St. Luke’s Cathedral built in 1882 at the corner of Jefferson & Main (now Magnolia); Orlando, FL.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Cathedral
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Feast Day of St. Nicholas
In 323 AD at the Council of Nicea, Saint Nicholas (the inspiration for Santa Claus) smacked the heretic Arius in the face to interrupt a speech denying the divinity of Christ.
“He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice,
He’s going to find out if you deny the divinity of Christ! Santa Claus is coming to town!”
“He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows if you’re a heretic and he’ll punch you in your face”
Have a blessed St. Nicholas day beloved.
Very little is known about the life of Nicholas. He became Bishop of Myra on the southwest coast of Asia Minor. He may have been imprisoned for his faith in the persecution (303-311) that began under the Emperor Diocletian, and he may have attended the Council of Nicaea in 325. Nicholas is the traditional patron of seafarers and sailors. He is also known as a patron of children, based on his reputation as a bearer of gifts to children. The Dutch brought his name to New York. He is popularly known as Santa Claus. Nicholas is commemorated in the Anglican calendar of the church year on Dec. 6.
Is Anglicanism Growing or Dying? New Data.
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.
Continue readingJohn MacArthur’s Church to Receive $800K COVID-19 Settlement
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to authorize a $400,000 payment to settle a legal battle with Grace Community Church over lead pastor John MacArthur’s defiance of COVID-19 restrictions in the early months of the pandemic.
This agreement, county officials said, was reached in the context of the US Supreme Court’s decision in February that told California it couldn’t enforce a ban on indoor worship because of the coronavirus pandemic. LA County modified its health order and lifted the indoor worship ban after the ruling.
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