First time here? Welcome! Start here to learn about being Anglican. New this week A quick overview of the web sites and resources we've received -- and linked -- in the last seven days. Looking for a parish? We've got the biggest list of parishes and dioceses in the UK and Europe, Canada, the USA, and around the world. And there's a page for Anglican-related denominations not in communion with the See of Canterbury. Looking for Anglican resources? You'll find comprehensive general links for clergy and lay, pages for youth ministers and young Anglicans, and a section on music. Can't get enough news? Our News Centre has links to coverage of major Anglican news events, and the Hot Issues page explores issues in more depth. Feel like chatting? Join a discussion group, some of the liveliest spots in the Anglican Communion. Want to become a part? Add a web site to Anglicans Online or tell us what you think. Or both! Want to know more? Read about sponsors of Anglicans Online, the awards this site has won (thanks, Tod!), and the publicity it has received.

Hallo again to all this Fourth Sunday of Advent, on which we at Anglicans Online anticipate Christmas. To begin in the USA and with legal matters at that: Many of you will remember (perhaps dimly) the court case that began in 1994 involving the Church of the Advent in Boston, Massachusetts. This historic Anglo-Catholic parish has been a party in a serious dispute over control of financial assets of the parish and issues of governance. After many actions, counter actions, and appeals, a final decision has been rendered by the court. We're pleased to link you to this authoritative document. Although it is indeed legal writing, it has a clarity that makes it relatively easy to follow. The court's conclusions are, to me, quite fascinating; amongst them, 'We conclude that the Protestant Episcopal Church is hierarchical'. A simple statement, but revealing indeed. Staying with the courts for a moment, a group of ECUSA bishops in 1996 filed for the incorporation of an entity called the 'Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America'. This is, as most know, one of the common names for the 'Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society', the legally incorporated name of the Episcopal Church in the USA. The purposes of the bishops remain (at least to me) somewhat obscure, and many people -- including ECUSA's Presiding Bishop -- have found the action to be troubling. You can read about this state of affairs in an Episcopal News Service press release. We'll bring you updates we learn of them. Anyone who uses 'Celebrating Common Prayer' and who also wishes to follow the new Church of England Calendar may find these CCP ordo web pages most helpful. They've been prepared by Simon Kershaw and Simon Sarmiento from the original 1998 Ordo supplied to them by Brother Tristam SSF. Staying with things liturgical, the much loved Christmas Eve Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, sung by the choir of King's College Chapel will, this year, be audiocast on the Net by Minnesota Public Radio. Details here. A bit of Anglicans Online administrivia: I received many emails complimenting the 'New This Week' feature, so we'll keep on with it. I've also decided to leave posted the current week and the past one, so you'll see two weeks worth of new URLs on the page, with the older one cycling off each week. And now from all of us at the Society of Archbishop Justus (here are the people behind the name), a blessed and joyous Christmas to all of you. See you next Sunday -- in Christmastide. Cynthia McFarland cmcf@justus.anglican.org Last updated: 21 December 1997 URL: http://anglican.org/online This web site is maintained privately by volunteers. It is not a sanctioned organ of any official church body, though does list links to official church sites and documents. ©1997 Society of Archbishop Justus