大象传媒

Last night's 大象传媒 "Unlocking the Past" event has been blogged by .

On this morning's Not the Nolan Show, I was slugging it out with callers following the news that the Orange Order has received a from the government to help the it develop the Twelfth of July commemoration as carnival-like tourism event. One of our callers thought that was like trying to rebrand the Ku Klux Klan, a view which predictably outraged some members of the Loyal Orders who called the show. In a fit of pacifism, I was moved to tell the callers to stop talking over each other and invited them to talk to each other without shouting. I'll never get the hang of this shock jock thing.

I'm just about to chair a 大象传媒 event in Studio 1, here in Broadcasting House, which examines the challenge faced by broadcasters in making history programmes. An audience of 90 people -- historians, broadcasters, teachers, community leaders -- are gathering downstairs as I write this. After eating together, we'll watch "Unlocking the Past", a film produced by Tony Currie which examines 大象传媒 Northern Ireland's commitment to history programming from 1938 to the present day. Then I'll be leading a discussion, which we hope to broadcast next Sunday, in an edited form. It could be a long evening, then I'm back with the Not the Nolan Show tomorrow morning, from 9.00 am. If you're a fan of podcasting, you can download the NTNS podcast here.

And, before I dash to make history with a studio audience, some breaking news on the blogging front. Susan Lovell, the head of 大象传媒 Radio Ulster, just smiled knowingly at me in a meeting and said, "You're going to have some competition soon." She was talking about a brand new Radio Ulster station blog, soon to be launched. The working title is "The Show Must Go On", and it will feature postings from producers, presenters, managers, executives -- a cross-section of the whole station talking about every aspect of the station's life. It's a great idea, though if you can think up a better name for the blog, I'll pass it on to Susan. Right, I'm off.

Should Britain spend 拢25 billion in developing a replacement for its nuclear weapon system? Tony Blair says a decision will be taken this year. The Chancellor, in a speech on June 21, spoke of the need for Britain 'to retain its independent nuclear deterrent'. It's not clear that Parliament will even be given a vote on the matter -- though it's clear there is no legal necessity for such a vote. Gordon Brown's apparent support for an upgraded nuclear defence system is already raising the hackles of some of his supporters, including who believe his stance could lose him the leadership of the Labour Party.

Yesterday, Mr Brown , arguing that the UK can honour its commitments to Africa and the developing world while financing a replacement weapon system. He made his comments in Scotland, the home of the British nuclear deterrent, in response to growing opposition from Scottish churches. The previous evening, the leader of Scotland's Catholics, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, and the Church of Scotland moderator, the Rt Reverend Alan McDonald, shared a platform at a public meeting in Glasgow on Tuesday evening, and joined forces in challenging the case for a new weapon system. The Moderator asked:

What was the point in having a Make Poverty History campaign a year ago that the churches so enthusiastically joined in with and then at the end of the day here we are proposing to spend 拢25bn on a useless weapon? That seems to me to be close to insanity.

Some important political and ethical questions need now to be faced, including: Does Britain need an independent nuclear deterrent today? Who is it aimed at deterring in a post-Cold War global environment? And, of course, the key ethical question here: If, as those church leaders argue, there are no circumstances in which the use of nuclear weapons could be justified, can their retention and storage morally justified as a 'deterrent'?

Where's Samuel Johnson when you need him? Lexicographical ground war has broken out on this blog over the meaning of the term 'homophobia'. I inadvertantly started things off a few weeks ago when writing about the Presbyterian General Assembly's tussle with the term.

The Assembly, wisely in my view, resisted the opportunity to accept this proposed definition: 'an irrational fear or hatred of homosexual persons'. I suggested that this definition is too narrow; not all anti-gay discrimination, for example, is based on fear or hatred, and it's not clear that people are necessarily 'irrational' when they engage in homophobic behaviour (any more than people are necessarily 'irrational' when they engage in racist or sectarian behaviour). A more careful definition of homophobia would encompass language, actions or attitudes that harm, abuse, demean, dehumanise, or discriminate against lesbian and gay people.

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This story just runs and runs and runs. Now the American Episcopal Church's diocese of Newark, in New Jersey, has named an openly gay priest on its . Canon Michael Barlowe is currently a development officer working for the diocese of Caolifornia. Previously he was Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in Des Moines, Iowa.

His biographical sketch on the Newark website reads:

Before ordination, I worked on Wall Street at Chase Manhattan Bank. Paul Burrows has been my partner for 24 years. Paul is Rector of Church of the Advent in San Francisco, a spiritual director, Benedictine oblate, and naturalized U.S. citizen.

Being shortlisted for bishop is a step or two away from being elected, but Canon Barlowe's inclusion on the shortlist comes just days after the Episcopal Church's General Convention voted to 'call upon Standing Committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.'

By any standards, this is a feisty response from Newark. The spirit of American Independence is alive and well and living in New Jersey.

As expected, Rowan Williams today made his to the actions and decisions of the Episcopal General Conention. All of it. With an audio version for those whose eyes are likely to glaze over, . It reads like a thoroughly English solution to Anglicanism's intractable problems over sexuality: a two-track Communion. Just as some countries in the EU are inside the Eurozone and others are outside, the future of Anglicanism could require the pro-gay Episcopal Church to accept something like associate membership of the club.

Bishop Bob Duncan, moderator of the traditionalist Anglican Communion Network has the archbishop's statement. He also seems to believe that Network churches will be able to maintain their place within an 'associated' US Episcopal Church while at the same time remaining in 'full communion' with Canterbury and other provinces of the Anglican Communion. Anyone got the number for a good lawyer?

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Only AKMA would even consider using 蝉迟谤么尘补迟别颈蝉 in the For those unfamiliar with ancient Greek, 蝉迟谤么尘补迟别颈蝉

. . . transliterates a Greek word that serves as the equivalent for the Latin miscellanea. It鈥檚 the neuter plural form of the noun str么mateus, 鈥渂edspread,鈥� which in the plural form has the sense of 鈥減atchwork鈥� (hence, an assortment of various matters, a thing of shreds and patches).

That's AKMA's explanation. , by the way, is Professor AKM Adam, a former teacher of mine. He taught me Greek, or tried to. I've borrowed the Greek word for "patchwork" from him for two reasons: (1) in the hope that he will add Will and Testament to his , and (2) because this entry is a bit of a patchwork quilt enabling me to reply to a handful of comments I've neglected to date:

John Wright isn't impressed by my question to the new chief executive of the Church Army. I'd asked Mark Russell if he was comfortable with the militaristic overtones in his organisation's name. John wonders if 'it has it become trendy to avoid any positive reference to the military'. I can understand why the term "army" once made sense for a Christian organisation founded in Victorian England; but it's fair to wonder if even Wilson Carlile would be in favour of a rebranding 125 years later. Silas has suggested a new name. He writes, "Hmmmm. Church Army? Presumably it's not armed. So, unarmed, yet uniformed, and rushing to save the world. Got it. How about Church Ambulance Service." Thanks Silas. By the way: you've no connection to have you?

Thanks to Sean Flanaghan for your very moving recollections of the late Monsignor Denis Faul.

David Green wonders if Rowan Williams is capable of a decision. That's beyond my psychological expertise, but David's to ask that question.

Alan clearly expects my colleague Bert Tosh to be featured on a stamp sometime soon. I'm for that, but only if his pipe is included in the picture (or, at the very least, a pint of ).

Finally, a couple of people aren't happy that I included a link to a article in a previous entry. Ceejay says you shouldn't trust Wikipedia, since "it's a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit." I think that's actually the point of Wikipedia, ceejay. In any , last , the ran an which reported on a comparing entries in with , , in of ual , wasn't .

That said, I wouldn't believe everything you read in the burgeoning Wikipedia entry on .

Dr Andrew Goddard of The Anglican Comnunion Institute, an organisation with a board of directors including Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has written a of the actions and decisions of the Episcopal General Convention and assessed their level of compliance with the recommendations of the Windsor Report.

Goddard's analysis concludes: "The final paragraph of the Report stated, 鈥楾here remains a very real danger that we will not choose to walk together. Should the call to halt and find ways of continuing in our present communion not be heeded, then we shall have to begin to learn to walk apart鈥� (para 157). Sadly, that is what it appears the Communion must now do in relation to the Episcopal Church given its actions in General Convention 2006."

It's possible, of course, that the Episcopal Church would decide to walk first -- if, for example, the Archbishop of Canterbury required their bishops to attend the Lambeth Conference of 2008 as observors only.

The Institute's to Columbus was equally doom-laded: "Very few people, on a moment鈥檚 reflection, will believe that this climactic statement to the Communion will satisfy the hopes and needs of most of those whose common ministry and mission has been compromised by the Episcopal Church鈥檚 actions over the past few years, especially those actions bound up in Gene Robinson鈥檚 consent and consecration and in the widespread performance of same-sex blessings in our church."

I expect that Lord Carey is holding his tongue, in public at least, and will not share his reaction to Columbus until Rowan Williams gives his analysis and response this week. The other person I'm keen to hear from this week is the chairman of the committee that produced the Windsor Report: the Archbiship of Armagh, Dr Robin Eames, who is also unlikely to speak until we hear the sunstantive response from Canterbury.

Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is thought to be adding finishing touches to his substantive response to the actions and decisions of the Episcopal Church's General Convention. A public statement seems likely by tomorrow or Tuesday. Bishop Gene Robinson has just released an to gay and lesbian Christians.

We had a wide-ranging discussion about the General Convention on today's Sunday Sequence. You'll hear Susan Russell, the president of of the pro-gay campaign group Integrity, describe the Convention's final resolution as 'spineless'; the conservative internet columnist David Virtue explains why he thinks 'the game is now over'; journalist and commentator Andrew Carey, though he won't be drawn on what his father, Dr George Carey, is thinking at the moment, tells us he's not sure if the next Primates' Meeting can now go ahead; the Reverend Briony Morton, a pro-gay vicar in Brighton, expresses her bitter disappointment at Rowan Williams's rather cold response to the election of Anglicanism's first female primate; and Stephen Bates of the Guardian shares his experience of interviewing the Episcopal Church's new presiding-bishop, who gave the impression that she wouldn't be concerned terribly much if her church was required to walk apart from the Anglican Communion.

To listen to the interviews and discussion, click here, select Listen Again, and scroll forward about 34 minutes.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has asked the government to review the current in England, Scotland and Wales. The Cardinal, of course, is opposed to abortion in practically all circumstances, but he believes a lowering of the 24-week limit would be a step in the right direction. He would like to see a joint committee of parliament hear scientific evidence since, he argues, technological advances mean that some foetuses born before 24 weeks gestation can survive.

I invited Professor to join our discussion this morning on Sunday Sequence because he is precisely the kind of expert that commitee would wish to take evidence from. He is a distinguished neonatal pediatrician at .

The key concept in this discussion of upper limits for abortion is that of 'viability' -- the point at which a foetus can survive independently of the mother with the assistance of available medical technology. Viability is not a fixed point; it is technologically constrained and, as technology advances, we may expect that foetuses will be able to survive earlier and earlier. Why is this important for discussions of the ethics of abortion? Simply because many people take the view it is difficult to justify an abortion in cases where a foetus can survive removal from the womb; though there are obviously some who defend terminations even in .

John Wyatt made some fascinating observations in today's programme, in conversation with the Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris (who called for a review of abortion time limits ).

Perhaps most significantly for the current debate, he argued that it is rare, in his experience, that a foetus of 23 weeks gestation can survive -- and this at one of the most advanced neonatal teaching centres in the world. The last year voted against calling for a lowering of the 24-week limit; one can understand their reasoning on the basis of John Wyatt's contribution today.

That's the new chief executive of the , standing in front of a portrait of who founded the society of evangelists in 1882. Mark is an Ulsterman, which is good enough reason to note his appointment in this blog. In addition, he's also the first chief executive who is not either a vicar or a Church Army officer. Times have changed since Prebendary Carlile played that trombone he's holding in the portrait.

On Sunday Sequence today, I (cheekily) asked Mark if he is comfortable with the militaristic overtones in the name of the organisation he is about to lead. Clearly, I wasn't expecting him to answer the question, and he didn't disappoint: that's one of a number of issues the organisation would have to consider in the future, he said, but wisely resisted the opportunity to rename the society on the radio before actually taking up his position. (It was worth a try.) Nevertheless, I suspect he'd appreciate some suggestions just in case he and his new colleagues decide the Church Army's brand could do with a little up-dating. Any ideas?

A very good analysis piece on the General Convention from Stephen Bates, who was in Columbus covering the story for the Guardian, in .

Bishop Gene Robinson, whose consecration three years ago triggered the current crisis within the Episcopal Church, has written an to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Christians for Witness Magazine, which gives his response to the General Convention's actions.

Or, if you can't take any more reports and analysis about the Anglican Communion, you can ponder on:

The theological conundrum of the day
How, exactly, do the departed get any rest at all, with perpetual light shining on them?

Join me and my guests on Sunday from 8.30 am for this week's edition of Sunday Sequence.

ANGLICANISM IN CRISIS: The continuing crisis in the worldwide Anglican Communion is our main talking point on Sunday Sequence this week. We'll be taking a close-up look at the Episcopal Church's General Convention with reaction from Susan Russell, the president of the pro-gay campaign group , David Virtue from , the Guardian's religion correspondent , and from the Church of England Newspaper (and the son of former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey), amongst others.

ABORTION LAW: Evan Harris MP and Professor John Wyatt, a neonatal paediatrician at University College London, discuss Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's call for a review of the UK's abortion law.

STEM CELLS AND THE EU: The Manchester University bio-ethicist John Harris on the European Parliament's decision this week to provide funding for scientific research using embryonic stem cells

KEN LOACH'S IRELAND: Political historian Professor Richard English, Daily Ireland columnist Jude Collins and former Presbyterian Moderator Dr John Dunlop give their verdict on "", Len Loach's controversial new film about the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War.

THE CROSS AND THE CRESCENT: The historian Stephen O'Shea talks to us about his acclaimed new book, : Islam and Christianity in the Medieval Mediterranean World, and explains why he believes his book could help counter popular contemporary myths about the relationship between Christians and Muslims.

DENIS FAUL: Monsignor Raymond Murray on the legacy of the outspoken priest and justice campaigner Monsignor Denis Faul, who died this week.

While researching the African primates' response to the US Episcopal Church's General Convention, I happened across this , on an entirely different subject, concerning a recent speech by the Rt. Rev Duke Akamisoko, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Zonkwa. Bishop Akamisoko chastises his fellow citizens for being lazy and idle:

In Nigeria we have the following rest days: 52 Sundays, 52 Saturdays, 2 days for Eid-El- Kabir, 2 days for Eid-El Fitri, 2 days for Christmas, 2 days for Easter, 1 day for EI-Maulud and 1 day for Democracy Day. 1 day for Independence celebration, 1 day for workers day and 1 day for Children's day. That totals 117 days for holidays. Imagine 117 days instead of 52 days for rest! This is official for every Nigerian.

Continuing, the bishop showed from official figures that civil servants have even more official days off: a total of 159 days of holiday. Nice if you can get it. The bishop has called on the government to significantly reduce the number of public holidays across the nation's workforce. I can't imagine a politician (or a church leader for that matter) with the audacity to make that kind of unpopular argument in public in Europe or America.

Presiding Bishop-elect Katherine Jefferts Schori is interviewed by PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. The interview is frustratingly softball, but you get a sense of the new leader's style.

The Anglican primates of Africa have given their response the US Episcopal Church's attempted compliance with the Windsor Report. Signed by Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, the Open Letter from the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) to the Episcopal Church is ecclesiastical dynamite. The letter in full is reproduced below, but the two key sentences are these:

We are, however, saddened that the reports to date of your elections and actions suggest that you are unable to embrace the essential recommendations of the Windsor Report and the 2005 Primates Communiqu茅 necessary for the healing of our divisions.

and

We assure all those Scripturally faithful dioceses and congregations alienated and marginalised within your Provincial structure that we have heard their cries.

I'd say that's a pretty clear statement to conservatives in the United States that, if Rowan Williams does not provide 'alternative primatial oversight', the African primates will. With every new statement in response to the Episcopal Church's resolution, it appears to be unravelling, and the pressure on Rowan Williams increases.

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Steve B has challenged my claim that the is the mother church of the Ye of little faith.

The so-called 'father of American Presbyterianism' is the Reverend (1658-1708). Makemie was a native of Donegal and was commissioned by the Presbytery of Lagan (sometimes written Laggan), also in county Donegal, in 1682 and sent to the new world as a missionary to the Americas. He was not sent by the Church of Scotland; though his education at Glasgow University has lead to some confusion about his relationship with the Scottish church over the years. Wikipedia is often reliable, but its on Makemie is scant and its claim that he was ordained in Scotland is inaccurate. I have that on the authority of my good friend Dr , a noted scholar of Irish Presbyterian history.

In 1706 he (Makemie, not Tosh) organised in North America, formed in Philadelphia having brought over four other Irish Presbyterian ministers to on the Eastern shore.

The Irish Republic issued a in Makemie's honour in April 1982 on the tercentenary of his arrival in America. No sign of a stamp for Bert Tosh yet, but I'll keep you informed.

It's been a remarkably turbulent week for the US Episcopal Church; but not only for them. The General Assembly (which ends today) has been meeting at the same time in Birmingham, Alabama. Like their Episcopalian neighbours, the largest Presbyterian denomination in America also elected a , the Reverend Joan S Gray (pictured), though in their case not for the first time (in the past they have elected a female non-clergy moderator).

And like their Episcopalian neighbours, the Presbyterians have been debating human sexuality -- again. But this year's Assembly . In an historic , the Assembly has voted to permit local presbyteries to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether a person living in a same-sex relationship can satisfy the church's ordination standards. It's a complex theological compromise, which has divided pro-gay groups within the denomination: the has welcomed the new policy, while are concerned about the nature of the compromise.

In any case, the likely outcome of the new policy is that conservative presbyteries will continue to refuse to ordain gay and lesbian candidates for the ministry and eldership, while more liberal presbyteries are now free go ahead with ordinations if they believe a candidate's manner of life is not inconsistent with Reformed theology.

Will the new policy lead to schism within PC(USA)? It is likely, I think, that quite a few congregations and some presbyteries will decide to walk apart from the denomination as a result of this Assembly's action. Indeed, the Presbyterian Layman, a conservative Presbyterian publication is already

One group, the New Wineskins Initiative, was already poised to act if the General Assembly adopted recommendation 5. Its leaders had declared that action could provoke a separation. The New Wineskins Initiative includes 115 congregations whose sessions have approved a vision statement, moral imperatives, theological essentials and a still evolving constitution. The organization will meet in Kirk of the Hills Church in Tulsa, Okla., in July 19-22. In addition, two presbyteries -- San Diego and Santa Barbara -- approved resolutions before the General Assembly to assess the consequences of adopting recommendation 5 and to consider their future relationship with the denomination.

The significant difference between PC(USA) and the Episcopal Church in this regard is that there is no Presbyterian equivalent of the Anglican Communion. The American Presbyterians are a member-church of the -- a fellowship (rather than a Communion) of 75 million Reformed Christians around the world, which includes some which already ordain gay and partnered clergy. I doubt very much that we will hear of any Presbyterian denominations voting to resign their membership of WARC because of the PC(USA) decision. Indeed, I would be equally surprised if the theologically conservative Irish Presbyterian Church, which is a founder member of WARC and the mother church of PC(USA), even makes a statement in response to the Birmingham Assembly's decision. Perhaps there are lessons here for the Anglican Communion.

While Rowan Williams is considering his next move, eleven bishops of the US Episcopal Church have given to the General Convention's key resolution. In short, they say it's a fudge; it's not Windsor-compliant:

Now, once again, we find the need to speak candidly. The responses which the Convention has given to the clear and simple requests of the Lambeth Commission, the clear and simple requests indeed of the Anglican Communion, are clearly and simply inadequate.

The bishops include the leading episcopal members of the (ACN), an association of conservative dioceses, parishes and clergy formed in January 2004 in opposition to the 2003 General Convention's endorsement of the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson. ACN dioceses and parishes total about a tenth of the membership of the Episcopal Church. The movement has been seen by some as an autonomous province waiting to happen; a view that will only be encouraged by the language of their statement today:

It is our intention not only to point to the inadequacies of the General Convention鈥檚 responses, but to declare to our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the Communion that we continue as The Episcopal Church in this country who uphold and propagate the historic faith and order we have come to know through the Anglican heritage of apostolic teaching and biblical faith; who desire to be fully a constituent member of the Anglican Communion; and who are ready to embrace and live under the Windsor Report without equivocation. Accordingly, we repudiate the actions of the General Convention of 2003 which have breached the bonds of affection within the Communion. We bishops have committed to withhold consents for any persons living in same gender relationships who may be put forward for consecration as a bishop of the Church. And we have refused to grant authority for the blessing of sexual relationships outside Christian Marriage in our jurisdictions. We intend to go forward in the Communion confidently and unreservedly.

So, in all essential respects, this statement from the ACN offers the Anglican Communion the clear and simple response it requested from the Episcopal Church. Indeed, it could be read as a clear and simple assertion by the ACN that they are the Episcopal Church. The statement's authors are just as clearly running out of patience with ECUSA and looking to the wider Anglican Communion for support.

Meanwhile, the preached today at the Convention's closing eucharist by the Presiding Bishop-elect, Dr Katherine Jefferts Schori, has managed to further outrage conservatives. "Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation. And you and I are His children," Bishop Jefferts Schori told delegates. An interesting approach to winning the hearts and minds of a divided church. Yes, the same sermon also makes reference to 'King Jesus', but, this even-handed approach to theological language was lost on some commentators. As one puts it:

With Jefferts Schori as the leader-to-be of the Episcopal Chuch, it seems that the church will move beyond gender-inclusive language to transgender-inclusive language.

Ouch.

It's hard to say, and probably only time will tell, but the US Episcopal Church today passed this key resolution:

Resolved, that the 75th General Convention receive and embrace the Windsor Report's invitation to engage in a process of healing and reconciliation; and be it further

Resolved, that this Convention therefore call upon Standing Committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.

Here's the background to the General Convention's final day in Columbus, Ohio. The Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold called an extraordinary joint session of the General Convention's House of Bishops and House of Deputies in what seemed like a last-ditch effort to persuade the Convention to make a clear statement that comes close to satisfying the demands of the Windsor Report.

On Tuesday, a proposed moratorium on the consecration of gay bishops was defeated, which gave the appearance of a rebuff to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Windsor process. Bishop Griswold , 'Unless there is a clear perception on the part of our Anglican brothers and sisters that they have been taken seriously in their concerns it will be impossible to have any genuine conversation. Therefore there will be no conversion and the bonds of affection which undergird communion will be further strained.'

Bishop Griswold's resolution was passed, with the assistance of an intervention from the Presiding Bishop-elect, Kathering Jefferts Schori, who voted in support of Bishop Gene Robinson's consecration three years ago. She told the House of Deputies, 'I am fully committed to the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in this church . . . I certainly don't understand adopting this resolution as slamming the door.'

We now wait to see if it will be enough for traditionalists and conservatives who were outraged when the 2003 General Convention endorsed the election of a gay bishop.

The Archbishop of Canterbury was extremely careful in his response today. After thanking the Convention for its hard work and careful deliberation, he said:

It is not yet clear how far the resolutions passed this week and today represent the adoption by the Episcopal Church of all the proposals set out in the Windsor Report. The wider Communion will therefore need to reflect carefully on the significance of what has been decided before we respond more fully.

So, he's not sure either. The full statement is , and is a reminder of the communiqu茅 from the last Primates' Meeting which considered the Windsor Report. The Archbishop goes on:

I am grateful that the JSC of the Primates and ACC has already appointed a small working group to assist this process of reflection and to advise me on these matters in the months leading up to the next Primates鈥� Meeting. I intend to offer fuller comments on the situation in the next few days. The members of Convention and the whole of the Episcopal Church remain very much in our prayers.

Few can envy Rowan Williams at the moment, but the ball is now firmly in his court, whether he wants it or not. Some question's he'll be considering in the next few days:

1. Will he agree to provide alternative primatial oversight for dioceses of the US Episcopal Church unwilling to accept the authority of the new Presiding Bishop (because they object to the election of a female presiding bishop)?
2. Will the new Presiding Bishop be invited to join the Primates' meeting after he institution in November?
3. Will Gene Robinson be invited to the next Lambeth Conference of bishops in 2008 (since attendance is at the invitation of Canterbury)?
4. Does the language of today's resolution come close enough to a direction, from the Convention, effecting 'a moratorium on the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate who is living in a same-gender union' (Windsor, paragraph 134)? Is a 'call' to 'exercise restraint' tantamount to a 'prohibition for a period of time'?
5. Does any resolution emerging from the 2006 General Convention adequately respond to the invitation in the Windsor Report for the Episcopal Church 'to express its regret' for the pain its actions caused other members of the Communion?

(The picture shows ECUSA's Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, Arcbishop Rowan Williams and the Irish Primate Archbishop Robin Eames, chairman of the Lambeth Commission which produced the Windsor Report.)

Monsignor Denis Faul following a long illness. He was 75. To his admirers, he was a tireless campaigner for justice in the tradition of ; to critics, he was a meddlesome priest with a political agenda.

One of the most controversial religious figures of the Northern Ireland Troubles, Fr Faul was Catholic chaplain in the Maze Prison during the hunger strikes of 1980 and 1981, and his interventions were significant in bringing those protests to an end.

He and his colleague Fr Raymond Murray were among the first to the proclaim the innocence of the and the . Their co-authored 1976 pamphlet, , made a case for a miscarriage of justice a full decade before the plight the Birmingham Six gained serious public attention.

In recent years, Denis Faul campaigned to have the bodies of 'the disappeared' returned to their families, very directly on the issue. Though some in Northern Ireland will regard his contribution as one-sided, for more than four decades he has challenged just about every institution and power grouping in Northern Ireland with criticisms of injustice. In 1977, he told the IRA their military campaign was both spurious and inconsistent with Catholic teaching; his criticisms of the judiciary as far back as 1967 earned him a rebuke from the then Catholic primate Cardinal Conway; and though was outspoken in regularly challenging the record of the police and army during the 70s and 80s, he was also a critic of the Patten Report on policing in Northern Ireland because in his judgment, to pay 'more specific tribute to the 302 men and women of the RUC who were murdered and the eight or nine thousand who were seriously injured'. Denis Faul could never be pigeon-holed, politically or religiously, though many have tried.

"Hurricane Katherine", my nickname for the new US Episcopal Church, may be taking hold. Ruth Gledhill of The Times has Let's see if we can get Rowan Williams to use it now.

At her today, Bishop Jefferts Schori, who had a late vocation to the priesthood, was asked about her career before ordination.

I spent the first part of my adult life as an oceonographer. I did my masters work along the coast of Oregon on things that live in the sediment -- in the mud. (Laughter from the room) ... And I'm still fishing.

The Presiding Bishop-elect then explained that she took a PhD in oceonography, researching squids and octopodes (that's the correct plural of octopus, in case you didn't know).

That masters work could prove useful in the next few months. I expect that the bishop's strong commitments to evolutionary science will produce a bit of mud-slinging from some conservative evangelicals in the United States; some may even find fault with her Roman Catholic roots; while others will struggle with her gender; and still others with her liberal views on human sexuality.

The storms are gathering after the US Episcopal Church's General Convention as its new Presiding Bishop (their preferred term for 'Archbishop'), making the Rt. Rev. 52, the first woman Presiding Bishop of the 2.2 million member denomination, the first woman of Archbishop rank in the Anglican Communion, and the Communion's first female primate. She will be installed on November 4 at Washington's National Cathedral and serve a nine-year term in office. Her clerical career has been something of a whirlwind: ordained a priest 1994 (at the age of 40), consecrated a bishop in 2001, elected primate in 2006.

Rowan Williams has already called Bishop Jefferts Schori to convey his best wishes, but her election will cause serious problems for the Communion. First, she will now take her place among the Primates' Meeting, in the company of leaders from the global south, most of whom do not even support the ordaination of women to the priesthood. We wait to see what the international Anglican reaction will be. Rowan Williams' to the election reads:

I send my greetings to Bishop Katharine and she has my prayers and good wishes as she takes up a deeply demanding position at a critical time. She will bring many intellectual and pastoral gifts to her new work and I am pleased to see the strength of her commitment to mission and to the millennium development goals. Her election will undoubtedly have an impact on the collegial life of the Anglican Primates and it also brings into focus some continuing issues in several of our ecumenical dialogues. We are continuing to pray for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church as it confronts a series of exceptional choices.

Second, the election of a female primate may lead to a split within ECUSA itself. Already, Bishop of Forth Worth diocese (which does not ordain women to the priesthood) has asked Rowan Williams to provide . There are two other dioceses within ECUSA which do not support the ordination of women; they will now be looking to see what response Canterbury offers to Fort Worth.

The traditionalist Anglican Communion Network has given to the election, in the words of the Network's Moderator Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh:

Any words the General Convention might speak about compliance with the Windsor Report will have to be read in light of this election. Many of us had prayed for clarity to come out of this 75th General Convention as regards the true intentions of the Episcopal Church vis a vis the Anglican Communion and the orthodox in North America. Sometimes, in God's permissive will, our prayers are answered in ways we had not anticipated.

Bishop Duncan's comments are a gentle hint of the distress the election has caused in conservative Anglican circles in the United States. Traditionalists had hoped this General Convention would offer a clear statement of compliance with the . Instead, the Convention has elected a female bishop who voted in favour of the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire and in favour of the blessing of same sex unions.

If you've an hour free between now and Wednesday, you might like to visit an art exhibition called The Pilgrim's Trail: Over the Road. I was very pleased to be asked to open the exhibition this week. It's currently running at the gallery in the Common Grounds Cafe (12-24 University Avenue, Belfast), and features art works that emerged from an impressive community encounter project in east Belfast.

Members of St Matthew's Roman Catholic Church on the Short Strand and their neighbours from St Martin's Church of Ireland parish 'journeyed together through the landscape of memories' and the exhibition documents part of that journey. We could do with more projects like that across Northern Ireland.

Unfortunately, I learned at the opening that the funding has run out for this initiative of the It's a shame that projects of this kind -- moments of encounter between real people, sharing their stories, discovering each others' stories -- are struggling to continue because the money has run out.

In any case, it's well worth a visit; and you can take to opportunity to sample the very decent (and fairly traded) coffee at the cafe into the bargain. I love the opportunity to feel morally virtuous while drinking coffee, don't you?

No word yet from Columbus, Ohio, on how the General Convention of the Episcopal Church will formally respond to the Windsor Report, but it's looking more and more like the Convention will agree language that falls short of the requirements of Windsor (at least to the satisfaction of traditionalists).

I've been following the debates today courtesy of superb live blogging. The same site also includes a helpful briefing with , another leading traditionalist commentator.

Also of interest is a Larry King Live show from last week on the issues facing ECUSA, with Gene Robinson on the panel. There's a transcript .

In a reply to an earlier posting of mine, ceejay writes:

You wrote "Rev Joseph Andrews with a further amendment, which sought to introduce his own fairly narrow definition of homophobia ("an irrational fear or hatred of homosexuals")". What's your definition?

It's a good question. Universally agreed definitions about psychosexual matters are hard to find, but I think most scholars would find that proposed definition a little myopic. The term homophobia was coined in 1969 by the psychologist George Weinberg (who is, incidentally, heterosexual). Weinberg wanted a word that would capture both the dread of being in close quarters with homosexuals that some heterosexuals experienced, as well as the self-loathing that some homosexuals experienced (what psychologists now call 'internalised homophobia'). The wikipedia entry on is a useful guide to the difficulties in finding an agreed definition.

Your wish is my command. A couple of you suggested that I interview the British witch at the centre of some controversy, since it's emerged her book is being sold by an Anglican website. will be one of my guests on this week's programme. We'll also have the latest on that other Anglican row: the General Convention of the Episcopal Church of the United States, which is still deciding how to respond to the criticisms of the Windsor Report.

Also on the programme, another idea that began as a thought on this blog: life-threatening religious beliefs. And, in our main discussion after 9.00 am, we'll explore the politics and ethics of judicial sentencing, with Joshua Rosenberg, the Daily Telegraph's legal editor explaining some of the nuances of current sentencing practice.

You can listen to Sunday Sequence online, on digital, on FM and on Medium Wave: click here for details.

The story goes that Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. Had there any dangerous snakes in Ireland, I wonder if we would have some snake-handling churches here today as they do in some parts of .

In any case, that story about the preacher who died at , in an attempt to demonstrate his reliance on God's protection, has got me thinking about other examples of life-threatening religious belief. Jehovah's Witnesses refusing blood because they believe the Bible is against the mingling of one person's blood with another's; the tradition in Hinduism, now almost unheard of, which led women to seek co-creation with their deceased husbands; the willingness of some conservative Christian women, in rare cases where their lives are threatened by a developing embryo, to rather than have an abortion. And so it goes on.

I've been talking today to Ken McGuire, the chair of the Jehovah's Witnesses' Hopsital Liaison Group in Belfast, and learning a great deal more about how they negotiate some of the ethical dilemmas and practical difficulties that accompany their that a transfusion of any blood products must be avoided at all cost. Actually, it's not just the transfusion of blood, it's also the consumption of non-human blood (so no black pudding for Jehovah's Witnesses either).

Ken McGuire will join me live on next week's Sunday Sequence to talk about life-engangering religious beliefs. I've invited , an expert in the history of sati at Edinburgh University, and the sociologist of religion to join us.

Some good news tonight from this year's , the UK's most prestigious Religious Media Awards. I've just heard that Sunday Sequence has won the for the radio speech programme of the year (for a special edition of the programme, live from Cape Town, South Africa, last July), and a Commendation in the special programme category for our special edition following the announcement of the death of Pope John Paul II.

I wasn't able to be at the awards ceremony, in the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire; but we were well represented by producer Martin O'Brien who called me soon afterwards with the good news.

The triennial General Convention of the American Episcopal Church () got under way today in Columbus, Ohio -- with the Anglican world waiting to see how the nine-day convention will respond to the Windsor Report's criticisms of the last convention's decision to approve the consecration of a gay priest, , as bishop of New Hampshire. (The picture here shows Bishop Robinson with his daughter, Ella, and his partner, Mark Andrews).

Windsor asked ECUSA to express 'regret' for challenging the integrity of the Anglican Communion by acting unilaterally in ordaining a gay bishop. But how will that call for a statement of regret be interpreted? Some ECUSA leaders believe it will be sufficient to apologise for the constitutional consequences of that action, while some Conservative campaigners want a clearer statement of repentance for the action itself.

Some useful links for those wishing to follow developments in Columbus: official news service; , the self-styled "voice for global orthodox Anglicanism"; , a pro-gay Anglican site; and the Communion official website. The best blog for the General Convention I am aware of is .

Those looking for a beginners' guide to the Windsor Report may find this strip helpful (and hilarious).

Incidentally, at the opening press conference today in Columbus, ECUSA's media chief asked the press to refer to the province as the Episcopal Church rather than ECUSA. Perhaps they were nervous that ECUSA might sound a little like j'accuse -- who knows? In any case, I think I'm right in saying that the official title of the Episcopal Church is actually the "Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America." I suppose we should be glad not to have to report on developments in .

He's at it again. George Carey has been haunting Rowan Williams, his successor as Archbishop of Canterbury, since he left the job in 2002. Now, a speech he made recently to the students of the Virginia Theological School has been -- apparently against the wishes of Lord Carey -- in which he essentially says the Anglican Communion has been falling apart since Rowan Williams took over.

All this on the eve of the of the Episcopal Church (USA), meeting tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio, which will be debating its response to serious criticisms made in the . The outcome of that gathering could determine whether ECUSA's future lies inside or outside the Anglican Communion.

Rowan Williams must now be getting used to this sort of thing, but it must still infuriate him. I suppose we should also look at this from Dr Carey's point of view: being a former Archbishop of Canterbury is a difficult role to play. He receives hundreds of invitations to make speeches and give lectures each year, and is constantly approached for comment on key issues facing his own church denomination. Carey is an intelligent and articulate man who has every right to participate in the continuing theological conversation about the future of Anglicanism. Nowhere in the job description of Archbishop will you find a clause commiting an incumbant to retire to a monastery in silence.

I'm sure Lord Eames of the Windsor Report (ok, more accurately, Lord Eames of Armagh) will be taking note of these little archiepiscopal spats and pondering them in his heart as he decides how not to haunt his own successor next December.

Sir Reg Empy's problems just got worse, with the news that one of his local councillors has to the Conservatives. Peter Bowles, a former chairman of the Young Unionists, left the Ulster Unionist party in protest at the party's controversial new with the Progressive Unionist Party, which is allied to the the Loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force. I've only met Peter Bowles once, about a month ago, and we had a very enjoyable conversation. He's a solicitor from county Down, clearly very bright, and I was impressed by many of the things he said about how his party needed to confront the lessons of their recent electoral defeat. I was convinced he was part of the future of Unionism; which just goes to show how quickly things can change in politics.

Now all eyes are on Lady Sylvia Hermon, the party's only remaining Westminster MP, who has for the pact to be abandoned, claiming last week that the shooting of leading loyalist and the refusal of the UVF to begin disarmament rendered the deal unsustainable.

I'm just back from filming a TV trail for 大象传媒 Northern Ireland's new campaign. The audio on the trail is an excerpt from an interview I did with Bill Talen, a New York comic actor and anti-consummerism campaigner.

In the furtherance of his anti-consumerist message, Bill Talen created the persona of "" (a send-up of the worst kind of American TV evangelist) and "The Church of Stop Shopping." He and his hilarious Stop Shopping Gospel Choir organise rallies to challenge the influence of corporations in our lives, which sometimes include an altar call with people cutting up their credit cards. It's an increasingly popular message -- in fact, the Reverend Billy's campaign is even the subject of a short film accepted at this year's Film Festival.

Our trail's director, Tim Newell, and his crew filmed me carrying bags of shopping as I walk through the Forestside Shopping Centre, only to be accosted by a robed choir brandishing STOP SHOPPING placards. It's was an extremely funny shoot, especially when a few real shoppers mistook us for a genuine protest against Sunday trading.

Check out the Reverend Billy in an interview broadcast earlier this year on MSNBC's Tucker Carlson Show.

I'm blogging while on air -- don't say men can't multitask. Each week, we give details of what's coming up on Sunday Sequence, but it occurs to me that listeners could play a more direct role in shaping some of the topics we consider on the programme. This blog is the place to send your ideas every week: what should we be talking about on the programme? Which debates should we feature? Which authors would you like to hear? And which stories deserve a wider audience? Send us your comments, ideas, protests and feedback. And welcome to the editorial team!

Alan Watson has left a comment asking about my up-coming Creation Wars programmes -- who are the contributors, what will we be covering, etc. Currently, we're planning two programmes, a documentary followed by a live discussion with a panel and audience. I am fascinated by the creation-evolution debate, and over the years I've interviewed many of the key international movers and shakers involved I'd be interested in your ideas about the issues we should focus on in the documentary and audience programme.

A man has been killed after he tried to preach to the lions in . I'm not making this up. Apparently, the unnamed 45-year old climbed into the lion enclosure, resisting efforts to stop him, shouting to astonished attendants that, 鈥橶ho believes in God will be unharmed by the lions鈥�. He then tried to preach to the assembled lions, when a lioness fatally wounded him.

I doubt that inter-species evangelism is likely to take off, but I suppose this poor chap's theology is no more bizarre than those American Pentecostal snake-handlers who demonstrate their faith by lifting up poisonous rattlers, assured by , that God will reward their spiritual courage with protection.

I promised you a comment or two on this week's Presbyterian General Assembly debate about homophobia. This was a curious affair.

First, we heard some fascinating speeches from a former moderator, Ken Newell, and Belfast minister Simon Henning, which they have kindly permitted me to reproduce here. They tried to persuade the Assembly to commission a report into the nature and scope of homophobia in the church and in society along with guidelines on how to respond pastorally to the challenges presented by homophobia. This Resolution was amended after an intervention by the Rev Norman Cameron, who disagreed with the need to engage in a study of homophobia, since, he argued, we all know what homophobia means anyway. Instead, he proposed that the Assembly go straight (no pun intended) to commissioning guidelines on how to respond pastorally to homophobia.

Enter the Rev Joseph Andrews with a further amendment, which sought to introduce his own fairly narrow definition of homophobia ("an irrational fear or hatred of homosexuals"), followed by further attempted amendments, including one from the denomination's solicitor, which led to the Andrews Amendment eventually dying the death of a thousand cuts, and the Cameron Amendment being carried. In the course of that increasingly convoluted discussion, it became abundantly clear that the Assembly could not make up its mind what it meant by homophobia. It was also clear that some in the House were concerned that their own comments may be indicted by some available definitions (and, indeed, one or two contributions to the debate may have satisfied fairly well-accepted definitions of homophobia). Nevertheless, the House voted to forego the time and effort necessary to understand the social problem of homophobia and move instead to compiling guidelines intended to deal with the problem. It's hard to imagine that pastoral approach being applied, say, to sectarianism or racism: we won't try to analyse, research or study the nature and scope of those problems, but will move instead to producing guidelines that seek to respond effectively to them.

Overall, with some notable exceptions, the debate revealed an Assembly that lacked the cultural vocabulary to engage with such a complex social problem 鈥� unsurprising given that the Assembly has avoided open conversations about issues relating to homosexuality for a quarter of a century. But it was nevertheless a start, and it was a landmark day for Irish Presbyterianism to the extent that we began to hear some contributions that challenged traditional judgmentalism. Those speakers were careful not to over-reach in a ground-clearing (rather than ground-breaking) debate, but they were clearly making space for subsequent theological discussions which may involve a re-consideration of the church's previous approach to these matters.

As for the related Resolution concerning civil partnerships, the House voted unanimously to 'direct ministers and licentiates' that they should not 'conduct services of blessing for couples in civil partnerships' (a slight amendment to the original resolution). I was not surprised that this Resolution made it through, but I had expected some further work on the floor to remove the theological wriggle room that still remains. For example, even in this revised form, it seems that a Presbyterian minister could agree to officiate at a service of blessing for a same-sex couple planning a civil partnership as long as the minister does so in advance of their civil ceremony. To date, I have heard of only one Irish Presbyterian minister who has voiced a willingness to offer a service of blessing for a gay couple; it will be interesting to see if that minister takes advantage of the unintended freedom afforded by this Resolution.

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Stephen Stewart left a comment here a few days ago suggesting that the would ban the internet if their new are anything to go by. That's called hyperbole in the trade; but he knows more than a thing or two about the internet, and he makes some interesting points about how local churches are sluggish about developing web opportunities. He writes:

There are a number of things which disappoint me about all this but they all revolve around the fact that PCI doesn鈥檛 have a dedicated Board of Interwebness.

If the Assembly does get round to establishing that board, I hope they won't call its chair a "convenor". The obvious title, already popular in web parlance, is "moderator". On the other hand, could that be why Presbyterians in Ireland are slow to develop web opportunities -- they already have enough moderators to worry about?

The Episcopal Book Resource Center, an agency of the Episcopal Church (USA), is selling a by a British witch. is the author of Love Spells, which offers

. . . a host of tried and tested spells, potions, and rituals that will help you find out just how to bring love into your life. This little volume is filled with spells to find your perfect match, become irresistible, keep a love that鈥檚 true, or when Cupid鈥檚 arrow has gone astray, mend a broken heart.

I realise that Anglicanism is a broad church, but is it really this broad?

Check out the new website for Sunday Sequence, and please let us have any suggestions on how to improve that site. Here's what you can look forward to on tomorrow's programme, from 830 to 1015 am:

THE ANTICHRIST: Following the release (on the 6th of the 6th, 2006) of the new Omen movie, Dr John Sweet, from Selwyn College, Cambridge, one of the world's greatest authorities on the the Antichrist (no, really), explains the origins and development of the idea.

EVANGELICALS ON THE HILL: The 大象传媒's Washington correspondent, Justin Webb, on the latest attempts by American Evangelicals to introduce a constitutional ban on gay marriages and to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion.

THE ORANGE AND THE PURPLE: Father Oliver Crilly, who was a member of the North Review into parades almost ten years ago, joins the Rev Brian Kennaway, a former Orange Order chaplain, to speculate on what might have been said this week when representatives of the Loyal Orders met the Catholic Primate, Archbishop Sean Brady.

PRESBYTERIANS ASSEMBLED: Laura Haydon reports from this year's Presbyterian General Assembly which debated homophobia, banned same-sex blessings, and overturned an earlier decision to sell its headquarters in the centre of Belfast.

WHEN RUSSIANS FALL OUT: Felix Corley, a specialist in Russian church affairs, analyses the developing controversy surrounding London's Russian Orthodox Cathedral, following the move by their Patriarch in Moscow to force the early retirement of a bishop in London because of his Westernised approach to church life.

CHALLENGE FOR CHANGE: Malachi O'Doherty reports from Challenge For Change, a conference exploring issues of community reconciliation, organised by Mediation Northern Ireland, which met in Newry this week and was attended by delegates from the British National Party.

POST-CATHOLIC IRELAND: Richard Clarke, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, talks about some of the issues raised in his new book, "A Whisper of God", which examines the challenges of what he calls a "post-Catholic Ireland".

GUATEMALA'S TRAGIC TRUTH: It's ten years since Guatemala's 36-year civil war came to an end with a death-toll exceeding 200,000. Fiona Forde travelled to Guatemala to hear about the country's struggle with its genocidal past and the unrelenting campaign to tell the the truth about what they have experienced.

As I predicted a couple of weeks ago, a last minute Resolution will be introduced tomorrow at the Presbyterian with the effect of prohibiting the church's clergy from blessing same-sex civil partnerships. The convenor of the General Assembly's , Dr Lesley Carroll, appears to have been concerned that a resolution would be tabled from the floor of the Assembly. Given that such a motion would almost certainly pass without controversy in such an overwhelmingly conservative denomination, Lesley Carroll has brought the Resolution herself. It reads:

The General Assembly affirms the broad agreement of the Church, as expressed at the 1979 General Assembly, regarding homosexual relationships, and directs that ministers and licentiates shall not conduct Services of Blessing in the context of a civil partnership.

Rushed law, the adage goes, is bad law; and this Resolution may be fought over in quite some detail tomorrow morning at the Assembly. In fact, I'm told there has already been a revision to the wording, since it's now been noticed that the current version ("shall not conduct Services of Blessing") merely prevents clergy from officiating at a plurality of services but would allow a clergyperson to conduct a one-off blessing service.

This may not be the only oversight in the drafting of this Resolution. What, for example, is a service of "blessing" (in Presbyterian liturgy) and how is that different from, say, a "service of thanksgiving" or a "service of celebration" or a "service of recognition"?

In the same debate tomorrow at 9.30 am, which I'll be attending, another last-minute Resolution has been tabled which would ask the Church and Society committee to:

. . . examine the nature and scope of homophobia within our church and society, and report their findings to the next General Assembly, with a view to developing more sensitive and effective pastoral care.

This motion with be moved and seconded by two former moderators from different wings of the church, Dr Ken Newell and Dr Alistair Dunlop.

I have no doubt that the ban on same-sex blessings (in one form or another) will be agreed at the Assembly without much difficulty -- the Assembly is not known for its liberalism. The request for a study on homophobia will be more of a struggle for some members, but it will probably succeed as well.

The more interesting question, I think, is whether tomorrow's Assembly will be prepared to have an open conversation about homosexuality, with a variety of theological voices represented. The United Church of Australia have gay and lesbian ministers; the has been openly debating that same issue for at least two decades; and the Church of Scotland's General Assembly has the right of ministers to bless same-sex unions. Similarly, the Anglican Communion continues to have a very public debate, across five continents, about the place of gay and lesbian people within the church and within holy orders. But the Presbyterian Church in Ireland has somehow managed to avoid any open debate about these complex and contentious issues for more than a quarter of a century.

Is it really the case that there is absolute consensus among Irish Presbyterians on an issue that is dividing churches around the world? Certainly not. I know of quite a few Irish Presbyterian ministers who disagree with the church's traditional condemnation of gay relationships but who do not feel able to express that view in their congregations, let alone in open debate within the Assembly. Why are these heterosexual ministers afraid to give voice to their own conscience on such a vital issue? They fear marginalisation within the church, they fear the consequences for their own ministry in congregations, and they fear disciplinary actions within presbyteries -- merely for expressing an alternative theological view. Is that really a healthy state of affairs?

Wouldn't the Presbyterian Church welcome the creation of safe space within its courts, including the Supreme Court of the General Assembly, for people of faith, in good faith, to disagree about one of the most challenging questions facing the church today? Tomorrow's debate may throw some light on that question.

The British religious news service Ekklesia is currently running a with the headline, "Footballer takes Presbyterian top job". According to this report, the new Irish Prebyterian moderator, Dr David Clarke, is a former professional fotballer. In fact, Dr Clarke's brother Eric was the footballer in the family. Oops.

Perhaps the journalistic demons were more active than usual yesterday, when the report was filed. After all, the date was 06/06/06.

The Presbyterian General Assembly voted this afternoon to retain its historic headquarters building in the centre of the city of Belfast.

The church had previously agreed to sell the Church House and Assembly Building site for 拢5m to the Thornton Trust, a Christian charity, and relocate its headquarters elsewhere, but subsequently of that sale (in still very mysterious circumstances).

Today's Assembly decision (passed by a margin of less than 30 votes) means that the Fisherwich Place site will continue to accommodate the administrative headquarters of Northern Ireland's largest Protestant denomination -- for the time being, in any case. This represents a complete U-turn on a previous Assembly decision to sell the Assembly Building, and was championed today by former Moderator Dr John Dunlop, who made a very compelling speech which clearly changed a lot of minds in the House.

It's a triumph for John Dunlop, who has been leading the campaign against the sale of Church House for some years now -- and whose face somehow managed to avoid communicating, "I told you so" during today's debate.

I had the day off from the phone-in show this morning. Instead, I had a photoshoot for the new 大象传媒 Radio Ulster ad campaign. That picture will be turned into a billboard and will be launched in September, at around the same time we broadcast Creation Wars, my two-part examination of the creation-evolution debate. The set-up today had me leaning over a paddling pool and playing with a toy Noah's Ark and a toy dinosaur. All in a day's work!

, the new film by British director , is docu-drama at its brilliant best.

Since I was to record interviews with Ben Sliney, the former FAA director who plays himself in the film, and some of the relatives of passengers who lost their lives on United Airlines flight 93, the distributors kindly arranged for me to see the film on Tuesday morning, ahead of the the press launch. So I found myself in an empty cinema near Broadcasting House, for a private viewing.

As the film began, the rows of cinema seating ahead of me conspired to look like seatbacks on a commercial aircraft, and the rectangular-shaped cinema began to look like the inside of an airplane. That wasn't just because I was alone in a darkened cinema; it was because Greengrass's film draws the audience so compellingly into the experience of the passengers on that hijacked .

There are no politicians in the film; no mention of al Qaida or the war on terror. Instead, Greengrass invites us to live through the events of September 11, 2001, in real time, before terms like 'al Qaida' became household names, and, for the most part, with a director's eye view of three groups of people in three locations: the passengers on United 93, the FAA officials at the air traffic control centre at Herndon; and military ground commanders at NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS).

We watch as the FAA operations director Ben Sliney, on his first day in a new job, takes the decision to shut down the skies over America -- a decision which, with hindsight, seems so obviously the right thing to do, but which was absolutely unprecedented in the history of American aviation and defence. Then, in quietly harrowing scenes, we watch passengers on the hijacked plane making calls to friends, family and loved ones, using their cell phones and airphones. As they learn about the attack that morning on the World Trade Centre, the passengers analyse the information they receive and formulate a plan of action: they realise this is no ordinary hijacking, but an attempt to turn the plane into a missile, and they resolve to fight back.

The decisiveness and level-headedness of the FFA managers and the passengers contrasts starkly with the muddle of misinformation and mismanagement that overtakes the military commanders at NEADS and elsewhere. A confusion about the rules of engagement; planes flying in the wrong direction; F16s dispatched without weapons; serious communication breaks in the chain of command -- it's little wonder that the military only realised the United 93 flight had actually been hijacked four minutes after it crashed in Pennsylvania.

In one scene, we see Ben Sliney being told that President Bush had taken off on Air Force One to destinations unknown. I read this as an attempt by Greengrass to implicate the president, as Commander-in-Chief, in the muddle and mess of the military response that day.

You can hear my interview with Ben Sliney on this week's Sunday Sequence. I also talk to Alice Hoglan and Kenny Nacke. Alice's son, , became an icon of heroism across America following the crash, and Kenny's brother , a toy company executive with a weightlifter's physique, is shown in the film holding aloft a bomb wrestled from one of the terrorists and yelling that it is a fake.

One of the questions I want to explore on Sunday is whether the scenario played out in United 93 constitutes a challenge to an ethic of non-violence. What would a pacifist on United 93 have done in those morally fraught circumstances? And how does our proposed response to that concrete scenario inform our approach to terrorism more generally?

A new month brings a new batch of books I'll be offering you, my esteemed web companions, for review on my blog. Here's the deal: you get a free book and you write a short review (a couple of paragraphs) after this posting. Couldn't be simpler.

All you have to do to claim your book is e-mail your name and address (I won't share your details with anyone else) and agree to write a short comment on this blog telling me what you thought of the book. One book per person only; though you might suggest a second choice in case your first choice has already been taken.

Send your e-mails to: william.crawley@bbc.co.uk with the subject heading "June Book Bag". Please don't try to claim a book by leaving your details in a comment here. Read on for a list of this month's books.

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