Author Archives: mike@mikelilley.com

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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My new favorite term: Wabi-sabi

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The Elusive Beauty of Imperfection

In a few words, one could say that wabi sabi is the beauty of imperfect things. Of course, that would be overly simplistic explanation for such a deep and profoundly rooted notion in the Japanese spirit. Something between an artistic concept, a philosophy of life and a personal feeling, wabi sabi is everywhere in Japanese culture.

In Japan, wabi sabi is imperceptible but everywhere: a crack on a teapot, the wood of an old door, green moss on a rock, a misty landscape, a distorted cup or the reflection of the moon on a pond.

In Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence, Andrew Juniper defines wabi sabi as “an intuitive appreciation of ephemeral beauty in the physical world that reflects the irreversible flow of life in the spiritual world.”

Related to landscapes, objects and even human beings, the idea of wabi sabi can be understood as an appreciation of a beauty that is doomed to disappear, or even a ephemeral contemplation of something that becomes more beautiful as it ages, fades, and consequently acquires a new charm.

Schuyler RSV with apocrypha

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The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is a revision of the American Revised Version (1901) which was itself a revision of the King James Version (1611). The RSV was translated by 32 scholars along with 50 representatives of cooperating denominational bodies. The translation committee attempted to stay as close as possible to its rich Tyndale-King James heritage. Schuyler has published the RSV in the Quentel format with the 1977 expanded Apocrypha. (1 Esdras 2 Esdras Tobit, Judith, Esther (Greek), Wisdom Of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, Letter Of Jeremiah, Prayer Of Azariah, Susanna, Bel And The Dragon, Prayer Of Manasseh, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, Psalm 151).  Here is a PDF of this edition.

Full Yapp Black Natural Grain Goatskin Cover with Red Calfskin Lining
10 point Milo font
Line Matching
28 GSM Paper
Page size: 6.1″ x 9.13″ x ~1″ (155 mm x 232 mm x ~25 mm)
3 x 1 cm Red Ribbons
Art-Gilt edging (red under gold) with gilt line (gold line inside the cover)
Gold embossing on the Spine.
Raised Spine Ribs
Smyth Sewn
Ornamental drop caps
Black letter text (chapter numbers, headers and page numbers in red)
Cross references
Glossary concordance
Presentation pages
Extensive Schuyler Bible Maps

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Schuyler ESV Wide Margin in marbled mahogany

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The best selling Schuyler ESV Quentel Bible is now available in a Wide Margin format. This Bible is identical to the current Schuyler Quentel ESV with the following exceptions: 1. Slightly smaller text size: 9.5 instead of 11 point font. 2. Heavier paper – 40 GSM Bible paper. 3. Semi-yapp cover. 4. 32 pages of lined note paper. 5. Last, but not least, wide margins. Outer Margin: 35 mm; Inner Margin 33 mm; Top Margin: 25-30 mm; Bottom Margin: 31-36 mm. This format will extend to the Schuyler Quentel series, and is already available in the Schuyler Canterbury KJV and and Schuyler Quentel NASB.

ESV Text Edition: 2016
Marbled Mahogany Calfskin with full leather linings (dark brown)
Page Size: 6.8″ x 9.4″ x 1.7″ (173 mm x 238 mm x 42 mm)
Outer Margin: 35 mm; Inner Margin 33 mm; Top Margin: 25 mm; Bottom Margin: 31 mm.
9.5 pt. Milo font
Line Matching to avoid “see through”
40 GSM Paper (Finland)
Smyth Sewn
Double Column, Paragraph format
Black Letter Text
3 x 1 cm Ribbons: Dark Brown, Gold, Dark Brown
Art-Gilt edging (red under gold) with gilt line (gold line inside the cover)
Gold embossing on the Spine.
Raised Spine Ribs
Smyth Sewn
More than 80,000 entry cross references
Concordance
Presentation pages
Extensive Schuyler Bible Maps

ESV WM Text SamplerDownload
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