help repair damage done by the earthquake in late August. And the Washington Hebrew Congregation offered use of its sanctuary for the Cathedral's Sunday worship, as stonemasons and structural engineers work to ensure safety of the nave. The Cathedral's website details events following the earthquake.

26 August 2011: International Anglican Liturgical Consulation
The Church Times reports that '"Rites relating to marriage" was the subject under study by 56 Anglican liturgists at the biennial meeting of the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation (IALC) earlier this month....'

25 August 2011: Anglican Province of Central Africa appeals Zimbabwe ruling
The Zimbabwean (Harare) reports that the Church of the Province of Central Africa has appealed the patently partisan ruling granting Anglican properties to expelled former bishop Nolbert Kunonga. Meanwhile, Kunonga's thugs continue beating up clergy and their families. Voice of America, ZimOnline, and Southwest Radio Africa also reported the filing of the appeal. Bulawayo 24 News (Zimbabwe) asserts that a church-owned house in Rugare (a suburb of Harare) has been converted to a brothel.

25 August 2011: First female US House of Deputies president dead at 86
The US Episcopal News Service remembers Pamela Chinnis, who was the first woman to lead the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies.

24 August 2011: Jamaican government agency backs down on land grab
The Jamaica Observer reports 'Following a stinging rebuke by the Anglican Church, the state-run Urban Development Corporation (UDC) appeared yesterday to be backing off what appeared to be a veiled threat to forcibly acquire the church-owned Nuttall Hospital lands.'

23 August 2011: Uganda blocks re-introduction of anti-gay bill
Reuters Africa reports that 'Uganda's cabinet has blocked an attempt by some legislators to reintroduce a bill that called for the death penalty for gays....'

23 August 2011: No, it wasn't Cromwell who wrecked this cathedral
The Washington Post laments that the US National Cathedral in Washington DC was damaged in the recent earthquake. The US Episcopal News Service lists other earthquake damage to US churches.

19 August 2011: Kunonga forces evict parish priests from Harare rectories
The Church Times tells the next awful chapter of the continuing story of the anti-bishop in Zimbabwe who is allied with that country's dictator. Coverage on SW Radio Africa (via AllAfrica.com) suggests that the legitimate bishop and his clergy are reduced to asking for mercy, which is clearly not going to work in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Daily News reports that Rowan Williams will head to Zimbabwe in October to see if he can help out. Perhaps he'll bring a covenant for all of them to sign.

19 August 2011: The liturgy was a three-ring circus
The Church Times reports on the baptism of the ringmaster's daughter at a circus in North Yorkshire. The priest also asperged a clown.

19 August 2011: Church property seizure in Jamaica
The Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands is expressing alarm at the stated intention of that country's Urban Development Corporation to take church-owned land.

18 August 2011: Ontario civil court rules for Diocese of Huron
The Anglican Journal (Canada) reports that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ruled that the assets of St. Aidan's Church in Windsor will remain with the diocese of Huron and not with a breakaway group.

17 August 2011: Cathedral music school in Port-of-Spain
The Guardian (Trinidad and Tobago) reports on the launch of the first cathedral music school at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Not a pipe organ or choir robe in sight.

17 August 2011: Paul Reeves' funeral
The Courier (Auckland) covered the funeral service for Sir Paul Reeves. Coverage in AnglicanTaonga is sweet and accessible.

16 August 2011: Archbishop of Wales chides British elite over recent riots in England
Wales Online reports that Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales, has issued a scathing assertion that the British elite must put their own house in order as the country reels from recent riots.

16 August 2011: Country churches in Australia could become a thing of the past
The Warwick Daily News (Queensland) notes that dwindling attendance could see country churches become a thing of the past, not just in Queensland but in the entire country.

15 August 2011: International Anglican Liturgical Consultation issues a communiqué
Like all communiqués from international commissions and consultations, this communiqué is nearly impenetrable. We note that radical bloggers are ranting about 'back doors', so it clearly has something to do with sex. If there's a thoughtful analysis published by someone credible, we'll bring it to your attention.

14 August 2011: Paul Reeves
People who know these things tell us that his full title was 'The Right Reverend and The Honourable Sir Paul Alfred Reeves ONZ, GCMG, GCVO, QSO, KStJ'. He's documented extensively in Wikipedia. To family he was just 'Paul'. He was a priest, bishop, archbishop, and primate in the Anglican Church of New Zealand (whose full title these days is just as long as his). He became Governor-General of New Zealand, the first Maori to hold that position. He died today. The news reports, which encode the complexity of that multicultural country, contain sentences like 'Born in Wellington, Sir Paul has Te Atiawa whakapapa' and 'The immediate whanau will now spend some private time with Sir Paul before the public tangi begins tomorrow'. Whether one understands that complexity or not, it's obvious from the many press reports that he was a very fine human being. Reports in Anglican Taonga, Auckland Now, the New Zealand Herald, TVNZ, and dozens more. The report in the New Zealand Herald is quite accessible to readers not familiar with the Maori language nor the New Zealand culture.

13 August 2011: On the front lines of Anglicanism vs Islam, in Nigeria
We aren't sure how to summarize or describe this. It's a sort of interview with Bishop Tunde Adeleye, Bishop of Calabar. Calabar is in the part of Nigeria that is predominantly Christian, yet the bishop has stories of conflict with Islamic law.

12 August 2011: Reprint of Psalms and Hymns in the Cree Indian Language
The Anglican Journal, whose masthead suggests that they have been online since 1875, has announced the first reprinting in 16 years of the unusual but precious volume. Modern digital printing makes short press runs practical, so we don't think it will be another 16 years before it's reprinted again. Even if you don't read Cree or need a Cree hymnal, the story is uplifting.

12 August 2011: The Christian voice in the Arab Spring
The National Catholic Reporter notes with sadness the tendency for catholic leaders in Libya and Syria to support the dictators in those countries, referring to an article in the New York Times which contrasted that sympathy with the place of the Anglican church in Tripoli (the Church of Christ the King), noting that the Qaddafi government has never knowingly allowed foreign journalists to attend the Anglican church, preferring to direct visitors to the more compliant Catholic congregation.

10 August 2011: Zimbabwe high court awards custody of church properties to excommunicated bishop
The Anglican Communion News Service filed this report. The judges are, of course, all government employees wishing to keep their jobs and their lives. The Zimbabwean also reported this act of a dying corrupt government. The court also asserted that the excommunication of Kunonga was illegal and must be reversed. Who knew they had any say?

6 August 2011: Diocese invests in palm oil processing
The Ghana News Agency reports that the Diocese of Koforidua is constructing a palm oil mill to provide a market for local farmers and to create employment. An eight-member management board of the Kwabeng Oil Palm Processing Mill, was inaugurated as part of activities marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the diocese.

5 August 2011: Priest forced to leave All Saints, Damascus
Church Times reports on the Syrian government's refusal to renew the visa of the Revd Andrew Lake. Lake serves at All Saints International Anglican Church in Damascus. The priest is being forced to leave the country by 9 August.

5 August 2011: Bishop Speaks: Kadugli
Voice of America reports on news conference of the Rt Revd Andudu Adam Elnail, Bishop of Kadugli, Sudan. He appealed to the United Nations to send a fact-finding team to investigate credible reports of mass graves and other serious crimes against civilians allegedly committed by Sudanese forces in Sudan's Sourthern Kordofan state.

5 August 2011: King James Bible online project
A press release from the Church of England is encouraging participation in the 'YouTube Bible' project where individuals record themselves reading a chapter of the King James Bible and upload it to a shared site. Directions are available here.

4 August 2011: Goa priest turns filmmaker
Daijiworld (Mangalore) reports on the priest and his documentary, 'From Victim to Victor', recently screened at the New York Film Festival. The Revd Agnelo Gomes said 'Christ's "storytelling skills" spurred him towards filmmaking'.

3 August 2011: Life for Zimbabwean Anglicans worsens
The Zimbabwean printed a story written by the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) on the latest destructive antics of Norbert Kunonga. The excommunicated former bishop (who refuses to accept this) has continued his attempts at appropriating properties belonging to the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe. 'Kunonga didn't stop his disturbances by simply writing to the Officer Commanding Chikomba District to bar us from having the Shearly Cripps commemoration done at the Shrine, but he also used the police to forcibly take church properties in Chivhu.'

1 August 2011: Vicar achieves a world first with PhD in snowboarding
The Evening Standard (London) reports on the Revd Neil Elliot's doctorate in the sociology of religion: analysing the relationship between spirituality and snowboarding in his thesis for Kingston University. His parish's nickname for him: 'Dr. Soulride'.

31 July 2011: Cardboard cathedral for Christchurch?
New Zealand's Diocese of Christchurch, whose cathedral was almost destroyed by an earthquake earlier this year, is considering a temporary building. Famed Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has proposed a structure made of cardboard. The cathedral would be built with locally produced cardboard tubes erected in an A-shape, with shipping containers used as foundations. The Timaru Herald reported in some depth on the announcement from the diocese, and notes that, like 'temporary buildings' everywhere, there is a good chance that such a building could last a long time. The architect's website shows many structures made of cardboard tubes; some are quite beautiful.

30 July 2011: Abseil down cathedral in Liverpool?
The Diocese of Liverpool, whose cathedral is built not of cardboard but of stone, is in need of repairs, has successfully raised funds by charging a fee to let people abseil down the front face of its cathedral. Both the Liverpool Daily Post and Click Liverpool provide details.

28 July 2011: Obituaries: John Stott and Mary Michael Simpson
Renowned author and former Church of England parish priest John Stott, who died 27 July, is rembered in The Telegraph, The Guardian, the New York Times. The Archbishop of Canterbury offered this remembrance. Less famous but probably just as influential, the Revd Canon Mary Michael Simpson, an Episcopal priest and a nun in the Order of St Helena was remembered in The New York Times, the Daily Kos, and the hearts of thousands of admirers.

22 July 2011: White paper: social media and the Episcopal Church
The US Episcopal Church, ever at the vanguard of the digital revolution, has released a white paper on social media, but, alas, you can't see it unless you register with Monk Development. We remember Stewart Brand's comment, now almost 50 years old, that 'Information wants to be free.' We'll wait to read it until someone liberates it. Which will happen. Is Julian Assange out of jail yet? Jim Naughton has a summary of it in The Lead over at Episcopal Café.

22 July 2011: Church in Wales inquiry after rector burns Bible pages
The BBC tells us that the Church in Wales says it is investigating after a Gwynedd rector burnt some pages from the Bible. The Reverend Geraint ap Iorwerth made a collage of passages from the King James Bible that reveal 'a cruel and vile God', and burnt some of the scraps at a public event. His parishioners at St Peter ad Vincula church in Pennal seemed accepting of his demonstration, but the Bishop of Bangor objected.

22 July 2011: Nova Scotian rapping priest is 'fightin' the beast'
Kyle Wagner is the young rector of the Parish of Seaforth, Nova Scotia. His rap video, Straight outta compline, has attracted some attention, including the Toronto Star, which featured him in this article.

22 July 2011: Iqaluit's new igloo cathedral gets cross and steeple
In 2005 the iconic igloo cathedral in Iqaluit was burned, in a suspected case of arson. CBC news reports that a cross and steeple have been placed atop the rebuilt structure of the church. Nunatsiaq Online has an article about the rebuilding.

22 July 2011: ABC says Holy Land issue can't wait
The Church Times reports that during a conference on Christians in the Holy Land (hosted at Lambeth Palace) the Archbishop of Canterbury said that 'We cannot wait for politicians to sort it out. Therefore we as civil society, as people of faith, need to get on with making the difference we can make.'

19 July 2011: New York bishop orders gay clergy to marry
Now that gay marriage will soon become legal in New York, the Bishop of Long Island, Lawrence Provenzano, has given his gay clergy an ultimatum to get married within nine months, or stop living together.

19 July 2011: Residency for religious workers in New Zealand
Anglican Taonga (NZ) has reported on a change to NZ law that will permit religious workers to become New Zealand residents. NZ is such a lovely place to live that its rules for residence are unusually strict.

18 July 2011: Jester to study to become a priest
Buckingham Today reports that the town's official jester is leaving his post to study theology at Oxford with the goal of becoming an Anglican priest. His departure leaves Buckingham's town council with a vacancy and the search is on for someone with the right skills - juggling, stilt walking and acting the fool.

17 July 2011: ABC dismisses spin doctor
The Guardian (UK) reports that George Pitcher, hired nine months ago, is to leave his position as public affairs secretary at Lambeth Palace. Pitcher's departure comes after a dust-up over a controversial article in the New Statesman in which the ABC was highly critical of the government. The Guardian received confirmation of Pitcher's leave-taking, but Lambeth refused to say whether the New Statesman situation had anything to do with his exit. The Telegraph reports the ABC 'is understood to have lost confidence' in Pitcher.

17 July 2011: New hymnal for the West Indies
The Gleaner (Jamaica) glowingly reports on the new hymnal just released in that country by the Church in the Province of the West Indies (CPWI). 'The CPWI hymnal successfully attempts to combine sedate, old favourite hymns with an astonishing repertoire of lyrically and rhythmically mesmerising songs by Caribbean authors and composers.'

17 July 2011: State of pipe organs in post-quake Christchurch
The Press (Christchurch) couldn't resist using 'the lost chord' as the headline for a story on the loss of an historic pipe organ and the plans for its replacement. One interesting fact in the report is the current status of pipe organs in Christchurch as a whole: 'It is with a total feeling of despair that we learnt that of the 74 pipe organs in the greater Christchurch area, only 16 are playable and only four are fully intact.'

17 July 2011: New Bishops round-up
Episcopal News Service (ENS) reports on the election of the Rt Revd John McKee Sloan as the 11th bishop for the Diocese of Alabama. Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) reported (15 July) on the election of four bishops and an archbishop in the Church of Nigeria. The Most Revd Ikechi Nwosu is the new Archbishop of Aba Province. The four new bishops are: Aba - The Rt Revd Christian Ugwuzor; Abakaliki -The Rt Revd Monday Nkweagu; Kafanchan - The Rt Revd Marcus Madugu Dogo; Zwonka - The Rt Revd Jacob Kwashi.

15 July 2011: Church of England in 'ticklish' position over its Murdoch shares
The Church Times reports the Church of England 'was in a quandary this week over its £4 million holdings in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, embroiled in the phone-hacking scandal'. Thinking Anglicans has a good round-up of the situation here.

15 July 2011: Horn of Africa drought crisis
The Church Times also reported Church of England bishops are urging congregations and the wider public to provide immediate support to aid agencies working in the Horn of Africa, where more than ten million people are on the brink of starvation because of drought.

12 July 2011: Synod wraps up in England
Our friends at Thinking Anglicans have a good compilation of the Church of England triannual General Synod held in York.

9 July 2011: General Synod in Church of England
The triannual General Synod of the Church of England is underway in York. Thinking Anglicans always has the best coverage.

9 July 2011: ABC denounces C of E self indulgence after Congo visit
The Mail (London), perhaps feeling its oats after the demise of News of the World, tells us that the Archbishop of Canterbury has attacked naval-gazing within the Church of England (we suspect they meant navel-gazing) and joked his visit to the Congo left him 'wanting to be a Christian'. We know the story is true because it was also reported in The Independent.

8 July 2011: RC Ordinariate awarded a million pounds by Anglican charity
The Church Times reports on the controversy surrounding the donation of £1 million to the Roman Catholic Ordinariate by the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, an Anglican group.

8 July 2011: AMiE strikes closer to home than did AMiA
When the Anglican Mission in America was founded, there wasn't a peep out of Lambeth Palace or its functionaries. But now that the same crew has launched an Anglican Mission in England, the ACO has issued (wait for it and brace yourself) a statement. The Church Times published this report and this opinion. The opinion (leader) is short and very much worth your time to read.

7 July 2011: NZ church demolition underway
The Press (Christchurch) carries the sad news that post-earthquake demolition of the century-old Anglican Church of St Luke's in the City has begun.

7 July 2011: The 'No Anglican Covenant Coalition' names two patron bishops
The Anglican Journal (Canada) tells us that the International No Anglican Covenant Coalition has named John Saxbee and Peter Selby, both retired diocesan bishops, as episcopal patrons.

7 July 2011: Blaming Israel for the exodus of Christians from the Middle East
Front Page Magazine (well, OK, FrontPageMag.com) asserts that Palestinian Christians (who are in general Anglican) are vacating the Middle East not because of Islamic extremism but because of Israeli settlers and Israel's government. We wish this report were written just enough better that we could follow the logic of their argument.

4 July 2011: Bombast or bomb blast?
A few weeks ago we suggested, only half in jest, that a core concept in the design of mediaeval cathedrals was bombast. After reading this missive from Theo Hobson in America, we wonder if we should have said bomb blast?