London Latest News June 2008
The BA LONDON 'PRIDE' EYE
The iconic London Eye gets a 'Rainbow' makeover for this weekend's Pride London
Boris Committed to future Pride London parades
Mayor Boris
Thousands took part in the Pride London parade
The Mayor of London has said that Pride London will have his support in future years, after he took part for the first time today. In a week where one of his deputy Mayors resigned and his father-in-law, respected broadcast journalist Sir Charles Wheeler, died, Boris Johnson seemed genuinely uplifted by the event. A large group of photographers, desperate to get a shot of Boris surrounded by gay Londoners, mobbed him as the parade attempted to move off from Baker St. The Mayor was accompanied by around ten members of LGBTory, a new group in the Conservative party advocating equality. He walked arm in arm with Mz Fontaine, the UK's most prominent lesbian rapper, for the entirety of the route. While there were a few incidents of booing, the vast majority of the crowd applauded Mr Johnson as he led the parade along Oxford St, Regent St and onto Trafalgar Square. Dressed in a blue suit, but not wearing a tie, Mr Johnson looked very much at ease as he waved to the crowds and chatted with participants during the one and a half hour parade. Due to family commitments Mr Johnson was unable to stay and make a speech, but he spoke exclusively to PinkNews.co.uk about his impressions of Pride London. "It was fantastic," he said. "I am going to make sure we support this event. "It is an amazing tribute to London that people come out and show support. It was fantastic and exciting to take part alongside people of all ages, all races and all sexualities. "It was almost entirely jubilant." Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes, who marched with Mr Johnson, told PinkNews.co.uk that while it was unfortunate that the Mayor could not stay to speak to the assembled crowds in Trafalgar Square, he was sure everyone would understand that he needed to spend some time with his wife and children, who are grieving the loss of Sir Charles. Mr Barnes spoke in his place. In an impassioned speech he said the administration is committed to stamping out homophobic and transphobic violence. "But we need you to help us," he told the crowd. "We need you to report hate crimes." Mr Barnes also revealed that he wants World Pride to come to London in 2012, the year the city hosts the Olympic Games. Later this afternoon Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and Harriet Harman, the Deputy Leader of the Labour party, will address the crowd in Trafalgar Square. Thousands took part in the parade and crowds three deep cheered it on as it passed through central London.
The picture of the week
IN DEEP SLEEP: A mother of twins on Channel Street in Kampala, opposite Shoprite, was on Friday found deep asleep as her children were crying.
Uganda Primate says Barack Obama is ‘unAfrican’
Barak Obama is un-African
Jerusalem, and advocates moral positions at odds with the religious and cultural values of the continent. Speaking in response to statements made by the candidate’s wife last week that posited a moral equivalency between the push for gay marriage and the civil rights movement, Archbishop Henry Orombi said: “It is distressing that Barack Obama, a fellow African, would promote racial civil rights as morally equivalent to immoral civil behaviour.” On June 26, Michelle Obama told the Democratic National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council the gay rights movement was the natural successor of the civil rights movements of the 1960s. “We are all only here because of those who marched and bled and died, from Selma to Stonewall, in the pursuit of a more perfect union,” she said. However, Archbishop Orombi said: “We are Africans and know the difference between moral behaviour and responsibility as opposed to civil rights being compared to homosexuality.” On June 29 he told ReligiousIntelligence.com during the close of the Gafcon Conference in Jerusalem that Anglican Africans were firm in stating that the “unchangeable standard of Christian marriage” was between one man and one woman and that homosexual practices were immoral. African women saw the push for gay marriage in the US as an assault on the family and the sanctity of marriage, Mrs Gloria Kwashi said. It was simplistic to equate opposition to the American gay agenda with homophobia. “If we say Nigeria is homophobic, it would not be right,” the wife of the Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria said as our “stance is founded upon the Bible.” While there was considerable pride amongst the African pilgrims to Gafcon over the accomplishments of Barak Obama and his candidacy, it would be a mistake to suppose his social and moral views were supported by all Africans, as homosexuality was a “taboo” in almost all African cultures, Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria explained, and was incompatible with its religious beliefs and cultural mores.
New Christians ‘are regarded as freaks,’ admits Bishop
London: Young people in Britain who become religious are now thought by their friends to be freaks, according to a northern Anglican bishop. And even some parents become suspicious, says the Rt Rev James Newcome, Bishop of Penrith. The 55-year-old suffragan to the Bishop of Carlisle makes the suggestion in an article headed Doing God in the July issue of the Carlisle diocesan news. "Doing God" is, he recalls, from a comment by Tony Blair's press secretary Alastair Campbell --- "We don't do God" --- which was used to justify the former Prime Minister not talking in public about religion. Bishop Newcome says Mr Blair justified the famous remark in a recent speech on Faith and Globalisation. The bishop says: "Blair pointed out that in our culture, admitting to some sort of faith 'leads to a whole serious of suppositions'. One was: 'You may be considered weird. Normal people aren't supposed to Do God.' "That's certainly how it is for many young people today. Their peers --- and sometimes, according to one confirmation candidate, even their parents --- assume they have become freaky or grown two heads." This also applied to adults, says Bishop Newcome. He says: "How strange that in less than two generations what was considered normal has become abnormal --- and the notion of sanity has been turned on its head." Then there was people's assumption that we have "lost the plot entirely" if we make a personal decision that includes a substantial measure of self-sacrifice. There was also the accusation that we wanted to impose our religious faith on others. Bishop Newcome says: "This means not only our faith but also all the values and moral standards that go with it --- most of which are deeply threatening to any society in which greed is good and self comes first." The bishop says it is "no wonder" that Alastair Campbell thought it "a packet of trouble" for Mr Blair to talk about his faith. But Christians have been "misunderstood and misrepresented throughout history" Bishop Newcome points out, adding: "Fortunately, that has not stopped them 'Doing God' --- and I hope it never will."
Johnson's deputy mayor resigns post
Ray Lewis has resigned his post as Deputy London Mayor
Deputy London Mayor Ray Lewis has resigned amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour and financial irregularities, he announced. Mr Lewis, who was put in charge of leading the capital's policy of youth crime, said he had stepped down in the face of an "avalanche" of allegations against him. The Deputy Mayor faced multiple claims relating to his time as a priest and as founder of an academy for young people. An independent inquiry was launched in City Hall into the allegations. In a statement, Mr Lewis said the "drip, drip" of allegations was "getting in the way of the very important work of this Mayor and his vision for London". He added that the inquiry announced by Boris Johnson had done "little to calm the avalanche of allegations". He thanked Mr Johnson for giving the opportunity to serve London. But he added: "I cannot allow the things that I have been into, up to and around me to obscure the important business of this mayoral team. "For this reason I must step down as Deputy Mayor for young people with immediate effect." He said Mr Johnson had "reluctantly accepted" the resignation.
New Anglican movement explains anti-gay stand
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which was held in Jerusalem from June 22-29, resolved to form a new movement and broke ties with the authority of Canterbury over consecration of gay bishops. Below is the GAFCON statement.
GAFCON is a spiritual movement to preserve and promote the truth and power of the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ as we Anglicans have received it. The movement is global: it has mobilised Anglicans from around the world. We are Anglican: 1,148 lay and clergy participants, including 291 bishops representing millions of faithful Anglican Christians. We cherish our Anglican heritage and the Anglican communion and have no intention of departing from it. And we believe that, in God’s providence, Anglicanism has a bright future in obedience to our Lord’s great commission to make disciples of all nations and to build up the Church on the foundation of biblical truth (Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 2:20). GAFCON is not just a moment in time, but a movement in the spirit.
Background to GAFCON
GAFCON emerged in response to a crisis within the Anglican Communion, a crisis involving three undeniable facts concerning world Anglicanism.
The first fact is the acceptance and promotion within the provinces of the Anglican Communion of a different ‘gospel’ ( Galatians 1:6-8) which is contrary to the apostolic gospel.
This false gospel undermines the authority of God’s word written and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the author of salvation from sin, death and judgment. Many of its proponents claim that all religions offer equal access to God and that Jesus is only a way, not the way, the truth and the life.
It promotes a variety of sexual preferences and immoral behaviour as a universal human right. It claims God’s blessing for same-sex unions over against the biblical teaching on holy matrimony. In 2003, this false gospel led to the consecration of a bishop living in a homosexual relationship.
The second fact is the declaration by provincial bodies in the Global South that they are out of communion with bishops and churches that promote this false gospel.
These declarations have resulted in a realignment whereby faithful Anglican Christians have left existing territorial parishes, dioceses and provinces in certain Western churches and become members of other dioceses and provinces, all within the Anglican Communion.
These actions have also led to the appointment of new Anglican bishops set over geographic areas already occupied by other Anglican bishops. A major realignment has occurred and will continue to unfold.
The third fact is the manifest failure of the Communion instruments to exercise discipline in the face of overt heterodoxy. The Episcopal Church of the US and the Anglican Church of Canada, in proclaiming this false gospel, have consistently defied the 1998 Lambeth statement of biblical moral principle (Resolution 1.10).
Despite numerous meetings and reports to and from the ‘Instruments of Unity,’ no effective action has been taken, and the bishops of these unrepentant churches are welcomed to Lambeth 2008.
To make matters worse, there has been a failure to honour promises of discipline, the authority of the Primates’ Meeting has been undermined and the Lambeth Conference has been structured so as to avoid any hard decisions. We can only come to the devastating conclusion that ‘we are a global Communion with a colonial structure.’
Sadly, this crisis has torn the fabric of the Communion in such a way that it cannot simply be patched back together. At the same time, it has brought together many Anglicans across the globe into personal and pastoral relationships in a fellowship which is faithful to biblical teaching, more representative of the demographic distribution of global Anglicanism today and stronger as an instrument of effective mission, ministry and social involvement.
ancient fathers and councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said scriptures. In particular, such doctrine is to be found in the 39 articles of religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal. We intend to remain faithful to this standard, and we call on others in the Communion to reaffirm and return to it.
While acknowledging the nature of Canterbury as an historic see, we do not accept that Anglican identity is determined necessarily through recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Building on the above doctrinal foundation of Anglican identity, we hereby publish the Jerusalem Declaration as the basis of our fellowship.
The Jerusalem Declaration
In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, have met in the land of Jesus’ birth. We express our loyalty as disciples to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus. We joyfully embrace his command to proclaim the reality of his kingdom which he first announced in this land.
The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of salvation, liberation and transformation for all. In light of the above, we agree to chart a way forward together that promotes and protects the biblical gospel and mission to the world, solemnly declaring the following tenets of orthodoxy which underpin our Anglican identity.
1. We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring
forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things.
2. We believe the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the Church’s historic and consensual reading.
3. We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
4. We uphold the 39 articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God’s Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today.
5. We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humanity’s only saviour from sin, judgement and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we deserve.
By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all who come to him in repentance and faith.
6. We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture.
7. We recognise that God has called and gifted bishops, priests and deacons in historic succession to equip all the people of God for their ministry in the world. We uphold the classic Anglican Ordinal as an authoritative standard of clerical orders.
8. We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family.
We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married.
9. We gladly accept the Great Commission of the risen Lord to make disciples of all nations, to seek those who do not know Christ and to baptise, teach and bring new believers to maturity.
10. We are mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation, to uphold and advocate justice in society, and to seek relief and empowerment of the poor and needy.
11. We are committed to the unity of all those who know and love Christ and to building authentic ecumenical relationships. We recognise the orders and jurisdiction of those Anglicans who uphold orthodox faith and practice, and we encourage them to join us in this declaration.
12. We celebrate the God-given diversity among us which enriches our global fellowship, and we acknowledge freedom in secondary matters. We pledge to work together to seek the mind of Christ on issues that divide us.
13. We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.
14. We rejoice at the prospect of Jesus’ coming again in glory, and while we await this final event of history, we praise him for the way he builds up his Church through his spirit by miraculously changing lives.
Primates’ Council
We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, do hereby acknowledge the participating Primates of GAFCON who have called us together, and encourage them to form the initial Council of the GAFCON movement.
We look forward to the enlargement of the Council and entreat the Primates to organise and expand the fellowship of confessing Anglicans.
We urge the Primates’ Council to authenticate and recognise confessing Anglican jurisdictions, clergy and congregations and to encourage all Anglicans to promote the gospel and defend the faith.
We recognise the desirability of territorial jurisdiction for provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Communion, except in those areas where churches and leaders are denying the orthodox faith or are preventing its spread, and in a few areas for which overlapping jurisdictions are beneficial for historical or cultural reasons.
We thank God for the courageous actions of those Primates and provinces who have offered orthodox oversight to churches under false leadership, especially in North and South America.
The actions of these Primates have been a positive response to pastoral necessities and mission opportunities. We believe that such actions will continue to be necessary and we support them in offering help around the world.
We believe this is a critical moment when the Primates’ Council will need to put in place structures to lead and support the church. In particular, we believe the time is now ripe for the formation of a province in North America for the federation currently known as Common Cause Partnership to be recognised by the Primates’ Council.
A fellowship of confessing Anglicans
We, the participants in the GAFCON, are a fellowship of confessing Anglicans for the benefit of the Church and the furtherance of its mission. We are a fellowship of people united in the communion (koinonia) of the one Spirit and committed to work and pray together in the common mission of Christ. It is a confessing fellowship in that its members confess the faith of Christ crucified, stand firm for the gospel in the global and Anglican context, and affirm a contemporary rule, the Jerusalem Declaration, to guide the movement for the future. We are a fellowship of Anglicans, including provinces, dioceses, churches, missionary jurisdictions, para-church organisations and individual Anglican Christians whose goal is to reform, heal and revitalise the Anglican Communion and expand its mission to the world.
Our fellowship is not breaking away from the Anglican Communion. We, together with many other faithful Anglicans throughout the world, believe the doctrinal foundation of Anglicanism, which defines our core identity as Anglicans, is ressed in these words: The doctrine of the Church is grounded in the holy scriptures and in such teachings of the
The road ahead
We believe the Holy Spirit has led us during this week in Jerusalem to begin a new work. There are many important decisions for the development of this fellowship which will take more time, prayer and deliberation.
Among other matters, we shall seek to expand participation in this fellowship beyond those who have come to Jerusalem, including cooperation with the Global South and the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa. We can, however, discern certain milestones on the road ahead.
Message from Jerusalem
We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, were summoned by the Primates’ leadership team to Jerusalem in June to deliberate on the crisis that has divided the Anglican Communion for the past decade and to seek direction for the future. We have visited holy sites, prayed together, listened to God’s Word preached and expounded, learned from various speakers and teachers, and shared our thoughts and hopes with each other.
The meeting in Jerusalem this week June 22-29) was called in a sense of urgency that a false gospel has so paralysed the Anglican Communion that this crisis must be addressed. The chief threat of this dispute involves the compromising of the integrity of the church’s worldwide mission.
The primary reason we have come to Jerusalem and issued this declaration is to free our churches to give clear and certain witness to Jesus Christ. It is our hope that this Statement on the Global Anglican Future will be received with comfort and joy by many Anglicans around the world who have been distressed about the direction of the Communion.
We believe the Anglican Communion should and will be reformed around the biblical gospel and mandate to go into all the world and present Christ to the nations.
A Prof. Elected a Judge
Prof Githu Muigai has been elected a judge of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights. He was picked during the Peace and Security Council (PSC), an organ of the African Union that deals with wars and conflicts, met at the summit in Egypt. The Assembly of Heads of State and Government elect new members. Muigai worked as a lead counsel during the Goldenberg inquiry in 2003 and as a commissioner on the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission. Born in 1960, he did his LLB at the University of Nairobi and a master’s degree at the Colombia University Law School in the US.Muigai is the chairman of International Commission of Jurists in Kenya and has wide experience in international law and human rights. Meanwhile Kenya’s Rhoda Masaviru has been elected secretary-general of the Pan-African Postal Union (Papu). Masaviru beat her sole challenger, Mr Paul Ouedragou of Burkina Faso, on Sunday to clinch a four-year term in the election held in Egypt. Masaviru served a four-year term as Assistant secretary-general of the union. Kenya will also serve in the union’s Administrative Council for four years. Communications Minister Samuel Poghisio, who led the Kenyan delegation, thanked the campaign team for a job well done. Diaspora Messenger.
Guess which caption fits the picture
1. PLEASE REMEMBER
me in your prayers.....:
A man gives a priest a cock to convince him to say special prayers for him
2. CULTURAL REQUIREMENT:
It is traditionally required of me to give you a cock for giving me your sister, a man tells a priest at an introduction ceremony recently
3. CONGRATULATIONS:
The Bishop-elect of Kasana-Luwero Msgr. Paul Ssemwogerere receives a cock at celebrations to mark his 25th year as a priest at Kasenyi Beach in Wakiso district last Saturday
Woman to marry for a car
You have heard the folktales about a beautiful maiden, who would not get married until a suitor fulfilled some of her very unrealistic demands. Well for this maiden in Wakiso district, the demand to all intending suitors is that they buy her a car. Several men who have approached her and asked to have a relationship with her, have been turned down because they did not meet her demands. Every time a man approaches her, she asks him to first buy her a car in order for her to give love back. The 27-year-old resident of Wakimese zone in Kyengera, is beautiful and single. Recently, a cock-sure man from Mugongo, who boasts that women never turn him down was tipped about Nammande. Although he is a boda boda rider, he boasted to friends that he would woo her nonetheless. But he too walked away a dejected man because he could not afford to buy Nammande a car. Nammande still sticks to her guns and was recently overheard telling friends that the only man who will sweep her off her feet is one who will buy her the car.
Swiss court rules on noisy chicken
GENEVA. A Swiss court has ordered that a chicken be locked up in a soundproof box every night so its neighbours can get a good night's sleep, the ATS news agency reported Friday. The court at Ticino in southern Switzerland even stipulated that the box, in which the chicken must be kept from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am, should be at least eight centimetres (three inches) thick and insulated with glass wool. The decision ends a five-year battle between the authorities in the village of Sant'Antonio and the chicken's owner. The authorities, alerted by complaints from neighbours, earlier ordered that the bird be put in a henhouse at night. The measure, however, was found to be pointless. |
