Archbishop Desmond Tutu, evangelical leaders Rick and Kay Warren and the Rev Gideon Byamugisha, the first African Anglican priest to openly say he is HIV-positive, are contributors to a new Advent Calendar focussing on the HIV-AIDS struggle.

The daily devotional calendar invites reflection and prayer from World AIDS Day, which was on 1 December, until 6 January 2008. It has already proved popular in the UK, and is reproduced on the website of the religion and society think-tank Ekklesia, among other places: http://ekklesia.co.uk/node/6404

"Keep the Promise: Advent in a Time of AIDS" has been produced by the Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance and published by Augsburg Fortress Press. Print and electronic versions are now available.

OTTAWA (AFP) — A theological split in the Anglican Church over homosexuality is now a "full-blown schism," a Canadian bishop said Wednesday, ahead of the expected formation of a breakaway body.

Right Reverend Michael Ingham, whose Greater Vancouver diocese became the first Anglican jurisdiction to formally authorize the blessing of same-sex unions in 2002, accused the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of the Americas of tearing at the rip by poaching congregations in Canada.

He also blasted the South American faction for planning to ordain two deacons in his diocese in westernmost Canada next month, despite his objections.

"Over many, many centuries the rule has been that there is only one church in one geographical area, so we think it's improper" for anyone to try to set up a parallel Anglican church in Canada, his spokesman Neil Adams told AFP.

"Setting up two rival bodies is not healthy for the Anglican Church."

"Historically, the Anglican Church came from a split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1400s," Adams conceded. "But afterwards it became a big tent church ... open to a wide variety of theologies, and we think that's good and we'd like it to remain that way."

By Randall Palmer

OTTAWA, Nov 19 (Reuters) - As more sections of the Anglican Church of Canada move toward blessing gay marriages, a group of conservative Anglicans has started pulling out of the Canadian organization and putting themselves under the authority of the main Anglican branch in South America.

The first move happened on Friday when retired Bishop Donald Harvey left the Anglican Church of Canada and became a full-time bishop of the more conservative Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of the Americas.

On Thursday, he will now outline plans to enable conservative Anglican congregations in Canada to join the Southern Cone under his episcopal oversight.

"Because of the unabated theological decay in the Anglican Church of Canada, many long-time Anglicans have already left their church and left Anglicanism," Harvey said in a statement.

"We want to provide a fully Anglican option -- a safety net -- for others who feel their church has abandoned them and who are contemplating taking the same action."

It echoes similar moves in the United States, and on both sides of the border such actions have prompted sharp protests from the Anglican Church of Canada and the U.S. Episcopal Church against what they regard as unwelcome intrusions onto North American territory.

By Solange De Santis

Hamilton, Ont.

The southern Ontario diocese of Niagara, meeting at its annual synod, on Nov. 17 voted to allow civilly-married gay couples, “where at least one party is baptized,” to receive a church blessing.

Bishop Ralph Spence, who had refused to implement a similar vote three years ago, this time gave his assent, making Niagara the third diocese since the June General Synod convention to accept same-sex blessings.

Of the 294 clergy and lay delegates, 239 voted yes, 53 said no and two abstained. In 2003, out of 319 delegates, 213 voted yes and 106 said no.

“The question has been asked, ‘Where do we go from here?’ Much consultation will take place … When and how this will be implemented will be dealt with in the days that lie ahead. We are aware of the vote’s ramifications,” said Bishop Spence, who also said he has been in consultation in the past week with Lambeth Palace (residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury), the Canadian primate (Archbishop Fred Hiltz) and his successor, Bishop Michael Bird, who takes office on March 1. Bishop Spence declined to say whom he had spoken with at Lambeth Palace.

The dioceses of Ottawa and Montreal recently passed similar motions and their bishops have said they will consult widely before deciding whether to implement the decisions. (The Vancouver-based diocese of New Westminster has offered blessings since 2002.) Civil marriage has been legal for homosexual couples since 2003.

By Jonathan Petre

The Archbishop of Canterbury is preparing to target individual bishops whose pro-gay policies threaten to derail his efforts to avert schism, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

In a high-risk strategy, Dr Rowan Williams may even snub them by withdrawing their invitations to next year's Lambeth Conference.

He has told friends he will challenge any bishop he believes is coming to the conference with an agenda "very much at odds" with his attempts to maintain unity in the worldwide Church.

Dr Williams sent invitations in May to most of the Anglican Church's 880 bishops around the world for the once-a-decade showcase gathering in Canterbury.

He withheld invitations from only a handful of particularly divisive figures, including Bishop Gene Robinson, who became Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop in 2003.

LONDON (AFP) — Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu has slammed the church for being "obsessed" with homosexuality, in a BBC radio programme to be broadcast Tuesday.

The South African 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, 76, said he felt ashamed of his church for its attitude towards gays.

He also criticised Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the leader of the world's Anglicans, for not demonstrating the attributes of a "welcoming God."

"Our world is facing problems -- poverty, HIV and AIDS -- a devastating pandemic, and conflict," Tutu said.

"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.

"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."

He said the Anglican church had appeared "extraordinarily homophobic" during the row over whether the openly gay priest Gene Robinson should be allowed to become the Bishop of New Hampshire.

Tutu said he was "saddened and "ashamed" of the church over the row.

Nobody in Charlotte's Myers Park Baptist Church or the N.C. Baptist State Convention was surprised when the convention kicked the church out. They're going different directions. Tuesday in Greensboro they made it official.

The immediate issue was gays and the church, but the larger issue was the Baptist belief in the authority of the local congregation to determine its own policies.

Unlike hierarchical denominations, among Baptists the local church is autonomous. Membership in state and national groups is voluntary. Sometimes Baptist groups restrict membership to churches that share certain beliefs. The N.C. convention did so in a 2006 statement saying it didn't welcome as members churches that "knowingly act to affirm, approve, endorse, promote, support or bless homosexual behavior."

The deacons at 1,900-member Myers Park, which welcomes homosexuals without trying to change them, responded by citing local autonomy and asserting that Myers Park "will not allow our conscience to be coerced" by the convention's "exclusionary conditions of membership."

ATLANTA — An Atlanta megachurch took in $69 million in 2006, according to a financial statement the church's minister released in response to a Senate investigation into him and five other well-known televangelists.

The Rev. Creflo Dollar disclosed the World Changers Church International's financial information to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but said the money he spends is his own.

Dollar said his income comes from personal investments, including businesses and real estate ventures. But the church gave him a Rolls Royce, which he mainly uses for special occasions, he said.

"Without a doubt, my life is not average," he said. "But I'd like to say, just because it is excessive doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong."

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, launched an investigation into the finances of six ministers after hearing reports of some preachers' lavish and opulent lifestyles. In a letter last week, he requested answers by Dec. 6 to questions about their executive compensation and amenities, including use of fancy cars and private jets.

Besides Dollar, the letters were sent to faith healer Benny Hinn, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Texas, David and Joyce Meyer of Missouri, Randy and Paula White of Florida and Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.

Dollar questioned the investigation's focus on religious groups. The minister is among the religious leaders who preach the "prosperity gospel," the teaching that God will shower faithful followers with material riches. But he said he uses only his personal finances to pay for his luxuries.

"My lifestyle does not come out of the church's bank account," he said.
 
Bounce back

Jane Nafula
Kampala

THE Archbishop of Kampala Diocese, Dr Cyprian Lwanga has advised students not to indulge in homosexuality and lesbianism.

Dr Lwanga said homosexuals and lesbians are not born but made and that all Ugandans should do what it takes to suppress such acts.

"Every human organ which God created has a purpose" he said.

He added that there are health dangers associated with homosexual behaviour.

Dr Lwanga said apart from developing complications in the reproductive system, people involved in these acts can easily contract diseases like HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

However, he said gay people should not be hated but instead helped to deviate from this form of sexuality.

Dr Lwanga was addressing students, parents and other guests during celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of St Joseph's Girls' Secondary School, Nsambya on Saturday.

The school was founded in 1967 by the Little Sisters of St Francis.

Dr Lwanga also commissioned a laboratory, website and a school bus.

"Some people think that AIDS has disappeared yet it is still with us . We know how it comes about lets fight it using the right methods," he said.

The Headmistress of the school, Sr Mary Agatha exhibited work done by her staff and other stakeholders who have seen the school progress and excel over the years.

Sr Agatha also said several structures have been put in place at the school to meet the demands of the ever-increasing number of students craving for quality education.

She added that the student population has grown tremendously since 1967.

Bounce back

By Lisa Kennedy

The Rev. Benjamin Reynolds studies Scripture this summer for his first sermon at Community United Church of Christ in Boulder. Reynolds was pastor at Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church in Colorado Springs until telling congregants he is gay.

The Rev. Benjamin Reynolds studies Scripture this summer for his first sermon at Community United Church of Christ in Boulder. Reynolds was pastor at Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church in Colorado Springs until telling congregants he is gay.

Defying his old church's code of silence, a pastor came out. Now shunned, he charts a new course.

By Josh Jarman

With a bit of characterization and Jewish witticism, Rabbi Steven Greenberg made his point clear: You shouldn't use the Bible to pass judgment on others.

Greenberg shared this belief during a sermon yesterday at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on the campus of Ohio State University.

Greenberg, who was raised in Bexley and is in Columbus for five days, is America's first openly gay Orthodox rabbi. He spoke yesterday about homosexuality in the context of traditional faith as part of a lecture series sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio. He will speak about same-sex marriage at 7 p.m. today at the church, 30 W. Woodruff Ave.

He wasn't saying that the Bible is not the revealed word of God. But according to Jewish tradition, he said, God gave that word to man and entrusted him to decipher it.

"No one can say, 'It says in the Scripture,' to ground any policy," Greenberg said. "All we can say is, 'My community says this.' "

By NEIL MACFARQUHAR

SAN FRANCISCO — About 15 people marched alongside the Muslim float in this city’s notoriously fleshy Gay Pride Parade earlier this year, with various men carrying the flags of Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine and Turkey and even Iran’s old imperial banner.

While other floats featured men dancing in leather Speedos or women with scant duct tape over their nipples, many Muslims were disguised behind big sunglasses, fezzes or kaffiyehs wrapped around their heads.

Even as they reveled in newfound freedom compared with the Muslim world, they remained closeted, worried about being ostracized at the mosque or at their local falafel stand.

“They’re afraid of the rest of the community here,” said Ayman, a stocky 31-year-old from Jordan, who won asylum in the United States last year on the basis of his sexuality. “It’s such a big wrong in the Koran that it is impossible to be accepted.”

By Ecumenical News International

The spread of HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean is one of the major issues now facing churches in the region, says Gerard Granado, general secretary of the Caribbean Conference of Churches - reports Stephen Brown.

"In 1973, when the Caribbean Conference of Churches was formed, there was nothing in the world known as HIV/AIDS," Granado told leaders of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches meeting near Port of Spain on 25 October. "Now one of our biggest programmes is the response to HIV/AIDS."

He pointed out that the Caribbean region is second only to sub-Saharan Africa in terms of the rate of HIV infection. According to UNAIDS figures, the pandemic claimed an estimated 24 000 lives in the Caribbean in 2005, making it the leading cause of death among adults aged 15 to 44 years.

A recent set of guidelines developed by the CCC for Caribbean Faith-Based Organisations to deal with HIV/AIDS had gained support from international organizations such as the World Bank, he noted.

Granado is a Roman Catholic layperson who has led the CCC since 1999. The church conference, whose headquarters are in Trinidad, groups 33 member churches in 34 territories. It was the first regional ecumenical organization to include the Catholic Church as a founder member alongside Protestant and Anglican denominations.

As the Anglican debate plays out, other denominations seek guidance for similar battles in their futures.

By Rebecca Trounson,

As Episcopalians and Anglicans wait to see if their fractious global fellowship will splinter or hold together in a long-running conflict over homosexuality and the Bible, other denominations are watching nervously.

The same or related issues are roiling many denominations, especially such mainline Protestant churches as Evangelical Lutherans, Presbyterians and Methodists. And many church leaders and scholars predict that the way these questions play out in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion will hold lessons for them all.

"The struggle going on inside the Anglican Communion. . . is not peculiar to Anglicanism," Sister Joan Chittister, a Roman Catholic nun, wrote in a recent column in the National Catholic Reporter newspaper. "The issue is in the air we breathe. The Anglicans simply got there earlier than most."

Conservative Judaism has debated the issue as well, but the conflict is especially pronounced among Protestant churches. Said John C. Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: "They know it's going to happen to them too."

Across faith groups, the controversies revolve broadly around homosexuality: whether to allow openly gay and lesbian clergy or bishops and whether to provide official recognition to the unions of same-sex couples. But fundamentally, the debate involves questions of scriptural interpretation and whether the Bible's teachings are to be seen as unchanging or in cultural and historical context.

By THE REV. DR. RICHARD P. SMIRAGLIA

CONFUSION reigned as reports about the Episcopal House of Bishops began to appear. That was our first clue that our bishops had crafted a very Anglican document. For it is at the heart of the Anglican Communion that our faith is based on the three-legged stool of scripture, tradition and reason.
What is in this document for the Anglican Communion? The bishops took the opportunity to teach, mostly, by pointing out that in the Episcopal Church, authority is shared by the clergy and the laity, and is invested in the General Convention, held every third year. They also took the opportunity to lay out the positions that have been embraced by the General Convention to date.

What is in this document for gay and lesbian Episcopalians? That's a tougher question. My job is to serve as missioner among the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender (GLBT) community. We have enjoyed the embrace of the inclusive Gospel for decades. Gay and lesbian people are in our pews, are at our altars, and are importantly involved in the hands-on work of the whole church - the food cupboards, the literacy programs, the soup kitchens, the clothing drives and the thousands of other ministries through which we seek to proclaim by action the love of God for all of God's children.

The Rev. Ann Gordon became the Rev. Drew Phoenix. Phoenix, now 48, describes the transition from female to male as a homecoming.


By Daniel Burke

BALTIMORE — The Rev. Drew Phoenix is many things to many people. To St. John's of Baltimore City, he's the fun-loving pastor who counsels them, takes their kids hiking, explains Scripture, and plunges into worthy causes.

To conservative Methodists, Phoenix embodies another front in the "culture wars," a rebel who has defied God and nature and should be removed from ministry.

To mainstream society, Phoenix is an enigma who transcends traditional sexual boundaries, provoking uncomfortable questions about the interplay between body, mind and soul.

To the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church he's number IV on the docket for their Oct. 24-27 session: "A Review of Bishop's Decision ... Whether Transgendered Persons Are Eligible for Appointment in The United Methodist Church."

The issue of transgenderism seems too hot to touch for religious Americans already bitterly divided over sexual orientation. A number of Methodist theologians and ethicists, asked to comment for this article, declined.

But as scientific advances and changing sexual mores allow transgender people to slowly move into the mainstream, religious leaders will soon have to grapple with theological implications of gender identity, scholars say.

In practical terms, they have to deal with Phoenix and whether he should remain in ministry. The judicial hearing of the United Methodist Church, one of the largest Christian bodies in the U.S., may be a high-water mark for transgender awareness in the pews.

In September, Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa celebrated the new Millennium. But Ethiopians - at least in Addis Ababa - have mixed feelings about these celebrations.

On the one hand they love Enkutatash, the New Year holiday. It is a time for family reunions, and visiting friends.

The problem is that the government, alive to the public relations value of this unique event, has embraced the Millennium so enthusiastically that it has effectively taken it over.

The official feel to the Millennium has been reinforced by the fact that none of the independent events originally planned for the New Year period will actually be taking place.

An offer by the Rastafarian community to bring over reggae stars from the Caribbean was not encouraged.

Rastafari is a young, Africa-centered religion which developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as King of Ethiopia in 1930. Rastafarians believe Haile Selassie is God, and that he will return to Africa members of the black community who are living in exile as the result of colonization and the slave trade. Rastafari theology developed

from a prophecy allegedly made by Marcus Garvey, a political activist who wanted to improve the status of fellow blacks. "Look to Africa for the crowning of a king to know your redemption is near." Marcus Garvey, 1927 (attributed) Rastafari became internationally visible when Reggae music took off in the 1960s. The faith spread beyond Jamaica and can now be found in Europe, the USA, Africa, Australasia and Canada. There are approximately one million world wide adherents of Rastafari as a faith, but probably many more people class themselves as Rastafarians in a social sense rather than in a religious one.

By Jonathan Petre

A senior Church of England conservative has intensified the storm over homosexuals in the clergy by warning he will boycott next summer's Lambeth Conference if liberal American bishops are invited.

The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, said he would find it difficult to attend a Church council alongside those who consecrated or approved the appointment of Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop.

His comments are fresh evidence of the divisions within the Church of England over the issues and will exacerbate the difficulties facing the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, in maintaining unity. 

Bishop Nazir-Ali's remarks come at a hugely sensitive time for Dr Williams, who is fighting to keep the liberal American bishops in the worldwide Church despite pressure from conservatives to expel them for consecrating Gene Robinson in 2003.

By Tony Grew

The Islamic Human Rights Commission has condemned a proposed new offence of incitement to hatred on the basis of sexual orientation, adding its voice to a chorus of complaints from evangelical Christians.

The IHRC, an "independent, not-for-profit, campaign, research and advocacy organisation based in London," attacked the concept of a gay incitement law.

"If someone is reading the Bible and calls homosexuality an abomination, is that going to be incitement?

"There are similar passages in the Koran and the Talmud," Massoud Shadjareh of the IHRC told the Daily Express.

By Patrick Goodenough

(CNSNews.com) - Christian organizations in Britain are uneasy about government plans to outlaw "incitement to homophobic hatred," an offense that could carry a prison term of seven years.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw told parliament this week that the government wants to extend existing prohibitions against racial and religious incitement, to cover "'homophobic" conduct.

"It is a measure of how far we have come as a society in the last 10 years that we are now appalled by hatred and invective directed at people on the basis of their sexuality," he said.

"Homophobic abuse, lyrics and literature are every bit as abhorrent to those concerned as material inciting hatred based on race or religion, and have no place in our communities," Straw added.

Christian groups who believe homosexual behavior is wrong are concerned about the possible implications.

Unless the new law is clearly defined, said Evangelical Alliance head of public affairs Dr. Don Horrocks, "there is a real risk of free speech being severely curtailed and people consequently feeling afraid to engage in legitimate debate."