The new form of worship, which removes words such as “Lord, he, his, him” and “mankind” from services, has been written by the church in an attempt to acknowledge that God is “beyond human gender”.
Episcopalian bishops have approved the introduction of more “inclusive” language, which deliberately removes references suggesting that God is of male gender.
Traditionalists have criticised the changes on the grounds that they smack of political correctness and because they believe they are not consistent with the teachings of the Bible. The alterations have been made to provide an alternative to the established 1982 Liturgy, which, like the Bible, refers to God as a man.
The new order of service, which can be used by priests if they have difficulties with a male God, has been produced by the church’s Liturgy Committee in consultation with the Faith & Order Board of General Synod and the College of Bishops.
The controversial changes were discussed at the church’s General Synod recently. The minutes of the synod reveal that female priests had asked why God was still referred to as a man.
The altered version of the 1982 Liturgy sees masculine pronouns removed when they refer to God and the new approach has even been extended to humans. For example, the word “mankind” has been taken out and replaced with “world”.
Some senior religious figures have objected to the new form of words. “It is political correctness,” said Rev Stuart Hall of the Scottish Prayer Book Society and Honorary Professor of Divinity at the University of St Andrews
“It is quite unnecessary. The word man in English – especially among scientists – is inclusive of both sexes.
“Those who try to minimise references to God as the Father and Christ as his Son have great difficulties, because the New Testament is shot through with these references.”

Read more here.

[From me]

What’s next: Jesus wasn’t God’s Son? When will this Political Correctness end?

But whether it was a message from above or not– the vines on that utility pole are gone tonight.

Ricky Navarre noticed the vines atop a utility pole in rural Jeff Davis Parish and felt inspired. He said, “That’s a group of vines man. That was brought here by him. He might just be telling us something. ‘You know. I’m looking over you. I’m going to answer your prayers.’”

Read more here.

[From me]

Jesus did say He was the vine and we are the branches….

HT: Steve Thompson

Parishioners packed the Fairfield Church of Nazarene this week as word of the toaster apparition spread throughout the community. The phenomenon continues to prompt waves of intense emotion as people try to comprehend the heavenly message. Throughout viewing hours set up by the church, people can be seen weeping, fainting, and praying.

The miracle toaster appears embedded and glowing within the painting of the Virgin Mary hanging at the front of the church. Many feel the apparition is somehow intended to convey the opposite message of many heavily publicized sightings the Virgin Mary on pieces of toast around the U.S. in recent years.

Church officials report the toaster appears to be a KitchenAid KMTT200OB which is a medium quality four-slice toaster that comes with a one year warranty. The unit generally retails for $69.99.

Church Pastor, Paul Edwards commented, “Although we don’t yet understand the meaning of this phenomenon, we do understand the Lord works in mysterious ways. Possibly this is meant to benefit our parish financially. We are considering offering the painting on eBay.”

Source

[From me]
Some churches have all the luck.

HT: Steve Thompson

Read more here.

[From me]

Powerful article. It don’t think it is just teenagers. How many cultural Christians are there? There ought to be something radically different about us verses the world. Our actions should be different. Our language should be different….OUR lives should be different.

A 4-foot placard reads “Need Prayer?” Shawn Heggi, a self-appointed Christian spiritual counselor, sits in a blue tent in the field nearby.
Now Kim tries to stop every Friday to pray with Heggi, 35, and two of his friends. They pray for a solution to Kim’s financial troubles, the domestic violence victims she works with and the medical career she put on hold during her mother’s 11-year battle with ovarian cancer.
“I go to church when I can, but that’s on a set time,” Kim said. “There may be times when I don’t have time to go to church. This is just open, it’s free, it’s available for anybody, so I stop as often I can, when I can.”

Heggi’s unconventional ministry caters to worshippers on the go, strategically placed near a traffic-heavy intersection and two hospitals. It offers a more convenient venue to pray than an institutionalized church setting, especially in an era when church attendance is shrinking, said Richard Flory, senior research associate at University of Southern California’s Center for Religion & Civic Culture.
“People can stop by and unload what they have and it keeps them from having to go to church,” he said. “It’s 20 minutes and you go away. There’s no long-term commitment.”

And they do, by the dozens. Motorists frequently pull over to make a prayer request, read scripture or chat about God — and they’ll change the occasional flat tire, too.

“It’s just a dirt field, but to us it’s church,” said Heggi, a stout Redlands garbage truck driver who has been manning the drive-through stand for about nine months.

Read more here.

[From me]

I’m for prayer anyway you can get it. Sounds like a great idea.

Only about one in four teens now participate in church youth groups, considered the hallmark of involvement; numbers have been flat since 1999. Other measures of religiosity — prayer, Bible reading and going to church — lag as well, according to Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif., evangelical research company. This all has churches canceling their summer teen camps and youth pastors looking worriedly toward the fall, when school-year youth groups kick in.

“Talking to God may be losing out to Facebook,” says Barna president David Kinnaman.

“Sweet 16 is not a sweet spot for churches. It’s the age teens typically drop out,” says Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, which found the turning point in a study of church dropouts. “A decade ago, teens were coming to church youth group to play, coming for the entertainment, coming for the pizza. They’re not even coming for the pizza anymore. They say, ‘We don’t see the church as relevant, as meeting our needs or where we need to be today.’ ”

“I blame the parents,” who didn’t grow up in a church culture, says Jeremy Johnston, executive pastor at First Family Church in Overland Park, Kan.

Read more here.

[From me]

I’m sure there is a lot of blame to go around. But blaming parents only is stretching it. Having grown up in Youth Ministry and being a Youth Minister myself, I think it has more to do with hypocrisy that students see. When they see adults fighting in church over_____________ then they don’t want to have anything to do with that. Having edgy music or cool games doesn’t cut it. They can find that anywhere.

I’m still working with students now and what they want are authentic relationships. Age doesn’t matter if you treat them with respect and you are honest and authentic. Just my humble opinion.

What do you think?

Divine inspiration can come from many sources, but you may be a little surprised where one woman found some heavenly help.
Amanda Biezad contacted ABC 23 after she found what she described as a cross seared into a potato chip she was about to eat.
The cross has been the symbol of hope for Christians around the world for more than 2,000 years. From church steeples to the message of Calvary, now a bag of Lay’s potato chips could be added to the list for one Bakersfield woman.
Biezad said she has never seen anything quite like this before but is not ready to call it a miracle just yet.
“I don’t know, it’s either divine inspiration or some random rogue person that decided to stick it into the bag of chips, I don’t know, but I think it’s cool,” said Biezad.

Biezda added that she usually pays attention to what she eats and is glad that she didn’t take the next bite.
“I was talking to my family while I was eating chips. As I took a chip I saw the cross. I thought,’Wow; wait a ‘minute’. Then I just stopped and stared at it. My family was looking at me like I was crazy. I told them there is a cross burned into the center of the chip,” said Biezad.
The timing of the discovery couldn’t have been any better because she had just moved to Bakersfield and at that point was questioning if the move was the right one to make.

Read more here.

[WISH TV]
Thousands of people from across the country have flocked to a home north of Los Angeles to get a glimpse of what some say is a miracle.

The homeowner claims a statue started “weeping” July 19th while she was praying, and it continued to shine and feel oily for nine days.

Some observers claim they’ve seen the statue’s fingers move.

Rosie Rizo of Los Angeles and Micha Abounassar of Glendale say it’s brought people together.

Read more here.

[From me]

Maybe there is a leak in the roof!

[HT] Steve Thompson

Marie Exley of Colorado Springs is convinced that Armageddon, the end of the world as written of in the Bible, will come next year.

Her conviction is so strong that, though unemployed, she’s paid $1,200 to buy advertising space on 10 Springs bus benches through October to get the word out. The ad says, “Save the Date! Return of Christ: May 21, 2011, WeCanKnow.com.”

“I want to do all I can to get the message out,” Exley, 31, said.

Article here.

[From me]

Thank you Ms. Exley for setting us all straight. I’ll start packing today!

St. Peter’s Anglican Church has long been known as an open and inclusive place.

So open, it seems, they won’t turn anyone away. Not even a dog.

That’s how a blessed canine ended up receiving communion from interim priest Rev. Marguerite Rea during a morning service the last Sunday in June.

According to those in attendance at the historical church at 188 Carlton St. in downtown Toronto, it was a spontaneous gesture, one intended to make both the dog and its owner – a first timer at the church — feel welcomed. But at least one parishioner saw the act as an affront to the rules and regulations of the Anglican Church. He filed a complaint with the reverend and with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto about the incident – and has since left the church.

Read more here.

[From me]

I want to know if the dog was sprinkled or dunked?