JERICHO ROAD WON!

From the comments:

Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative said...

We won! Jericho Road will be awarded a fresh fruit orchard for the families of our neighborhood in New Orleans! Thanks Wounded Bird for supporting and PLANTING YOUR VOTE! It worked!

Visit us on Facebook to follow the status of the orchard: www.facebook.com/JerichoRoad

Thanks to all of you from Wounded Bird who voted for Jericho Road.

KIRKSTALL ABBEY

After our visit to the Abbey House Museum in Leeds, Doorman-Priest and I headed over to the site of the Abbey proper.

 

Completed between 1152 and 1182, Kirkstall Abbey still stands substantially to its full height, its massive structure presenting a unique example of early Cistercian architecture. Although its community was disbanded in 1539, it has continued to attract the attention of increasing numbers of visitors, for no other building so completely illustrates this early period of English monastic life.

For further information on the history of the Abbey, see their website.

 

The Abbey is splendid. I never saw an ancient ruin of a church or abbey that I didn't love, and Kirkstall is no exception. My only regret is that the area is fenced and gated, and we did not get to walk inside the ruins. For me, the feel of a holy place, where prayers were said over centuries, is only experienced from the inside.

 

DP told me that on special occasions, services are still held in the Abbey. To hear that prayers are still being said in the holy place, even until today, pleased me a great deal.

 

In my earlier post on the Abbey House Museum, I mentioned that the day began with rain, but as you see in the pictures, the sun shone upon us by the time we walked around the Abbey.

 

Since I'd seen the lovely ruins of the Abbey up on the hill in a previous visit and longed to have a closer look, I'm thankful to my good friend DP for taking me to visit.

More to come on our day in Leeds, in which we continued to enjoy beautiful weather.

I'm afraid that I'm jumping around the timetable of my travels, but bear with me. I write as I write.

Note: The pictures are mine, with the exception of the photo at the top, which is from the slideshow at the Abbey website.

Deo gratias!!!

From Ellie on her great-nephew James:

Subject: James improving


Jane is able to hold baby James now for 20 minutes every 3 hours. They have removed all the lines except one little IV. We are hoping he will get to come home this weekend.
Susan (James' grandma)

Full story here.

What wonderful news! Thanks for the update, Ellie.

JESUS AND MO - SUFI

From Jesus and Mo.

ABBEY HOUSE MUSEUM - KIRKSTALL ABBEY

On my way from Scotland back to the airport in Manchester, I stopped in Leeds to visit with my dear friends, the Doorman-Priest family. DP, the paterfamilias of the family, who blogs at The World of Doorman-Priest, took me first to visit Kirkstall Abbey and the Abbey House Museum. I'd seen the Abbey situated high above the road when I was in Leeds last year and liked the looks of it, and DP told me that it was worth a visit, and indeed it was. In truth, I never saw an old church ruin that I didn't like and want to visit.

The morning started off with rain as DP and I headed for the Abbey grounds after coffee near my hotel. By the time we arrived at the site, the sky was lightening and the rain was less. We visited the House Museum first.

Welcome to Abbey House Museum where you can experience the sights and sounds of life in Victorian Leeds in the year 1880! A journey through the carefully recreated streets and houses of Abbey House Museum is a great day out for all the family.

And so it is - a mini-replica of a High Street with shops containing vintage artifacts from the late Victorian period. My favorite was the pub, which was nicely done and which you see pictured below. I believe the pub was DP's favorite spot, too.



Below is a photo of a vintage artifact dressed in a vintage artifact. DP made me do it! I blame him.



On to Kirkstall Abbey, but in another post. The Abbey deserves a better placement than following the above. The things I do for you people!

ANGLICAN CHURCHES IN AFRICA NOT ALL CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH

Jim Naughton at The Lead notes the letter from Central and South Africa Anglican churches in his post titled, End to the myth of a monolithic Africa. The text of the letter:

We are gathered here for the All Africa Bishops Conference, Entebbe, Uganda 23 -29 August 2010; at a critical time in the life of the Anglican Church in Africa and the wider Anglican Communion. We hold dear the gift of the Anglican Communion and its Institutions with the Archbishop of Canterbury as our head. We seek to preserve its traditions.

We are grateful to God for the theme of this Conference: Securing the Future: Unlocking our Potential (Hebrew 12: 1-2). The purpose of which is to be pro-active in addressing the ills that beset Africa such as poverty, wars, bad governance, HIV and AIDS, and, environmental issues. The focus of this Conference is therefore about making the Anglican Church in Africa relevant in this context.

We are mindful that the Anglican Communion is under severe strain because of certain actions taken by the Episcopal Church, TEC by their ordination of openly gay bishops.

TEC’s recent action of consecrating an openly lesbian person as a bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles against a moratorium in the Communion of consecrating openly gay bishops reflected a gross insensitivity to the feelings of the rest of the Communion.

We are therefore sympathetic to the deep hurt and pain and indeed anger that some Provinces in Africa have expressed. Notwithstanding, the impression being created at the Conference that all Provinces in Africa are of one mind to abandon our relationship with TEC is wrong. Painful as the action is it should not become the presenting issue to lead to the break- up of our legacy and this gift of God- the world wide Anglican Communion.

We recognize that all the Provinces and dioceses in Africa do not condone TEC’s action. However, Provinces differ in their relationships with TEC in light of their actions. Some Provinces continue to value their historical partnerships with TEC and its organs. To discard these relationships would be tantamount to abandoning our call of the gospel to struggle with each other’s failure as we journey with Christ in the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation as we were passionately reminded by the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, of the virtue of tolerance and to live with our rich diversity.

In pursuit of its objective to form a new “province” in North America, ACNA has been successful in bringing together most of the splinter groups within the Anglican tradition.

We recognize that the common factor that holds all the coalition partners of ACNA is TEC. We do not support ACNA’s position for legitimacy through the elimination of TEC.

Three of the Instruments of Unity have already stated their position on the matter and we believe they represent the mind of the vast majority of the Communion including CAPA.

The majority of the African Provinces at this Conference are being ambushed by an agenda that is contrary to the beliefs and practices of our various Provinces. We have come to this Conference to share ideas on critical issues in the development of our continent and provide spiritual and moral leadership for our people.

Any thought of abandoning our Communion with any member of the body will hurt; for when one part of the body is injured the whole suffers. CAPA must not be used as a pawn in battles it is not party too. CAPA as you all know is not an organ of the Anglican Communion but a fellowship of Provinces of Africa. Therefore, issues of doctrine are better addressed as it has always been by individual provinces.

How good to see the bishops from Central and South Africa take a courageous stand against the attempt by Nigeria, Uganda, and foreign bishops to hijack the gathering in Entebbe and impose their own agenda. The Central and South Africa Anglican churches think for themselves. I pray that Archbishop Rowan Williams gave support and encouragement to those churches while he was there.

Pray for the Anglican churches in Africa.

FRIENDSHIP - WOMEN AND MEN

"Friendship among Women:

A woman didn't come home one night.
The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend's house.
The man called his wife's ten best friends.
None of them knew anything about it.


Friendship among Men:

A man didn't come home one night.
The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend's house.
The woman called her husband's ten best friends.
Eight confirmed that he had slept over, and two said he was still there."


Cheers,
(and welcome back!)

Paul (A.)

I wouldn't swear an oath that I haven't posted this joke before, but if I have, enjoy again - or not, and don't blame me. Blame Paul (A.)

It IS good to be home. The journey was wonderful, but, it's true: There's no place like home.

LAST DAY TO PLANT YOUR VOTE FOR JERICHO ROAD EPISCOPAL HOUSING

Communities across the United States are ripe for renewal, ready to receive a complete fruit orchard provided by the Edy's Fruit Bars brand and the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. Cast your vote for one of our Communities Take Root participants and help them reap the rewards of their own fresh fruit supply.

Help Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative win by voting at Edy's Fruit Bars. Today is the last day to vote, so hurry on over.

Thanks to Ann for the link.

CAT CARTOONS

 

 

 

 

All you cat lovers, don't blame me. Blame Doug.

PS: I'm a cat lover, and I blame Doug.

THANK YOU, PETER TATCHELL

From Ekklesia:

The gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has received a standing ovation at the Greenbelt Christian festival.

Speaking about “the struggle for queer freedom in Africa”, he attacked church leaders who condone homophobic abuse, but praised the “brave, heroic Christians who refuse to go along with the persecution of people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual”.

Greenbelt, one of Britain's largest Christian festivals, has drawn over 21,000 visitors over the weekend. Tatchell was speaking on Saturday evening (28 August).

Prior to the weekend, Tatchell had told Ekklesia that he was “looking forward” to the weekend and that, while not a Christian himself, “we have more in common than divides us”. The turnout suggests that few had heeded a call by the socially conservative group Anglican Mainstream, to boycott Greenbelt because of Tatchell's presence on the programme.

Tatchell drew enthusiastic applause from parts of the audience, and uncomfortable expressions from others, when he accused the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, of “colluding” with the persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Africa.

“The Anglican Church and Archbishop Rowan Williams have a lot to answer for, because they have put church unity before human rights,” he said.

Perhaps those with "uncomfortable expressions" would do well to consider who follows the Gospel message, Peter Tatchell, who is no longer a Christian, or Archbishop Rowan Williams.

From Anglican Mainstream:

BOYCOTT GREENBELT if you want to safeguard vulnerable children, said an Anglican Mainstream consultant after her concerns over the presence of Peter Tatchell at this year’s festival were ignored.

Dr Lisa Nolland wrote an open letter to the festival organisers complaining about “the further gayification of Greenbelt,” following the invitation of the gay rights campaigner, which she saw as compounding damage done by inviting the Bishop of New Hampshire, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, to speak last year.

Safeguard your children from gayification! Good grief! The pollution of the minds of the little ones from the presence of Bishop Gene Robinson at Greenbelt last year was bad enough.

Of course, the name Anglican Mainstream contains within itself the greatest of ironies.

Note to the ABC: Take lessons from Bishop Oscar Romero and Fr Roy Bourgeois.

“Let those who have a voice, speak out for the voiceless.”
Oscar Romero

Silence is the voice of complicity.
Fr. Roy Bourgeois

H/T to Timothy Kincaid at Box Turtle Bulletin for the photo and the link to Ekklesia.