Today

Nigerian archbishop told to stand aside as courts and discipline shape the day

By The FaithDaily Desk

Good morning. The Primate of the Church of Nigeria has ordered the Most Rev. Alexander Ibezim — Archbishop of the Province of the Niger and Bishop of Awka — to stand aside from his see for six months, Anglican Ink reports, while the church investigates claims that he sold diocesan land without authority. According to the same report, Ibezim is taking the Church of Nigeria to court.

Two other items ran through the courts. Anglican Ink reports that the Rev. Ben Lovell, 44, former vicar of St Mary's Church, Hampton, in south-west London, has pleaded guilty to sending sexual messages and explicit photographs of himself to an undercover police investigator posing as a 13-year-old girl. In India, Anglican Ink reports, the Supreme Court on Friday halted the demolition of a Church of South India church in Thippanampatti, a village in Tamil Nadu's Tenkasi district, setting aside for now a Madras High Court ruling that would have pulled down the church's 97-foot spire.

Closer to the Church of England's centre, Anglican Ink reports that a Bishops' Meeting, convened at the invitation of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, met in person from 12 to 14 October; with General Synod dissolved in July, the House of Bishops is itself dissolved until 17 November. Anglican Ink also reports that more than £13 million has been awarded in the first round of the Places of Worship Renewal Fund — £13.3 million to 37 churches, among them Birmingham and Newcastle Cathedrals.

Two reports looked backward. Anglican Ink reports that archaeologists near Venice have identified what they believe to be the remains of a 1,600-year-old cathedral and an adjoining episcopal palace. And Anglican Ink reports that a recording of a 1966 London speech by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones has been rediscovered and made public by the Martyn Lloyd-Jones trust.

Several pieces turned to prayer and reflection. Anglican Ink carried a call to prayer against gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa, Archbishop Makgoba's charge to the 38th Provincial Synod, and Archbishop Mbanda's statement marking the first anniversary of the Gafcon Primates Council's Martyrs' Day Statement, issued in Sydney on 16 October last year. The Gospel Coalition published an essay on the Sabbath. And Charisma News reports that Andrew Jones, founder of Noah's Ark Scans, said he has faced death threats and a burglary at his apartment while pursuing a dig at a site in Turkey he believes could be the remains of Noah's Ark.