Individual Churches Research Articles

감리교 기관의 자료 협력을 위한 연구

Methodist church materials are classified with three types, centered on the organizations manufacturing and holding materials such as 1) `materials of the Methodist headquarter` governing all of the Methodist churches in Korea, 2) `materials of theological seminary libraries` holding academic study books related to theology, and 3) `materials manufactured in individual churches`. In this manner, the Methodist church materials imply homogeneity in theme, but the materials have identity from each other, because organizations are different each other, too. By a characteristic of each organizations, to use Methodist church document done a director of each organization is demanded collaboration between the material departments of each organizations, this study intends to analysis material department operation status of three Methodist church organizations. As a result of analysis, it is necessary to perform the prior tasks, such as reconstructing organization to accomplish an original function of the Methodist headquarter, developing operation regulation classified with the Methodist church group, and constructing material management system.

The Fight Is On in Texas: A History of African American Churches of Christ in the Lone Star State, 1865-2000 (review)

546Southwestern Historical (QuarterlyApril Storm over the Bay: The People of Corpus Christi and Their Port. By Mary Jo O'Rear. (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2009. Pp. 200. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9781603440882, $24.95 cloth.) Influenced by the example of Houston obtaining federal aid in the early twentieth century to improve a ship channel, the leaders of Corpus Christi dreamed of the same improvement to their bay in order to construct a deep water port. However , political crosscurrents among local leaders RobertJ. Kleberg, Walter Francis Timon, Roy Miller, Archie Parr, Walter Pope, and Gordon Boone complicated efforts. It took a devastating hurricane to bring them all together for the common good of the city. Corpus Christians widi a shield of barrier islands, bay, and high bluff thought themselves invulnerable to hurricane assault, but in 1919 a direct hit washed away the lower portions of the town and killed some 500 people. Faced with rebuilding the town, city and county leaders cooperated to obtain a local bond issue to construct a protective breakwater and to support a navigation district. They persuaded the United States Corps of Engineers to dredge a turning basin and a twenty-five-foot-deep ship channel through the bay to the Gulf of Mexico. It was a good example of collaboration between local and federal governments to provide regional economic infrastructure. The port opened in 1926 and at that point this account ends. MaryJo O'Rear, a former teacher in the Corpus Christi Independent School District and an adjunct professor at Del Mar College, tells the tale well. She writes with grace, drama, and humor. The politics are complicated, but she sorts out the various threads, and her description of the hurricane is the best that has been written. This is not a detailed urban biography. Early history is only sketched, and there is but partial information about changes in architecture, urban planning, professions, education, business, religion, tourism, and recreation in this short book. Her focus is upon politics and the effect of the storm. The hurricane and resultant construction of the breakwater and port, however, represent the pivotal events in the history ofCorpus Christi. She thus adds to earlier academic contributions about Corpus Christi history by Dan E. Kilgore and Alan Lessoff. Obviously, there is much more to be explored about this city of the Coastal Bend; perhaps, O'Rear will continue her good work. Colorado State UniversityDavid G. McComb The Fight Is On in Texas: A History ofAfrican American Churches of Christ in the Lone Star State, 1865-2000. By Edward J. Robinson. (Abilene: Abilene Christian University Press, 2008. Pp. 222. Photographs, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780891 125327, $19.95 cloth.) The Fight Is On in Texas marks the fifth book by Edward J. Robinson on the African-American Churches of Christ, and this latest is the first history of the denomination in the Lone Star State. Covering the end of slavery to dawn of the twenty-first century, this endeavor is remarkable since the African-American 2Oi o Book Reviews547 Churches of Christ have never had a headquarters or archive at the national or state level, individual churches have kept few records, and a complete run of the denomination's paper, the Christian Echo, does not exist. Instead Robinson relies primarily upon existing Church of Christ newspapers, the writings ofleading ministers , and individual church histories. The book is organized into four parts. The first section surveys the founding of the Black Church of Christ in Texas and the ministers who labored to establish its many churches across the state. The second and third sections examine the work and legacy of two key ministers, Marshall Keeble and G. P. Bowser, respectively. The final section looks at the rise of die denomination's educational institutions over the course of the twentieth century. Robinson is at his best detailing the central importance of the dynamic ministers who successfully built the African-American Churches of Christ in Texas. Given the decentralized nature of the denomination it was up to clergymen like Keeble, Bowser, R. N. Hogan, andJack Evans working at the local level to grow the membership, establish new churches, clarify doctrine, cultivate religious schools...

Israelite Prophetic Marks among Zimbabwean Men of God: An Evaluation of the Conduct of Selected Zimbabwean Church Leaders in Recent Politics

AbstractWhat does it mean to be prophetic during political turmoil? Does it mean opposition to the government or opposition to any opposition to the government? This article offers a Biblical theological response to this question as it evaluates the behaviour of the clergymen and church representative bodies in Zimbabwe. Although the immediate context is the violence that engulfed the nation soon after 29 March 2008 election, over the years since 2000, the church has spoken with contradictory voices. There are churches and individual church leaders who openly displayed their allegiance to the government irrespective of all glaring misgivings. On one hand there existed some Christian leaders who opposed whatever the government did, hence they openly clamoured for regime change. While all this was happening, the common man benefitted only confusion as to who really is prophetic, that is who really represents God and the people.

POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN KENYA AND LOCAL CHURCHES’ RESPONSES: THE CASE OF THE 2007 POST‐ELECTION CRISIS

The majority of those involved in the 2007 general election in Kenya—whether media, civil society organizations, politicians, religious institutions, leaders, even ordinary citizens—were perceived as partisan or compromised. When the violence erupted, various ecumenical and religious bodies and individual churches reacted, although initially in a halting manner. The National Council of Churches in Kenya and the Inter‐Religious Forum established three committees to address spiritual concerns, humanitarian needs, and political matters. The Church (despite its shortcomings and varied denominations) is still perceived as the national institution capable of transcending ethnic boundaries, seeking reconciliation, and developing long term solutions.

Sanctuaries of Earth, Stone, and Light: The Churches of Northern New Spain, 1530–1821 (review)

Reviewed by: Sanctuaries of Earth, Stone, and Light: The Churches of Northern New Spain, 1530–1821 Karen Melvin Sanctuaries of Earth, Stone, and Light: The Churches of Northern New Spain, 1530–1821. By Gloria Fraser Giffords. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2007. A photograph on page 284 of Gloria Fraser Giffords’s most recent work on art and architecture in colonial Mexico shows the author holding up the skirts of a sculpture of La Mater Dolorosa in order to demonstrate how it was constructed. The photo shares a purpose with the book as a whole: to illustrate exactly what it is we are seeing when we look at the churches of northern New Spain. Churches, in this case, include the buildings themselves as well as their contents, from holy images to the garments priests wore. Sanctuaries of Earth, Stone, and Light examines scores of these places over its 461 image-filled glossy pages; a “select list” (pp 399–403) includes approximately 150 that are discussed in the book. These churches were all built prior to Independence across a wide and varied “frontier” territory that included all of the viceroyalty of New Spain north of a line running through the modern Mexican states of Nayarit, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas. This book is not, however, about individual churches nor their particular situations. Instead, Giffords focuses on specific features of these churches—such as their layouts, furnishings, and decorations—and individual churches provide examples of these features. For instance, she breaks down the layouts of church buildings into several types, including rectangular, cross-shaped, and disguised aisles. She then explains the characteristics of each type and references multiple churches in order to demonstrate the range of forms that existed within it. She has organized the book accordingly, by subject rather than geography or chronology. Following an introductory chapter, twelve chapters cover the topics of: style; building plans; builders, materials, and techniques; church buildings; details and motifs; furnishings; liturgical linens and objects; religious hierarchy and order, ecclesiastical vestments; religious images and retablos; symbols and attributes; and sacred iconography. Giffords’s approach relies heavily upon categories borrowed from European artistic traditions and Catholic doctrine but, the author hopes, still allows a place for local conditions and actors. As she puts it, she wants to show how these churches fit into “a larger network and were built to the explicit requirements of the Catholic Church and the architectural and decorative precepts of a specific time and place (p ix).” Giffords certainly acknowledges a wide range of influences, calling northern New Spain “a microcosm of architectural styles and material culture affected by five continents (p5).” Ultimately, the book has more to say about influences that might be labeled Catholic or European. For example, she notes that some facets of churches were more likely to display Native influences than others. “‘Native’ styles,” she writes in the introduction, “are most often to be seen in the auxiliary painting or carving in missionary churches, especially in decorative motifs portraying native plants and animals (p 12).” Yet, in the chapter where she discusses these areas, she finds a “surprising dearth of indigenous human and animal motifs in church painting and sculpture of northern New Spain (p 194).” The author succeeds in her stated goal to offer “a thoughtful, wide-ranging introduction to the churches of northern New Spain (p ix).” Sanctuaries provides an excellent starting point for a broad spectrum of information on churches, such as what was included on an altar, the advantages of particular building techniques, and which objects were used in churches themselves and which ones were taken out on processions. It thus functions nicely as a guide to churches and their components, explaining in easy to understand terms what things are (or were). I could easily imagine readers, at least those not daunted by the book’s hefty size, bringing it with them into any colonial Mexican church—not just those in the north—and understanding much more of what they were seeing. The purpose of Sanctuaries is not to make a systematic argument to a scholarly audience. Readers should not, therefore, expect to find churches analyzed within wider contexts of the colonial frontier...

Any Given Sunday: Weekly Church Attendance in a Midwestern City

I analyze the weekly attendance figures from 71 Protestant churches from across the conservative‐to‐liberal spectrum in a Midwestern city using multilevel modeling (HLM 6.0). The impact on attendance of factors that are experienced by all churches in the city (bad weather, summer, religious holidays, and secular holidays) and factors unique to individual churches (size, if the church is liturgical or nonliturgical, and denominational affiliation) are assessed to determine if all churches experience similar week‐to‐week fluctuations or if differences exist based on congregational factors. I interpret the results in light of rational choice theory and the strict church hypothesis in an effort to explain changes in church attendance from one week to the next.

Connecting the Covenants: Judaism and the Search for Christian Identity in Eighteenth-Century England by David B. Ruderman

93 Church were as strenuously enforced by the conservative end of the spectrum as they were loosened at the other end. She is on more solid ground with her understanding of Anglicanism; having digested the solid work of Gerald R. Cragg, Gordon Rupp, John Spurr, and others, she is fully aware of the importance of the Church in English life during the century her study covers, and astute in noting that Anglican debates on subjects ranging from innate ideas to Raphael’s religion cannot be separated by ‘‘high’’ and ‘‘low’’ church attitudes . Raphael’s cartoon, ‘‘Christ’s Charge to St. Peter,’’ for example, would be problematic for the entire spectrum of Protestantism, and all could unite in accepting Richard Blackmore’s wonderfully evasive couplet ‘‘resolving’’ the issue : ‘‘But do not ask what Raphael’s notions were, / His judgement might, his pencil cannot err.’’ In her next chapter, Ms. Haynes turns to English collectors of Italian art and their various justifying arguments. Her sources are Charles Lamotte’s An Essay upon Poetry and Painting (1730), and Horace Walpole’s comments on his father ’s collection (1747), and her conclusion is rather obvious: paintings were to be judged on artistic merit rather than theological content; and those who could afford to purchase such paintings could be trusted not to view them with the impious superstitiousness of Roman Catholics. Her penultimate chapter is more interesting, a brief but useful survey of the ornamentation of Anglican churches and chapels during this period. Again, the Church itself was not split on the issue but simply of two minds. While recognizing the dangers of iconography , its slippery path to ‘‘sensuous contemplation, superstitions and idolatry ,’’ the Church nonetheless made sufficient room for ornamentation; one is reminded, surely, of Martin in Tale of a Tub, who carefully removes some but not all of the ornaments from his coat. The subject produced intense debates and pamphlet wars in individual churches , but one suspects these were local struggles for parish power. Ms. Haynes provides a generous offering of black and white glossy plates, and a bibliography of thirty-eight pages, many cited in rather ponderous notes that suggest an undigested doctoral dissertation . The writing is in need of polish; a thorough proofing would have caught typos: ‘‘nother’’ should read ‘‘another,’’ ‘‘that that’’ should read ‘‘that,’’ and ‘‘appeinterestar’’ should read ‘‘appear,’’ and perhaps the several errors in the quotation from Pope’s Essay on Criticism (‘‘barborous’’ should read ‘‘barbarous,’’ ‘‘begin’’ should read ‘‘began). Far more damaging, however, are the too numerous royal signposts of progress; in one paragraph alone: ‘‘as we shall see,’’ ‘‘as we have seen,’’ ‘‘as we saw,’’ and ‘‘we have explored.’’ And finally, after years of gnashing teeth over the journalistic misuse (CNN’s Wolf Blitzer being a prime culprit) of ‘‘begs the question’’ (as meaning, ‘‘I really , really want to ask this question’’), the solecism has infiltrated scholarship as well; perhaps it is time to throw in the towel on ‘‘begging the question— as on ‘‘judgment,’’ which almost consistently Ms. Haynes spells ‘‘judgement,’’ even when quoting those who spelled it ‘‘judgment.’’ Melvyn New University of Florida DAVID B. RUDERMAN. Connecting the Covenants: Judaism and the Search for Christian Identity in Eighteenth-Centu- 94 ry England. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania, 2007. Pp. 1–141. $55. One value of Mr. Ruderman’s project is suggested by this observation: ‘‘Written as a response to William Temple’s Essay on Ancient and Modern Learning, Wotton’s book evoked numerous responses, pro and con, and was even satirized by Jonathan Swift . . .’’ (emphasis added). Connecting the Covenants is a fascinating account of a scholarly tradition that most of us have encountered only in satires or in passing mentions of the challenges to Christianity that accelerated the slide toward secularism in the eighteenth century . William Wotton, along with William Whiston and Anthony Collins, are shown to be intensely serious scholars pursuing lines of inquiry designed either to fortify Christianity as historical criticism exposed fault lines, or, in the case of Collins, to indicate precisely where they occurred. Equally valuable is Mr. Ruderman’s conclusion, amply justified in his study: ‘‘Many of the most significant cultural wars of this period are to be located in the religious...

Quests for Health and Contests for Meaning: African Church Leaders and Scottish Missionaries in the Early Twentieth Century Presbyterian Church in Northern Malawi*

This article is a micro-level case study in the cultural history of medicine and healing in Africa. It analyses issues of health, healing and medicine in the early Presbyterian Church in the Northern Malawi region during the first decades of the twentieth century. A central theme is the relationship between the emerging church and African healing theories and practices. The initial focus is on the discussions and debates in the Livingstonia Presbytery, the central meeting forum for the missionaries and African church leaders. The article then shifts to the level of individual congregations and church leaders, consulting congregation papers and oral sources, analysing the role of African clergymen, evangelists, preachers, ministers and their families in the search for health and therapy in local communities. Although missionary attitudes towards African healing were generally derisive and dismissive, and missionaries had hegemonic aspirations to create a healthy Christian society where missionary medicine would be central, the article argues that the topics of illness and health were open to contestation. In both theory and practice, the African Christian elite negotiated an acceptance of medical pluralism among the Presbyterian Christian communities of Northern Malawi. ‘Dig for your medicine and mix it with God’ (African proverb from Northern Malawi, translated by Revd A. Dewar, 1903)1 1 The National Library of Scotland (hereafter NLS), Acc. 7548, D 70, Letters to the Livingstonia Sub-Committee, Dewar, 10 August 1903, p. 114.

Church-state relations in Czechia

The paper analyses the interaction of the State and church in Czechia, a country that can be characterised by a high degree of secularisation. Nevertheless, a lot of religious activities still take place in a secular state like Czechia and this even extends to a ‘sacralisation’ of the landscape. However, the State does not interfere with the internal structures of the individual churches or religious communities. It only creates general conditions for relations between the State and these churches and communities. The co-existence of the State and the church and the influence of religions on the State reflect the pluralism of a post-modern society and also of a post-communist state like Czechia.

Ioannis Spatharakis, Dated Byzantine wall paintings of Crete

Abstract Ioannis Spatharakis has produced a book about the iconography of seventy-three painted churches of Crete. Given the lack of an exhaustive photographic publication of the Byzantine wall paintings of the island and the relatively few monographs on individual churches, in the past forty years scholars have attempted to compile synthetic works with mixed results. Three other volumes have dealt with Cretan frescoes prior to Spatharakis's book reviewed here: K. D. Kalokyris, The Byzantine Wall Paintings of Crete (New York, 1973); Manfred Bissinger, Kreta. Byzantinische Wandmalerei. Münchener Arbeiten zur Kunstgeschichte und Archäologie 4 (Munich, 1996); and to a lesser degree Klaus Gallas, Klaus Wessel, and Manolis Borboudakis, Byzantinisches Kreta. Studium und Reise. (Munich, 1983) which is a learned, comprehensive travel guide.

Churches and Symbolic Power in the Irish Landscape

The history of churches in Ireland has been treated primarily as an analysis of built artefacts. Architectural historians have discussed the phases in the development of styles and analysed the evolution of particular ecclesiastical structures, treating any individual church as a more or less representative or perfect example of a genre. The discourse has been primarily aesthetic and disembodied from place and landscape. This article seeks to place churches in the Irish landscape and to understand them as part of the landscape of belief and as contested symbols of power and authority. The article discusses how churches have been and continue to be used to assert ownership of the landscape and to control the interpretation of place, from the era of the early Christian communities to today's campaigners who use churches as symbols of endangered heritage.

The Local Church and the Universal Church: Zizioulas and the Ratzinger—Kasper Debate

The recent vigorous debate between two distinguished Catholic theologians and churchmen, Joseph Ratzinger and Walter Kasper, both cardinals, regarding the relationship between the universal church and the local church, is analysed. Though to some extent resolved, the debate has also proved rather intractable, because of unacknowledged ambiguities, for example regarding the meaning of the term, ‘universal Church’, and assumptions, particularly regarding eschatology. Through an examination of key texts in the debate, beginning with the 1992 Vatican letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Church as communion, which stated that the universal church is ‘a reality ontologically and temporally prior to every individual church’, both Ratzinger and Kasper are seen as exponents of a western view of ‘eschatology as orientation’, which John Zizioulas has contrasted with a stronger eastern view of ‘eschatology as presence’. It is proposed that this stronger eschatology can help to clarify and resolve underlying issues in the debate.

Architektura i wystrój eremów kamedulskich w świetle prawodastwa zakonnego

Niemal od początku swego istnienia kameduli wykształcili pewien zauważalny styl w sztuce, charakterystyczny dla wznoszonych przezeń eremów, w któ­rych konkretnym zasadom podlegała nie tylko sama architektura świątyni i klasztoru, ale i wyposażenie wnętrza, malarstwo, rzeźba czy rzemiosło artystyczne. Cechy budownictwa kamedulskiego podkreślające duchowość i tradycję Zakonu Kamedułów dostrzec można we wszystkich eremach wzniesionych na ziemiach polskich. Utrzymanie właściwie jednolitego stylu architektonicznego byłomożliwe nie tylko dzięki rygorystycznym przepisom, ale i żywej tradycji. Nie znaczy to oczywiście, że wszystkie eremy kamedulskie są identyczne. Owszem, posiadają charakterystyczne cechy wyróżniające na przykład poszczególne kościoły, jednak tradycja wznoszenia zespołów klasztornych według „zwyczaju ojców kamedułów”, przetrwał w nich przez kolejne stulecia, dając w nich poczucie ciszy, spokoju i oderwania od wszystkiego co przyziemne. Ten klimat rozmodlenia i kontemplacji Boga, jakie dawało to przedziwne i organiczne wręcz połączenie pustelni i przyrody, jest wyczuwalny nadal nawet w tych kamandolach, w któ­rych już od wielu lat nie słychać monotonnie recytowanych psalmów i szelestu kamedulskich habitów.

Preserving the Moral Compass: House of Worship Speech Protection Act Is Defeated

Religion's right to influence American public policy is currently protected at all levels. In Walz v. Tax Commission (1970), the Supreme Court proclaimed, Adherence of particular faiths and individual churches frequently take strong positions on public issues, including, as this case reveals in several briefs amici, vigorous advocacy of legal and constitutional issues. Of course, churches as much as secular bodies and private citizens have that right.1 We must conclude that all Amer icans, whether religious or not, have a right to participate in the politi cal process and through the body politic, and as such, they will contribute a vast spectrum of ideas, beliefs, ethics, morals, and stan dards that serve to enrich the dialogue on various issues of government policy and legislation. Consequently, while separation of and state is vital to the American way of life, it is understandable that some degree of overlap and interaction remains inevitable. The Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act, intro duced by Representative Walter (hereafter Jones Bill), was voted down by the House of Representatives on 2 October 2002. The defeated legislation would have amended the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 501(c)(3), lifting the current ban on political campaign ing by tax-exempt churches (hereafter church electioneering).2 In a 239-178 vote, forty-six Republicans and an Independent joined with one hundred and ninety-two Democrats to oppose the measure, while one hundred and sixty-eight Republicans and ten Democrats voted for the bill. The vote elicited passionate arguments and strong feelings from every corner, inside and outside the halls of Congress. The issue is far from over, however, since and many of his supporters made it clear that they would re-introduce a similar measure in the near fu

Canon Law and Communion

This paper deals, in an introductory way, with the role which the canon law of individual Anglican churches plays in the wider context of the global Anglican Communion. Part I reflects on the two main experiences which Anglicans have concerning ecclesial order and discipline: that of the juridical order of each particular church, and that of the moral order of the global communion; it also examines canonical dimensions of inter-Anglican conflict. Part II deals with the contributions which individual canonical systems, the Anglican common law (induced from these systems), and the canonical tradition currently make to global communion. Part III assesses critically these contributions, their strengths and weaknesses, illustrates the potential of individual canonical systems for the development of global communion, and reflects on practical ways in which that potential might be fulfilled. Generally, the paper aims to stimulate discussion as to whether there exists a sufficient understanding of Anglican common law to justify: (a) the issue, by the Primates Meeting, of a statement of this, being a description, which itself would not have the force of law, of those parts of Anglican common law which deal with inter-Anglican relations, (b) incorporation of the statement by individual churches in their own legal systems, so that (c) each church has a meaningful and binding body of communion law. in order (cl) to enhance global communion and inter-Anglican relations, and to reduce the likelihood of inter-church disagreement.

The development of a Fire Safety Evaluation Procedure for the Property Protection of Parish Churches

Incidences of fires in churches are currently exceeding those in all other historic building types. This trend is destroying irreplaceable national treasures as England and Wales contains one of the greatest collections, in terms of number and antiquity, of ancient parish churches in the world. This paper describes the development of a decision making tool to aid the custodians of parish churches in evaluating the existing fire safety provision and in gauging the cost of upgrading fire safety for property protection exclusively. The principles behind the evaluation procedure are detailed and the mechanics of assessment demonstrated. The tool, referred to as Fire(SEPC) [Fire Safety Evaluation Procedure for the Property Protection of Parish Churches] is unique in its evaluation configuration in that an ‘acceptable level’ of fire safety is dependent on the vulnerability of the fabric and contents of individual churches.

Canon Law in the Anglican Communion: A Worldwide Perspective

There is no recognized corpus of binding law globally applicable to all Churches in the Anglican Communion. Ostensibly, each Church is autonomous, free to make rules to facilitate and to order its internal life. This book, which is global in scope and will be of interest throughout the world, makes available for the first time a comparative study of the Constitutions, Canons, and other forms of law of Churches in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Does analysis draws out the similarities and differences between them and, from the coincidence of actual laws and from global ecclesiastical conventions enunciated by the Lambeth Conference, he elucidates the global principles of Anglican canon law that may apply to all Churches in the Communion. The subjects examined include: government; ministry; doctrine and liturgy; rites; property; inter-church relations; and ecumenism. Does thorough and practical analysis of a hitherto under-explored subject is placed squarely within its jurisprudential and theological context, and will be welcomed by both practitioners and scholars. For those within the Anglican Communion, his book offers a wealth of information enabling individual Churches to see how fellow Churches are organized. For those without, the book provides a valuable insight into Anglican government and law. Readership: Bishops throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion, their lawyers, administrators, and others concerned with the governance of Churches. It will also be of particular interest to canon lawyers practising within the Anglican world and of more general interest to Roman Catholic canonists, particularly those in the English-speaking countries. This book will also interest scholars and advanced students of ecclesiastical law, especially those with an interest in Anglicanism and ecumenism.

Armenian Religious Textiles in Istanbul

This essay examines extant religious textile artifacts in the Armenian churches of Istanbul. The churches are not only social links, but also repositories for highly perishable material expressions of religious life, which enhanced the community. The pieces, most of which were donated to individual churches by the resident Armenian community, feature intricate designs and rich embellishment. They exhibit a remarkable level of technical sophistication and skill both within the professional artisan class and the lay community, especially Armenian women. The textiles are significant in the study of late Byzantine and Ottoman art, and the movement of Amtenians in the Diaspora The Armenian Orthodox Apostolic Church has long been an anchor of a minority people, and the caretaker of its artistic expression. It continues as an important link between the religious, cultural, and civil life of Armenians in Istanbul and all Turkey,

MODELS OF MISSION AND MINISTRY: THE COUNCIL OF AFRICAN AND CARIBBEAN CHURCHES (UK)

MANY AS WE ARE, TOGETHER WE MAKE UP ONE BODY The first African church in Britain, the Church of the Lord Aladura, began in 1966. By 1980, many more of these churches existed, mainly in London but also in Manchester and Birmingham. These churches, most of them branches of churches already operating in Africa (mainly Ghana and Nigeria) acted more or less like chaplaincies and served the pastoral needs of their members. Some of the issues they dealt with were such that it became increasingly necessary for the churches to pool their meagre resources so that they could be more effective. Their main problem was isolation and lack of contact and cooperation among the churches. Parents were confronted with culture shock as they brought up their children -- some of who had been born in Britain -- in a culture quite different from what they had known as children themselves. Other problems, such as employment in low-paid jobs of well-educated Africans who then would have to work excessively long hours or take on more than one job, poor accommodation and immigration difficulties had devastating effects on family life. At a more profound level, the churches felt that they and their pastors did not enjoy the same recognition as the older churches. Those African churches that sought membership of the then British Council of Churches were refused on grounds, among others, that they did not have the necessary fifty congregations or more. These considerations focussed attention on the need for an association of African churches, initially for mutual support. In 1979, Father Olu Abiola, leader of the Aladura International Church, called together a few ministers from different churches to consider the necessity of creating a formal grouping of African churches. The outcome was the formation of the Council of African and Allied Churches, later known as the Council of African and Afro-Caribbean Churches. Its current title is the Council of African and Caribbean Churches. The Council has a membership of some forty denominations, mostly predominantly African churches, but also some predominantly Caribbean churches. Programme The Council operates in three main areas: pastoral services, social concern, and ecumenical cooperation. Pastoral services: A key aspect of the work of the Council is pastoral services to members of its constituent churches. This has largely been in the form of enabling, equipping, and coordinating pastoral care and counselling. To this end, the Council runs counselling courses for pastoral and community workers in the churches through one of its community initiatives, the African-Caribbean Social Action Project (ACSAP). While the individual churches are better equipped and skilled in offering culture-sensitive pastoral counselling, the Council for a time operated a base at its office premises that was open to the general public and provided counselling, legal and welfare benefits advice, and a referral service. The project ceased following the burning of the office premises in May 1999. Social concern: The African and Caribbean churches in the United Kingdom have largely been worshipping communities, but invariably the church is drawn into areas of social and political concern. To improve this situation, the Council has been pursuing programmes aimed at creating a fairer and more just society for everyone. This it has done through joint activities with other churches and church bodies in Britain and Europe. On their own the African and Caribbean churches held public meetings and seminars on issues, such as poverty and development, anti-racism, and on topics directed at the churches themselves, e.g. social responsibility and the position of women in the churches. Ecumenical cooperation: The Council of African and Caribbean Churches is a member of Churches Together in England, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, and the Conference of European Churches. …

The Letters and Charters of Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, Papal Legate in England, 1216-1218 ed. by Nicholas Vincent

The Letters and Charters of Cardinal G1,tala Bicchieri, Papal Legate in England, 1216-1218. Edited by Nicholas Vincent. [The Canterbury and York Society, Volume LXXXIII.] (Rochester, New York: The Boydell Press. 1996. Pp. xcvi, 193, $45.00.) The thirty-month-long legatine mission to England of Guala Bicchieri certainly coincided with political events of considerable consequence: the deepening of baronial revolt against King John, foreign invasion by the rebels' ally (Louis of France, the future Louis VIII), John's death and his son Henry's disputed succession, the creation of a viable minority government for the new child-king, royalist victory in the ensuing civil war, and the pacification of the country. Historians have long known that Guala's activities to assist the royalist cause-for such was the job assigned him by his superiors, Popes Innocent III and Honorius III-had been considerable. Now Nicholas Vincent of Christ Church College, Canterbury, has exhaustively quarried the letters and other written notices regarding this legation, thereby contributing considerably to our understanding of the politics and diplomacy of the time as well as the relationship between the papacy and English church. The volume comprises two large parts: a sixty-four-page-long introductory essay, which reviews Guala's biography and the history of his English legation, and the ctca (letters to and from Guala. contemporary written references about him by others) relating to his mission (including appendices one and two), In the former part Vincent ranges through a comprehensive variety of topics: the nature of papal legation during the early thirteenth century, Guala's peacemaking activities in England, the legate's relations and interactions with the local episcopate and religious houses, his legitimate-albeit controversiallevying of taxes. (procurations) on individual English churches and prelates to finance his mission, his harsh punishment of those English clergy who rebelled against John and young Henry, Guala's contribution to the later practice of papal provision, the legate's judicial activities, his role as a propagator of ecclesiastical reform, his entourage and their activities. and the form and style of the epistolary documents that Guala and his clerks produced. A Lombard from Vercelli, Guala made his first recorded appearance in 1187 as cathedral canon in that city. Although he was later styled in iure civili peritissimus by all English chronicler, we know practically nothing regarding his education. Vincent suggests that Guala's subsequently attested judicial expertise and his ownership of many theological books might indicate some formal training in both law and theology Innocent III named him cardinal-deacon of S. Maria in Porticu in 1205, and Guala spent the next years in a variety of curial activities, including two legatine missions (to northern Italy in 1206 and to France in 1208-09), Sometime in 1210-11 lie was promoted to cardinal-priest of S. Martino in Montibus. Guala was among the participants at Innocent's great Lateran Council, where most probably he received the pope's appointment to his English legation. In the aftermath of the extorted issue of Magna Carta and the deterioration of the political situation,John had requested that Innocent send a legate. For his part the pope urgently desired peace in England and between the French and English kings in order to rally crusading support for embattled Latin Outremer Innocent was also mindful of his role as John's feudal overlord. When the pope died in July 1216, his successor, Honorius III, maintained his predecessor's policy and reappointed Guala. The legate departed from Rome in late February, 1216; after a fruitless attempt to enlist the French King Philip II's support in restraining his son Louis from military support for rebellious English barons, Guala finally arrived in England on May 20. As the civil war intensified and Louis invaded the kingdom with a French army, the legate acted forcefully as the leading clerical supporter of the royalist cause. …