The Sunday afternoon session of General Synod opened with an address by the Most Revd Drexel Gomez (Archbishop of the West Indies and chair of the Anglican Covenant Design Group). Synod then went onto a full-scale debate on the proposed Anglican Covenant. The debate was on the following motion moved by the Bishop of Chichester.
‘That this Synod:
(a) affirm its willingness to engage positively with the unanimous recommendation of the Primates in February 2007 for a process designed to produce a covenant for the Anglican Communion;
(b) note that such a process will only be concluded when any definitive text has been duly considered through the synodical processes of the provinces of the Communion; and
(c) invite the Presidents, having consulted the House of Bishops and the Archbishops’ Council, to agree the terms of a considered response to the draft from the Covenant Design Group for submission to the Anglican Communion Office by the end of the year.’
Three amendments were moved. Mr Tim Cox (a council member of Church Society) moved:
Leave out everything after “That this Synod” and insert:
(a) note the unanimous recommendation of the Primates in February 2007;
(b) believe that the Covenant process will prove inadequate to address the problems presently dividing the Communion; and
(c) urge all the Provinces of the Anglican Communion to declare themselves in communion only with those Provinces, dioceses and congregations that:
(i) assert whole-heartedly that the Scriptures are the Word of God;
(ii) uphold the historic Anglican formularies (the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, 1662 Book of Common Prayer and Ordinal); and
(iii) on the current presenting cause of division, uphold the Biblical teaching that sexual intercourse belongs solely within the lifelong commitment of a man and woman in marriage.
Mr Justin Brett (Oxford) moved:
In paragraph (a) leave out the words “affirm its willingness to engage positively with” and insert “note”.
The Revd Jonathan Clark (London) moved:
In paragraph (c) leave out all the words after “the Archbishops’ Council” and insert “to bring back to the next group of sessions of Synod for approval a considered response to the draft from the Covenant Design Group for submission to the Anglican Communion Office”.
Each of the three amendments was defeated on a show of hands. Finally the Bishop of Chichester’s unamended motion was put to the vote and carried on a show of hands.
The background paper to the debate is here with Annex 4 and Annex 5.
30 CommentsThe official report of this afternoon’s session can be found here.
The afternoon started with some appointments which Synod was asked to approve. Allan Bridgewater’s appointment as Chair of the Church of England Pensions Board was extended until 31 December 2008. Andrew Britton was appointed to the Archbishops’ Council for a five-year term from 1 October 2007, where he will replace Michael Chamberlain, and Katherine McPherson and Anne Sloman’s membership of the Council was extended to 31 December 2009.
Synod then moved onto the clergy pension scheme and gave final agreement to the modifications to the scheme provisionally agreed in February. These will reduce the benefits for future service a little but will keep costs within manageable limits.
The debate on the Private Member’s Motion about Possible Military Action Against Iran that should have been debated during the afternoon was terminated early.
The original motion was:
That this Synod, in the light of growing international concern about possible US military action against Iran, believe that in present circumstances unilateral pre-emptive military action by the US or any other government against Iran cannot be justified.
There was also a long amendment proposed by Dr Philip Giddings which replaced the above with a series of more detailed recommendations, including one urging the government of Iran to comply with UN Security Council resolutions and Treaty obligations.
Immediately after the proposer, The Revd Canon Simon Bessant, had made his opening speech, Dr Chris Sugden put a procedural motion to move to next business. His stated reason for this was to avoid prejudicing the position of the new and soon-to-be-installed Anglican bishop in Iran.
This motion was eventually passed, but only after a formal division of the synod. The voting was 113 to 96. The motion therefore lapsed and the topic cannot be taken up again in the lifetime of this synod, without express approval of the business committee.
This opened up a half-hour space in the agenda so Synod started to consider amendments to its standing orders.
Finally, there was a short presentation on plans to provide hospitality to visiting bishops in the days leading up to next year’s Lambeth conference.
Church Times Report of Saturday
11 CommentsFollowing Monday’s press briefing for next month’s Church of England General Synod the Church Times has these articles:
Big debates on pensions, top jobs, and Communion
Marriage rules, simplified, to be debated again
The official Church of England press release is Key debates on Senior Church Appointments, Anglican Communion Covenant, Marriage Law and Iran at the York Synod
Christine Seib writes in The Times on pensions, one of the items on the agenda: God’s work is an expensive enterprise
Our list of links to synod papers is here.
0 CommentsThe Church of England has released today a report Talent and Calling about how senior appointments (other than diocesan bishops) should be made. The first part of the official press release is below the fold; the full text, including the list of recommendations, is here. The report is scheduled to be debated at General Synod on the afternoon of Monday 9 July 2007.
One recommendation is that “that the right both to appoint to the 28 Crown deaneries and also to choose the person to be appointed should continue to rest with the Crown”, although with changes to the procedures. But Jonathan Petre in the Telegraph reports that there will be calls at Synod to remove the Crown from the process of appointing deans: Church ‘poised to cut ties to state’.
1 CommentPapers for next month’s sessions of the General Synod of the Church of England are starting to appear online and are listed below. The list will be updated as more papers become available.
Latest update: Wednesday 27 morning
Agenda
Friday 6 July 2007
Saturday 7 July 2007
Sunday 8 July 2007
Monday 9 July 2007
Tuesday 10 July 2007
Agenda for Legislative Business
First Notice Paper
Papers
(with the days on which they are scheduled to be debated or otherwise considered. Business may be rescheduled, particularly legislation, marked #. Items marked § will only be debated if a member asks for this.)
GS 1616B Draft Church of England Marriage Measure (Saturday#)
GS 1616YY Report of the Revision Committee (Saturday#)
GS 1616Z Draft Church of England Marriage Measure: draft measure for final drafting and final approval: report by the Steering Committee (Tuesday#)
GS 1650 Talent and Calling: Report of the Senior Church Appointments Review Group (Monday)
GS 1651 Transforming Worship: Report of the Liturgical Commission (Saturday)
GS 1653 Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2007 (Saturday#§)
GS 1654 Ecclesiastical Judges, Legal Officers and others (Fees) Orders 2007 (Saturday#§)
GS 1653 and 4X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1655 Present and Participating: A place at the table (Sunday)
GS 1657 Report by the Business Committee (Friday)
GS 1658 Appointments to the Archbishops’ Council and the Church of England Pensions Board (Saturday)
GS 1659 Parochial Fees Order 2007 (Saturday#§)
GS 1659X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1660 Clergy Pensions (Saturday)
GS 1661 The Anglican Covenant Proposal Annex 4 Annex 5 (Sunday)
GS 1663 Disability Issues for Ministry in the Church of England (Monday)
GS 1664 Forty-First Report of the Standing Orders Committee (Saturday)
GS 1665 The Archbishops’ Council’s Draft Budget for 2008 (Tuesday)
GS 1666 Sunderland Minster Representation Scheme (Saturday#§)
GS 1667 Church of England Funded Pensions Scheme (General) (Amendment) Rules 2007 (Saturday#)
GS 1667, 1670 & 1671 X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1668 Archbishops’ Council Report (Monday§)
GS 1669 Annual Report of the Archbishops’ Council’s Audit Committee (Monday§)
GS 1670 Church of England Funded Pensions Scheme (Accrual Rates) (Amendment) Rules 2007 (Saturday#)
GS 1671 Church of England Funded Pensions Scheme (Guaranteed Increases) (Amendment) Rules 2007 (Saturday#)
GS 1667, 1670 & 1671 X Explanatory Memorandum
GS Misc 855A and 855B Private Member’s Motion: Possible Military Action against Iran (Saturday)
GS Misc 856A and 856B Diocesan Synod Motion: The Church Commissioners(Monday)
GS Misc 857A and 857B Private Member’s Motion: Ethical Investment Advisory Group: Restricted Investments (Monday)
The Anglican/Methodist Covenant: Living God’s Covenant: Second Interim Report of the Joint Implementation Commission (Sunday)
Annual Report of the Church Commissioners (Monday)
5 Commentspress release from the Group for Rescinding the Act of Synod:
GRAS Group for Rescinding the Act of Synod
Press Release – For Immediate Release
Senior Women Clergy Numbers Rise
Numbers of women clergy deployed in the dioceses in the Church of England have risen to an average of 25.8 of all clergy in the dioceses. Women now account for 17% of full time stipendiary clergy in the dioceses and for 8% of senior posts, including deans, archdeacons, other cathedral clergy and area deans.
These statistics have been gathered for the second time in five years in the Furlong Table, named in honour of the late Monica Furlong. Furlong, a witty and incisive writer and observer of the Church of England, and also a fearless and tireless campaigner for the ordination of women, suggested to a group of young female ordinands that statistics be gathered to monitor the deployment and promotion of women clergy in the Church of England.
The first Furlong Table was produced in 2000 for GRAS, the Group for Rescinding the Act of Synod, by Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Catherine Butt and Leah Vasey-Saunders, all then students at Cranmer Hall theological college in Durham. The updated figures for 2005 have been produced by the Reverend Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, now Chaplain and Solway Fellow of University College, Durham.
GRAS believes that
Contacts:
Revd Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes
University College, Durham, DH1 3RW
Tel: 0191-334-4116
Email: Miranda.Threlfall-holmes@durham.ac.uk
Revd Canon Peggy Jackson
The Rectory, 170 Sheen Lane, SW14 8LZ
Tel: 020-8876-4816
Email: pjackson@fish.co.uk
| Position | Diocese | Score | Change in Position |
Change in Score |
Score in 2000 |
| 1 | Oxford | 39.9 | +15 | 19.2 | 20.7 |
| 2 | St.Albans | 39.3 | +8 | 15.0 | 24.3 |
| 3 | Ely | 38.9 | +12 | 17.6 | 21.3 |
| 4 | Worcester | 36.9 | -1 | 5.0 | 31.9 |
| 5 | Leicester | 36.7 | -3 | 3.8 | 32.9 |
| 6 | Southwark | 34.3 | -5 | -0.5 | 34.8 |
| 7 | Ripon | 34.2 | -3 | 2.6 | 31.6 |
| 8 | Durham | 33.6 | +26 | 20.3 | 13.3 |
| 9 | Liverpool | 32.9 | +10 | 13.2 | 19.7 |
| 10 | Hereford | 32.7 | +2 | 10.5 | 22.2 |
| 11 | Peterborough | 31.9 | +15 | 14.4 | 17.5 |
| 12 | Salisbury | 30.8 | -3 | 5.7 | 25.1 |
| 13 | Wakefield | 30.6 | +4 | 10.0 | 20.6 |
| 14 | Truro | 29.7 | +26 | 23.2 | 6.5 |
| 15 | Sheffield | 29.0 | -9 | 0.3 | 28.7 |
| 16 | Southwell | 28.7 | -11 | -0.7 | 29.4 |
| 17 | Norwich | 28.0 | +6 | 9.5 | 18.5 |
| 18 | Derby | 27.9 | +17 | 14.9 | 13.0 |
| 19 | St.Edms & Ipswich | 27.5 | -6 | 5.5 | 22.0 |
| 20 | Chelmsford | 27.4 | 0 | 7.7 | 19.7 |
| Average | 25.8 | 7.2 | 18.6 | ||
| 21 | Lincoln | 25.7 | -13 | 0.0 | 25.7 |
| 22 | Manchester | 25.7 | +3 | 8.0 | 17.7 |
| 23 | Gloucester | 25.1 | -9 | 3.7 | 21.4 |
| 24 | Bath & Wells | 25.0 | +9 | 11.6 | 13.4 |
| 25 | Canterbury | 24.7 | +7 | 11.2 | 13.5 |
| 26 | York | 24.7 | +4 | 9.2 | 15.5 |
| 27 | London | 23.7 | +2 | 8.2 | 15.5 |
| 28 | Newcastle | 23.1 | -4 | 5.3 | 17.8 |
| 29 | Coventry | 23.0 | -2 | 7.1 | 15.9 |
| 30 | Guildford | 22.9 | -23 | -5.5 | 28.4 |
| 31 | Bradford | 22.6 | +6 | 11.8 | 10.8 |
| 32 | Lichfield | 21.9 | -11 | 2.9 | 19.0 |
| 33 | Chester | 21.7 | -5 | 5.9 | 15.8 |
| 34 | Birmingham | 20.3 | -12 | 1.7 | 18.6 |
| 35 | Rochester | 19.9 | -17 | -0.7 | 20.6 |
| 36 | Carlisle | 19.0 | +2 | 9.1 | 9.9 |
| 37 | Exeter | 17.8 | -1 | 5.5 | 12.3 |
| 38 | Bristol | 17.1 | -27 | -6.0 | 23.1 |
| 39 | Portsmouth | 14.4 | -8 | -0.2 | 14.6 |
| 40 | Winchester | 13.5 | -1 | 5.2 | 8.3 |
| 41 | Sodor and Man | 11.8 | +2 | 11.8 | 0.0 |
| 42 | Blackburn | 10.4 | -1 | 4.4 | 6.0 |
| 43 | Chichester | 5.5 | -1 | 2.9 | 2.6 |
Notes for Editors
The Furlong Table measures the numbers of women clergy deployed in each of the dioceses in the Church of England. The average points score has risen by over a third from 2000 to 2005, from 18.6 to 25.8. This is made up of an on average doubling of the points received from women in senior posts, together with a 50% increase in the number of other ordained women in full time stipendiary posts in the dioceses.
A perfect score in this table would be 100, representing 50% of all other full time stipendiary clergy in a diocese being female. The top score of 39.9 is still disappointingly low, but it is moving in the right direction. This means that in Oxford, which rose 15 points to become the best diocese in the Church of England for women’s deployment in 2005, women had been appointed to 17% of senior clergy posts, and 23% of other clergy were female.
Overall, in 2005, women represented 5% of cathedral deans, 6% of archdeacons, 14% of other cathedral clergy and 8% of area/rural deans.
The greatest percentage change was for Truro Diocese, which saw its score increase by 354%! Truro was joint with Durham Diocese for the biggest rise up the table, both gaining a massive 26 places. Truro rose from 40th place (out of 43) to 14th, whilst Durham rose from 34th to 8th place.
Other diocese which saw big gains were Derby, up 17 places from 35th to 18th, and Peterborough, up 15 places from 26th to 11th place. Three diocese have fallen badly in the table: Bristol fell 27 places, from 11th to 38th, Guildford fell 23 places from 7th to 30th, and Rochester fell 17 places from 18th to 35th place.
/ends
24 CommentsWe list below reports on who has not been invited. From these it appears that they include Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire and the bishops from CANA (Martyn Minns) and AMiA. Bishop Robinson may be invited as a guest.
Robert Barr (Associated Press) in The Washington Post 2 Bishops Not Invited to Anglican Parley [This article has been published on many other sites but this appears to be the earliest.]
Update that Washington Post page now contains a later AP story by Rachel Zoll Gay Bishop Kept Out of Anglican Meeting. The earlier Robert Barr story can be found here.
Reuters Luke Baker Gay bishop snubbed by Anglican conference
Ruth Gledhill in The Times Gay bishop not invited to Lambeth conference
Natalie Paris and agencies in The Telegraph Gay bishop’s church conference snub
BBC Gay row US Anglicans miss summit
Bishop Robinson has responded to his non-invitation here.
The Living Church has more detail on other exclusions at No Lambeth Invitation for Bishop Robinson by George Conger.
8 CommentsThere’s a story by Stephen Bates in today’s Guardian about trouble at Wycliffe Hall, a Church of England theological college in Oxford: Unholy row at Oxford’s college for clergy amid staff exodus and claims of bullying.
It starts:
One of England’s most respected theological colleges is facing claims that staff feel bullied and intimidated as the institution becomes increasingly conservative.
68 CommentsThe discontent at Wycliffe Hall, an evangelical Anglican college which is part of Oxford University, has seen several resignations among its small academic staff and claims that one of its most prominent members, the regular Thought for the Day contributor Elaine Storkey, was threatened with disciplinary action.
As part of his current brief trip to Canada the Archbishop of Canterbury has given a lecture The Bible: Reading and Hearing to students at Wycliffe and Trinity theological colleges in Toronto. The full press release from Lambeth Palace is below the fold but here is the first paragraph.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan WIlliams, has told an audience of theological students that both intensely liberal and ultra conservative readings of the Bible are ‘rootless’ and are limited in what they can contribute to the life of the church. In the Larkin Stuart lecture, delivered today at an event hosted jointly by Wycliffe and Trinity theological colleges in Toronto, Dr Williams said that Christians need to reconnect with scripture as something to be listened to and heard in the context of Jesus’s invitation to the Eucharist and to work for the Kingdom.
The full text of the lecture is online here and here.
107 CommentsAnglican Journal (Canada) Williams will meet with U.S. bishops
Episcopal Life Online Archbishop of Canterbury announces plans to visit the Episcopal Church
Both of these report that the visit will take place during the regular autumn meeting of the US House of Bishops already scheduled to take place in New Orleans from 20 to 25 September.
Jonathan Petre in the Telegraph Williams to meet liberal bishops over gays
44 CommentsLambeth Palace has announced this evening that the Archbishop of Canterbury is to visit the US Episcopal Church in the autumn. The full text of the press release follows.
Archbishop to visit US Church
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has announced that he intends to visit the United States this autumn in response to the invitation from the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church.
Speaking in a press conference in Toronto, Dr Williams said he would undertake the visit together with members of the Standing Committee of the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council:
“I look forward to some sharing of our experiences as pastors as well as discussion of the business of the Communion. These are complicated days for our church internationally and its all the more important to keep up personal relationships and conversations. ….my aim is to try and keep people around the table for as long as possible on this, to understand one another, and to encourage local churches”.
69 CommentsVerbatim transcripts of the proceedings of the reent meeting of General Synod are starting to appear online here. So far transcripts of the first two days are available.
2 CommentsThis afternoon Synod moved onto a debate about Civil Partnerships and passed this motion.
That this Synod
(a) acknowledge the diversity of views within the Church of England on whether Parliament might better have addressed the injustices affecting persons of the same sex wishing to share a common life had it done so in a way that avoided creating a legal framework with many similarities to marriage; and
(b) note the intention of the House to keep their Pastoral Statement under review.
The final motion was very different from the original below proposed by the Revd Paul Perkin.
That this Synod, deeply concerned that
(a) in an understandable desire to remedy injustice and remove unjust discrimination, the Government’s Civil Partnership Act undermines the distinctiveness and fundamental importance to society of the relationship of marriage;
(b) the House of Bishops’ Pastoral Statement, while reiterating the Church’s basic teaching on marriage, has produced a recipe for confusion by not stating clearly that civil partnerships entered into under the CP Act would be inconsistent with Christian teaching;
(c) the House of Bishops’ Pastoral Statement has given to bishops the task of ensuring that clergy who enter into these partnerships adhere to church teaching in the area of sexuality without giving the bishops the clear means to do so; and
(d) by declaring that lay people who enter into such partnerships should not be asked about the nature of their relationship, in the context of preparation for baptism and confirmation, as well as for the purposes of receiving Holy Communion, the Bishops’ Pastoral Statement has compromised pastoral discipline at the local level:
declare its support for bishops, clergy and other ministers who continue to minister the godly discipline required by the scriptures and the canons and request the House of Bishops to set up a study of the ways in which that discipline is being applied and the implications thereof for future pastoral guidance and bring a report to Synod by the July 2007 Group of Sessions.
The House of Bishops were not happy with this and, on their behalf, the Bishop of Liverpool proposed this amendment.
Leave out all words after “this Synod” and insert the words:
(a) acknowledge the diversity of views within the Church of England on whether Parliament might better have addressed the injustices affecting persons of the same sex wishing to share a common life had it done so in a way that avoided creating a legal framework with many similarities to marriage;
(b) recognise the House of Bishops’ Pastoral Statement as a balanced and sensitive attempt faithfully to apply the Church’s teaching to civil partnerships; and
(c) note the intention of the House to keep the matter under review.”
Not wishing to accept the implied endorsement of the Bishops’ Pastoral Statement the Revd Paul Collier successful proposed the following amendment to the Bishop’s amendment..
Leave out paragraphs (b) and (c) and insert:
“(b) note the intention of the House to keep their Pastoral Statement under review.”
The Bishop’s amended amendment was then carried to produce the final version of the motion at the top.
There was another amendment to the Bishop’s amendment, but as it referred to a section of text removed by Paul Collier’s motion it lapsed. We give it below for the record.
In paragraph (b) after the words “civil partnerships” insert the words “, in the light of legal advice given to the House of Bishops, which this Synod urge the House to make available to it”.
The background papers to this debate are available online: GS Misc 843A from Paul Perkin and GS Misc 843B from the House of Bishops.
25 CommentsGeneral Synod discussed Lesbian and Gay Christians this morning and, on a show of hands, passed the following motion by a substantial majority.
That this Synod
(a) commend continuing efforts to prevent the diversity of opinion about human sexuality creating further division and impaired fellowship within the Church of England and the Anglican Communion;
(b) recognise that such efforts would not be advanced by doing anything that could be perceived as the Church of England qualifying its commitment to the entirety of the relevant Lambeth Conference Resolutions (1978:10; 1988:64; 1998:1.10);
(c) welcome the opportunities offered by these Lambeth Resolutions, including for the Church of England to engage in an open, full and Godly dialogue about human sexuality; and
(d) affirm that homosexual orientation in itself is no bar to a faithful Christian life or to full participation in lay and ordained ministry in the Church and acknowledge the importance of lesbian and gay members of the Church of England participating in the listening process as full members of the Church.
The motion started as this private motion proposed by the Revd Mary Gilbert.
That this Synod acknowledge the diversity of opinion about homosexuality within the Church of England and that these divergent opinions come from honest and legitimate attempts to read the scriptures with integrity, understand the nature of homosexual orientation, and respect the patterns of holy living to which lesbian and gay Christians aspire; and, bearing in mind this diversity,
(a) agree that a homosexual orientation in itself is no bar to a faithful Christian life;
(b) invite parish and cathedral congregations to welcome and affirm lesbian and gay Christians, lay and ordained, valuing their contribution at every level of the Church; and
(c) urge every parish to ensure a climate of sufficient acceptance and safety to enable the experience of lesbian and gay people to be heard, as successive Lambeth Conferences in 1978 (resolution 10), 1988 (resolution 64), and 1998 (resolution 1.10) have requested.
However the House of Bishops was not happy with this motion, so on their behalf the Bishop of Gloucester proposed the amendment below to completely reword the motion.
Leave out all words after “this Synod” and insert the words:
“(a) commend continuing efforts to prevent the diversity of opinion about human sexuality creating further division and impaired fellowship within the Church of England and the Anglican Communion;
(b) recognise that such efforts would not be advanced by doing anything that could be perceived as the Church of England qualifying its commitment to the entirety of the relevant Lambeth Conference Resolutions (1978:10; 1988:64; 1998:1.10); and
(c) affirm that homosexual orientation in itself is no bar to a faithful Christian life or to full participation in lay and ordained ministry in the Church.”.
But Mr John Ward thought this went too far so he proposed the amendment below to the Bishop’s amendment.
(i) After paragraph (b) insert as a new paragraph
(c) welcome the opportunities offered by these Lambeth Resolutions, including for the Church of England to engage in an open, full and Godly dialogue about human sexuality;
and re-letter the remaining paragraph accordingly; and
(ii) at the end of paragraph (d) as re-lettered insert the words “and acknowledge the importance of lesbian and gay members of the Church of England participating in the listening process as full members of the Church.”
Both the amendment and the amendment to the amendment were carried by Synod so that the final motion put to Synod was as shown at the top.
Immediately after the opening speech of the debate there were motions to move to next business and then to adjourn the debate but Synod wanted to proceed with the debate and defeated both these procedural motions.
There was another amendment, but it was heavily defeated. We give it below for the record.
At the end insert as a new paragraph:
(d) (or (e) as the case may be) in the light of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Presidential Address given on Monday 26th February 2007 ask the Mission and Public Affairs Council to research, prepare and publish missiological ideas for clergy and parishes seeking to share faith with and disciple those who are lesbian and gay.
The background papers to this debate are available online: GS Misc 842A from Mary Gilbert and GS Misc 842B from the House of Bishops.
22 CommentsThe questions to be answered at this month’s sessions of General Synod have been published. You can download them as an rtf file or read them online. They are scheduled to be answered as the last item of business on Monday 26 February 2007
We have already published the outline agenda, and links to other Synod papers.
0 CommentsStephen Bates in The Guardian Archbishop snubbed in gay bishop row
Jonathan Petre in The Telegraph Dr Williams will find little comfort
Telegraph leader Divided communion
Sharon LaFraniere and Laurie Goodstein in The New York Times Anglican Prelates Snub Head of U.S. Church Over Gay Issues
Changing Attitude Day 5 report from Colin Coward.
Scott Gunn blogs A quiet day here in Dar
Reuters South Africa has Anglican preacher undeterred by anti-gay hostility
ACNS Primates Meeting – Press briefing on 16 Feb 2007
Anglican TV has posted a video of yesterday’s press conference
Giles Fraser in today’s Face to Faith column in The Guardian Fissiparous evangelical Christians are now being reunited by hatred (probably written a few days ago)
IPP Media Anglican primates visiting Zanzibar tomorrow
28 CommentsOn Thursday 1 March General Synod will debate a diocesan synod motion from Lichfield on Media Standards. There are two background papers, one from the diocese and one from the Archbishops’ Council Communications Office.
The motion from the diocese is:
‘That this Synod ask Her Majesty’s Government to undertake an enquiry to examine the notion that standards of human behaviour are being fatally eroded by constant subjection to suggestions and images via the media promoting the exploitation of other human beings.’
The Bishop of Manchester (the Right Revd Nigel McCulloch) has already submitted this amendment:
‘Leave out all words after “this Synod” and insert the words:
“(a) welcome the media’s contribution to an open and informed society, significantly influencing people’s awareness of themselves, each other and the world;
(b) affirm the Church’s support for the highest media standards and express its concerns at the current tendency to exploit the humiliation of human beings for public entertainment;
(c) call on individual Christians to contribute positively to the debate about standards in the media; and
(d) call on Her Majesty’s Government to note this Synod’s concerns.”.’
The Bishop is chair of the Sandford St Martin Trust and of the General Synod Religion in Broadcasting Group.
3 CommentsThe Church of England held its press briefing for this month’s General Synod yesterday. Synod will be meeting in the newly refurbished Assembly Hall, at Church House, Westminster, from February 26 to March 1. There are a few press reports this morning.
Stephen Bates in The Guardian Church of England to debate tighter controls on pornographic material
Ruth Gledhill in The Times Send for missionaries to halt church decline, bishops told
Manchester Evening News Church may debate BB racist bullying claims
The CofE’s own news item on the Synod agenda is here and is headlined “Key debates on Trident, criminal justice, schools, the media, issues in human sexuality, clergy pensions, clergy terms of service, marriage law and other legislative proposals on Synod”.
Our list of online papers is here and the CofE’s is here.
Tuesday afternoon update
Ekklesia Prisons and opposition to Trident replacement on C of E agenda
Papers for this month’s sessions of the General Synod of the Church of England are starting to appear online and are listed below. The list will be updated as more papers become available.
Last updated: Thursday afternoon
Agenda
outline agenda
Monday 26 February
Tuesday 27 February
Wednesday 28 February
Thursday 1 March
Agenda for Legislative Business
Papers
(with the days on which they are scheduled to be debated or otherwise considered. Business may be rescheduled, particularly legislation, marked #.)
GS 1597B Draft Dioceses, Pastoral and Mission Measure Part I (pages 1 to 15); Part II (pages 16 to 30); Part III (pages 31 to 45); Part IV (pages 46 to 62) (Tuesday#)
GS 1598B Draft Amending Canon No 27 (Tuesday#)
GS 1599B Draft Vacancy in See Committees (Amendment) Regulation 200- (Tuesday#)
GS 1597-9Z Report by the Steering Committee (Tuesday#)
GS 1616A Draft Church of England Marriage Measure (Tuesday#)
GS 1616Y Report by the Revision Committee (Tuesday#)
GS 1635 Report by the Business Committee (Monday)
GS 1636 Electronic Voting: Report by the Business Committee (Wednesday)
GS 1637 Draft Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure (Tuesday#)
GS 1638 Draft Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Regulations (Tuesday#)
GS 1639 Draft Amending Canon No 29 (Tuesday#)
GS 1637-9X Report and Explanantory Memorandum (Tuesday#)
GS 1640 Resolution under Paragraph 17 of the Schedule to the Church Funds Investment Measure 1958 confirming the appointment of a successor body corporate to act in place of the Central Board of Finance of the Church of England (Wednesday#)
GS 1641 The Draft National Institutions of the Church of England (Transfer of Functions) Order 2007 (Wednesday#)
GS 1641X Explanatory Memorandum (Wednesday#)
GS 1642 Draft Amending Canon No 28 (Thursday#)
GS 1642X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1643 Parsonages Measure (Amendment) Rules 2007 (Thursday#)
GS 1643X Explanatory Memorandum (Thursday#)
GS 1644 The Future of Trident: Report from the Mission and Public Affairs Council (Monday)
GS 1645 The Future of Clergy Pensions: Report from the Archbishops’ Council (Tuesday)
GS 1646 Achieving the First Two Hundred Years: Report by the Board of Education (including the Dearing Report: Five Years On) (Wednesday)
GS 1647 Taking Responsibility for Crime: Report from the Mission and Public Affairs Council (Thursday)
GS 1648 Fresh Expressions (Tuesday)
GS Misc 842A Lesbian and Gay Christians Background Note from the Reverend Mary Gilbert (Wednesday)
GS Misc 842B Lesbian and Gay Christians Background Note from the House of Bishops (Wednesday)
GS Misc 843A Civil Partnerships Background Paper for General Synod debate on Civil Partnerships proposed by Paul Perkin (Wednesday)
GS Misc 843B Civil Partnerships Background Note from the House of Bishops (Wednesday)
GS Misc 844A Media Standards: Their Effect on Individuals and Society A background paper from the Diocese of Lichfield (Thursday)
GS Misc 844B Media Standards: Their Effect on Individuals and Society Paper prepared by the Archbishops’ Council Communications Office (Thursday)
The Church of England has been reviewing the conditions of service of its clergy. General Synod has received and debated two reports and an implementation group has been set up to put the reports’ proposals into effect. This will involve legislation and a draft measure will be introduced when General Synod meets at the end of this month. This is scheduled for debate on Tuesday 27 February.
The Church of England has added a section to its website about the legislation: The Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Legislation. As well as links to the two reports and other material there is a very useful set of frequently asked questions which are well worth reading.
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