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A Metro Vancouver advocate plans to open a store selling MDMA, cocaine, and more this month to coincide with the province decriminalizing possession of several types of drugs.

Along with many of you, I am reading Pope Benedict’s latest book, volume 3 of Jesus of Nazareth, on the infancy narratives. I was very moved at a very brief reflection that he made on Mary, as the Angel Gabriel left her. His remarks consider on her faith in a very touching manner. I must say that I have always been moved by the faith of the Blessed Mother and intrigued too, for she is a woman wrapped in silence. The Pope’s words capture both her faith and the mystery of her. Here is what the Pope says:I consider it...

Listening To Mary’s Voice – Part 7 (Her Final Words) Feb 27th, 2012by Gary Zimak.   As we conclude this series on Mary’s words in Scripture, her advice to the servants at Cana summarizes her faith and how she lived her life. After informing Jesus that “they have no wine”, Mary turned to the servants and uttered her last recorded words in the Bible:“Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5)Throughout this study, we have listened to the Blessed Mother’s words as she teaches us how to better live our Christian faith:“How can this be, since I have no relations with...

We continue our Patristic Rosary Project today with the:2nd Luminous Mystery: The Wedding at CanaThe late great John Paul II wrote in his letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae wrote: 24. The Rosary is at the service of this ideal; it offers the “secret” which leads easily to a profound and inward knowledge of Christ. We might call it Mary’s way. It is the way of the example of the Virgin of Nazareth, a woman of faith, of silence, of attentive listening. It is also the way of a Marian devotion inspired by knowledge of the inseparable bond between Christ and his...

It's a strange phenomenon when weather—or anything—slows the archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola. But that's what happened when record snowfall in Washington last month forced the cancellation of a long-anticipated celebration, known among Anglicans as a festal eucharist, to commemorate Akinola. The stout, 66-year-old clergyman, who friends say gets by on three to four hours' sleep a night and keeps a travel schedule to rival any gold-status f requent flier, will step down March 25 as head of the Anglican church in Nigeria—at 20 million, the largest Anglican communion in the world. The event that was to include national and...

Jesus and his mother Mary were at a wedding feast at Cana (as recorded in John 2). There is what seems to us a tense interaction between them. Mary observes that they have no more wine. And Jesus says to her, Woman, how does this concern of yours affect me? My hour has not yet come. (Jn 2:4). To modern English ears this response of Jesus seems terse and off-putting. Is Jesus annoyed by his mother’s request? A little study of culture reveals that his repsonse ot his mother is not disrespectful but is in fact a sign of respect...

Conservative Anglican leader the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns has a message for the Archbishop of Canterbury: "We're here; we're doing the work of Gospel; we are within the Anglican mainstream; and we are doing the very things that he declares that we should be about." ut he can't say the same for The Episcopal Church. Minns celebrated the growth of his breakaway group, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, this week during their third annual council in Herndon, Va. It's a story of redemption, Minns said Friday. "Birthed because of a disaster, the abandonment of biblical Christianity by the...

Two small parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia have quit the denomination over gay ordination and joined a like-minded group of dissident churches based in Northern Virginia. The break-away Anglican District of Virginia announced Friday that Christ Church in Emporia and Grace Church in Purdy had become members. The district now includes 23 parishes that have cut ties with the Episcopal Church. Church of the Messiah in Chesapeake quit the Episcopal denomination in 2006. Grace Episcopal Church in Newport News quit a couple years earlier. The Southern Virginia diocese has about 120 parishes, including more than two dozen...

Anglican Churches Win on Constitutional Grounds Va. Court Upholds Constitutionality of Virginia Division Statute to End Episcopal Attempt to Seize Control Over Church Property FAIRFAX, Va. (June 27, 2008) – The 11 churches sued by The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia celebrated today’s Fairfax County Circuit Court ruling that confirms the constitutionality of Virginia Division Statute (Virginia Code § 57-9). The 11 churches named in the lawsuit are members of the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV). “We are pleased with Judge Bellows’ ruling today. After meticulous examination, the judge ruled to uphold the constitutionality of the Virginia Division...

"The Court agrees that it was major divisions such as those within the Methodist and Presbyterian churches that prompted the passage of 57-9. However, it blinks at reality to characterize the ongoing division within the Diocese, ECUSA, and the Anglican Communion as anything but a division of the first magnitude..."

Given that there are new articles and press releases, etc. being released frequently, and the potential significance of the story, we thought it would be helpful to provide a roundup of all the Virginia court ruling links in one place. We'll keep updating this periodically: Primary Source documents: Court Ruling and Press Releases or Letters The Court Ruling: [Stand Firm has a PDF here] The Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) Press Release: The Diocese of Virginia Press Release: The CANA Press Release: The Presiding Bishop's Statement: A letter from the Rev. John Yates, rector of the Falls Church A letter...

Episcopal parishes awarded property, assets By Julia Duin April 4, 2008 A Fairfax circuit judge has awarded a favorable judgment to a group of 11 Anglican churches that were taken to court last fall after breaking away from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in late 2006. In an 83-page opinion released late last night, Judge Randy Bellows ruled that Virginia's Civil War-era “division statute” granting property to departing congregations applies to the Northern Virginia congregations, which are now part of the Nigerian-administered Convocation of Anglicans in North America.

A judge in Fairfax County Court has ruled in favor of a group of 11 churches, all members of the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) who want to keep their properties. Last year they broke free from The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia and came under the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), the Nigerian branch of the Anglican Communion established in the United States. Judge Randy I. Bellows citing the Virginia Division Statute (Virginia Code § 57-9) said the churches could keep their property at least for the moment though the Episcopal Church is expected to...

McDonnell: “As a matter of federal constitutional law, the Episcopal Church is simply wrong.” BB NOTE: The Motion is here and the Brief is here. FAIRFAX, Va. (January 11, 2008) – Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell has filed a motion to intervene and a brief in the ongoing church property litigation that is being heard by Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows involving eleven congregations that separated from the Episcopal Church in 2006 and 2007 and joined the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV). In his brief, Attorney General McDonnell defended the constitutionality of the Virginia Division Statute (Virginia...

Nigerian Archbishop Peter J. Akinola will preside at a ceremony at a church in Herndon as four new bishops are consecrated today to serve the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. (Agence France-Presse) A new breakaway Anglican group of 11 churches that left the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia over theological differences less than a year ago met last week for its first annual convention. Four new bishops will be consecrated at 2 p.m. today to serve the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), which includes 61 member congregations siphoned from the Episcopal Church. Nigerian Archbishop Peter J. Akinola will...

The congregation has voted by more than a two to one margin to authorize the Vestry to negotiate with the Bishop and Diocese to disaffiliate our association with and participation in the Diocese and thereby The Episcopal Church in order to establish association with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). http://www.saintmatthewsonline.org/ Last night, after 40 days of prayer and fasting for discernment, the Vestry received the results of the parish balloting from Toukan Associates, CPA. The congregation has voted by more than a two to one margin to authorize the Vestry to negotiate with the Bishop and Diocese...

For the Rev. Canon Filmore Strunk, 55, it was a painful but strangely exhilarating moment in his life and ministry. For 19 years he had been a priest in the Episcopal Church. It had been his life's work and ambition - to bring the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ to the folks at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Waxhaw, a growing and thriving suburb on the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina. On November 1 all that changed. The abandonment of the historic Christian faith, the sexuality mess and the Episcopal Church's embracing of Gnosticism finally proved too much for the...

But for Julia Duin of the Washington Times, [and here's the link to her latest with lots of great details], and BabyBlue, none of us Episcopalians would know a thing about any of this. Thank God for bloggers and the Internet and this reporter. I will be emailing out the stories to all of my Episcopal friends, and I hope others will too. . . . Because . . . they sure won't learn the details from ENS or a friendly diocesan newsletter. And you know, I don't have any idea who will win in this lawsuit -- and it...

Dear CANA Friends, Over the past few days Angela, Rachel, and I have had the joyful privilege of taking part in the consecration of three new bishops from Kenya and Uganda to serve in the USA. We were there, along with representatives from most of the provinces of the Global South, to demonstrate our solidarity with each of these new bishops and their families as they begin their ministries. The actual services were exuberant celebrations attended by thousands and both lasted approximately five hours! They were also important milestones in our effort to build a united, biblically based, missionary-minded expression...

Virginia's Fairfax Circuit Court ruled August 10 in favor of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia in denying the claims of 11 separated congregations that the court should not consider the Church's Constitution and Canons in deciding property disputes. The congregations, in which a majority of members have voted to leave the Episcopal Church but continue to occupy its property, asked the court to dismiss the complaints of the Church and the diocese. After hearing arguments by all parties, the judge overruled all but one part of the motions. The court dismissed the claims of the diocese for...