Monthly Archives: November 2023

Mike Norvell named ACC Coach of the Year

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Florida State head coach Mike Norvell was voted the 2023 ACC Coach of the Year, it was announced Thursday.

Norvell has led the Seminoles to a perfect 12-0 record, including 8-0 in the ACC, and the top seed for Saturday’s ACC Championship Game. He produced the seventh unbeaten regular season in program history and only the fourth 12-0 mark in a season, joining the 1999 national championship team, the 2013 national championship team and the 2014 College Football Playoff semifinalists. Norvell is the sixth different ACC coach to lead his team to an undefeated record in conference play since 2000.

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FSU over Florida 24-15

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No. 5 Florida State Seminoles (12-0, 8-0 ACC) capped their regular season with a finale against rival Florida Gators. ( 5-7, 3-5 SEC) inside Ben Hill Griffen Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. Roars could be heard throughout the city as 93,000 screaming fans cheered their teams on. The Seminoles would leave The Swamp with a 24-15 victory over the Gators.

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For the second week in a row, a starting quarterback for the Seminoles was injured. Quarterback Tate Rodemaker was attempting to convert a third and 14 and was struck by Jaydon Hill who was later ejected for targeting. Rodemaker would later return. 

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261 Georgia congregations leave the United Methodist Church over a divide on LGBTQ issues

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The North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church voted Saturday to accept the decision of 261 congregations to leave the denomination over a divide on LGBTQ issues.

“I realize how sad this time is for many, including myself,” said Bishop Robin Dease, the leader of the conference. “I just hate that those who are leaving us, I will not have the opportunity to meet or to be with.”

The churches are breaking from the UMC after a 2019 decision by the national United Methodist Church to allow congregations to leave by the end of 2023, “for reasons of conscience regarding a change in the requirements and provisions of the Book of Discipline related to the practice of homosexuality or the ordination or marriage of self-avowed practicing homosexuals.”

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Church of England backs plans for trial blessings of same-sex weddings

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General Synod’s narrow vote in favour means services to celebrate gay marriages could be held within weeks

Dedicated church services to bless the weddings of same-sex couples could be held within weeks, after a narrow vote at the Church of England ruling body.

The General Synod backed a plan to hold standalone services of blessings for same-sex couples on a trial basis.

It means that gay Christians will be able to invite family and friends to a special service, which could be held on Saturdays, to bless and celebrate their weddings. Music, readings, confetti and other features would mean such services could look very similar to a standard church wedding.

The proposal for standalone services on a trial basis came in an amendment to a motion that noted progress made by bishops on the divisive issues of sexuality, known within the C of E as Living in Love and Faith. The amendment scraped through by one vote; the amended motion passed by 227 votes to 203.

Steven Croft, the bishop of Oxford, who proposed the amendment, said the “experimental” standalone services would be voluntary and no member of the clergy would be obliged to offer such services.

Last month, bishops agreed to commend special prayers of blessing for same-sex couples for use in existing church services. These are likely to begin before Christmas.

Is Anglicanism Growing or Dying? New Data.

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IS ANGLICANISM GROWING OR DYING? NEW DATA
The Rev. Dr. David Goodhew  February 22, 2022  Analysis, Church of England

The membership of the Episcopal Church (TEC) has halved since 1970. During the same period, the Anglican Communion’s combined membership has doubled. It is now heading toward 100 million. The result is a massive shift in the center of gravity of the Anglican Communion. Is the Communion growing or dying? It is growing and, in parts, it is dying too.

Members of TEC (and the wider Communion) urgently need to assimilate these patterns of growth and decline, especially as we approach the 2022 Lambeth Conference.

This article draws on the work of the widely respected scholars Todd Johnson and Gina Zurlo and the Center for the Study of Worldwide Christianity based at Gordon Conwell, as well as other materials. Johnson and Zurlo now provide data for the entire Communion up to 2015, which constitutes an updating of their groundbreaking work in the volume Growth and Decline in the Anglican Communion which also appeared in an earlier article on Covenant.

Global Anglicanism, 1970 to 2015[i]

                                                     1970                                        2015
Africa                                    7,718,000                              56,947,000
Asia [ii]                                    358,000                                   891,000
Europe                              29,367,000                             24,922,000
North America                  4,395,000                               2,549,000
Latin America [iii]                 775,000                                   929,000
Oceania                             4,781,000                                4,533,000
Global Total                     47,394,000                              90,771,000

The data for 2015 are the latest figures we have for the whole Communion. Individual provinces have more recent data. Since 2015 the Communion has grown further. Notwithstanding COVID, the Anglican Communion is now at least double the size it was in 1970. Those who would write Anglicanism off, please take note.

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