Baptism and Fullness. The baptism of the Spirit. The teaching of the Pentecostal churches, and of many people in the charismatic or neo-Pentecostal movement, is that we receive the 'gift' of the Spirit when we first believe, but then need a second and subsequent experience called the 'baptism' of the Spirit, usually evidenced by 'speaking in tongues'. What the New Testament teaches, however, is not a stereotype of two stages, but rather the initial blessing of regeneration by the Spirit, followed by a process of growth into maturity, during which we may indeed be granted many deeper and richer experiences of God. These often bring a fresh experience of the reality of God and a more vivid awareness of his love. But they should not be called 'the baptism of the Spirit'. The expression to be 'baptized with the Spirit' occurs only seven times in the New Testament. Six of them are quotations of John the Baptist's words 'I baptize with water, but he will baptize with the Spirit', a promise which was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. The seventh (1 Cor. 12:13) emphasizes that all of us have been 'baptized' with the Spirit and been made to 'drink' of the Spirit - two graphic pictures of our having received him. --- From "Your Confirmation" John R.W. Stott

Already baptized. The apostles urge upon us ethical conduct, often in considerable detail. They appeal to us to live out in the concrete realities of daily life what God has already done for us in Christ. They command us to grow in faith, love, knowledge and holiness. They warn us of judgment and challenge us with the expectation of the Lord's return. Meanwhile, they beg us not to grieve the Spirit, but rather to walk in the Spirit and to go on being filled with the Spirit ... But never, not once, do they exhort and instruct us to 'be baptized with the Spirit'. There can be only one explanation of this, namely that they are writing to Christians, and Christians have already been baptized with the Holy Spirit. --- From "Baptism and Fullness" Excerpted from "Authentic Christianity"

Whatever one's opinion of Archbishop Rowan Williams, at times he shows a marvelous sense of humor. During a recent talk in which he was referring to Pope Benedict XVI, the archbishop said, "I have two things in common with the Holy Father. . . . One is a love of cats; the other a hospitable instinct towards Anglican clergy." Anglican observer

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
Sept. 17, 2010

The main news of the week was a report detailing revisions to the Title IV Canons of the Episcopal Church which were approved at last summer's 2009 General Convention. These Canons deal directly with issues of clergy discipline, both for priests and bishops.

The impact of these changes is profound. The diocese most affected by these changes is, of course, the Diocese of South Carolina.

At the Clergy Conference held at St. Paul's, Summerville, on September 2, Mr. Alan Runyan, legal counsel for the Diocese, said it was his assessment that these changes contradict the Constitution of The Episcopal Church and make unacceptable changes in our polity, elevating the role of bishops, particularly the Presiding Bishop, and removing the duly elected Standing Committee of a Diocese from its current role in most of the disciplinary process.

The changes also result in the removal of much of the due process and legal safeguards for accused clergy that are provided under the current Canons.

What they concluded was that underneath this veneer lays a disciplinary strategy, which places all Clergy at the mercy of those in power and weakens Diocesan independence. That this has been deliberate is obvious. That communication about the extent of these changes has been less than candid seems obvious, unless one believes that the Clergy of the Episcopal Church simply do not care about their future. The deafening silence about these revisions forces us to believe that the sheep's clothing strategy has been successful.

The sometimes multi-faceted resolutions appear to propose four types of changes. One group consists of amendments to the diocesan constitution that would remove the required "unqualified accession" to the Episcopal Church's constitution.

Episcopal dioceses are required by Article V, Section 1 of the church's constitution to agree to an "unqualified accession" to the church's Constitution and Canons.

For a detailed explanation of these concerns, a paper co-authored by Mr. Runyan and Mark McCall can be found at the Anglican Communion Institute's website: http://www.anglicancommunioninstitute.com/2010/09/title-iv-revisions-unmasked/

In response, the Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina has offered five resolutions to address their concerns. Each represents an essential element of how the diocese is protected from any attempt at un-Constitutional intrusions their corporate life in South Carolina. In the coming weeks, these resolutions, along with an explanation of the Title IV changes, will be discussed at the Deanery Convocations for delegates, as they prepare for Convention to reconvene on October 15th. By these resolutions, they will be able to continue to stand for the Gospel in South Carolina and pursue their vision of "Making Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age."

Three stories concerning these changes have been posted to the Title IV Canons in today's digest.

*****

Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison refuses to resign or retire. Like a dog returning to its vomit, he hobbles around hoping that no one will notice that he is spiritually blind and deaf as well as ecclesiastically dumb and stupid. Nobody wants him back, not even his once-upon-a-time erstwhile left wing clergy supporters or the theologically dumb as ditch water Standing Committee. Everybody wants Bennison gone.

Bennison says he won't and he is fighting back. This week he wrote a response to Bonnie Anderson, the President of the House of Deputies who requested he go away. Bennison objected to the president's letter regarding his re-instatement. In his letter, Bennison had the gall to tell Anderson that maybe she hadn't actually read all the trial evidence.

Charles Bennison was found to have failed to discharge his pastoral obligations to the girl, the members of her family, and the members of the parish youth group as well as church authorities after he learned of his brother's behavior. The court said that he suppressed the information about his brother until 2006, when he disclosed publicly what he knew all about it.

Anderson's letter came in response to an earlier open letter written by five witnesses in the proceedings -- including Martha Alexis, the abuse victim; Julia Alexis, her mother; and Maggie Thompson, John Bennison's ex-wife, to whom he was married when the abuse began -- expressing "great sorrow" that the review court verdict had enabled Bennison to return to the diocese as its bishop. The letter was addressed to the people of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, members of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, and Episcopalians everywhere.

Anderson said in her response that she prayed that, during a Sept. 16-21 meeting in Arizona, the church's bishops "will prayerfully consider this matter and either prevail upon Bishop Bennison to resign, or undertake other measures that lead to Bishop Bennison's removal from office."

She also indicated that she is considering what steps the church might take to prevent "this kind of injustice" from happening again and said it "seems essential to address a deficiency in the structures of our church, namely that there is no means of dissolving the relationship between a bishop and a diocese that find themselves in untenable circumstances."

Bennison is crippled in the diocese. This shot across his bows has only inflamed his sociopathic make-up. We'll see how it all plays out when the HOB meets. Benison will not go gently into that dark night. Two things are for sure. It is uncertain if double jeopardy applies and whether the HOB can find a way to get rid of him.

Late on Thursday the Standing Committee wrote to Anderson saying the diocese is "reeling with Emotions" and Bennison's "refusal to confront the truth" about disciplinary hearings concerning his past behavior "continues to confuse and confound us."

The Standing Committee wrote to Anderson Sept. 16 to thank her for a letter she'd written earlier in the month about the concerns raised when Bennison resumed his role as diocesan bishop Aug. 16. In their letter to Anderson, the Standing Committee members object to what they call Bennison's "oft-quoted remarks that he 'has been vindicated' in the Review Court process. "We will continue to respond to public statements made by Bishop Bennison that do not represent the truth but attempt to create an alternate reality," the members said.

The Episcopal diocesan soap opera continues.

*****

A new ACNA parish set sail this week in Christchurch, Alabama. This new parish has a facility of its own. Members are ready to dedicate the new facility. Christchurch has flourished during its five years of existence -- without having a church facility to call its own. "In some ways, we've been in a wandering-in-the- desert kind of situation," said church member Mose Stuart. "We've kind of crossed the River Jordan, and now we're in the Promised Land."

The church recently had an overflow crowd. It has experienced growth ever since that first service. The membership has grown close to 700 according to the Rev. John-Michael van Dyke, rector of Christchurch.

Among those scheduled to be in Montgomery for the ffestivities are the Most Rev. Robert William Duncan, archbishop of the newly formed Anglican Church in North America; the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, archbishop of the Province of Uganda; and the Rt. Rev. John Guernsey, bishop of the diocese to which the church belongs, the Diocese of the Holy Spirit.

To put in perspective compared to parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama led by The Rt. Rev. Henry Nutt Parsley Jr., who, incidentally, is furious that all these heavyweight Anglican archbishops will be in his diocese and won't bother even to say "hello"is this:

There were 90 churches in the diocese in 2008 (there are less now). Of those, 44 had an ASA of 70 or less. Only nine are as large, or larger, than this ACNA parish. If this parish, which is steadily growing were in the diocese, it would be the tenth largest although the numbers given for the other nine are members not actual Sunday attendees. Advent cathedral tops the list with 3,750 with St. Luke's topping 2,900.

Any way you look at it, Christchurch presents a serious inroad into the diocese. Because they have a gospel to proclaim, they will only grow. Watch for more defections over time.

*****

Iker Group Fails in Procedural Motion in Tarrant County Case, screamed a liberal blog headline over the ongoing legal battle in the Diocese of Ft. Worth for a number of properties there.

On September 14, 2010, the Southern Cone parties failed in their attempt to obtain a ruling that they, and not the Episcopal parties, are the continuing "Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth" and "Corporation of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth."

The attorneys for former Bishop Jack Iker and other former diocesan leaders filed a "motion to correct style of case," asking Judge John Chupp to drop the names of the Diocese and Corporation as plaintiffs and to identify Iker's group as the "Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth" and the "Corporation of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth" in the style, or heading, of the case. Attorney Jon Nelson, for the local Episcopal parties, argued that the motion was moot, noting that the Judge's July 8 order and amended pleadings filed on August 13 and August 27 already dropped those entities as named plaintiffs. He also argued that granting the Southern Cone motion would imply a ruling on the merits, which the Court of Appeals expressly held was not the effect of its June 25 decision.

Judge Chupp encouraged the parties to move quickly to the substantive issues of the case by filing motions for summary judgment. The Episcopal parties plan to have their amended motion for summary judgment filed in early October and are prepared to show, as a matter of law, that it is the Episcopalians who remain in The Episcopal Church, and not the former Episcopalians who left the Church in 2008, who are authorized to use the property acquired for the mission of The Episcopal Church and to continue the work of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and its Diocesan

Not so fast said Spokesperson Suzanne Gill, of the original Diocese of Ft. Worth headed up by Bishop Jack Iker. "We didn't 'fail.' The judge granted part of the motion and did not see the other part quite the way we did. He appears to be prepared to acknowledge that we are not the 'Southern Cone Diocese; of anything, however, so it is possible that he will grant the rest of our request at another time.

"It was an odd hearing in which the court was never called to order, the judge did not wear his robe, and our attorney, whose motion was being discussed, was specifically disallowed by the judge to present his argument. Mr. Nelson made his presentation against the motion, and our attorney was only allowed to answer questions. That is highly unusual.

"Our judge is a young and vigorous man who understandably wants to hear the substance of the case and bring it to a conclusion. We may appear rather tedious as we insist that the correct parties be named in the suit and that their legal names be used, rather than nicknames or descriptive terms. Mr. Nelson proposed more than once that we have the trial and then figure out who the proper parties are. I would submit that not even the NFL conducts itself this way. In a football contest, two teams are invited, and then someone determines that those teams have in fact shown up on the appointed day. Only then does the game begin. It is not a matter of a bunch of people streaming onto the field for a skirmish, then meeting later to determine what teams, if any, they might represent. If that minimum of decorum is the standard for a sporting event, how much more important is it to identify the proper parties to a lawsuit that will determine the rightful authority and ownership of an institution and its property?

"We have no wish to drag this matter out and go to court over and over on minor points. However, if we do not have the parties properly described, any and all judgments in the case will be void. That would indeed be a waste of time and resources."

Bishop C. Wallis Ohl who heads the faux Diocese of Ft. Worth said he is optimistic about the progress of litigation over disputed property and assets in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, after several recent court actions. He added that the ongoing litigation between the diocese and a breakaway group "is not the center of our diocesan life."

*****

The Bishop of San Diego, Don Matheswho got rid of Fr. Neal Moquin from St. Michael's-by-the-Sea, an Anglo-Catholic parish in Carlsbad, California, for alleged "improprieties" that the Episcopal diocese refused to disclose, got a rebuff himself this week. VOL received word that Fr. Moquin has joined the Anglican Church of America (ACA). Some 25 families have called Fr. Moquin requesting that he continue to be their priest. This Sunday he will hold his first Mass in Vista, California for those who want to be catholic Christians. Fr W. Neal Moquin SSC (ACA) will be celebrating Holy Eucharist in the Anglo-Catholic tradition at 10:00 AM on Sunday, September 19, 2010 at the Christian Healing Center in Vista. The Mass will be followed by an opportunity for healing fellowship and "chat" with Fr. Moquin about our future. Mass booklets will be provided. Refreshments will be available during the fellowship and chat period after the service.
http://www.christianhealingcenter.net/28.location.html

*****

The Diocese of West Virginia will consider blessing same-gender relationships, but not without dissent. Delegates to the diocese's annual convention voted this week to allow the church to bless same-gender relationships.

The Rev. Ann Lovejoy Johnson, associate rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Charleston, submitted the resolution. It "urges our Bishop to honor same-gender relationships by supporting public rites for the blessing of same-gender relationships in congregations where such blessings are supported and so desired."

The final decision rests with the diocese's bishop, the Rt. Rev. W. Michie Klusmeyer, who responded with a prepared and somewhat snide statement when contacted by a local newspaper.

"Thank you for your interest, but I wonder where your interest was when wonderful things have happened in the past in the Episcopal Church? And try as you like to make us one, we are not a one issue church," he said in the statement. He would not comment further, and calls to St. John's were not returned Tuesday afternoon.

So, reading between the lines, Klusmeyer thinks some recent history of TEC is good and being ignored, like a group of TEC bishops this week who wandered along the US/Mexican border carrying crosses for all those who died illegally crossing into the US, while all this talk of sodomy and blessing sodomite relationships is a diversion.

*****

Speaking of which, TEC bishops and their spouses visited the U.S.-Mexico border to show what they called the "complexity of immigration issues, and urging advocacy" for those wanting into the US.

Dramatizing the event, the procession of 60 bishops cried out the names of those who died trying to cross the desert as they, their spouses and others moved along the Pan American Highway toward the Mexican border.

The newly minted lesbian Bishop Suffragan Mary D. Glasspool of Los Angeles led the procession and offered up this choice morsel, "Holding it was a different kind of feeling than holding the cross of a person who was named." The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona hosted the three-day border immersion experience.

If I may be permitted to draw on my own experience coming to the US more than 30 years ago, I can tell you that I had to obtain police clearance from the three countries I had previously lived in (NZ, England and Canada), pass a battery of tests for sexually transmitted diseases, pass a general medical test and did I have a job to go to in the US...and I was married to an American.

*****

In the Diocese of Los Angeles at the Church of our Saviour in San Gabriel, CA (George Patton's church) a parish under the ecclesiastical thumb of Bishop J. Jon Bruno, some faithful orthodox Episcopalians are still refusing to feed the 'Bruno beast' and are withholding pledging or drastically reducing their contributions relative to income. The rector, The Rev. Dr. Michael Battle, an African American, (and Bruno's former 'canon theologian to the ordinary') was ordained by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and was imposed on the parish by Bruno in order to suppress any attempt at secession. Lesbian bishop Mary Glasspool is scheduled for a visitation early next year. Apparently squelching dissent is not proving to be quite so easy and opposition has erupted in the parish resulting in the Senior Warden writing the following letter to parishioners:

September 15, 2010

Dear Parishioners:

You may have read in a letter you received from a group calling themselves "Concerned Parishioners" that I am reported to have said, in refuting a dour comment, that Church of Our Saviour is "jumping." This appears to be the only assertion that is true in their alarming and distorted view of Church of Our Saviour.

In fact, many good and exciting things are happening at our Church. The number of worship services has increased five-fold. Attendance was up 6% from 2009 until disgruntled members made it uncomfortable for many worshipers. Our Asian ministry has made our campus a place of welcome for more than one hundred of our neighbors. Perhaps most importantly, with the leadership of our Rector, Church of Our Saviour has been restored as a place in which one can pursue an advancing relationship with God.

On Our Saviour Sunday we were reminded of the extraordinary reach and diversity of our many ministries. We are especially proud of our outreach ministries (to which we have just added Prism, directed towards the families of the incarcerated). As a group, they are the envy of Parishes throughout the Diocese and continue to extend Christian mindfulness toward those most in need of the benefits of our good fortune. All of our ministries are an expression of the history and temperament of our Church, and say a great deal about our past and our future.

Financially, we continue to practice prudent management of our resources. Our draw on our endowment has never been lower. Detailed financial reports are issued monthly, and our annual audit is carried out by independent professionals. These are available to any parishioner by request. We continue to regard individual salaries as confidential in order to protect the privacy of our employees, but otherwise we are thoroughly transparent, more than ever before. Our main financial problem is the withholding of pledges by those who are relentless opponents of the Rector. They are especially strident in criticizing his leadership when staff layoffs occur. It is a portrait in hypocrisy.

I urge each of you to consider gratefully the momentum our Church has acquired, and not let it be crippled by a group of parishioners pursuing unprecedented and callous means for doubtful ends. Church of Our Saviour is on track to a wonderful future, and with God's help, and yours, we will achieve it.

Peace and Love,

Alan Kreditor
Senior Warden

Footnote: The real estate is both historic and valuable. Bruno would suffer a P.R. disaster should the parish continue to resist TEC's heresies.

*****

The Southern Province of the Moravian Church voted Sept. 10 to enter into full communion with the Episcopal Church. The 121-74 vote came after two hours of debate during an afternoon session on the second day of the church's Sept. 9-12 quadrennial Provincial Synod at Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said after learning of the decision, "I am delighted that the Southern Province has discerned the rightness of a full communion agreement with The Episcopal Church. Together we will be better able to serve Christ our chief Elder and all God's people."

Diocese of Milwaukee Bishop Steven Miller told Episcopal News Service by telephone, shortly after the vote, that he hopes the decision, paired with a similar agreement made in June with the Moravian Northern Province, "will mean that we can really support one another's ministries in some new and exciting ways and deepen the learnings from one another through some real experiences of each other's tradition and gifts."

Miller, co-chair of the Moravian Episcopal Dialogue, addressed the synod before the vote. He said he told the participants "we were given an opportunity today to witness that disagreement doesn't mean division and to witness to our common unity in Christ."

*****

The Prayer Book Society of the USA announced the grand re-opening of its on-line shop, Anglican Marketplace, this week.

The totally redesigned site offers an expanded selection of books and sacred music recordings, all of them tailored to the informational and devotional needs and interests of orthodox Anglicans, both clerical and lay.

The Marketplace expansion was prompted in part by the Society's perceived call to do more to help believers access resources that illuminate historic Anglican belief and teaching and/or the common prayer tradition expressive of the same, at a time when varied ideas of what constitutes classical Anglicanism have emerged in North America. The new Marketplace is also intended to support orthodox Anglicans - young and old, scholarly and not - with a broader range of material, including lighter fare not listed previously.

Visitors to PBS' revamped bookshop will still find important resources traditionally produced or stocked by the Society - including the altar edition of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (the Altar Service Book), An Anglican Prayer Book, and multiple works by well known late PBS President, Dr. Peter Toon. They will also find via the Marketplace a significant selection of additional books, recommended by the Society Board, that focus on matters of liturgy, theology, church history, and/or contemporary issues, or which serve in some other way to inform, inspire, edify and even cheer the orthodox Anglican. For the first time, listings include recommended Christian fiction, memoirs, poetry, a book of Anglican art, and a collection of music CDs that some might label "Just about everything a classical Anglican ever wanted to hear".

To make these increased offerings available without tying up funds in warehouse stock, PBS/The Marketplace has become an Associate of the largest on-line bookshop in the world, Amazon.com. Amazon.com will process most of the purchases visitors make on the Marketplace, with a commission going to help support the Society. In that way PBS hopes that the Marketplace will better serve Anglican seekers, while also generating some much-needed financial aid for the organization's mission.

Moreover, the selection of works currently on the site is only a starting point, stressed PBS Vice President, the Rev. Edward Rix, who oversees the Marketplace ministry. The Society intends for its on-line shop to remain a work in progress - a service it is always endeavoring to enhance and make more comprehensive by adding listings to it with some frequency, he indicated. To that end, Rix said the PBS Board would welcome and consider suggestions for new offerings from Marketplace patrons. With that "input" as well, Fr. Rix said, "we will work to make this on-line store an endlessly rewarding resource for orthodox Anglicans."

In addition to its Anglican Marketplace ministry, (accessible at www.anglicanmarketplace.com), PBS maintains a website at www.pbsusa.org. It has sister societies in Canada, Britain and Australia that also seek to promote the continued and wider use of the Cranmerian-model BCPs in their respective provinces. The most notable of the latter is the Church of England's 1662 BCP, which, though little-used in England, remains the C of E's authorized liturgy, and the rite most used, in English or translation, in the wider Anglican Communion.

The Prayer Book Society of the USA/Anglican Marketplace is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. The Prayer Book Society PO Box 913 Brookhaven, PA 19105-0913

*****

The United Episcopal Church of North America has a new Presiding Bishop. On September 6, 2010, Archbishop Reber turned 72, and as per the Canons of the UECNA, he retired as the Presiding Bishop. The new Presiding Bishop is Peter D. Robinson, Bishop of the Missionary District of the West, and Rector of St. Paul's Anglican Church, Prescott, AZ.

*****

Two orthodox parishes in the Diocese of Ottawa are in mediation talks with the diocese about separating with their property. They are St. George's and St. Alban's. The Rev. George Sinclair (St Alban's) reports, "It was a long and exhausting day and it ended with an agreement that we will meet again. As you can gather, this means that some progress was made, but also that no conclusion was reached. Unfortunately, because of confidentiality, we cannot say very much at this time. We ask that you continue in constant hopeful prayer."

*****

Anglican 1000 Church Planting Summit 2011 is now taking registrations. You can register at the early bird rate for the Anglican 1000 annual church planting event, designed to help "...raise up congregations and communities of faith through encouraging, networking, and resourcing everyone who is part of this exciting missional movement. Summit 2011 is a chance... to come together to build relationships, be renewed, gain fresh insights, and network..."

Speakers at this event include pastor and author Tim Keller and Bishop Todd Hunter.
Dates: January 25-27 2011
Place: Plano, Texas
Registration and information on the Anglican 1000 website: http://anglican1000.org/index.php/main/page/142/

*****

The Pope arrived in England this week. A Service of Evening Prayer in the presence of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and His Grace The Archbishop of Canterbury will take place September 17, 2010 at 6:15 pm.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will attend a Service of Evening Prayer at Westminster Abbey during his visit to England and Scotland in September 2010. The Abbey service at 6.15pm on Friday 17 September will be the only ecumenical service of the Papal Visit.

The Pope will attend the Abbey service after a meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honorable Dr Rowan Williams, at Lambeth Palace and an address to a gathering of political and civil society at Westminster Hall.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend and Right Honorable Dr John Sentamu and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, together with church leaders from many denominations, will join His Holiness at the Abbey service.

The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, who will escort him to the Grave of the Unknown Warrior in the Nave, where His Holiness will pray for peace, will greet the Pope at the Abbey's west gate.

During the Service of Evening Prayer, the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury will each give an Address from the Sacrarium. They will both pray at the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor, His Grace for Church and State and His Holiness for Christian unity. They will give a joint Blessing from the High Altar.

The service will be televised live by the BBC and the Order of Service will be posted in advance on the Abbey website to enable television viewers to follow the proceedings.

*****

The bishop of Amritsar in India has called on India's President Pratibha Devisingh Patil to protect Christians in northern India after a mob burned down the oldest school in Kashmir and also attacked other Christian institutions on Sept. 13.

The Church of North India's Bishop Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy wrote in a letter to the president that it was "with a heavy heart" that he reported the complete destruction of the Tangmarg Tyndale Biscoe branch school that provided "quality education to 550 children from 150 villages around Tangmarg," according to the Anglican Communion News Service.

The school, managed by the Diocese of Amritsar, had 27 staff and 16 support staff, and was founded in 1996 by Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson School Educational Society to cater to economically deprived sectors of the community.

The three-story wooden structure with 26 classrooms, computer labs and a library containing, among other books, copies of the Qur'an, was destroyed after being set on fire by a large mob that marched on the school, reportedly after hearing of a man desecrating the Qur'an in America. None of the staff were injured; they all managed to escape the blaze.

*****

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BREAKING NEWS: RWANDA: The Anglican Province of Rwanda has a new Archbishop replacing retiring Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini. He is The Rt. Revd Onesphore Rwaje from the Diocese of Byumba.