Converted • Tony Blair, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, to Roman Catholicism. The Labor leader, whose wife is a practicing Catholic and whose children went to Catholic schools, attended Mass throughout his term and for years before becoming prime minister. The U.K. has never had a Roman Catholic prime minister; however, a recent Cambridge University study found that, for the first time since the Reformation, Catholicism is set to pass Anglicanism in the number of weekly worshipers.
Appointed • Ken Perez, as president of John Stott Ministries (JSM), the U.S. chapter of Langham Partnership International. A graduate of Stanford University and UCLA Anderson, Perez held a number of high-level business positions for technology firms, including Hewlett-Packard, before coming to JSM. He has served on the JSM board since 2001.
Died • William MacDonald, author of more than 80 books, including the Believer’s Bible Commentary, of complications following surgery. He was 90. A graduate of Tufts University and Harvard University, MacDonald never accepted royalties from the sales of his books, which totaled more than 1 million copies.
Guilty • Earl Paulk’s plea to a felony perjury charge stemming from his testimony in a sexual misconduct lawsuit against him. Paulk, 80, was the longtime pastor of Chapel Hill Harvester Church in Decatur, Georgia.
Suing • Elaine Storkey, for religious discrimination, against the Right Rev. James Jones. The Church of England’s Bishop of Liverpool, Jones serves as chairman of the board of trustees for Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University’s private evangelical college. Storkey alleges that the school fired her for progressive theological views. Wycliffe Hall has denied religious discrimination but agreed to pay Storkey up to £20,000 for not following proper procedures in her dismissal.
Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere:
The British press had been expectingTony Blair’s conversion since last summer. He officially converted on December 21.
John Stott Ministries has more about Ken Perez’s appointment.
Emmaus Bible College has an obituary for William MacDonald, who was a faculty member and president there.
Christianity Today reported on Earl Paulk‘s resignation in 2006.
Kendall Harmon blogged about Storkey’s decision to sue on TitusOneNine.
