We gather today to witness the ordination and commissioning of these people for the full time practice of the Christian ministry. This is a joyful occasion as it represents the culmination of years of preparation and training and also the outcome of a rigorous selection and verification process. For most of them it is like the starting pistol for a whole new kind of life and work. >> Read the entire sermon from the Ordination service. Thirty people were ordained as Deacons (including four women) at the service on February 8. In addition, three women were commissioned as Diocesan Lay Workers to serve in full-time ministry in various roles around the Diocese.

It is salutary for Anglicans to remember that some of our Lord's harshest criticism was directed towards those who failed to read the signs of the times - those who refused to believe that the securities of the past were disintegrating, and that contemporary events would result in a whole new state of affairs.

The Evangelical Alliance is encouraging Christians to view the Harry Potter phenomenon as a significant opportunity to engage with society and present the enduring Christian world view as a positive alternative to the fantasy realm of Harry's world.

Basra, Iraq, 21 November (ENI)--Iraqi Christians fear that a war against Iraq will trigger religious tensions that they say presently don't exist between them and their Muslim compatriots.