Free Republic

RCMP have released a photo of a man considered to be the suspect in an active shooter situation in Portapique, Nova Scotia. Police say Gabriel Wortman, 51, is considered armed and dangerous. He is described as a white man, bald, between 6’2” and 6’3” with green eyes. RCMP say Wortman may be driving what appears to be an RCMP vehicle and appear to be wearing an RCMP uniform. RCMP say Wortman's vehicle is marked #28B11, behind rear passenger window. If anyone sees a RCMP car marked #28B11, they should call 911 immediately. If you see Wortman, RCMP say not to...

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy shared an incredible video of a white shark attacking a grey seal in shallow water off Truro. The video, shot on November 26, 2016 by Kenvor Cothey, is embedded below. It's a bit difficult to watch as the seal clearly suffered a mortal wound. The Conservancy points out the shark struggling a bit to get back into deeper water. The Conservancy post states, "This is what we believe may be happening when white sharks strand on Cape Cod." The video description states that the video was shot "at the beach on High Head Road, at...

Mysterious pits shed light on forgotten witches of the West Simon de Bruxelles Evidence of pagan rituals involving swans and other birds in the Cornish countryside in the 17th century has been uncovered by archaeologists. Since 2003, 35 pits at the site in a valley near Truro have been excavated containing swan pelts, dead magpies, unhatched eggs, quartz pebbles, human hair, fingernails and part of an iron cauldron. The finds have been dated to the 1640s, a period of turmoil in England when Cromwellian Puritans destroyed any links to pre-Christian pagan England. It was also a period when witchcraft attracted...

Archaeologists working at the site of the future Truro Eastern District Centre (TEDC) in Cornwall, southwest England, have discovered the fragmentary remains of a prehistoric enclosure built around 5,500 years ago... dating to the early Neolithic period (circa 3800 to 3600BCE)... ...Recent research in the British Isles indicate that causewayed enclosures were constructed within a relatively short time frame. The concept seems to have originated in mainland Europe spreading quickly through France, Germany, Scandinavia and into the UK. Using the latest in dating techniques along with statistical analysis of C14 results, it has been shown that causewayed enclosures in Ireland...

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A years-long fight between The Episcopal Church and several conservative congregations has landed back in a courtroom in Virginia. Several prominent congregations with roots dating to Colonial times, including Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church, voted in 2006 to split from The Episcopal Church and align with a group of conservative Anglican churches. The congregations disagreed with what their members felt was liberal Episcopal doctrine on homosexuality and other issues.

Dear Diocesan Family, A panel of the Virginia Supreme Court will hear our petition for appeal on October 21 and, while it is unfortunate that these legal proceedings were necessary, I trust that this hearing will bring us one step closer to resolution. I am proud that the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church have chosen the path consistently to defend loyal Episcopalians, and to safeguard and to protect the Church's legacy and the Church from unwarranted governmental and legislative interference. It is with the same determination to stand by the people, traditions and legacy of our diocese that...

TRURO — Voters narrowly approved one of four zoning amendments late Tuesday night at the annual town meeting. But town officials were still looking at the exact vote count on that article yesterday. In a vote of 136 to 70, voters passed a new time limit on how quickly a cottage colony, cabin colony, motel or hotel can be converted to condominiums. The new limit requires that those properties be in operation for three years before being converted to condominiums. The idea behind the zoning amendment is to slow the pace of condominium development in Truro and preserve more affordable...

ADV Responds to Appeal by The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia (April 7, 2009) - In response to the appeal in the Virginia church property litigation filed on Tuesday, April 7 by the Diocese of Virginia and The Episcopal Church, the Anglican District of Virginia Vice-Chairman Jim Oakes issued the following statement: "We are saddened that The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia find it necessary to continue this litigation with an appeal filed during Holy Week. The appeal process will cost additional millions of dollars that could be spent on mission and ministry. Both sides have...

A two-year-old church property dispute between Episcopalians and Anglicans appears to be on its way to the Virginia Supreme Court. On Feb. 3, The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia together filed an appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court hoping to overturn a Dec. 19 decision by Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows in favor of the Anglican District of Virginia, known as ADV. On Feb. 10, the Episcopal appeal was followed by a motion asking for an exception to the Supreme Court's limit of 35 pages in appeal cases. The property dispute originally arose as a result of...

BabyBlue has the story here and here. The entire resolution reads as follows: R-4a Integrity of Committing Relationships RESOLVED, that the Diocese of Virginia recognizes our responsibility to respond to the pastoral needs of our faithful gay and lesbian members in a spirit of love, compassion and respect, and in doing so seek to fulfill our baptismal commitment to respect the dignity of every human being; and be it further RESOLVED, that accordingly the 214th Annual Council of the Diocese of Virginia affirms the inherent integrity of and blessededness of committed Christian relationships between two adult persons, when those relationships...

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — Nearly a dozen conservative church congregations in Virginia have won a lawsuit in which they sought to split from the U.S. Episcopal Church in a dispute over theology and homosexuality. The final rulings came Friday from a Fairfax County judge who said the departing congregations are allowed under Virginia law to keep their church buildings and other property as they leave the Episcopal Church and realign under the authority of conservative Anglican bishops from Africa. Several previous rulings had also gone in favor of the departing congregations. The diocese said it will appeal. Eleven Virginia congregations...

A Fairfax County judge dealt the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia a third defeat in their efforts to retain millions of dollars of church property being held by 11 breakaway congregations. On Tuesday, Circuit Judge Randy I. Bellows ruled on whether the U.S. Constitution's contracts clause applies to the case and whether the breakaway churches had the right to invoke what's been termed the "division statute," an 1867 law that allows a majority of a breakaway church to retain the property. ... The diocese and the Episcopal Church had asserted in an Aug. 11 hearing that even if...

A Statement from the Virginia Annual Council of the United Methodist Church July 11, 2008 On June 27, 2008, the Circuit Court of Fairfax County declared constitutional—as applied to the case before it—a Virginia statute which gives ownership of church property to breakaway congregations of a church denomination, which for years had held the property in trust for the purpose of worship within the denomination, according to denominational doctrine. The statute, known as the “Division Statute,” was enacted by the Virginia legislature only a few years after the end of the Civil War, and was used then as a vehicle...

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.

"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..."

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...

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...

As you may have heard, we had a preliminary hearing on Friday, August 10, in court, at which the court heard arguments on our demurrers and pleas in bar. (Our demurrer asserted that even if everything The Episcopal Church claims is true, they still would have no case. The plea in bar argued that vestry members are immune from suit for actions taken in an official capacity as volunteers). After extensive argument over the plea of statutory immunity, the court was prepared to rule but suggested that the parties work out an agreement. After recess, the Diocese of Virginia and...

Nova Scotia Mayor Refuses to Fly Gay Flag Because of Christian Beliefs Deputy mayor says, "I don't think it's the position of the municipality to celebrate anybody's sexual orientation" By Elizabeth O'Brien TRURO, Nova Scotia, August 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The mayor of a Nova Scotia community has refused to fly the homosexual rainbow flag because it contradicts his Christian beliefs. The city council supported the decision. Halifax's Chronicle Herald (CH) reports that on Friday the mayor and the six city councilors of Truro, NS, voted informally 6 to 1 against flying the trademark rainbow flag of the homosexual movement...