Briefly noted

Homeboy Industries, the storied Los Angeles jobs program for gang members founded by Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, has received funding from the Los Angeles City Council to temporarily ease a recession-caused cash crunch at the charity. Homeboy, top-ranked by the nonprofit analyst Charity Navigator, has stepped up its drive for donations on its Web site, frozen new hiring and extended café hours on weekends, according to the Associated Press. On August 14, the city council voted to have the city’s gang prevention program negotiate a $340,000 contract with the organization. Homeboy Industries, featured in a Century article September 18, 2007, tries to rehabilitate gang members through jobs, schooling, mental health counseling and other services.

The Anglican Communion has appointed a female Canadian priest to a key ecumenical post, even though some Anglican provinces and many ecumenical partner churches do not allow women’s ordination. Alyson Barnett-Cowan, an Anglican priest who lives in Toronto, was named director for Unity, Faith and Order at the Anglican Communion Office in London. She has been director of Faith, Worship and Ministry for the Anglican Church of Canada since 1995. Some Anglicans see the appointment as a bold move because the ordination of women is still not accepted by many Christian denominations and a handful of Anglican provinces. Barnett-Cowan has served on the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations and as a consultant to the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission. She has also served on the Faith and Order Plenary Commission of the World Council of Churches.