AGC News Online: February, 2008

Seven months after he lost his public radio show because he wouldn't agree to restrictions on his commentaries, the man known as 'The Humble Farmer' is bringing his humor and observations back to Mainers via public access television.

Skoglund had done his weekly show on the radio stations of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network for 28 years before he was dismissed in June. MPBN officials said Skoglund had refused to sign a letter indicating that he would follow commentary guidelines that apply to the network's non-news staff. Visit website (external link)

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts will endorse Barack Obama for president

28 Jan 07

The endorsement will be announced Monday in Washington, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the record. An official close to the senator said the announcement will be made during an Obama campaign rally at American University, where he will be joined by Sen. Kennedy and his niece, Caroline Kennedy, who also has endorsed Obama.

28 Jan 07

Christodoulos was the spiritual leader of roughly 15 million Greek Orthodox Christians worldwide, including about 10 million in Greece. Church authorities have scheduled a meeting of the Holy Synod, the church's governing body, for 2 p.m. Monday to discuss the election of a successor. Church rules say that the Holy Synod should set a date for the election of an archbishop within 20 days of a leader's death. Christodoulos was elected church leader in 1998 and is credited with reinvigorating the vast institution, according to reports from The Associated Press. He helped create church Web sites and radio stations, and frequently issued detailed checklists on how black-clad Orthodox priests should conduct themselves in public.

The AGC enjoys fraternal but not formal relations with the Greek Orthodox. A message of condolence was sent to His Eminence Seraphim, metropolitan of Karystia and Skyros. The funeral of Christodoulos will be held this Thursday and be celebrated by the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I. AGC moderator James Crawley will attend.

29 Jan 08

Due to the emergency situation in Kenya, Senior Elder Bishop James Musungu of the Assembled Christians in Kenya (ACK) advised a country-wide evacuation of all families and ministry workers threatened by continuing local violence.

Bishop Musungu gave his support to a recent statement from the All Africa Council of Churches (see link below) and the efforts of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (external link).

"What we need is an effort under a temporary government of national unity to achieve constitutional changes, electoral and land reform. Also, the African Union should send troops to protect safe havens for the hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced during this crisis. Finally, the United Nations need to work with a coalition government to ensure the transparency of the next election"

Council of Elders sends emergency team to Kenya

01 Feb 08

AGC moderator Crawley arrives in Kenya to assist in the protection of good Christians in Kenya and meets with interested parties in hopes of restoring peace.

"My beloved Kenya, I beg you to reject this violence. Our Kenya has been a model of strength and stability around the world. Much must be done to remove inequality in Kenya. We must resolve the inequality amongst the tribes and clans. We must resolve land claims, especially in the Rift Valley. Kenyans want the stability that a renewed Constitution can provide. Kenyans believe. Kenyans believe in themselves and in this belief we find GOD. Do not be deceived by those that force tribe against tribe, Kenyan against Kenyan. We are one people, and as one people we can come to a solution, a peaceful solution that brings all Kenyans together. "

Kenya contains one of the largest bodies of good Christians in a single country. Over the course of the past century Cathar Christianity grew and spread throughout Kenya, crossing borders to the neighboring countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania. In countries with a sizeable number of members safe locations are pre-established in the event of natural disaster, civil unrest or religious persecution. The Assembled Christians in Kenya (ACK) webpage is currently unavailable to the public.

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Moderator of AGC joins Lenten Fast with good Christians in Kenya.
Assemblies observe worldwide according to local custom.
In addition, Moderator James Crawley met with various interested parties to discuss solution.

AGC in Colorado draws closer to bringing RCC to justice over criminal acts, sexual and other

The team negotiating Kenya's political crisis Friday cleared major hurdles, paving the way for a possible power sharing formula between the government and opposition. As part of the deal, the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) will no longer insist on President Kibaki's resignation and an immediate election re-run. Instead, ODM will agree on a power-sharing deal incorporating the government Party of National Unity (PNU) together with its affiliate parties including Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka's ODM Kenya.

It was a moment of relief as dignitaries, mediators and the media watched Mr Odinga move to the PNU side and shake hands warmly with people perceived to be his adversaries. He exchanged pleasantries and a hearty laugh with Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua and Mbooni MP Mutula Kilonzo, both members of President Kibaki's team to the negotiations.

The mood, captured live on national televisions, was a manifestation of what the country was waiting to see to restore hope.

It is expected that the two teams will use the weekend to thrash out the finer details of the agreement to be announced next week. Yesterday's events were preceded by heavy international pressure on PNU and ODM leaders to reach a negotiated settlement.

The head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams was widely interpreted as having called for the incorporation of Muslim Sharia law in or alongside the English legal system. The Archbishop's defenders, who seem few in number but include the AGC point out that this is not what he has asked for in any general sense.

The Archbishop suggested that, as with some Orthodox Jewish family law, a very small portion of the overall Muslim Sharia approach concerned with marriage, divorce, custom and inheritance – already widely practiced in some communities – could be recognised officially, within certain limits to do with the preservation of universal rights, as a way of accommodating particular community and religious sensibilities within a unified framework. (emphasis ours)

The full text of the Archbishop's Temple lecture 'Civil and religious law in England: a religious perspective' may be read here (external link)

The full transcript of Dr Williams' interview with Christopher Landau of the BBC World at One programme is here (external link)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

RCC Archbishop Charles Chaput of Colorado left the door open Monday for Catholics to support pro-choice politicians, saying a variety of factors may be weighed when making such a decision.

The Chaput's talk was to introduce his new book, Render Unto Caesar, which explores "the role of American Catholics in our nation's public life."

After his talk, Chaput elaborated by saying Roman Catholics must weigh a variety of moral issues that their vote is based on. On that basis, even a vote for a pro-choice candidate "might be OK as long as you operate out of Catholic moral principles."

He added, "I'm not giving people permission to vote for anybody. That's not my role."

Faced with a growing AGC presence in Colorado, the ultra-conservative RCC Chaput has concerns about drawing public attention to the AGC, which not only undermines his base supporters in addition to ackward explanations to the Vatican.

According to the Rt. Rev. Graham Dow, Anglican bishop of Carlisle in northern England.The government of Gordon Brown is like the seven-headed, "demonic beast" of Revelation, bent on imposing its "moral agenda" (which is opposed to "longstanding Christian morality"), on British society, according to an Anglican bishop. The Labour government's policies, especially their support of the homosexual political agenda and the Human Fertilisation and Embryo Bill, are a move away from a benign secularism.

Speaking at a meeting at the Church of England's General Synod on the release of the book, "God, Gays and the Church", Bishop Dow said, "I happen to believe that our government is moving into the realm of imposing its morality and it is therefore becoming a Revelation 13 government rather than a Romans 13 government."

In a later statement, Bishop Dow said, "By way of clarification I would want to say that the government has certainly been 'God's instrument for good' (Romans 13), for example in the promotion of the equality and in social inclusion, in its support for poorer nations and its emphasis on the environment.

"However in the last year or two it has been imposing its own moral agenda in a way that is contrary to longstanding Christian morality and the significant voice of Christian churches."

In addition to the imposition of the homosexual doctrines on Britain, the bishop mentioned the Labour government's Human Fertilisation and Embryo Bill and the refusal to allow Catholic adoption agencies to function according to their moral conscience.

When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Please do not bookmark this page for the balance of the month, use the main page.

For the first time since 1940, St. Patrick's Day will fall during Holy Week, the seven days preceding Easter. Because of the overlap, RCC liturgical rules dictate that no Mass in honor of the saint can be celebrated on Monday, March 17, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "It's kind of a test of clerical power, in a way," said Mike Cronin, co-author of "The Wearing of the Green: History of St. Patrick's Day." "I think there's a real issue then around organizing committees saying, 'Do we need the (RCC) church, or do we not?"'

The U.S. remains one of the few countries in the world to retain any religious traces of St. Patrick's Day, Cronin said. In Ireland, where the government sponsors the Dublin parade, the holiday has morphed into an arts festival that draws millions of people, he said.

The AGC has made strong representations in Columbus, Ohio, Boston, New York and other American cities. This calendar conflict is a rare event: Holy Week won't clash with St. Patrick's Day again until 2160, by which time the RCC will be a defunct entity.

Despite huge state-sponsored protests in Serbia, the rulers of the newly independent Kosovo say that their aim is social harmony, democracy and a plural secular settlement in the troubled region. Fatmir Sejdiu, the new president promised Kosovo's Serbian minority, many of whom are fearful about the implications of the change, that the new state authorities would protect their safety, cultural heritage, language and identity.

Kosovo's Albanian majority has sought independence for more than two decades, a position that was strengthened when Yugoslavia started to disintegrate in the early 1990s. Many Serbians see Kosovo as the ancient cradle of their state and religion.

The territory has been under a United Nations administrative mission since 1999, following a NATO-led bombing campaign that pushed Serbian army and police forces out of the breakaway province.

The official AGC position states its concern that Kosovo declared independence unilaterally and without a referendum.

The planning team (currently Nekeisha, Eric and Tawd) are still in the very initial planning stages and are still working on theme possibilities, session ideas and the exact location of the event. We just wanted to put the word out there early enough for folks to begin thinking about the gathering. More information will be sent out as more details get worked out.