CHRISTMAS PUPPY

It beggars belief, but somebody, actually, threw this little bundle of fluff away, the day after Christmas. Fortunately, the little bundle of fluff was thrown over the fence into our friend, Jan's back yard. Which is about the best place in the world an abandoned pup could find itself. Read all about her on the YEARNING FOR GOD blog HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

CANADIAN NEWS

From Archbishop Fred Hiltz's New Year's Day Address:

Within the Communion, work on the drafting of an Anglican Communion Covenant was completed, just one week before Christmas! In a covering letter which accompanied the text, Secretary General Kenneth Kearon wrote, "The presentation of the Covenant represents an invitation to deepening of relationship among the provinces. We have a long history of friendship, affinities and collaboration between provinces, dioceses, parishes and people across the globe and we celebrate these manifold expressions of our oneness in Christ. The Covenant represents a further step in these relationships, building on and giving expression to the bonds of affection which shape our common life."

The Covenant also speaks about procedures for addressing controversial issues and actions by provinces that could be deemed "incompatible" with the spirit of the Covenant, and of "relational consequences" for that province and its place in the Communion. For some, the language of relational consequences is deeply disturbing, given that our relationships within the Anglican Communion are and should never be dependent or fixed on one issue only.

I maintain that in the midst of our differences over issues of sexuality we are called to model a capacity to live with difference and to do so with grace. It is precisely a lack of graciousness that has fired tempers and sparked words of condemnation and dismissal that have been so destructive to relationships within the Communion. I pray that our attitudes and conversations with one another be more and more centered in Him in whom, beyond our understanding, we are forever one.

The full address can be found on the FOOTNOTES page.

And some very sad news:

Gini Pollesel, wife of Archdeacon Michael Pollesel, General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada, was killed in a car accident on Sunday, Dec. 27, near Sudbury, Ont.

Archdeacon Pollesel himself sustained a concussion and broken ribs, while his mother, Marie, sustained minor injuries from the accident, said Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, in an email circulated to staff in Toronto. They were taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Sudbury.

To read the rest of the story, please visit

the ANGLICAN JOURNAL website

UGANDAN ANGLICAN PRIEST SAYSEVERYBODY MUST GET STONED

From THE DAILY MONITOR (Uganda):

A senior Anglican priest in Lira has attacked people who are against the Lango Cultural Foundation, saying they deserve stoning to death. Such capital punishment is a penalty prescribed by Biblical law for the commission of offenses that violate ritual prohibitions as well as laws regarding interpersonal relationships, he reasoned.

Rev. Esau Omara, the provost of Boroboro Cathedral, said cultural institutions must be treated with respect and not with contempt.

“People who think they are educated should join the foundation to help it grow rather than fighting for its downfall,” he added.

His comments were reportedly directed at Uganda People’s Congress chairman for Lira Dan Okello, who made a stinging attack on the head of the Foundation, Won Nyanci Yosom Odur, recently. Mr Okello is alleged to have said the paramount chief and the Foundation lack relevance because they are not working in the public interest.