Priest’s wife accused of murdering her husband: The Church of England Newspaper, September 9, 2012 p 7. September 10, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Church of England Newspaper, Crime.Tags: Diocese of Mbhashe, Elliot Williams, Lungiswa Xuba, Ongama Xuba, Southern Baptist Convention
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The wife of an Anglican priest in South Africa has been arrested in connection with the murder of her husband, the Rev. Canon Ongama Xuba, who last month was found stabbed to death in his rectory in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape.
Last week police detectives announced that Mrs. Lungiswa Xuba (40) had been arrested as an accessory in the death of her husband. The police reported they had also taken into custody Mr. Vuyo Mehlo (40) and have charged him with killing Canon Xuba.
On 3 August, Mrs. Xuba and her two small children returned to their home from a shopping excursion. The children ran into the house and then rushed back, telling their mother that their father was badly injured. Canon Xuba the rector of St Peter’s Church in Butterworth in the Diocese of Mbhashe, died at the scene.
Mrs. Xuba’s relationship to the accused killer has not been revealed by the police. Butterworth police spokesman, Captain Jackson Manatha stated: ”After their arrest on Friday last week they were detained by police until they appeared in court yesterday. They made a brief court appearance and are expected back in court next week for a formal bail application.
“Both are charged with the murder of Xuba,” Captain Manatha said.
Bishop Elliot Williams of the Diocese of Mbhashe told reporters he was profoundly saddened by the murder and the news of Mrs. Xuba’s arrest was “terrible”.
The accused are scheduled to appear before the Butterworth magistrate court this week to answer the charges of murder and conspiracy.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Calvinism dividing Baptists in the USA: The Church of England Newspaper, November 4, 2011 p 6. November 8, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Calvinism, Southern Baptist Convention
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The question of Calvinism is one of the major challenges facing American Christianity today, a leader of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) said last month.
In an 18 October 2011 interview posted on the website of SBC Today, the Rev Frank Page, the chief executive of the SBC executive committee said “one of the issues which is a tremendous challenge for us is the theological divide of Calvinism and non-Calvinism.
“Everyone is aware of this, but few want to talk about this in public,” said Dr Page, who served from 2006-2008 as president of the SBC – America’s largest Protestant denomination and second largest religious group after the Roman Catholic Church.
The silence over Calvinism “is obvious. It is deeply divisive in many situations and is disconcerting in others. At some point we are going to see the challenges which are ensuing from this divide become even more problematic for us. I regularly receive communications from churches who are struggling over this issue,” Mr Page said.
A 2006 LifeWay Research survey found that 10 per cent of Baptist ministers considered themselves to be five-point Calvinists. However, a follow-up study in 2007 found that this figure rose to 29 per cent among new seminary graduates.
Baptists have traditionally rejected the tenets of Calvinism, favouring an Arminian approach to teachings about grace.
In 2000, Dr Page published Trouble with the TULIP: A Closer Examination of the Five Points of Calvinism. He described Calvinism a “man-made” doctrine not supported by Scripture. TULIP is an acronym for the five main points of Calvinism: Total depravity, Unmerited election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace and Perseverance of the saints.
The question of Calvinism within Anglican has historically been as contentious as the current American Baptist dispute – serving as a point of different between the Anglo-Catholic movement and Evangelicals for the past two centuries.
Conger 