(EXPLAINER) Thanksgiving Day isn’t just about parades, crowded airports, football games and a turkey dinner. The U.S. holiday also has roots in the Christianity of 16th century Europe. The celebration has been linked to the Pilgrims of 1621 and the harvest festival since the late 19th century. As the name implies, the theme of the holiday revolves around giving thanks.
Read MoreSilent Discos in Incredible Places has hosted events with live DJs, LED lights and fully stocked mobile bars in museums and other landmarks. Leaders of several historic cathedrals view the disco events as a means to attract younger congregants and help cover rising maintenance costs. But for many of the faithful, holding discos in cathedrals goes too far.
Read MoreIn recent years, bishops in the Anglican Church of Uganda commanded a lot of respect. Lately, however, the flock has been challenging the election processes of the new bishops in tribunals and courts of law. In the last 10 years, the Anglican Church of Uganda has been rocked by a number of grinding legal battles pitting the flock against newly consecrated bishops and archbishops.
Read More(OPINION) During the recent Global Anglican Future Conference held in Kigali, Rwanda, Raffel was one of several bishops — 315 attended, from 52 nations — who stressed that traditionalists now need to look forward. It's time to focus on life in their rapidly growing churches while dedicating less time and energy to clashes with declining churches in England, America, Canada and elsewhere.
Read More(OPINION) If the Anglican Communion did not suffer schism on April 21, it’s the next best thing. A declaration issued that day at the conclusion of an international church assembly in Kigali, Rwanda, means the media and other religion-watchers should gird loins for years of maneuvers, legalities, confusion and acrimony.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the role of faith in the coronation of King Charles III. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Above all else, the coronation of this King is a worship service, held in Westminster Abbey and presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is an explicitly Christian worship service, though it will have participants from many religions. Rishi Sunak, the U.K. prime minister and a serious Hindu, will read from the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Colossians
Read More(OPINION) The archbishop of Canterbury is attempting a classic Anglican maneuver in which the words of core doctrines remain unchanged, but bishops have the option to offer local pastoral policies that change what doctrines mean in real life, according to Gavin Ashenden, a former Anglican chaplain to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Read More(OPINION) In England, proclaiming God’s blessing on same-sex relationships has become the new orthodoxy for clergy with established ties to the powers that be. But that’s not the case in Nigeria and the Global South, where Anglican leaders have urged the Church of England to consider the impact of its actions on believers facing conflict with Jihadi terrorists.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the Christian themes seen in the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) The queen’s final, intimate Windsor Castle service began where her husband’s had ended 18 months earlier — with the “Kontakion of the Departed,” a tie to Prince Philip’s Orthodox roots in Greece — as if one rite was flowing into another.
Read More(OPINION) While the queen delivered thousands of public addresses, her Christmas talks — surrounded by family pictures and holiday decorations — were the occasions when she most openly discussed her faith and the challenges facing the nation and even her own family.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in explores religion in the life of Queen Elizabeth II, the 96-year-old monarch who died after 70 years on the throne. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) Queen Elizabeth’s recent message to the Church of England’s General Synod — in her first absence from the gathering — was strong and personal. She was most concerned with matters of doctrine and spiritual life — not the church’s role in politics and various cultural disputes.
Read MoreThe structure of St. Baglan's Church in North Wales is simple, with plastered stone walls and whitewashed timbers between the slate slabs of its roof and floor. The 13th Century sanctuary was rebuilt in the 1800s, but the carved doorway lintel dates from the 5th or 6th century. An adjacent field contains the 7th Century well of St. Baglan and for ages the faithful sought healing in its waters.
Read More(OPINION) Restrictions by the Church of England and a “revolving” Body of Christ by a French Catholic priest are two responses to this crisis as clergy struggle to attend to the spiritual needs of their flocks.
Read MoreThe Episcopal Church in the U.S., part of the Anglican communion and the Church of England, is too liberal on issues like same-sex marriage for many expats from Africa and the Global South. The split in views and immigration to the U.S. and Canada is prompting growth in the conservative split-off, the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), while the Episcopal Church is gradually declining.
Read More(OPINION) The cynicism so many readers have towards the mainstream media arises in part from the worldview articulated by Richard Pryor -- "Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?” from his 1982 film “Live on the Sunset Strip”.
Read More(OPINION) The Daily Telegraph has leapt into a dispute between two factions of a London church. Yet the journalistic shortcomings of this article turn it into a club for traditionalists to beat modernizers.
Read MoreA story in a local newspaper in the U.K. caught my eye this week, raising questions on the nature of truth and the craft of journalism.
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