Archbishop of Canterbury warns on 'orthodox' Anglican grouping

London/Jerusalem (ENI). Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has criticised plans by a group of Anglican leaders to set up a new network within the worldwide Anglican Communion to fight for what they describe as theological orthodoxy. Williams described as, "problematic in all sorts of ways" proposals from the Global Anglican Future Conference, or GAFCON, which met in Jerusalem at the end of June. Williams said, "It is not enough to dismiss the existing structures of the [Anglican] Communion. If they are not working effectively, the challenge is to renew them rather than to improvise solutions that may seem to be effective for some in the short term but will continue to create more problems than they solve."

Pope and Patriarch promote year to honour St Paul and unity

Rome (ENI). Pope Benedict XVI has appealed to Christians to learn from the teachings of St Paul. Benedict described the apostle's writings as those, "in which are rooted the reasons for the unity of the disciples of Christ". The Pope made his remarks at a ceremony at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, at the beginning of year-long celebrations to mark the second millennium since the birth of St Paul. The Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I, and representatives of other churches joined the Pope at the ceremony. According to tradition, St Paul was beheaded in Rome near the basilica, which is said to contain the remains of the apostle, who was famous for his missionary journeys around the Mediterranean and the Middle East to spread Christianity in the years following the death of Jesus.

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Christian Scholars' Conference at Lipscomb provokes new discussion of faith and politics among evangelicals

NASHVILLE - Theologians and professors from 68 universities across the nation gathered with leading political figures at Lipscomb University Thursday to discuss the evolving relationship between faith and politics.

Against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential campaign and the candidates' changing approaches to sharing faith, the three-day Christian Scholars' Conference explored how Christians approach political issues of every stripe, from terrorism and poverty to health care and the environment.

Featured were some of the nation's top theological thinkers, including Shaun Casey (pictured), faith advisor to the Barack Obama campaign; activist Jim Wallis, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist; Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention; and Ken Wales, producer of the film Amazing Grace.

"Universities are to be a center for inquiry and deliberation, so a Christian university must be a place of inquiry and deliberation about issues of Christianity," said David Fleer, chair of the Christian Scholars' Conference board and professor of religion and communication at Lipscomb. "Issues such as war, lack of health care, race or public policy are part of every Christian's daily life, and it's time we started talking about them in an open, honest and loving way."

Sixty-five sessions included more than 200 presenters exploring topics such as the 2008 presidential campaign, the relationship between church and state, the progressive Christian movement and the perceived demise of the religious right.

"The Christian Scholars' Conference signals a sea change that is going on in much of the conservative Protestant world," said Casey, a theologian at Wesley Theological Seminary. "These academicians, ministers, community activists, students, and lay people talked, debated, and reflected on an unprecedented range of issues. The old stereotype that red-state Christians care about only a narrow range of hot-button issues no longer holds true."

"The church ought to be a place where we can have these hard discussions and still have communion together on Sunday in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ," Casey said in a Saturday session that also featured Stephen V. Monsma, a political centrist and theologian at Calvin College. The discussion addressed concerns among American Christians including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the breakdown of the family, poverty and national security.

"Public policy should not be the first place we turn to when we see a problem in society," Monsma said. "First we must ask, ‘What can I do as an individual, what can my church do, and what can my community do,'" he said.

Land, president of the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty, addressed the philosophy that religious concerns should not be considered when making public policy, a reasoning that has "fixed the game" of politics for many years, he said.

"Government is not to be a coach or a cheerleader or a censor," he said. "The government should be an umpire, allowing everyone to make their case and help everyone live peaceably until the next discussion occurs."

The Christian Scholars Conference was established 28 years ago by the provosts of the nation's universities associated with the fellowship of the Churches of Christ. It has grown into a thriving conference that focuses on how Christian theology interacts with the many other scholarly disciplines that affect individuals. Scholars attend from universities such as Yale, Maryland, Notre Dame, Virginia and Princeton.

Lipscomb University is a Christian liberal arts institution consistently ranked in the top tier among peer institutions by U.S. News and World Report.