At the recent November group of sessions Mr Justin Brett (Chichester) asked the Secretary General, Mr William Fittall:
The Second Church Estates Commissioner recently told Parliament that: “there is no Church of England rule that prevents a celibate person in a civil partnership from being considered for appointment as a bishop. The issue is whether someone in that position could act as a focus for unity in a diocese. That would have to be considered by those responsible for making any episcopal appointment”.
In the light of that statement and the recent coming into force of the Equality Act 2010, is the Secretary General aware of any guidance from those involved in episcopal appointments processes on how to approach these matters consistently with the law.
Mr Fittall replied:
The Legal Office stands ready to provide legal advice to those responsible for overseeing episcopal appointments exercises. The Equality Act, like the 2003 Regulations before it, permits those making appointments for the purposes of organised religion to apply a requirement related to sexual orientation so as to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers. The Church of England’s policy on same sex relationships and civil partnerships is set out in the various well known formal statements dating back to 1987, of which the most recent is the House of Bishops pastoral statement, issued in 2005, when civil partnerships were introduced. Any requests for clarification would be for the House to consider.
Mr Brett then asked Mr Fittall a supplementary question:
Within the procedure for appointing bishops, what is the understanding of what it means to be a focus of unity in a diocese.
Mr Fittall replied:
13 CommentsThat’s a very good question and it’s a phrase that I think is allowed to speak for itself. It is a canonical requirement that a bishop should be a focus of unity. And it is for the judgment, in the case of a suffragan bishop, of the diocesan bishop, advised by those who support him in that process. And in the case of diocesan appointments it is for the judgment of the Crown Nominations Commission. And those making appointments have to take account of a wide range of considerations, including statements made by the House of Bishops. It is at the end of the day a judgment.
Here’s a view expressed by Baroness Kingsmill.
It occurs in an article in the St Louis Post-Dispatch which is about the US handling of “Gays in the Military”. She was asked how the UK had dealt with this issue.
17 CommentsKingsmill offered three insightful reasons.
“First and perhaps most importantly is that we are, by temperamental and historical inclination, a largely liberal-minded society,” she said. “As a small, crowded island we have to be accepting of each other. Wave after wave of immigrants first from the Commonwealth and more recently Europe, have been absorbed mostly without serious concerns. We have acquired the habit of tolerance. Sexual orientation and behaviour is just another aspect of diversity we have learned to embrace.”
Second, the weakening in the influence of the Church and the religious right has also played a role. The Established Church of England is one of the last bastions of anti-gay prejudice still outside the law. It is the only institution that legally can discriminate against the employment of gay people. The church recently fought to retain the right to refuse a religious service to gay couples wishing to marry, even in circumstances in which the church and the priest may wish to perform the ceremony. The Bishops, who have reserved seats in Parliament, face rapidly declining church attendance in the United Kingdom. Kingsmill suggested that it is only a matter of time until this last barrier to full equality falls.
Third, the impact of legislation on social change should not be underestimated. Many major shifts in social attitudes have been preceded by progressive acts of Parliament, sometimes in advance of public opinion. Foremost among these must be the abolition of the death penalty in 1969, when it was likely that a majority of the country still supported capital punishment. Today, polls show there is only a very small minority that would support its reintroduction.
Updated 9 and 19 January 2011: links updated to refer to the new Church of England website.
In the autumn of 2009 the Commission commenced a review of the five Yorkshire dioceses (Bradford, Ripon and Leeds, Sheffield, Wakefield and York). The aim was to establish whether the shape and boundaries of the existing dioceses tend to facilitate the Church’s mission to the people and communities of Yorkshire or whether different boundaries would enable the Church to relate to them more effectively.
The Commission’s report on the Dioceses of Bradford, Ripon and Leeds, Sheffield and Wakefield, and their boundaries with the Diocese of York, has now been published and sent out for consultation.
A 16 page Guide to the Report, containing a brief overview of each chapter, together with the Summary of Recommendations and Conclusion, is available to download by clicking here.
For the full Report (127 pages), or to download individual chapters, click here.
Some other background documents can be found here.
The press release (website link is at last available) is reproduced below the fold.
10 CommentsAlan Perry has written two articles:
Defining Controversial Actions
Defining Relational Consequences
Savi Hensman has written How might the Anglican Covenant work in England?
Benny Hazlehurst offered An Antidote to the Covenant
John Martin wrote The Covenant is good news for Anglicanism in Christian Today
8 CommentsFirst, Jared Cramer wrote an article Wounding and Grace: A Brief Appraisal of the Roman Catholic Ordinariate, Anglican Christianity, and Modern Ecumenism.
Next, the Bishop of London spoke to his diocesan synod and among other things said this:
Another aspect of the turbulence to which I have referred is of course the Bishop of Fulham’s retirement. Bishop John has served the Diocese for more than forty years in variety of roles and many of us have reason to be grateful for his ministry. He has the gift of colourful speech and there may be some Synod members unconvinced by his suggestion that he was leaving a “fascist” institution for Liberty Hall on Tiber. All people, however, who act conscientiously deserve our understanding.
There does however seem to be a degree of confusion about whether those entering the Ordinariate like Bishop John might be able to negotiate a transfer of properties or at the least explore the possibility of sharing agreements in respect of particular churches. For the avoidance of confusion I have to say that as far as the Diocese of London is concerned there is no possibility of transferring properties. As to sharing agreements I have noted the Archbishop of Westminster’s comment that his “preference is for the simplest solutions. The simplest solutions are for those who come into Catholic communion to use Catholic churches”. I am also mindful that the late Cardinal Hume, whom I greatly revered, brought to an end the experiment of church sharing after the Synod’s decision of 1992 because far from being conducive to warmer ecumenical relations it tended to produce more rancour.
And the Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion (a body whose members are primarily in India and Africa, see my report here) issued a statement, available in full over here.
37 CommentsThe results of the electronic vote on the Anglican Communion Covenant at last month’s General Synod are now available.
For convenience I have made this available as a webpage.
Readers might like to note that the speculation about which bishop abstained was incorrect.
15 CommentsThe BBC Radio 4 programme, Last Word, this week carried obituary information about Colin Slee. Here’s the blurb:
THE VERY REVEREND COLIN SLEE
Dean of Southwark who has died aged 65.
The Very Reverend Colin Slee was the outspoken Dean of Southwark. He was on the liberal wing of the church, a staunch advocate of women bishops and supporter of gay clergy. But in terms of liturgy and the dress code for priests he was more of an Anglo Catholic, insisting on following what he saw as the proper form. He oversaw the construction of a refectory, conference centre and library to complement the Southwark Cathedral building and presided over the expansion of its congregation.
Last Word spoke the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, to the religious affairs writer Stephen Bates, and to the Chief Executive of the Tutu Foundation UK, Tina Lambert.
Colin Bruce Slee was born 10 November 1945 and died 25 November 2010.
If you have access to BBC iPlayer, then you can hear it from here for a week only. It is the first seven minutes of the programme.
Earlier, we linked to some obituaries. Now we can also add:
Independent The Very Reverend Colin Slee: Controversial liberal dean of Southwark Cathedral by Leigh Hatts
London SE1 Obituary: The Very Revd Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark
and this news report of yesterday: Funeral of Colin Slee at Southwark Cathedral
And the Church Times obituary by Bill Ritson is available over here.
3 CommentsThe Dean of St Albans, the Very Revd Dr Jeffrey John, preached at the Requiem Eucharist to celebrate the life of Colin Bruce Slee OBE on Saturday morning at Southwark Cathedral.
The full text of the sermon is available here.
8 CommentsBishop Andrew Burnham gave this homily at St John the Evangelist, New Hinksey, Oxford, at a Solemn Mass of St Andrew on Saturday 27 November 2010: Bishop Andrew Burnham’s Final Sermon as Bishop of Ebbsfleet.
Damian Thompson reprinted the sermon in The Telegraph: Anglican bishop lays his mitre and crozier at the feet of Our Lady as he leaves for Rome.
Giles Fraser writes in the Church Times about Colin Slee, fighter, RIP.
Christopher Howse in The Telegraph writes that There’s no shame in not wearing a cross. “Christianity’s trappings require no special pleading,” he suggests.
He also writes about A hatred of Turks, Jews and papists. “Luther thought he had a sound reason for his strong antipathies.”
Adam Thomas writes for the Daily Episcopalian about The pews in the north transept: a remembrance.
David Bryant writes in The Guardian about The loose ends of justice. “Meeting a murderer and rapist on a prison visit reinforced my need to believe in life after death.”
Dame Mary Tanner preached at the inaugural eucharist for the General Synod in Westminster Abbey last week. The text of her sermon is now available, courtesy of Alastair Cutting.
This week’s The Question at Comment is free belief is How should Christians think about sex? There are answers from Steve Tomkins, Roz Kaveney and John Richardson
16 CommentsThe detailed reports in the Church Times of last week’s meeting of General Synod are now available to non-subscribers.
Presidential address: Surprise your critics by listening and agreeing, Dr Williams suggests
Big Society? We’re doing it already
Anglican Covenant: Reservations, but the Covenant moves forward
Synod in brief
Legislation and farewells
Also now available are the official record of Business Done and a brief official summary “ideal for use in parish magazines”.
2 CommentsGeorge Conger writes in the Church of England Newspaper today: Gafcon primates vote of no confidence in the Covenant.
The Anglican Covenant is too little and too late, to hold the Anglican Communion together, the leaders of the Gafcon movement said last week.
Revisions to the document adopted last December by the Anglican Communion’s Standing Committee were unacceptable, the Gafcon primates’ council said on Nov 24, and urged the communion to adopt “new initiatives to more effectively respond to the crises that confront us all.”
Seven primates along with Archbishops Robert Duncan of the ACNA and Peter Jensen of Sydney acknowledged as “well intentioned” the “efforts to heal our brokenness through the introduction of an Anglican Covenant,” but concluded the “current text is fatally flawed and so support for this initiative is no longer appropriate.”
And he also reports:
10 Comments…While the statement was released on the same day as General Synod debated the covenant, the timing of the release was not intended to sway discussion in England, a spokesman told CEN.
The “Oxford Statement” required weeks of refining and was passed from archbishop to archbishop before it was ready for release, a Gafcon secretariat spokesman said.
Sources within the Gafcon movement tell CEN, the Oxford Statement should not be read as an outright rejection of the covenant, but as a vote of no confidence in the current draft that vests authority in the Anglican Communion “Standing Committee”.
The speech made last week by the Bishop of Lincoln has been reproduced in full at RevdLesley.
Read it all at Bishop John Saxbee on the Anglican Covenant.
Here is an extract:
53 Comments…Members of Synod, the Church of England has a bit of a history of putting in place measures in response to a particular presented issue and then discovering that the proposed cure does not only have unintended consequences (and The Good Intentions Paving Company is still very much in business, I assure you), not only will there be unintended consequences, but the cure can actually make matters worse.
We all know that the process towards the drawing up of this Covenant was triggered by events in The Episcopal Church of a few years ago, notwithstanding the long preamble which was helpfully presented to us by the Bishop of Bath and Wells. Those events were by no means trivial, but to elevate them to the status of game changers when it comes to how we deal with each other over time is… well… stepping over a very significant mark in the sand. And I truly doubt whether it will be conducive to long term stability.
The Covenant may of itself not be tyrannical, but there are those in the Communion whose treatment of our lesbian and gay sisters and brothers has had at least a touch of the tyrannical about it. And if I ever come to the conclusion that a covenant of this kind would give them comfort then I would be bound to resist it.
Anglicanism has been described as a fellowship of civilised disagreement. Well I leave you to judge whether a two-tier Communion with first and second division members answers to that description of civilised disagreement. It frankly feels like we will be sending sincere and faithful Anglicans to stand in the corner until they have seen the error of their ways and can return to the ranks of the pure and spotless…
From Forward in Faith
Bishop John Broadhurst resigns as Chairman of FiF UK
5 CommentsAt its residential meeting this week, the Council of Forward in Faith accepted the resignation of its Chairman, Bishop John Broadhurst, both with regret and with grateful thanks for all that he has done to guide and lead this organisation from its foundation in 1992. It was Bishop John’s decision to resign and that decision had been communicated by him to the Council prior to its meeting. As a small token of the gratitude of all the members of Forward in Faith for Bishop John’s magnificent contribution to the life of the organisation as well as the enormous contribution of Judi his wife, the Council presented him with a cheque to spend in their new home. They know that they are assured of the prayers of us all for whatever the future may hold.
Pending the election of his successor some time in the New Year, Sister Anne Williams CA, the Vice-Chairman of Forward in Faith, will undertake the role of Acting Chairman.
Updated Thursday
The No Anglican Covenant Coalition has published some Observations on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Presidential Address and the Anglican Covenant Debate in the Church of England General Synod,November 2010 which are available here as a PDF, but also as a web page over here.
Colin Coward has published Anglican Covenant – dangerous progress in Synod? Or GAFCON statement – dangerous threat withdraws? and also Should LGBT Anglicans be more suspicious of the Covenant?
Adrian Worsfold has taken a rather lighter approach, first with Chadderbox on the Synod Vote and then with Proposal for the Communion.
Earlier, he was a bit more serious, see The Narrowing Church of England and Be Realistic .
And just today, he has also published Not Changing Attitude.
On Thursday, Colin Coward added What will the pattern of the Anglican Communion look like in 10 years time?
4 CommentsUpdated again Friday
The BBC Radio programme, Sunday had two items about this.
The programme can be found here including a downloadable podcast.
First, Stephen Bates of the Guardian gave a brief outline of the significance of the GAFCON announcement. This is 6 minutes into the programme, and lasts for about 4 minutes.
Then, starting at about 33.5 minutes in, and running to the end of the programme, i.e. for about 10 minutes, there is a longer discussion about this. It features in turn the retired archbishop Lord Carey, then Bishop Martyn Minns of ACNA and GAFCON, and then Bishop Graham Kings of the Church of England.
This should be listened to in full.
Bear in mind that ACNA is not a member of the Anglican Communion although it is a member of GAFCON.
Graham Kings noted that GAFCON is not the same as the Global South Anglican movement, and at least three GSA primates (Chew of SE Asia, Anis of Jerusalem and the Middle East, and Ernest of the Indian Ocean) are themselves moderates in favour of the Covenant. He also argued that the GAFCON primates cannot speak for their provinces until their provinces have actually considered the Covenant themselves.
It also appeared from what he said that the Sudan province, whose primate was a member of the GAFCON council (is he still?), has already voted at least once, if not yet definitively, in favour of the Covenant.
Confused yet? You should be.
Updates
See the Comments below for links to some partial transcripts.
Anglican Mainstream has very helpfully transcribed more of the programme, see BBC interview with Bishop Minns on Gafcon Primates’ Statement.
And Fulcrum has transcribed the whole of Bishop Kings’ remarks at Interview with Graham Kings.
There is now an even fuller set of transcripts in the Comments on an article at Titusonenine, starting here (and in the following comments).
45 CommentsThis week’s Church Times carries a report of the recent GAFCON primates statement, which was linked here on Wednesday, while the General Synod debate on the Anglican Covenant was still in progress, but which was not known to synod members prior to the voting. (The GAFCON/FCA Primates’ Council met in Oxford from October 4th through October 7th, 2010.)
The story, Empty seats in Dublin as Primates opt out, by Ed Beavan lists a total of ten primates who will not be attending.
AT LEAST ten Primates from the Global South are now expected to boycott the Primates’ Meeting in Dublin in January.
In a statement released on Wednesday, five African Primates, members of the GAFCON Primates’ Council, confirmed that they would not attend the two-yearly meeting. In addition, it is understood that the Primate of South-East Asia, Dr John Chew; the Primate in Jerusalem & the Middle East, Dr Mouneer Anis; and the Primate of the Indian Ocean, the Most Revd Ian Ernest, will not go to Dublin.
Furthermore it is expected that two new Primates, Presiding Bishop Tito Zavala, Primate of the Southern Cone, and the Most Revd Onesphore Rwage, Primate of Rwanda, will also boycott the meeting…
The names appearing on the GAFCON statement are (my annotations added)
The Most Rev’d Gregory Venables, GAFCON/FCA Chair former primate of the Southern Cone
The Most Rev’d Justice Akrofi, Archbishop, Anglican Province of West Africa
The Most Rev’d Robert Duncan, Archbishop, Anglican Church in North America not a primate of the Anglican Communion
The Most Rev ‘d Emmanuel Kolini, Archbishop, Anglican Church of Rwanda former primate of Rwanda
The Most Rev’d Valentino Mokiwa, Archbishop, Anglican Church of Tanzania
The Most Rev’d Nicholas Okoh, Archbishop, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Most Rev’d Henry Orombi Archbishop, Church of Uganda
The Most Rev’d Eliud Wabukala, Archbishop, Anglican Church of Kenya
The Most Rev’d Peter Jensen, Archbishop, Diocese of Sydney, Secretary not a primate
The Church of England Newspaper carries this report by George Conger Canterbury rejects African call to postpone Dublin primates meeting.
41 CommentsThe Archbishop of Canterbury has rejected Africa’s call to suspend the Dublin primates meeting, a spokesman for Dr. Rowan Williams’ tells The Church of England Newspaper, and the meeting will go on as scheduled.
On Nov 17 Lambeth Palace confirmed that Dr. Williams had received a letter from CAPA chairman Archbishop Ian Earnest. This letter raised a “concern about the planning process for the Primates’ Meeting and request[ed] that it be postponed.”
“However, given the closeness of the time, and the fact that the majority of Primates have already indicated that they will attend, the Archbishop of Canterbury is not minded to postpone the meeting whose date was set two years ago,” the Lambeth Palace statement said.
Dr. Williams’ decision not to postpone the Dublin meeting, will likely cause a quarter to a third of the primates to stay away, replicating the divisions surrounding the 2008 Lambeth Conference where a majority of African bishops boycotted the meeting…
The Archbishop of Canterbury recently participated in a public discussion with Terry Eagleton on the topic Responses to the new Atheism at Great St Mary’s, Cambridge’s university church. You can download an audio file of the conversation from the Archbishop’s website.
Andrew Brown responded to the discussion at Comment is free with Rowan and Eagleton on atheism and Rowan, selfish genes, and atheism.
There are a number of articles about the Kings James (Authorised) Version of the Bible.
Christopher Howse at The Telegraph “gets Bible fever as we mark 400 years of the Authorised Version”: The global phenomenon that will never be lost in translation.
Michael White of The Guardian writes about Church and sex: what King James and his famous Bible have to teach us.
The Guardian has an editorial: In praise of … the Authorised Version.
Rosie Harper writes for The Guardian about Hogwarts for Anglicans and asks “As a new synod member, will I be able to reconcile the dark arts of church politics and the transparency of the gospel?”
Giles Fraser’s column in this week’s Church Times is Being proud of church buildings.
Cole Moreton argues in The Guardian that The Church of England must relinquish its association with power and pomp. “Anglicans must accept they no longer deserve royal privileges but are just another group of believers.”
Christopher Howse writes in The Telegraph: In the eye of the Venetian storm. “Going to church in a tourist trap exposes the heart of prayer.”
7 CommentsUpdated Friday
Whilst Synod was debating the Anglican Communion Covenant, news broke that the GAFCON primates had rejected it, although this was too late to affect the Synod debate. But the press is naturally reporting both stories together.
Riazat Butt writes in The Guardian that Unity document exposes Anglican divisions and that African clergy reject ‘fatally flawed’ effort to unify Anglicans.
Ekklesia has Anglican Covenant confusion reins after firm GAFCON rejection.
Matthew Davies at Episcopal Life Online writes that General Synod supports Anglican Covenant process.
Reuters reports that Conservative bishops deliver blow to Anglican pact.
At Christian Today Maria Mackay writes that Church of England affirms support for Anglican Covenant, while Jenna Lyle writes that Anglican Covenant in question after conservatives withdraw support.
The BBC has General synod step closer to Anglican Covenant.
AFP reports that Church of England backs covenant but traditionalists rebel.
Update
John Martin has written for the Living Church about the Covenant debate: Victory for Covenant, ‘Catholic Spirit’ at English Synod.
27 CommentsSouthwark Cathedral reports this morning
The Very Revd Colin Slee, The Dean of Southwark, died peacefully at his home surrounded by his family at 1am on Thursday 25 November.
Dean Colin had been diagnosed with cancer just a few weeks ago and the spread of his illness was very rapid.
May he rest in peace!
Updated Thursday afternoon (twice)
In The Guardian (CiF), Stephen Bates writes: Liberal Anglicans will mourn the death of Colin Slee
Damian Thompson blogs in the Daily Telegraph: The Church of England won’t be as much fun without Colin Slee
The news is also covered by local community site London-SE1 where it is noted that he had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
There are now obituaries in The Guardian and The Telegraph.
25 CommentsHere is the official summary for Wednesday afternoon: General Synod – Summary of business conducted on Wednesday 24th November 2010 PM.
More reports later.
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