The Disasters Emergency Committee, which is made up of six charities across Scotland including Tearfund and Christian Aid, has raised £820,000 just ten days after attempting to make £1.2 million for relief operations in Sudan.
Source: The Scotsman.

Artist Peter Howson will put on an exhibition and sale of religious works at Edinburgh University during the festival to try to encourage the public to connect with the Bible. "People sometimes sigh with boredom when they see I am still doing religious paintings, but I believe that my function is to bring people in and give them an experience of Christ through art," he explains. "I cannot preach, but maybe through these images, and through this exhibition, I can enhance the word of the Bible. If I can bring people to Christianity then I will have succeeded." Peter Howson at the Edinburgh Festival - Inspired by the Bible, runs from 6-20 August in the Martin Room, New College, Edinburgh University.
Source: The Scotsman.

A group of 28 paintings of Jesus laughing, smiling and having fun is the centrepiece of a five-day extravaganza of dance, music, art and discussion aimed at displaying positive images of the Messiah at the Edinburgh Festival. The Jesus Laughed Festival features a wacky collection of paintings by artists across the globe, from an Edinburgh carpenter to villagers from the developing world.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

Former EIS official Fred Forrester is conducting a "personal crusade against the existence of Catholic schools in Scotland", writes Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service.
Source: The Scotsman.

The term "religious observance" should be dropped in Scottish schools and replaced with a "time for reflection" according to Church of Scotland minister the Rev Ewan Aitken, who is education leader of Edinburgh City Council and education spokesman for the local authority umbrella group COSLA. He said the term was "restrictive" and "carries too much baggage".
Source: The Scotsman.

The Roman Catholic Church has been accused of "tribalism" by a former teachers' union official Fred Forrester after its decision to withdraw support for plans to build seven mixed-faith joint-school campuses. "The real question is whether it is acceptable to continue with provision for one religious denomination within a state system that ought, by definition, to be entirely secular," he writes. Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, criticised Mr Forrester's comments and insisted all faiths should be provided for in the state education system. He said: "Fred Forrester is clearly not aware of the internal discussions taking place within the Catholic Church on this issue, so he can't comment on them."
Source: The Scotsman.

The Rev Oswald "Oz" Elbe, who served the United Church of Christ in Scotland as well as the United States, has retired after 60 years as a minister.
Source: Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan.

Rev Iain Whyte, a Church of Scotland minister with the Edinburgh Community Mental Health Chaplaincy, explains why he conducted a short ceremony blessing the relationship between two men, Robert Wicksted and Alex Valentine. He concludes: "As one minister who has been very happily married for nearly 40 years I hope to see the day when not only will parliament legalise gay marriages but when more of my ministerial colleagues will welcome the privilege of pastoral celebration without fear."
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is to mark the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks by praising Islam in an address from the pulpit of a mosque in the Muslim world's most important centre of learning. Rowan Williams has accepted an invitation to speak at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He will speak to his Muslim congregation of the common ground between Christianity and Islam with their shared inheritance as "children of Abraham".
Source: Sunday Times.
posted at 12:24 PM

Gerald Warner presents a magnificent denunciation of Tony Blair. "Satan preaches against sin. The Great Charlatan's denunciation last week of the liberal consensus of the 1960s had all the credibility of the Führer deploring racism within the Reich ... The prime minister who coined the phrase 'the causes of crime' presides over a government that, for seven years, has pursued a vendetta against marriage, family values, discipline and competition in schools and any vestigial manifestation of the Judaeo-Christian ethic."
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 11:49 AM

Profile of painter Alison Watt and Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, where her latest work is exhibited.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 11:39 AM

George Rosie interviews Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service. '"Our view of education embraces the whole educational experience of the child." He describes this as a "holistic approach" which engages the child's "spiritual, moral, intellectual development." Which is what he's now seeking to defend against the forces of secularism, consumerism, and simple cost effectiveness.'
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 11:36 AM

The Catholic church yesterday threatened to take its schools out of local authority control in the escalating row over shared campuses. Plans to build seven primaries in North Lanarkshire that would combine Catholic and non-denominational schools ground to a halt last week after the Church walked out of talks. The row has now been referred to First Minister Jack McConnell to arbitrate. Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, told Scotland on Sunday: "The Catholic Church, since it transferred its schools into state ownership, accepted there was a value in having schools in that system. There is a coherence that is of value and we want to be part of it, but clearly if we feel that our rights to have a distinct education are being trampled upon, then we have to change."
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 11:33 AM

Church of Scotland minister the Rev Martin Allen of Chryston Parish Church, near Glasgow, will be a keynote speaker at a conference titled 'Get A Life' to be held in Coleraine next month. Exploring how the Church can provide meaningful worship and effective witness in the 21st century, the conference will be attended by nearly 1,000 Presbyterians from all over Ireland.
Source: Belfast Telegraph.
posted at 7:40 PM

Edinburgh student Ben Macpherson has set off on a 500-mile trek to London to raise awareness of the annual International Day of Peace, 21 September. He was joined on his first steps by Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Bishop Brian Smith of the Episcopal Church of Edinburgh and Dr Alison Elliot, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Source: BBC Scotland News.
posted at 7:28 PM

The Reverend Tom Long was named Citizen of the Year this week by Montrose Rotary Club. Now in his 90s, Mr Long entered the ministry in 1938 and still finds time to care for the elderly within and outside the congregation of Montrose Old Church as well as officiating at funerals.
Source: Montrose Review.
posted at 12:06 AM

Selkirk Parish Church minister Jim Campbell has given his blessing to the Borders' first environmentally-friendly woodland burial site, where trees will replace headstones and cardboard coffins used instead of wooden chests.
Source: Selkirk Today - Selkirk Weekend Advertiser.
posted at 11:57 PM

Borders church congregations are being urged to take part in UNICEF UK's 'Jar of Grace' Appeal to help end the suffering of millions of malnourished children. Over 125 Scottish churches took part in last year's event raising £38,000.
Source: Berwickshire News.
posted at 11:50 PM

Churches in Irvine are being urged by UNICEF to take part in this year's 'Jar of Grace' charity appeal to buy emergency supplies, vitamin A supplements and resources for mobile feeding centres helping malnourished children across the world.
Source: icAyrshire - Irvine Herald.
posted at 11:43 PM

The former Elderslie East Church will host its first wedding for a quarter of a century on Saturday following the building's renovation by Elderslie Assemblies of God.
Source: icRenfrewshire - Paisley Daily Express.
posted at 11:38 PM

St Columbkille's Church in Rutherglen held a double celebration mass for two brothers when Fathers Martin and John Sweeney marked their their 50 years in the priesthood.
Source: icLanarkshire - Rutherglen Reformer.
posted at 11:31 PM

Rutherglen's top policeman has admitted that this summer's Orange parades have hindered police efforts to deal with youth disorder. Superintendent Gerry Boyle said the parades were a "drain on resources" and that there were calls that his officers in Rutherglen were "unable to respond to as quickly as we normally do".
Source: icLanarkshire - Rutherglen Reformer.
posted at 11:28 PM

Supporters of the Gorsilaure charity based in Renton are being invited to join in a special welcome to Father Simon Lumbela, whose work in the Congo they fund. Since it was founded by Dumbarton nun Sister Margaret Rose Scullion several years ago, Gorsilaure has sent tens of thousands of pounds to a number of priests and has helped to set up two orphanages and a factory providing work for young women.
Source: icDunbartonshire - Lennox Herald.
posted at 11:24 PM

Debts of over £100,000 faced by Christ's Kirk in Glenrothes have been covered by grants and an interest-free loan, clearing the way for the congregation to call a new minister.
Source: Fife Now - Glenrothes Gazette.
posted at 11:18 PM

Thieves have stolen at least 15 ornamental stones worth about £1,000 each from an Edinburgh church. The made-to-measure stones were part of a £500,000 renovation project at the Augustine United Church.
Source: BBC Scotland News.
posted at 11:05 PM

'Still', an artwork by painter Alison Watt has been installed in the memorial chapel of Old St Paul's Episcopal Church in Edinburgh.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 10:46 PM

An art nouveau mural by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, previously thought to have been lost, has been discovered hidden beneath white paint on a wall at Dysart Kirk, near Kirkcaldy in Fife. The complex design shows the dove of peace, the tree of knowledge and three circles depicting good, evil and eternity, and closely resembles Mackintosh designs for the Queen's Cross Church in Glasgow.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 9:47 PM

Peterhead's Methodist Church has been decked out with a maritime theme for the annual Master of the Sea Festival.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 9:39 PM

The Right Rev Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell, has informed Councillor James McCabe, the leader of North Lanarkshire Council, that he cannot agree to their proposals to upgrade seven Catholic primary schools on shared campus locations with non-denominational schools. He said: "Throughout months of discussions I have become increasingly concerned that the Council was seeking to maximise the provision of shared facilities to the detriment of the distinctive identity and education which should be provided by each school community."
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 9:03 PM

The Roman Catholic Church has withdrawn from plans to create seven shared campuses for Catholic and non-denominational primary schools in North Lanarkshire. The Right Rev Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell, said the church could not go ahead because of concerns the schools would lose their identity.
Source: BBC Scotland News.
posted at 8:57 PM

The term 'religious observance' should be dropped in Scottish schools because it is outdated, Edinburgh education leader Ewan Aitken has said. The Church of Scotland minister and Labour councillor called for schools to follow the example of the Scottish Parliament by adopting the phrase 'Time for Reflection'.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 8:55 PM

For three hours on Sunday campanologists will ring out over 5,000 different changes during a peal from Dunblane Cathedral's bells.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 8:52 PM

Church of Scotland adherent Sammy 'The Bear' Ralston, currently serving a 12-year sentence for armed robbery, is one of three prisoners suing the Scottish Executive over conditions they endured during months in solitary confinement. "He wished to worship in the company of other adherents," Mr Ralston's lawyers said. "His spiritual needs were prejudiced by his inability to so worship. As a consequence of his continued segregation, he suffered from a low mood. He was de-motivated."
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 8:47 PM

Thomas L "Lynn" Fink, an 80-year-old resident of Greene County, Tennessee, has been reunited with a Gideon New Testament which he lost in Scotland while serving as a bomber mechanic in southern England with the U.S. 8th Air Force in 1944-45.
Source:The Greeneville Sun.
posted at 8:41 PM

Contents in the August issue of the Church of Scotland's Life & Work magazine include the Rev Ewan Aitken calling for a change in the terms of religious observance in schools. The Rev Dr Tony Sargent, principal of International Christian College in Glasgow, tells Lorna Hill why he believes the war in Iraq has set the cause of Christianity back in Muslim countries by at least 30 years. And Walter Dunlop from the Board of World Mission issues a rallying cry for visitors to return to the Holy Land, despite the tensions between Israel and Palestine.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 8:34 PM

Joe Smail, aged 95, who emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1927 and has preached at 65 churches in the Geelong area, hopes to be able to resume living with his wife, Hilda, before their 70th wedding anniversary later this year. Complications associated with advancing age have conspired to push them apart - Joe lives at Tannoch Brae Hostel while Hilda, 88, stays around the corner at Ronnoco Aged Care Facility.
Source: Geelong Info.
posted at 8:34 PM

Six members of the Scottish Association of Change Ringers will attempt a two-hour full peal of 5040 changes in St Andrew's and St George's Church, George Street, Edinburgh, on Saturday 26 June. The sponsored peal - from 10.30am to 12.30pm - is to be supported by a group from the University Baptist Church Bell Choirs from Minneapolis, USA.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 5:52 PM

The Catholic Church has criticised today's decision by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to relax the grounds on which embryos can be created, screened then destroyed in order to find a genetic match which may be used to help a sick sibling.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 5:49 PM

A former soldier with terminal cancer is set to "marry" his partner in a controversial gay blessing conducted by a Church of Scotland minister, Rev Iain Whyte, in an Edinburgh pub.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 5:25 PM

Stirling kirk session looks likely to be told that murals in the disused Buckieburn Church at Carron Bridge, near Bannockburn, must be protected if the building is turned into a house. Historic Scotland believe the murals are by the artist William Crosby and date from around 1940.
Source: icStirling - Stirling Observer.
posted at 5:23 PM

Ten years into Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party, the prime minister's delivery on his electoral mandate to end social exclusion is criticised by Professor Donald MacLeod, principal of the Free Church College in Edinburgh. "He has not put the teaching resources into deprived areas like he should have," he said. However, Professor MacLeod described Mr Blair as "a man of integrity" and said that going to war against Iraq was "a mistake from which he should be allowed to recover".
Source: The Herald.
posted at 11:41 AM

The congregation of Duror Church of Scotland are celebrating the 175th anniversary of the building in which they worship. The church is one of 32 constructed under Thomas Telford's supervision between 1827 and 1830, with 17 of still surviving as places of worship. Duror's connections with Christianity go back 1,425 years to when St Columba is said to have established a cell on a site at Keil, nor far from the Loch Linnhe shore in Duror.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 2:36 PM

The next Secretary General of the Anglican Communion will be the rev Rev Canon Kenneth Kearon, Director of the Irish School of Ecumenics at Trinity College Dublin. He will succeed Canon John L. Peterson, who steps down in December 2004.
Source: Anglican Communion News Service.
posted at 2:32 PM

Fans of cult band Belle and Sebastian are laying siege to Hyndland Parish Church in Glasgow where singer Stuart Murdoch is in the choir.
Source: Daily Record.
posted at 2:27 PM

According to the Scottish Executive, legislation about incitement to religious hatred mooted by David Blunkett recently may or may not apply directly in Scotland depending on which legislative vehicle is chosen. Anti-discrimination legislation would be UK-wide, while criminal justice measures would be devolved.
posted at 3:56 PM

The Reverend Deacon Timothy Curtis will next month be ordained as the first Orthodox Priest in Buchan since the tenth century. He succeeds Fr John Ross, the priest who established the Scottish mission of the Celtic Orthodox Church and who died last year leaving the mission to Timothy. The service will be held at St Drostan's Episcopal Church in Fetterangus.
Source: Buchan Observer.
posted at 3:15 PM

A thief made off with the congregation's offerings of £300 from the Pentecostal Church in Reveston Lane, Whitburn, West Lothian, last Sunday.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 1:32 PM

Vandals urinated and defecated in St Laurence's Episcopal Church in Laurencekirk last Friday. Still cleaning up yesterday, Rector the Rev Michael Turner described the mess as "sickening and repulsive". Though the church, which sits just off the High Street, had been a target for vandals before, he said, the wanton acts of destruction this time were the worst he had known. He said: "The church is open during the day for people to come in and say their prayers or sit in quiet reflection. Quite a number of people are grateful to be able to do this. The Christian faith speaks of God who is open to all and I believe it is highly desirable that church buildings should express this by being open and available to anyone. But it does depend on trust and assumes that people will not abuse that trust."
Source: Dundee Courier.
posted at 1:24 PM

First minister Jack McConnell has ruled out an inquiry into sex abuse at Catholic children's homes, prompting accusations from victims that he is "running scared" of the church. Westminster and the Irish government have ordered investigations into allegations of sexual and physical abuse dating as far back as the 1930s. Catholic orders are facing about 500 claims for compensation from Scottish child abuse victims.
Source: Sunday Times.
posted at 9:22 PM

Rev Phillip Blackburn, who studied theology at Edinburgh University with his wife, Tasha, is the new minister at First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, Illinois.
Source: Lincoln Courier.
posted at 9:12 PM

Christian Aid is one of six humanitarian agencies to target Scots specifically for the first time to raise donations to tackle the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sudan. Although Scots are traditionally generous donors to charity, research has shown that they do not dig as deeply as those in other parts of the UK when it comes to disaster relief.
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 9:05 PM

Dutch journalist Simon Kuper expands on his controversial view that Rangers-Celtic games are the most hate-filled derby matches in world football. "I once believed football was a pressure valve for society's frustrations, but in Glasgow the inequalities that gave rise to those frustrations are no longer there. Nearly half of Scottish Catholics marry non-Catholics, Scottish Catholics have the same economic prospects as Protestants and a very small percentage of people still go to church. Football is no longer that pressure valve, it's actually the problem: without the Old Firm there would be no flashpoint. The Old Firm is now the means by which this hatred is perpetuated; religion is simply a pretext."
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 9:01 PM

The controversial £13 million Tiberias hotel, built by the Church of Scotland by the Sea of Galilee in Israel, has had a low-key and unpublicised opening despite being unfinished and in a country whose tourist trade is decimated by the Palestinian intifada.
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 8:58 PM

Rev John Mann, the church minister who condemned Tony Blair and George Bush at the funeral of a Scots soldier killed in Iraq, Fusilier Gordon Gentle, has fanned the flames of controversy by asking how the Prime Minister can live with himself following the Butler report. But Mann, in an exclusive interview with Scotland on Sunday, admitted the majority of responses he had received were critical of him. Last night he faced calls to stop his anti-war pronouncements and concentrate on the ministry.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 8:56 PM

Vodaphone Ltd has earmarked Peebles' Old Parish Church as being a suitable site for the erection of a new radio base station.
Source: Peeblesshire News.
posted at 12:45 PM

St Ronan's Border Games Week and Cleikum Ceremonies got off to its official start on Sunday with the traditional Kirkin' Service in Innerleithen Parish Church.
Source: Peeblesshire News.
posted at 12:43 PM

Plans by Selkirk Baptists to develop a new church and community centre at a former weaving shed at a cost of around £1 million are in jeopardy. A plea for European funding has been rejected and the congregation won't apply for lottery cash because it comes from gambling. The Rev George Mackenzie said: "Initially we were told our bid for European funding fitted all the criteria, but after a while they told us they [the South of Scotland Partnership] weren't going to proceed with our application. We feel that the reason may be because we're a church - but we still don't know for sure. Although this is an obvious setback, we are still determined to proceed with the project."
Source: Selkirk Today.
posted at 12:40 PM

Church groups are launching a Christian radio station in Dumfries at the end of the month. Alive Radio goes on air on 87.7Fm just after midnight on Monday, July 26. Pastor Mark Smith of the River of Life Church and his friend David Currie came up with the idea. About 40 volunteers will help to run the station which is operating on a restricted service licence (RSL) until August 22. They include representatives of at least two the Church of Scotland congregations, plus the Episcopal and Baptist churches in town.
Source: icDumfries - Dumfries & Galloway Standard.
posted at 12:13 PM

The minister of Callander's St Andrew's Episcopal Church has sought to quell any fears about the future of the building following its recent closure for repairs and modernisation costing £280,000. Rev Richard Grosse said a barrier erected across the main entrance is only a temporary measure. "None of this would have been possible without the support and kindness of the other churches in the town," said Fr Grosse. "St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church has loaned the use of their building so that a weekly Eucharist can be held. Some members of the congregation of the Church of Scotland participated last month in an Open Gardens weekend which raised for the Building Fund a sum in excess of £2000."
Source: icStirling - Stirling Observer.
posted at 12:06 PM

The launch of the recently re-named East Perthshire Action of Churches Together in Scotland was marked with a special open-air Songs of Praise service in the Wellmeadow on Sunday afternoon. A welcome was given by the Rev. Donald Macleod, Blairgowrie Parish Church, who is chairman of EPACTS. He was joined by the Rev Jean Murrie, Riverside Methodist Church, Blairgowrie; Peter Barker, Coupar Angus Abbey Church; Roy Waring, St Ninian's Scottish Episcopal, Alyth; and Salvationist Ray Field.
Source: icPerthshire - Blairgowrie Advertiser.
posted at 11:59 AM

The Rev Jean Murrie, who has been the minister of Riverside Methodist Church, Rattray, for the past 10 years, will conduct her last service of worship at the church in Blairgowrie on Sunday before a special lunch to mark her retiral from the ministry. Before being ordained she had been a local preacher in the Methodist Church for more than 30 years.
Source: icPerthshire - Blairgowrie Advertiser.
posted at 11:56 AM

Pupils from Blackford Primary School in Perthshire were given new Bibles at their end of term service thanks to a donation from the charity Bibles for Children.
Source: icPerthshire - Strathearn Herald.
posted at 11:52 AM

Members of South Dalziel Church in Wishaw paid their respects at the funeral service of their former minister, Rev James Allan, who died suddenly on June 29. Although he has been retired for over ten years, Mr Allan continued to assist in church services in Glasgow Cathedral and with pastoral support in the Motherwell area.
Source: icLanarkshire - Wishaw Press.
posted at 11:49 AM

St Columbkille's church hall in Rutherglen will be re-built and open to the public within a year and a half following last week's fire, said Canon Tom Gibbons. "We have been inundated with offers of help from other churches," he said.
Source: icLanarkshire - Rutherglen Reformer.
posted at 11:46 AM

Police arrested 22 people for minor offences last Saturday as 12,000 lodge members took part in an Orange Walk through Blantyre. Four arrests were in relation to warrants concerning other matters. Ian Wilson, Grand Master of the Orange Lodge of Scotland, said none of those arrested had been taking part in the march. "I would have been disgusted if someone from the parade caused the trouble," he added. Liberal-Democrat MSP Donald Gorrie, who has campaigned for greater regulation of marches, said: "It was impressive and well-attended, and a lot of people enjoyed themselves." He added, however: "Blantyre was a 'no-go' area for cars that day. Some residents find it difficult to stomach these kind of marches, but conduct has got better over the years and things appear to be heading in the right direction."
Source: icLanarkshire - Hamilton Advertiser.
posted at 11:43 AM

Broadwood Baptist congregation in Cumbernauld has said farewell to Reverend Danny and Carolyn McVay, who have been working with the church since their induction in January 2001.
Source: Cumbernauld Today - Cumbernauld News & Kilsyth Chronicle.
posted at 11:34 AM

The death has occurred of international banker Henry Turner, who set up the state bank in Jordan and introduced the dinar as the currency in Kuwait, and served as treasurer of St Andrew's Episcopal Church in St Andrews for several years in the 1990s.
Source: Fife Now - St Andrews Citizen.
posted at 11:27 AM

Beechgrove Church in Aberdeen presented £3,300 to the British Red Cross yesterday to help starving refugees in Sudan.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 11:21 AM

Visitors to the graveyard beside the 12th century St Mary's Chapel at Crosskirk in Forss, west of Thurso, have been shocked to find it is overgrown with waist-high grass and weeds. Historic Scotland's Matthew Shelley said: "Inside the four walls of the church is our responsibility; the grounds outside it are the responsibility of Highland Council." Stuart Bell, the council's Caithness area community works manager, said: "I've checked and it's not on our list. It's a bit of no man's land at present."
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 10:34 AM

A hilltop kirk which has overlooked the Kincardineshire coastline for more than 225 years has been put on the market by the Church of Scotland. The current Garvock Church was built in 1778, but on a site occupied by the Church since 1282, when Hugh le Blond, the lord of Arbuthnott, gave patronage to the monks of Arbroath.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 10:30 AM

The Rt Revd Brian Smith, Episcopalian Bishop of Edinburgh, represented the Archbishop of Canterbury on a delegation of Anglican Communion leaders visiting Swaziland. Bishop Meshack Mabuza said Swaziland stands at a pivotal moment in its history, where the days ahead could mean new expressions of common goals for an already united people. However, there has been a "staggering" rise in HIV/AIDS, and seven out of 10 live on less than US$1 per day. The Diocese of Swaziland is twinned with the Diocese of Brechin.
Source: Anglican Communion News Service.
posted at 10:17 AM