Updated Saturday evening
According to Anglican Mainstream:
15 CommentsWe are encouraged by the number of Church of England Bishops who have indicated their attendance.
These include:
Bishop Michael Langrish, Exeter
Bishop David Urquhart, Birmingham
Bishop Michael Nazir Ali, Rochester
Bishop John Hind, Chichester
Bishop Wallace Benn, Lewes
Bishop Colin Fletcher, Dorchester
Bishop Keith Sinclair, Birkenhead
Bishop John Broadhurst, Fulham
Bishop Andrew Burnham, Ebbsfleet
Bishop Keith Newton, Richborough
Bishop John Ball (Retd – Assistant in Chelmsford)
Bishop Colin Bazley (Retd – Assistant in Chester)
Bishop John Ellison (Retd – Assistant in Winchester)
Bishop Maurice Sinclair (Retd – Assistant in Birmingham)Bishop Peter Forster of Chester, the Bishop-elect [sic] of Southwell and Nottingham, Paul Butler, and Bishop Michael Scott-Joynt of Winchester have sent public messages of support.
Updated Friday evening
Pat Ashworth in the Church Times has a comprehensive report of events leading up to Monday’s UK launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), including new shenanigans in the Diocese of Southwark.
Read Fellowship leaders take flak in run-up to London launch.
Some related items:
Friday evening update
The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Bishop David Chillingworth has been interviewed by Mad Priest, who describes him as “quite intelligent for a bishop”.
Judge for yourself by reading the interview in full here.
Bishop David’s own blog is here.
4 CommentsDave Walker has collected some weird items in a posting at the Church Times blog titled The Church Society on ‘strange vestments and ceremonies’.
And something even weirder crops up in an article for the Washington Times by Julia Duin titled New Anglicans split on women.
22 CommentsI queried retired Eau Claire, Wis., Bishop William Wantland, an old friend and an ardent opponent of ordaining women. He reminded me that 22 of the ACNA’s 28 dioceses do not allow female priests. It’s a system known as “dual integrity,” dioceses that differ on a question where Scripture can be read both ways agree to respect and live with each other’s views.
I asked him if he wanted the ACNA to eventually outlaw ordaining women entirely.
“Of course. That’s our mission,” he said. “Christ is the bridegroom and the church is the bride. The priest at the altar is an icon of Christ. What image is that if the person at the altar is a woman? It’s a lesbian relationship.”
ENS has this report:
Private meeting with Williams at convention will address sexuality, ministry
10 CommentsEight members of the Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies are scheduled meet privately with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams at General Convention in a session that is intended in part to address lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues in the church.
General Convention meets July 8-17 in Anaheim, California, and Williams will be present July 7-9.
The session is not an official convention meeting and thus there has been no announcement of the plans. However, when contacted by Episcopal News Service, the Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe of the Diocese of California confirmed the details.
Barlowe said that he and the other deputies understood the meeting was to be brief and private, but that it was not a secret…
Lisa Fox has published all but two of the names of the group studying same-sex relationships. For background here is the early June report.
See The Formerly Secret Panel (go to original source for live links)
So here are eight of the ten theologians serving on the panel to study same-sex relationships.
Co-facilitators:
* The Rt. Rev. Joe G. Burnett, Bishop of Nebraska (webpage here)
* Ellen Charry, Princeton Theological Seminary (webpage here)Members:
* Deirdre J. Good, General Theological Seminary (webpage here)
* Willis Jenkins, Yale Divinity School (webpage here)
* The Rev. Grant LeMarquand, Trinity School for Ministry (webpage here)
* Eugene Rogers, University of North Carolina, Greensboro (webpage here)
* The Rev. George Sumner, Wycliffe College, Toronto (webpage here)
* The Rev. Daniel A. Westberg of Nashotah House (webpage here; see page 3 of the newsletter)
The Chicago Consultation has issued this press release:
6 CommentsCHICAGO, July 1, 2009—Ruth Meyers, Hodges Haynes Professor of Liturgics at Church Divinity School of the Pacific, General Convention deputy from the Diocese of Chicago, and co-convener of the Chicago Consultation, responded to the news that the names of most members of the House of Bishops Theology Committee panel on same-sex blessings have been made public:
“Continued scholarly work, done with particular attention to the work of the Holy Spirit in committed, life-long, monogamous unions of faithful gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Episcopalians, can liberate the church to discern more fully the work of the Spirit in all life-long unions of fidelity and mutual love. We wish this panel well, and we call upon General Convention to enrich its theological work by establishing a common rite for the blessing of unions across the Episcopal Church.”
“We commit to praying for each of these theologians and their co-chairs by name, and we hope that the remaining two members of the panel will choose to come forward publicly so that we may begin General Convention next week with the spirit of openness and transparency that characterizes our polity and our common life…”
The Church of England has published a press release Update published on Clergy Pensions Scheme.
The Church of England has today published a second and more detailed report on the impact of the credit crunch and recession on the financial position of the Funded Clergy Pension Scheme. The report puts forward various options relating to the future of the scheme.
The last actuarial valuation of the scheme, carried out as at 31 December 2006, revealed a deficit of £141m. This is currently being eliminated by way of extra contributions paid by the ‘employers’ participating in the scheme, in addition to the contributions required to pay for future benefits. Some modifications were also made to the scheme in 2007 to help contain costs…
…The conclusion reached is that further changes to the scheme will be necessary to return it to affordability, and the report sets out a number of proposals for achieving this which include limiting the annual increase in the pensionable stipend, moving for future service the accrual period for a full pension from 40 to 43 years, changing the pension age from 65 to 68 and contracting back into the Second State Pension. The report also sets out options for the future structure of the scheme including retaining the existing defined benefit arrangement, moving onto a defined contribution basis and introducing a hybrid arrangement…
The 23-page detailed report is published as a .doc file.
There will be a presentation about this report at the July General Synod, but not a formal debate. The press release explains:
The report has been issued to all the organisations participating in the scheme, including the 44 diocesan boards of finance, and responses are due by the end of October. The Task Group will then make its final recommendations to the Archbishops’ Council which will decide what proposals should be put to the General Synod which must ultimately approve any changes to the scheme rules.
The 2 page Summary section of the report is reproduced below the fold.
7 CommentsBishop Jack Iker has today issued a Memo to All Diocesan Clergy.
In recent days I understand that all of you have received two threatening letters from representatives of the rump diocese. The first is a letter from The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick, Jr., the Bishop of Kentucky, in a capacity he claims as the “Provisional Bishop” of the rump diocese, threatening to inhibit and then depose you if you do not recognize his authority over you as your bishop. The second is a letter from Jonathan Nelson, legal counsel for the Gulick-led group, addressed to our vestries, treasurers, and finance committee members, as well as to all our vicars and rectors. It too is meant to intimidate and control us. It is the preliminary notification that will lead to additional lawsuits to be brought against us by The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA). Both of these letters are now in the hands of our attorneys, and they will be responding on our behalf. There is nothing you need to do at this point in time. We are no longer members of PECUSA and are not subject to their discipline. It is indeed regrettable that they find it necessary to engage in such harsh, uncharitable tactics, rather than enter into negotiation…
The documents to which this responds are appended as PDF files:
Letter to clergy
Letter to churches
They were reported on by the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth in this news release, dated 29 May.
And there are two further documents published today by Bishop Iker:
Litigation Perspective
Archbishop Venables writes to the diocesan clergy
Earlier in the month, the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth had issued this formal response to a document filed in court on 8 May by the lawyers for Bishop Iker.
Read about it at The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth files response to motion to dismiss suit to recover property and assets of the Episcopal Church.
14 CommentsEpiscopal Café has published two important articles relating to The Episcopal Church. Only the first one is, at present, scheduled for discussion at the triennal General Convention which starts on 8 July.
GC and B033: a preview and an analysis by Jim Naughton explains what may happen in relation to the moratorium in TEC on consecrating bishops who are in same-sex relationships.
Nick Knisely in Report on communing the unbaptized released introduces the text of a report from the House of Bishops Theology Committee entitled REFLECTIONS ON HOLY BAPTISM AND THE HOLY EUCHARIST.
13 CommentsHere is what Bishop Paul Richardson, Assistant Bishop of Newcastle, wrote in the Sunday Telegraph:
Britain is no longer a Christian nation
…The church is being hit by a double whammy: on the one hand it confronts the challenge of institutional decline but on the other hand it has to face the rise of cultural and religious pluralism in Britain.
How it responds to the second challenge will be crucial in determining whether it will be able to survive as a viable organisation and make a contribution to national life.
At present church leaders show little signs of understanding the situation. They don’t understand the culture we now live in.
Many bishops prefer to turn their heads, to carry on as if nothing has changed, rather than face the reality that Britain is no longer a Christian nation.
Many of them think that we are still living in the 1950s – a period described by historians as representing a hey day for the established church…
On the other hand Bishop Jonathan Gledhill, diocesan Bishop of Lichfield, just said this:
“Occasional church attendees are not hypocrites” – bishop
7 Comments…the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill, accused ‘the metropolitan pundits in the broad sheets who constantly sneer at organized religion’ as being ‘out of touch with the deep spiritual desires of most people in our nation.’ And he said the demise of services such as Matins in favour of services of Holy Communion risked turning some churches into an ‘exclusive sect’…
In a press release headed CANA Celebrates Launch of New Anglican Province, Bishop Martyn Minns is quoted as follows:
“…Since day one, CANA has been and will continue to be a full participant in the life of the new province, and will continue to maintain our own identity. We will encourage groups of congregations, when they are ready, to establish themselves as free-standing dioceses. Our goal is to support the work, mission, and ministry of the Gospel on this continent and bring our own particular distinctive to that task.
“CANA congregations now have a ‘dual citizenship.’ They are members of the Church in Nigeria and as a result of that relationship, full members of the global Anglican Communion. CANA congregations are also members of the Anglican Church in North America and will participate fully in the life of the new province.
“CANA is unique in its connection to the largest province in the Anglican Communion, the Church of Nigeria, which represents about 25 percent of the entire population of the Communion. CANA also has a distinct connection with the GAFCON and Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans movement, and with the Global South. We have a radical commitment to ministry of the poor which crosses all ethnic lines, to planting new churches, equipping the next generation for leadership in the church, and educating the church about how to engage with a resurgent Islam in North America….”
And there is also a Q&A with Bishop Minns on the Inauguration of the Anglican Church in North America which goes into greater detail about how this will work.
This seems rather different to what the Church of Uganda recently said:
6 CommentsLikewise, the Bishops resolved to release, effective immediately, the Bishops, clergy and churches in America under its ecclesiastical oversight and to transfer them to the Anglican Church in North America. The House of Bishops further resolved to continue its partnership and friendship with them in mission and ministry, extends its hand of fellowship, and wishes them well.
Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said, “This really is the moment we have been waiting for. We have been longing to be able to repatriate our clergy and congregations to a Biblical and viable ecclesiastical structure in North America, and that day has now come. To God be the glory.”
Updated Tuesday morning
The following letter has been published in the Telegraph newspaper:
Sir
Three years ago a move to legalise physician assisted suicide, by way of a Private Members Bill, was defeated in the House of Lords. The debate on the Bill was heated and impassioned. It was also, by and large, respectful and serious.
Shortly before the Bill was debated in Parliament, the Royal College of Physicians asked its member doctors if they thought the law needed changing – and over 70% of those responding said the law against assisted suicide should stay the same. The Royal College of General Practitioners also urged that the law should stay the same.
Now, by way of an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill, the legality of assisting people to end their own lives is once again to be debated. The proposed amendment seeks to protect from prosecution those who help friends or relatives to go abroad to commit suicide in one of the few countries where the practice is legal.
It would surely put vulnerable people at serious risk, especially sick people who are anxious about the burden their illness may be placing on others. Moreover, our hospice movement, an almost unique gift of this country to wider humankind, is the profound and tangible sign of another and better way to cope with the challenges faced by those who are terminally ill, by their loved ones and by those who care for them.
This amendment would mark a shift in British law towards legalising euthanasia. We do not believe that such a fundamental change in the law should be sought by way of an amendment to an already complex Bill. It should be rejected.
The Most Reverend and Rt Hon Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
Sir Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
And that’s not all, Martin Beckford of the Telegraph reports: Senior legal figures join in opposition to ‘euthanasia law’ proposals.
Tuesday update
The Church of England has published Protecting Life – opposing Assisted Suicide.
47 CommentsThe Church of England is opposed to any change in the law, or medical practice, to make assisted suicide permissible or acceptable.
Suffering, the Church maintains, must be met with compassion, commitment to high-quality services and effective medication; meeting it by assisted suicide is merely removing it in the crudest way possible.
In its March 2009 paper Assisted Dying/Suicide and Voluntary Euthanasia, the Church acknowledges the complexity of the issues: the compassion that motivates those who seek change equally motivates the Church’s opposition to change…
Reports on St Michael’s College, Llandaff, and on St Mellitus College, London, and Chelmsford & London Reader training, can be found via this link.
The Church in Wales had a press release.
3 CommentsThe Times reports today on a new survey of public attitudes in Britain to homosexuality.
See Church ‘out of touch’ as public supports equal rights for homosexuals.
And also Sizeable minority remains hostile to same-sex relationships.
A PDF file containing some of the survey statistics is here.
Update
Ruth Gledhill comments on this in Church ‘out of touch’ on gays, says Times poll.
Jonathan Sacks writes in The Times that Without a shared moral code there can be no freedom in our society.
Robin Gill wrote in last week’s Church Times about Synthetics — the new moral playing-field.
This week, Giles Fraser writes about a white-water ride of old atheism.
Over at the Guardian Christine Allen writes about the Catholic Church and social justice.
At Cif belief Afua Hirsch wrote about The boundaries between race and faith. For the background, see this news report.
And Antony Lerman asks What can religion offer politics?
8 CommentsThe House of Commons committee stage continues, you can read the transcripts of all the sessions via this page, or via this page.
The discussion of Clause 12 can be found here.
The discussion on Schedule 9 starts here. See below the fold for an extract.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights also held a hearing on Wednesday. Read the written answers from the Solicitor General to the questions posed in advance by the committee in this PDF file. Several of the questions relate to Schedule 9. One in particular is of interest:
0 Comments37. Does the Government consider that the provisions of Paragraph 3 of Schedule 9 will permit employers in certain circumstances to make adherence by employees to religious doctrine in their lifestyles and personal relationships a genuine occupational requirement for a particular post?
Paragraph 3 of Schedule 9 permits organisations with an ethos based on religion or belief to require an employee to be of a particular religion or belief. The organisation must show that being of that religion or belief is a requirement for the work, taking into account both the nature or context of it and the ethos of the organisation – the requirement must not be a sham or pretext.
It is very difficult to see how in practice beliefs in lifestyles or personal relationships could constitute a religious belief which is a requirement for a job, other than for ministers of religion (and this is covered in paragraph 2 of Schedule 9). It is perhaps worth noting, however, that if an employee has been employed on the basis of an occupational requirement to be of a particular religion or belief and the employee can no longer be considered to be of that religion or belief e.g. an employee who has lost faith, then the employer would be able to terminate employment as the employee would no longer meet the occupational requirement.Is the position different if a religious organisation is wholly or mainly delivering public functions?
No.
There is now a section of the Church of England website that contains information on the current procedures for the selection of diocesan bishops, suffragan bishops, deans, archdeacons, and residentiary canons.
See Senior Appointments, and follow the links from there for
Diocesan bishops
Suffragan bishops
Deans
Archdeacons
Residentiary Canons
The front page says:
The aim of the attached guidelines is to ensure that the process of discernment is underpinned by a selection framework which incorporates best practice methods and aspirations. The documents set out common national standards and, as with any such document, there may be cases where the detail of provisions might need to be varied according to local circumstances. They are designed to make recruitment as transparent, fair and consistent as possible as well as open to the Holy Spirit. The structure they provide should assist all involved in appointments in making more informed decisions. Candidates who are being considered for senior office are engaged in the deeply personal experience of examining their own calling whilst having it tested by the Church. It is hoped that these guidelines will also provide the support and clarity they need.
These guidelines replace the Senior Church Appointments Code of Practice (GS Misc 455, 1995). They are based on the report Talent and Calling (GS1650, 2007), which recommended that:
‘The Church adopts an integrated and consistent method for making of appointments to senior ecclesiastical office and that all appointments are transparent and encourage the confidence of the Church in the procedures’.
The availability of these documents was announced to Parliament on 23 June, see this statement by the Second Church Estates Commissioner.
3 CommentsUpdated Friday morning
The Church of Uganda has issued this statement:
Church of Uganda Declares itself in Full Communion with Anglican Church in North America
The House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda, in its regularly scheduled meeting on 23rd June 2009, made several resolutions concerning the state of the Anglican Communion and the future of global Anglicanism.
…Finally, concerning the formation of the Anglican Church in North America, the House of Bishops resolved that it warmly supports the creation of the new Province in North America, the Anglican Church in North America, recognizes Bishop Bob Duncan as its new Archbishop, and declares that it is in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America.
Likewise, the Bishops resolved to release, effective immediately, the Bishops, clergy and churches in America under its ecclesiastical oversight and to transfer them to the Anglican Church in North America. The House of Bishops further resolved to continue its partnership and friendship with them in mission and ministry, extends its hand of fellowship, and wishes them well…
Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh has issued this statement:
ACNA Faces Difficult, Divisive Future
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — June 25, 2009 — The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) faces a difficult and uncertain future. The new “Anglican” denomination formed this week in Bedford, Texas, that elected Robert W. Duncan, deposed Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh, as its archbishop, seems more likely to fracture the Anglican Communion permanently than to strengthen or “reform” it.
ACNA faces the difficult task of embracing diversity while adhering to the restrictive polity, theology, and membership set out in the Global Anglican Future Conference’s Jerusalem Declaration. The disparate groups that met in Texas have in common a desire to be a part of the Anglican Communion, a disdain for The Episcopal Church and for the Anglican Church of Canada, and a passionate desire to believe as they think their forebears have always believed. Future conflicts over polity, power, and theology appear inevitable…
Friday morning update
ENS has a report North American Anglican group holds inaugural gathering and another one UGANDA: Bishops declare full communion with Anglican Church in North America.
The Church Times has this: North American Anglicans hold inaugural gathering.
10 CommentsUpdated Thursday evening
There have been many reports from the meeting being held in Bedford, Texas.
Official reports can be found at http://acnaassembly.org.
Some media reports:
USA Today U.S. Anglican Church launches, will ban female, gay bishops.
Religious Intelligence George Conger New US Province is formed.
Living Church OCA To End Relations with TEC, Forge Ties to ACNA and OCA Synod ‘Enthusiastic’ About Dialogue with ACNA.
Also there is ACNA Adds Five Bishops. But also at Religion News Service there is Running the number on ACNA:
But what about those 100,000 members that ACNA claims? Shortly after it launched last February, the group actually lowered that number to 81,311 people in the pews every Sunday. In June, ACNA lowered that number again to 69,197.
For some context, the Episcopal diocese with the largest average Sunday attendance in 2007 was Virginia, with 25,300.
It’s not unusual for membership numbers to be much higher than average Sunday attendance. But that usually happens in large, longstanding churches, like the Episcopal Church, which may have people on the membership rolls who stopped attending church long ago, or who are Easter-Christmas attenders only. One would assume that in a new church committed to orthodoxy, the gap between average Sunday attendance and membership would be quite a bit smaller.
Speaking of leavers, this site reported (emphasis added):
Rumors abound that Ft. Worth Bishop Jack Leo Iker’s long term goal is to take his diocese to Rome. Not true. Numerous sources have told VOL that he is deeply committed to the new North American Anglican Province and he will work with his fellow bishops over the thorny issue of women’s ordination.
A number of his Ft. Worth priests were recently seen at the Anglican Use conference in Houston. He has told them that if they want to go to Rome, they can do so, but they can’t take their property with them.
Thursday evening update
Colin Coward has helpfully summarised the support for ACNA that can be found in England, see Why are Church of England bishops betraying the Communion?
…On behalf of the Church of England Evangelical Council, Bishop Wallace Benn of Lewes and Archdeacon Michael Lawson sent greetings and expressed delight to be in full communion with the dissident Province. On behalf of Anglican Mainstream Canon Chris Sugden (who is present at the meeting) and Philip Giddings sent very warm greetings, rejoicing at this very significant stage of development and expressing their fellowship and communion in the Lord with the dissident body. Philip Giddings is Vice Chair (House of Laity) of the General Synod of the Church of England.
A report posted by Anglican Mainstream says that Archbishop Bob Duncan informed the assembly on Tuesday that greetings had been received from the Bishops of Rochester , Winchester, Chester and Chichester. The Bishop of Rochester is speaking at a meeting on Sunday 5th July in support of the launch of FoCA.
The bishops of Lewes, Rochester, Winchester, Chester and Chichester and the Lay Chair of General Synod are all supporting a dissident, ultra-conservative, reactionary movement which aims to destroy and replace the Anglican Communion as at present constituted.
The plan doesn’t end with replacing Provinces in North America. The FoCA launch on the 6th July is the first step in a movement to replace the four UK Anglican Provinces. The only names missing from this list of usual suspects are the bishops of Blackburn and Exeter who signed a letter of support for Bishop Bob Duncan last year…
TA Note: The Bishop of Rochester has formally resigned his see effective from 1 September 2009 although he has already ceased public engagements in the diocese.
There is a long article by Ann Rodgers profiling the new Archbishop of ACNA and the history behind ACNA in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette headlined Bishop Robert Duncan is trading sacred places.
It includes this quote from one of the Episcopal Church’s most respected retired clergy, a former President of the House of Deputies of General Convention:
But a retired Pittsburgh cathedral dean said Bishop Duncan followed his own agenda. “The only program he has kept to totally for the past 11 years has been developing this parallel universe and his position in it,” said the Rev. George Werner.
An earlier NPR report Conservatives Push For Rival U.S. Anglican Church included this quote from Susan Russell:
“It would be as if Sarah Palin were to take a small, but vocal, percentage of very conservative Republicans and decide that they were going to create a parallel United States without having the White House at the center,” Russell says.
and this from George Pitcher:
41 CommentsGeorge Pitcher, an Anglican priest at St. Bride’s Anglican Church in London and religion editor at the Daily Telegraph, agrees. He says the communion welcomes conservative views.
But, he says, “when they want to say this is the one true way, and we want to impose it on all Anglicans, then it’s at that stage that the broadly tolerant Anglican Communion says, ‘Well that’s not the way we do things.’ ”
George Pitcher wrote in the Telegraph that A good claret, Bishop, is a menace to no one.
Last week, in the Church Times Colin Buchanan wrote that The time is up for first past the post.
Paul Vallely also wrote about the recent election, see Not thugs so much as alienated.
This week, Giles Fraser writes that Art should point further than cash.
Theo Hobson at Cif belief wrote that We must separate church and state.
In answer to the question Can religion save the world? Parna Taylor writes that Religious literacy matters.
Nick Jowett writes in The Times that Great music can unite the sacred and the secular.
13 Comments