Latest news with #ministry
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
New deacons beginning ministry across Buckinghamshire
Five new deacons are beginning their ministry across Buckinghamshire following their ordination at Christ Church Cathedral. The new clergy, who bring experience from diverse backgrounds, will serve in parishes across the Diocese of Oxford, including High Wycombe, as they begin their curacies. Among them are an ultimate frisbee player, a Ukrainian refugee, a maths lecturer, and a former nurse. Joshua Harris, who will serve in High Wycombe, is following in the footsteps of his mother, who was ordained at Christ Church in the 1990s. Daniel Carter, who will serve in Hazlemere, said: "Jesus is the centre of my heart and my relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is the most important thing to me and I would even say it is central and crucial to our family. "The Bible is the foundation of our life and we rely on God's spirit to make it clear to us and to guide us through his word." Mr Carter was moved to explore faith after the death of a friend in a drowning accident aged 15. The deacons ordained by the Rt Revd Mary Gregory, Bishop of Reading (Image: Ed Nix) Mark Payne, who found faith in his 30s, will continue his work as an IT consultant alongside his ministry. Lewis Simonds began volunteering at the Church of Glastonbury, while Thomas Venables grew up in a Christian family. The ordination services at Christ Church were led by the Rt Revd Dave Bull, Bishop of Buckingham, and the Rt Revd Mary Gregory, Bishop of Reading. During his sermon, Bishop Steven Croft emphasised the importance of love in ordained ministry. He said: "To love is absolutely the heart and centre of what it means to be a Christian and at the heart of what it means to be a deacon or priest or bishop. "All too often we lose that focus in all the complexities of our work and all there is to do. "I think as a church at this present time we need to see again more clearly that the primary calling of the ordained is to love." The deacons have completed two or three years of training and will now serve as curates in a variety of parish settings - urban, rural, large, and small - across the diocese. The Diocese of Oxford includes 808 churches and serves a population of 2.5 million across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire. Most of the deacons will be ordained as priests next year, while a few may remain as distinctive deacons. The five deacons serving in Buckinghamshire are Daniel Carter (Hazlemere), Joshua Harris (All Saints High Wycombe), Mark Payne (North Marston), Lewis Simonds (St Frideswide, Water Eaton), and Thomas Venables (Marlow Bottom).
Free Malaysia Today
24-07-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Govt waives renewable energy fund charge effective Aug 1
The measure aligns with the government's goal to accelerate the development and integration of renewable energy into the national electricity supply. (Bernama pic) PUTRAJAYA : The government will exempt the 1.6% renewable energy fund (KWTBB) charge on electricity tariffs under renewable energy programmes effective Aug 1, the energy transition and water transformation ministry announced today. The exemption covers the green electricity tariff initiative, corporate renewable energy supply scheme, and community renewable energy aggregation mechanism. The ministry said the measure aligns with the government's goal to accelerate the development and integration of renewable energy into the national electricity supply. 'With this exemption and related enhancements, the ministry hopes to incentivise users, particularly corporates and industries, to continue supporting the country's energy transition agenda towards achieving a 70% renewable energy mix in electricity supply by 2050,' it said in a statement. It added that the move is expected to spur more progressive and positive growth in the renewable energy industry. It said the 1.6% charge on electricity tariffs, introduced in 2011, was established to fund the growth of renewable energy in Malaysia through the feed-in tariff (FiT) mechanism implemented by the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia. 'Since the introduction of the FiT mechanism, the distributed renewable energy capacity in the national power supply system, particularly from solar sources, has grown significantly, from just 5 megawatts (MW) in 2011 to 5,100 MW,' the ministry said. FiT has also boosted electricity generation from biogas, biomass, and small hydropower sources, which now collectively contribute 855 MW to the national supply, the ministry added. It said that following the implementation of the new electricity tariff structure on July 1, the government reviewed existing renewable energy programmes and resolved to further promote the adoption of renewable energy among electricity users.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
China issues ethical guidelines for autonomous driving technology
BEIJING (Reuters) -China's science and technology ministry on Wednesday issued ethical guidelines for autonomous driving technology, requiring developers to prioritise user safety and refrain from spreading false information when publishing research results. Algorithms and models related to autonomous driving technology should be recorded and made accessible while data collection in the development and application of the technology should be limited to the scope required to achieve driving functions, the guidelines say. The guidelines also specify which party - the human driver or the driving system - is liable when driving with such systems, based on how advanced the system is.
Irish Times
20-07-2025
- Climate
- Irish Times
South Korea death toll rises to 14 after landslide and flooding
Two people have died and a further two are missing in the South Korean resort town of Gapyeong on Sunday, after a landslide engulfed houses and flooding swept away vehicles during a period of heavy rainfall. This brings the nationwide death toll to 14 with 12 people missing since the rain began on Wednesday. The ministry said eight people were discovered dead and six others were reported missing in the southern town of Sancheong on Saturday after heavy downpours caused landslides, house collapses and flash floods. A ministry report said six people remain missing in Gapyeong and the southern city of Gwangju. READ MORE Earlier last week, three people were found dead in a submerged car, and a person was also killed when their car was buried by soil and concrete after a retaining wall of an overpass collapsed in Osan, just south of Seoul, during heavy rain. As of 9am local time on Sunday, about 3,840 people remain evacuated from their homes, the ministry report said. But the rain has stopped in most of South Korea and heavy rain alerts have subsequently been lifted throughout the country, ministry officials said. Since Wednesday, southern regions have received 24in-31in of rain, according to the ministry report. The rainfall is likely to be followed by a heatwave, the government weather forecaster said on Sunday. The heavy rainfall, which had earlier lashed southern parts of South Korea, moved north overnight, it said. – Agencies
CBS News
17-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
East Bay man devotes life to ministering, serving unhoused
An East Bay man who's run a homeless ministry for years gives away his own bed and the roof over his head to serve the unhoused. For Vincent Pannizzo, ministering to the unhoused is his life's mission. But there was a time when they weren't even on his radar. "I was a graduate student at UC Berkeley studying ancient history. I really didn't care much for the homeless," Pannizzo told CBS News Bay Area. Then one day, his outlook changed. "I started reading the Bible to get some information and I start to read the words of Jesus. I was really surprised at what I found in there about caring for people, which I never really did before," Pannizzo said. He found faith and what he described as a calling from God. Pannizzo dropped out of his PhD program to seek out the unsheltered. "God does love them, and I want to bring the light and love of Christ to them," Pannizzo explained. In 2012, he started the nonprofit, Mission for the Homeless. He begins this day loading up donated groceries from the Emeryville Citizens Assistance Program. Bobby Miller, the program's volunteer director, credits Pannizzo with finding folks who are too ill or physically unable to pick up the free food themselves. "At the end of the day, he has some solace knowing that he has reached some of those people who probably wouldn't have had anything to eat today," Miller said. Pannizzo drives his van from Fremont to El Cerrito every day and tends to more than 100 unhoused people on his regular route. He supplies more than food, clothes, blankets and tents. "I have to check, I have to triage, see if they have an infection, if they need to go to the hospital. Do they need to be taken off the streets immediately?" he said. At one Oakland sidewalk encampment, Gwen, who declined to give her last name, said Pannizzo makes her feel like she is not forgotten. Someone cares. "If he doesn't see us here, he'll drive around and look for us," she said. "Somebody paying attention to me. That matters." Pannizzo's nonprofit, Mission for the Homeless, also rents several homes to house 10 people whom he's taken off the streets. They eat together like family. One of the residents, Eric, says he was ready to give up on life when Pannizzo found him, gave him a tent, and offered hope. "He saved me the night I was in the rain, very depressed," Eric said. "He's way turned my life around. He made me happy." And Eric's still baffled about how Pannizzo himself could choose to live in a tent outside the house so that he and others can sleep in a warm bed. "Put himself out to put me in. It's crazy," Eric marveled. "We have limited space. And I'm perfectly comfortable in a tent," Pannizzo said. In fact, when he first decided to serve the unsheltered, Pannizzo invited folks off the streets to live with his family in their apartment, and they kept getting kicked out. It was not an easy way to live, and his wife left, and took their infant son with her to the East Coast. Pannizzo said he was heartbroken, but he remained dedicated to his mission to those living with homelessness. Some of his other volunteers also choose to be unhoused. Looking forward, Pannizzo hopes to secure corporate sponsorships so that he can purchase homes and get more people housed. For his Mission for the East Bay's Homeless, this week's CBS News Bay Area Icon Award goes to Vincent Pannizzo.
