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Church ‘one generation from extinction’
A
former archbishop of Can- terbury has warned that the Church of England
faces extinction in less than 25 years unless it can attract more young people now. Talking to 300 churchgoers
in Shropshire, West England, in mid-November on the eve of a church agreement to start a campaign to evangelize England, George Carey said: “We ought to be ashamed of ourselves. We are one generation away from extinction and if we do not invest in young people there is going to be no one in the future.” Carey was archbishop of Can-
terbury and leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans from 1991 until 2002 when he joined the House of Lords, Britain’s upper chamber of Parliament. He said every one of the
church’s 43 dioceses could dis- appear within 25 years if an urgent campaign to attract the young was delayed. “There is a prevalent view that people don’t want to hear what we have to say anymore.” There are 25 million baptized
Anglicans in England and Wales, but fewer than 1 million of them attend services on Sundays, church statistics show. “I am convinced that churches
can grow, must grow and should grow,” said the 78-year-old. “But to sit in a cold church, looking at the back of people’s heads, is perhaps not considered the most exciting place to meet new people and hear prophetic words.”
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www.thelutheran.org Lutheran stamp
Not everyone gets to celebrate their 270th anniversary with a postage stamp, but the Evan- gelical Lutheran C h u r c h
in
Guyana did. Last October, Guyana’s post office issued com- memorative postage stamps, worth $20 (10 cents U.S.) and $80 (40 cents U.S.) during a national youth service. The stamps show the church’s logo.
Mennonites listen
Eastern Mennonite University, Har- risonburg, Va., declared a six-month “listening period” for students, professors and staff to discuss the school’s ban on faculty same-sex rela- tionships. During this time, faculty
won't be penalized for violating the policy. University President Loren Swartzendruber said the school has a responsibility “to engage in commu- nity discussion and discernment over issues that Mennonite congregations, indeed almost all denominations in the U.S. today, are wrestling with.” Before his presidency, two professors were fired and one resigned in protest due to the ban.
Sikh create app
The Sikh Coalition is updating a mobile app that allows travelers to report complaints about the Trans- portation Security Administration from the airport. The coalition cre- ated the FlyRights app nearly two years ago because of concerns that TSA officers profiled travelers for
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Joyful reunion It was a time of celebration when Peter Angon of Sudan, who was assisted by New Journey Lutheran Church, Fountain Hills, Ariz., and another Lutheran congregation, welcomed his wife and two sons to the U.S. after more than two years of trying to arrange their immigration. He came to the U.S. in 2001 after years in refugee camps. In 2005 he returned to Sudan to see his mother for the first time in 18 years. His family arranged for his marriage to Josephina, whom he visited on subsequent trips. After Angon became a U.S. citizen, he began the immi- gration process for his family. The congregations presented Gabriel, 7, and Abraham, 5, with homemade quilts and clothes, furniture and household goods for the family.
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