Updated Sunday morning
The Convention of the Diocese of Fort Worth is due to hold a special meeting tomorrow.
The Presiding Bishop will attend tomorrow, and will preside and preach at the eucharist preceding the meeting, and again on Sunday morning. The meeting will elect a provisional bishop to replace Bishop Jack Iker.
The recommended candidate is Rt. Rev. Edwin F. “Ted” Gulick Jr., Bishop of Kentucky.
Earlier this week Bishop Jack Iker announced that he was relinquishing all claims on four of the parishes of the diocese. See this press release, Diocese Releases Four Parishes, and the associated supporting documents. See also this press release from The Steering Committee North Texas Episcopalians about it. There are several more parishes not affiliated with Bishop Iker.
The Dallas Morning News carried this front page report today: Episcopal divide in Fort Worth still wide open by Sam Hodges.
Sunday morning update
ENS reports: FORT WORTH: Gulick unanimously elected provisional bishop.
A pastoral letter from Bishop Gulick can be found here (PDF).
Local newspaper reports:
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Fort Worth-area Episcopalians elect provisional bishop and Reorganized Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth elects a new bishop.
Dallas Morning News Fort Worth congregations loyal to Episcopal Church reorganize.
Meanwhile, Bishop Iker announced 23 Clergy Released from Canonical Residency.
Katie Sherrod writes about it here.
6 CommentsIt’s not only Americans who don’t believe in evolution. Pat Ashworth writes in the Church Times about recent research on this. Rescue Darwin rows from extremes, says theology think tank.
ONLY 37 per cent of people in the UK believe that Darwin’s theory of evolution is “beyond reasonable doubt”, research by Theos, a public- theology think tank, suggests.
Of those questioned, 32 per cent think that Young Earth Creationism (YEC — “the belief that God created the world some time in the past 10,000 years”) is either “definitely or probably true”, and 51 per cent say the same of Intelligent Design (which Theos defines as “The idea that evolution alone is not enough to explain the complex structures of some living things, so the intervention of a designer is needed at key stages”). The report describes the term Intelligent Design (ID) as “slippery”.
The fact that these figures do not add up shows how confused and often contradictory the population is in its opinions, say the authors of the report Rescuing Darwin, Nick Spencer, director of studies at Theos, and Denis Alexander, director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion. They describe it as “a sorry state of affairs”, in an age when the theory is now incontestable in scientific circles and when advances in genetics have strengthened it.
Theos has published a press release, Half of Britons sceptical about evolution, and the report Rescuing Darwin is available as a PDF, and the research tables are available as another PDF here. From the press release:
Only half of the UK population consistently choose evolution over creationism or Intelligent Design, according to a major report published today by Theos.
The report, entitled Rescuing Darwin, published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth (February 12), draws on extensive new research conducted by the polling agency, ComRes (see tables below).
It reveals that only 25% of British adults think that evolution is “definitely true”, with another quarter thinking it is “probably true”.
The remaining 50% are either strongly opposed or simply confused about the issue. Around 10% of people consistently choose (Young Earth) Creationism (the belief that God created the world some time in the last 10,000 years) over evolution, and about 12% consistently prefer Intelligent Design or “ID” (the idea that evolution alone is not enough to explain the complex structures of some living things). The remainder of the population, over 25%, are unsure and often mix evolution, ID and creationism together…
Whatever the exact numbers are, it seems pretty clear that most of the people in the UK who are “sceptical about evolution” are not active religious believers.
14 CommentsUpdated again Sunday afternoon
The meeting is now finished, but the reports continue. Earlier reports can be found here and the text of communiqués here.
Pat Ashworth Church Times Primates agree: hold the moratoriums while we talk further (this is not in the paper edition)
Living Church George Conger Conservative Bishops Laud Outcome of Meeting, Archbishop’s Leadership
Martin Beckford Telegraph Anglican church leaders to bring in ‘relationship counsellors’ over sexuality dispute
Colin Coward Changing Attitude Primates meeting – Schism or division? – and refugees
ANiC Anglican Network in Canada responds to Primates’ Communique
Integrity Integrity Responds to Primates’ Communique
Guardian (Nigeria) Anglican primates call for Mugabe’s resignation
Update 13.30 GMT Friday
George Conger Religious Intelligence Anglican Primates agree mediation programme
Update 18.00 GMT Friday
Episcopal Café has further comment, see Conservatives playing possum?
This links to the statement issued by the Chicago Consultation Chicago Consultation Rejects False Choice.
Update 23.00 GMT Friday
Statement of Bishop Robert Duncan on the Alexandria Primates Meeting
Update 0900 GMT Sunday
ENS has a comprehensive roundup of American responses to the primates meeting, in Primates’ communiqué, Windsor report draw praise, criticism. This includes:
The leader of the effort to form a new Anglican entity in North America said February 6, through a spokesman, that he is “certainly open to mediated conversations” called for by the primates of the Anglican Communion, but added that his organization “will need to see what exactly is being proposed and what ground rules can be agreed on before committing further.”
The Rev. Peter Frank said he was authorized to speak on behalf of Robert Duncan, the deposed bishop of Pittsburgh who led the majority of that diocese’s members and leadership out of the Episcopal Church. Duncan is one of a number of individuals and groups who have responded to the primates’ communiqué and an accompanying report from the Windsor Continuation Group issued February 5.
As the ENS report notes later on,
Duncan made no mention of the primates’ call for mediated talks in his official statement responding to the February 5 communiqué issued after the leaders or primates of the Anglican Communion’s 38 provinces ended their five day meeting in Alexandria, Egypt. Instead, in that statement, he portrayed the members of the proposed new “Anglican Church in North America” as people “who are attempting to remain faithful amidst vast pressures to acquiesce to beliefs and practices far outside of the Christian and Anglican mainstream.”
The roundup does not include:
Anglican Journal Marites N. Sison Hiltz welcomes proposed ‘mediated conversation’.
And there is another post from Colin Coward at Changing Attitude Moratoria – who agrees with all three?
Update 1700 GMT Sunday
In a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Ann Rogers Factions encouraged by Anglican leaders’ statement:
9 CommentsThe Rev. James Simons, chairman of the standing committee that governs the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, also was pleased with the statement. But he focused on a footnote that says talks with Bishop Duncan’s proposed province would require a commitment “that they would not seek to recruit and expand their membership by means of proselytization.”
“They specifically ask this new group to stop doing what it is doing so that they can enter into negotiations,” the Rev. Simons said.
“I would take that to mean that the [other] diocese would stop actively recruiting parishes and individuals to join the realignment.”
Deacon Peter Frank, spokesman for the Anglican diocese, said the diocese was not yet sure how to interpret the injunction against “proselytization.”
“We are going to have to see what the intent of the primates is and what they believe they were saying in that. Our main concern is for the tens of thousands of people that are already outside of the Episcopal Church. We are bringing those people together,” he said.
Continued from here.
Paul Feheley Anglican Church of Canada A study in contrasts
Colin Coward Changing Attitude Primates meeting Day 5 – Are Primatial attitudes changing? and Primates meeting Day 6 – Deeper Communion; Gracious Restraint
ENS has Bulletin: Primates support ‘pastoral visitors’ to assist in healing Anglican divisions.
Episcopal Café has its first comments on the communiques here. And its first comments on the WCG report are over here.
Christopher Landau of the BBC has Split Anglicans call in mediators.
Reuters Anglicans remain split on gay issues at meeting
Marites N. Sison Anglican Journal No consensus on separate North American Anglican province
George Conger Living Church Communion ‘Deeply Divided’ But No Schism, Archbishop Williams Says and earlier, Primates Focus on Conflicts and Crisis
Rachel Zoll Associated Press Anglicans seek extended moratorium on gay bishops
ACNS has now released the audio recording of today’s press conference, and it can be found at Primates Press Briefing 5th February 2009. The text summarising the briefing is reproduced below the fold.
Matthew Davies ENS Primates support ‘pastoral visitors’ to assist in healing Anglican divisions
CANA has issued a statement, CANA Responds to Primates’ Communiqué.
Daniel Burke of Religion News Service has written Anglican Leaders Take Dim View of Rival U.S. Church. It includes these quotes:
…The Rev. Peter Frank, a spokesman for ACNA, said he would take a wait-and-see approach to the primates’ statement, which also calls for a “provisional holding arrangement” for the new church.
“There are no real surprises here,” Frank said. “We’re waiting for words to move into action before we judge.”
Added ACNA Bishop Martyn Minns, “We didn’t go into this meeting expecting to get permission. We basically went in and said `We’re here’ and, in my mind, they acknowledged that.”
Ruth Gledhill Archbishop plans ‘mediated talks’ with conservatives
8 CommentsUpdated Sunday afternoon
The Primates of the Anglican Communion, meeting in Alexandria, Egypt, have issued no less than three communiqués, in addition to the earlier Statement on Zimbabwe.
Statement from the Primates of the Anglican Communion on the Situation in Gaza
Statement of concern from the Primates of the Anglican Communion on the situation in Sudan
The Windsor Continuation Group has also published its report, available as a webpage here, or as a PDF here. See also background note here.
Update
A presentation to the primates on Global Warming and Climate Change has also been published (PDF).
Last updated 13.00 GMT Thursday
Earlier reports on the primates meeting are here, and then here.
Riazat Butt for the Guardian has a report on the Zimbabwe statement, Archbishop seeks envoy to tackle Mugabe.
Matthew Davies at ENS has Primates express ‘horror’ at Zimbabwe crisis. (Scroll down for a report on other topics.)
Ruth Gledhill has also reported on it both for Times Online, see Archbishops call for Robert Mugabe to resign, and on her blog, see ‘Mugabe must go’ say Anglican archbishops.
George Conger reports for the Living Church that Primates Need Extra Time for Windsor Group Presentation.
…In December, the WCG met at the Diocese of West Texas’s conference center and prepared a final draft of its report to the primates. The report was given to the primates Tuesday, but placed under a media embargo until the close of the conference…
Colin Coward of Changing Attitude has Primates meeting Day 4 – Zimbabwe and also Primates meeting Day 4 – Will the Communion hold?
Brenda Harrison also at Changing Attitude has Primates’ Meeting Day 4 – The mysterious Mr Dobbs. It appears that CANA is represented in Alexandria after all:
Rumour has it that the Primate of Nigeria was detained for two hours by Immigration authorities on arrival in Cairo, and was released only after the intervention of the Dean of Alexandria’s driver. He was then whisked off by car by one Revd Canon Julian Dobbs, who is not accredited to the conference but staying in the Helnan Palestine Hotel. Archbishop Akinola was previously refused entry to Jordan in 2008 for the GAFCON conference which then hastily decamped earlier than planned to Israel…
…Bearing in mind the absence of Chris Sugden et al, apparently on the instructions of the conservative Primates, Mr Dobbs’ presence is of considerable interest. He was appointed in December 2008 by The Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) to the position of Canon Missioner…
ACNS now has Primates Press Briefing Tuesday 3rd February 2009 complete with audio recording of the session. Also a loosely-related story, Archbishop of Canterbury in surprise greeting for Adelaide pilgrims.
Paul Feheley Anglican Church of Canada ‘Hasten to prayer’
George Conger Religious Intelligence Anglican Primates call for action on Zimbabwe
Reuters Anglican primates call for Mugabe resignation
ACNS USPG welcomes Primates Meeting Statement on Zimbabwe
Riazat Butt Comment is free More than talk?
Riazat Butt Guardian Archbishop of Sudan calls for New Hampshire bishop Gene Robinson to resign
There were renewed calls yesterday for the resignation of the Right Reverend Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop of New Hampshire, and of the clergy those who consecrated him.
The demand came from the Archbishop of Sudan, the Most Reverend Daniel Deng, who last summer shocked Anglicans by issuing a statement condemning the 2003 decision to consecrate Robinson, a non-celibate gay man, and the US bishops responsible for his appointment…
…Signs of strain are beginning to show. The archbishops of Nigeria and Uganda failed to appear for a group photograph in the hotel grounds, nor did they materialise for a high-profile visit to the prestigious Alexandrian Library.
This is not mentioned in the report from Matthew Davies of ENS Sudanese archbishop appeals to fellow primates for urgent support but see in comments below, where Colin and Riazat discuss what actually happened.
George Conger Living Church Primates Begin Work on Final Communiqué
ACNS has a photo gallery, here.
Colin Coward also has photos, in Primates meeting Day 5 – Biblioteca Alexandrina visit.
ACNS now has Primates Press Briefing 4th February 2009 with link to audio of the event, and a PDF of the Climate Change presentation.
Colin Coward has Primates meeting Day 5 – Sudan, Bangladesh, Global Warming and sex obsession.
ACNS also has Primates Support efforts to improve coordination of Anglican Relief and Development work and Archbishop of Canterbury vists Greek Orthodox Leader in Alexandria.
George Conger Religious Intelligence War is looming in Sudan, warns Archbishop
34 CommentsThe Primates of the Anglican Communion, meeting in Alexandria, Egypt on 3rd February, 2009, have issued this Primates’ Statement on Zimbabwe.
The Primates of the Anglican Communion, meeting in Alexandria, Egypt on 3rd February, 2009, heard first hand reports of the situation in Zimbabwe, and note with horror the appalling difficulties of the people of this nation under the current regime.
We give thanks to God for the faithful witness of the Christians of Zimbabwe during this time of pain and suffering, especially those who are being denied access to their churches. We wish to assure them of our love, support and prayers as they face gross violation of human rights, hunger and loss of life as well as the scourge of a cholera epidemic, all due directly to the deteriorating socio-political and economic situation in Zimbabwe.
It is a matter of grave concern that there is an apparent breakdown of the rule of law within the country, and that the democratic process is being undermined, as shown in the flagrant disregard of the outcome of the democratic elections of March 31st 2008, so that Mr Robert Mugabe illegitimately holds on to power. Even the recent political situation of power sharing, brokered by SADC, may not be long lasting and simply further entrench Mr Mugabe’s regime. There appears to be a total disregard for life, consistently demonstrated by Mr Mugabe through systematic kidnap, torture and the killing of Zimbabwean people. The economy of Zimbabwe has collapsed, as evidenced by the use of foreign currencies in an independent state.
We therefore call upon President Robert Mugabe to respect the outcome of the elections of 2008 and to step down. We call for the implementation of the rule of law and the restoration of democratic processes.
We request that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chair of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa, in consultation with the Church of the Province of Central Africa, commission a Representative to go to Zimbabwe to exercise a ministry of presence and to show solidarity with the Zimbabwean people. We also request the President of the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Chairman of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa to facilitate a meeting with the African Union president and other African political leaders (especially those of SADC) to highlight the plight of the Zimbabwean peoples.
We call upon parishes throughout the Anglican Communion to assist the Anglican Communion Office, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Office and the Anglican Observer to the United Nations in addressing the humanitarian crisis by giving aid through such mechanisms as the Archbishop of Canterbury is able to designate, and asking that Lambeth Palace facilitate processes by which food and other material aid for Zimbabwe can be distributed through the dioceses of the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
We urge the Churches of the Anglican Communion to join with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in observing Wednesday 25th February 2009, Ash Wednesday, as a day of prayer and solidarity with the Zimbabwean people.
As representatives of the Anglican Communion, we reiterate that we do not recognise the status of Bishop Nolbert Kunonga and Bishop Elson Jakazi as bishops within the Anglican Communion, and call for the full restoration of Anglican property within Zimbabwe to the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
We affirm the initiative of the Diocese of St Mark the Evangelist (ACSA) in collaboration with Lambeth Palace, the Anglican Communion Office and the Church of the Province of Central Africa in establishing a chaplaincy along the Zimbabwe-South Africa border for the pastoral care of the many refugees, and call upon the Anglican Communion to support this work.
ENS republishes a background report, from Ecumenical News International ZIMBABWE: Anglicans pray outside as Mugabe bishop holds property.
News reports on other topics from the meeting can be found here.
2 CommentsLong-term TA readers will remember the saga in 2006/07 concerning proposed legislation in Nigeria, see for example, Nigerian legislation and the Church of Nigeria and Nigeria: legislation imminent.
The story was covered exhaustively on Political Spaghetti.
That issue has returned, see this from Amnesty International last week, Nigeria: ‘Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill’ violates Constitution, and also Nigeria: ‘Same gender marriage (Prohibition) Bill’ threatens imprisonment of members of the LGBT community.
This development makes even more timely the publication by Ekklesia of a research report by Savi Hensman Contrasting church attitudes on human rights for all.
Simon Barrow writes:
13 CommentsSavi Hensman has produced another very useful research essay for Ekklesia on different church attititudes and stances towards human rights for all. Since 1948 Christians have played a significant role in extending personal and societal respect for human dignity, including promotion of the UN Declaration. At the same time, church leaders have also questioned and denied rights-based precepts and practices in a number of instances. In this paper, Savi traces these discontinuities while pointing to the substantial traditional theological and spiritual resources that can be deployed in producing and developing shared commitments to freedom and justice.
The publication of this document coincides with the Primates of the Anglican Communion meeting in Egypt from 1-4 February 2009, the upcoming Church of England General Synod discussion on the Human Rights Act, the Convention on Modern Liberty in the UK, and recent comments on human rights from the Vatican, from Evangelicals and from the new Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad.
Last updated 22.30 GMT Tuesday
ACNS Pope Shenouda receives Anglican primates in Alexandria
Times Online Ruth Gledhill Anglican primates to discuss “two-tier” communion and also
Anglicans meet in Egypt to discuss plan to prevent Church split
Anglican Church of Canada Paul Feheley Primates’ Meeting starts on a low key
Guardian Riazat Butt Sexuality debate looms as Anglicans gather in Alexandria
ENS Matthew Davies Primates begin to meet; international concerns, Anglican covenant to top agenda
Living Church George Conger Primates Unsure What Egypt Gathering Will Achieve
Changing Attitude Colin Coward Primates meeting Day 2 and earlier Alexandria Primates meeting Day 1
Update Two more items, Primates meeting Day 2 – What has changed? and Primates meeting Day 3 – behind the lens and laptop.
Anglican Communion News Service Primates Meeting begins with celebration in Egypt and this has a link to a podcast of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Sermon (15 minutes, 14 Mb)
Times Online Ruth Gledhill blog article Archbishop of Canterbury: ‘Churches must not be too busy.’
Anglican Church of Canada Paul Feheley The Primates’ Meeting: “The person praying next to me …”
Living Church George Conger Meeting Must Honor Past Decisions, Primates Say
Religious Intelligence George Conger Primates’ Meeting opens in ‘fog of confusion’
Guardian Riazat Butt Williams sensitive to limits of his authority, archbishop says
ENS Matthew Davies Primates discuss Anglican covenant, Zimbabwe crisis in private sessions
Changing Attitude Colin Coward Primates meeting Day 2 – the GAFCON paper and Primates’ Meeting Day 2 St Mark’s Cathedral Dedication
ACNS Primates Meeting questions language of sanctions and this has a link to an audio recording of the press conference held on Monday.
Living Church George Conger Primates See Covenant ‘With Teeth’ As Unrealistic
Religious Intelligence George Conger Anglican Primates discuss Covenant solution to problems and Primates tackle human sexuality issue
Anglican Church of Canada Paul Feheley Stretching the soul
Several more blog entries by Colin Coward here, including interesting pictures.
Comment is free Riazat Butt Ice-cold in Alex and Covenant of the Paddington stare
I will start a new article tomorrow morning.
30 CommentsThe bishops of the Diocese of Toronto are proposing to respond pastorally in the matter of committed same-sex relationships.
See the press announcement: Bishops propose pastoral response to committed same-sex relationships.
See the Draft Discussion Document for Consultation (PDF).
The press statement includes:
36 CommentsThe bishops’ proposal in offering a pastoral response is as follows:
- Episcopal permission be given to a limited number of parishes, based on Episcopal discernment, to offer prayers and blessing (but not the nuptial blessing) to same-sex couples in stable, long-term, committed relationships, as an extension of the current pastoral norms.
- Episcopal guidelines on the nature of the prayers/blessing will be established. A particular rite will not be authorized.
- Episcopal permission for blessings will be required.
- Evaluation of this pastoral response will be undertaken after one year.
- No parish or clergy will be required to participate.
- A Bishop’s Commission will be formed to create the guidelines, monitor activity and review.
The Executive Council of The Episcopal Church has published its latest response to the St Andrew’s Draft of the proposed Anglican Covenant.
The response is in a PDF file available here.
There is also a covering press release. Some excerpts:
[Episcopal News Service — Stockton, California] The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council said January 30 that the church “remains committed to the Communion-wide process of conversation towards an Anglican covenant.”
“At the same time, TEC wants to emphasize that matters of moral authority and interdependence amongst churches result from mutuality, not regulation,” the council wrote its response to the St. Andrew’s Draft of the proposed covenant.
“Care needs to be taken that our conversations around an Anglican covenant do not draw us necessarily toward a hierarchical model of a church union or even the perception of Anglicanism as a singular global church,” the response said…
…Council’s covenant response reiterates the Episcopal Church’s stance that participation in the covenant development process “does not implicitly commit” the church to ultimately approving a covenant. And it makes clear that only the General Convention can sign the church onto such a document. It predicts that such approval would not come until at least 2012 and not until at least 2015 if such approval was deemed to require changes to the Episcopal Church’s constitution…
…In response to the Joint Standing Committee’s question about what changes are needed in the St. Andrew’s Draft, the council offered nearly five pages of section-by-section comments. It raised the most concern over the process (that begins to be described in Section 3.2.5) to be employed when any proposed or enacted measures at the provincial or local level “are deemed to threaten the unity of the Communion and the effectiveness or credibility of its mission.”
Calling it “the most problematic section,” the response said the process that involves consultation, mediation, and communion-wide evaluation is “overly juridical.” The council said that from the time an Anglican covenant was proposed in an appendix to the 2004 Windsor Report, there has been a movement “calling for the beginnings of inter-Anglican canon law or, if not that, inter-Anglican processes for negotiations and settlement of disputes and concerns.” Council summed up its comments by asking, “How does the covenant help us look like Christ?” and asked how it helps Anglicans recognize Christ in each other…
The recent Church of England response to the same draft was reported here.
12 CommentsStephen Platten writes in The Times about Edwin Muir, in Beauty and hope born in poems of dark desolation.
Stephen Timms writes in the Guardian about Harnessing the power of faith. The full text of his speech is available from Ruth Gledhill’s blog, Labour ‘does God’ (scroll down for link to file).
John Madeley writes in the Guardian about the theology of enough.
John Barton writes in the Church Times that The BBC should not be impartial.
Giles Fraser writes in The Times about Cape Coast Castle in Cry out for mercy in the grey zone.
Paul Laity interviews Blair Worden in the Guardian about his new book The English Civil Wars, see A life in writing: Blair Worden.
3 CommentsUpdated again Saturday morning
There have been several confusing reports about Bishop Henry Scriven’s status as a bishop.
ENS reported Presiding Bishop accepts two bishops’ voluntary renunciation of orders.
Religious Intelligence reported US Presiding Bishop deposes Church of England Bishop
…On Oct 16, Bishop Scriven wrote to Bishop Schori to inform her that he was returning to the Britain to take up the post of director of South American ministry for SAMS-CMS. Ordained in the Church of England, Bishop Scriven was consecrated in 1995 as Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe by Archbishop George Carey. In 2002, Bishop Scriven became the Assistant Bishop of Pittsburgh in the Episcopal Church. Following Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan’s deposition from office as Bishop of Pittsburgh on Sept 19, Bishop Scriven’s position in the US church was terminated.
In his letter, Bishop Scriven informed Bishop Schori he was returning to the UK to take up the SAMS-CMS post and had been appointed an Honorary Assistant Bishop and would be under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Oxford.
In her response of Nov 12, Bishop Schori acknowledged that Bishop Scriven was now a Bishop of the Church of England, and said she would “release you from your orders in this Church” for reasons “not effecting moral character.” Bishop Schori added that she believed “that subtlety was lost on some of our Communion partners” over her understanding of canon law, as her action would not undo the “indelible” mark of ordination, but was a housekeeping action that would end his licence to serve in the US Church.
However, before Bishop Schori’s tenure as Presiding Bishop, bishops who left the US church to serve in other provinces were not released from their orders, but transferred to other churches…
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh has issued a statement:
An article that appeared on Episcopal Life Online on January 23, 2009 reported that Bishop Henry Scriven, the former Assistant Bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, had renounced his orders and that the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, had accepted that renunciation. Although the article may suggest otherwise, the Standing Committee understands that this action was not in any sense a disciplinary action or an action taken because of Bishop Scriven’s support for the attempt to realign the Diocese with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.
Before he relocated to England, Bishop Scriven had submitted his resignation as a member of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church, inasmuch as he was planning to return to England and serve as Assistant to the Bishop of Oxford. In order to permit that, the Canons required that he be released from his orders in the Episcopal Church for reasons not affecting his moral character, which is what occurred. This is a routine way of permitting Bishop Scriven to continue his ministry. Orders in the Church themselves are indelible, but licensing is required to exercise them.
The Standing Committee gives thanks for the gracious way in which Bishop Scriven exercised his ministry in the Episcopal Church while he served here as Assistant Bishop and we hope he and his wife Catherine will visit us in the future.
Friday morning update
The Church Times has a report by Pat Ashworth ‘Really weird’, but Scriven bears no ill will on orders.
…Bishop Scriven described the letter he received in November releasing him from his orders as “really weird”. He retained it but did not respond to it. The promised certificate releasing Bishop Scriven from his orders did not reach him personally, “though, to be fair, she might have tried as I was wandering round the world,” he said on Wednesday.
The correspondence is now in the public domain. “I had no desire to publish these letters until the thing was announced but was then very happy for them to be released,” Bishop Scriven said. “Hers was a very gracious letter but I was kind of boggled by the language really. It’s two nations divided by the same language, it seems to me. I bear no ill will, and I think it’s a storm in a teacup really…
There is a further report from ENS which notes PITTSBURGH: Standing Committee acknowledges Scriven’s service to diocese.
The Anglican Communion Institute has published Is The Renunciation of Orders Routine?
Saturday update
Andrew Carey has also weighed in, see A dangerous move by the Americans.
8 CommentsUpdated yet again Friday afternoon
The forthcoming meeting in Alexandria, reported earlier here, starts next Sunday.
Some further reports have appeared:
Anglican Journal Marites N Sison Hiltz to update other primates on state of Canadian church
Times Online Ruth Gledhill Anglican primates to meet in Egypt
The meeting will be held at the Helnan Palestine Hotel, “a five stars deluxe hotel with a unique location on the Mediterranean Sea”.
Updates
Religious Intelligence George Conger Primates’ Meeting to avoid divisive issues
Lambeth Palace (via ACO) Archbishop of Canterbury’s visit to North Africa
Times Online Ruth Gledhill Plans for new province in US opposed by senior Anglican
Living Church George Conger Welsh Primate: New Province is ‘Total Nonsense’
Friday morning
Church Times Pat Ashworth Primates to meet in Egypt behind closed doors
…Canon Kearon confirmed on Wednesday that no paper had so far been received from the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) Primates concerning the pro posed Anglican Province in North America. A report in The Living Church this week said: “Bishop Duncan said the GAFCON Primates will present a paper and make the case of an alternative province.”
Canon Kearon emphasised that the agenda was a draft, that it was in the hands of the Primates, and was often rearranged. “We haven’t received a paper,” he said. “If it’s an application by the new entity in the US to join [the Communion] we would deal with [put ting it on to the agenda] in a business session if appropriate, but they might decide other wise if we haven’t been notified of it.”
Religion News Service Daniel Burke Anglicans Set to Consider Rival North American Church
Conservative Anglicans say they do not expect their new North American church to receive official approval from Anglican archbishops who will convene next week (Feb. 1-5) in Alexandria, Egypt.
“We do expect that our situation will be discussed,” said the Rev. Peter Frank, a spokesman for the newly established Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). “At the same time, it would be very surprising if there was some kind of quick, game-changing action.”
… To date, only five primates, most from Africa, where Anglicans lean conservative on sexual issues, have publicly sanctioned the new North American church.
Bishop Martyn Minns, a leader in ACNA, said he expects more primates to approve the rival church after it has ratified its constitution in June. “They’re going to wait until we’re up and running,” he said.
Jim Naughton, director of communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, said: “I don’t think there’s any chance of two-thirds of the primates expressing desire to legitimize this thing in any capacity.”
Friday afternoon
A crucial analysis of the forthcoming meeting is in the cartoon at The Primates Meeting: How personal disorganisation is splitting the Anglican Church.
24 CommentsThe Diocese of Virginia held its annual Council meeting yesterday. A number of resolutions were passed. They included this one:
R-4a Blessedness of Covenanted Relationships
RESOLVED, that the Diocese of Virginia recognizes our responsibility to respond to the pastoral needs of our faithful gay and lesbian members in a spirit of love, compassion and respect, and in doing so seek to fulfill our baptismal commitment to respect the dignity of every human being; and be it further
RESOLVED, that accordingly the 214th Annual Council of the Diocese of Virginia affirms the inherent integrity of and blessededness of committed Christian relationships between two adult persons, when those relationships are “characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God.” (Resolution 2000-D039 of the 73rd General Convention of the Episcopal Church).
Two other resolutions on related topics were not passed, but were referred to an already existing diocesan Windsor Dialogue Commission. For details of these resolutions see:
R-5: Allowing Clergy To Exercise Pastoral Care In Blessing the Unions Of Same-Gender Couples
R-6: Inclusiveness in Ordained Ministry
According to Episcopal Café another highlight of the event was this:
…the longest applause came during the closing remarks of the chaplain for this year’s 214th Annual Council. Archbishop Barry Morgan, Primate of Wales, said Wales was in the same boat as The Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church and he would resist the formation of an alternative North American province with, in his words, “every fiber of my being.” The room jumped to its feet with applause and cheering.
The report of the Windsor Dialogue Commission is a PDF file here. Appendices 2 and 3 contain liturgies in Thanksgiving for a Committed Relationship and for Friendship.
10 CommentsGiles Fraser wrote in the Church Times about Obama and the devil in the hole.
Jonathan Sacks wrote in The Times that Obama renews a covenant and inspires fresh hope.
Simon Barrow wrote at Ekklesia about Re-investing democracy with hope.
Comment is free had a whole week of answers to the question: Will Obama be good for religion?
At the Telegraph George Pitcher had opinions on the inauguration speech, Barack Obama inauguration: God knows His place, and also on the accompanying deluge of prayers, We British pray better than Americans.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Karen Pollock writes in the Guardian about antisemitism, in Face to Faith.
4 CommentsUpdated Sunday lunchtime
First, George Conger reports in the Church of England Newspaper that those Brazilians, who earlier had affiliated with the Province of the Southern Cone, have now decided to migrate to the new grouping being formed in North America. See Brazilian diocese links with the Americans.
The synod of the Diocese of Recife has voted to leave the shelter of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and affiliate with the third province movement in North America.
At its Dec 4-6 meeting in Jaboatão dos Guararapes the ex-Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (IEAB) diocese voted to join with the ex-Episcopal Church dioceses of Pittsburgh, Quincy, Fort Worth and San Joaquin, along with a number of continuing American and Canadian Anglican and African-led jurisdictions, to form the new province.
The move from the Southern Cone to the third province will take place in June at the Anglican Church in North America’s founding convocation in Fort Worth…
Update Sunday
Anglican Mainstream has published this Important correction from Diocese of Recife which says this is not correct.
It was a surprise to all of us from the Diocese of Recife to read the title and the internal affirmation of the article “The Synod of the Diocese of Recife has voted to leave the shelter of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and affiliate with the third province movement in North America”. We had no debate or deliberation in the Synod of this subject…
Second, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Morgan Stanley has frozen the accounts of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh because it is unsure who should be allowed to access them. See Schism causes Morgan Stanley to freeze Episcopalian accounts.
Financial services firm Morgan Stanley has frozen the accounts of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh because it is unsure who should be allowed to access them.
In a letter Jan. 13, the firm said it would not allow any further distributions until it received a court order listing those authorized to use the accounts…
Related to this, the diocese has published Information On Recent Court Filings by Southern Cone Group.
14 CommentsOn January 20, 2009, the attorneys for former Bishop Duncan and other former leaders of the Diocese who now regard themselves to be affiliated with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone filed three motions with the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County seeking to oppose the “Request to Special Master” that had been filed jointly by the Diocese and Calvary Episcopal Church on January 8, 2009…
The Church of England General Synod will be considering the Covenant again in February.
The two relevant documents are:
GS 1716 Anglican Covenant available here as a PDF, and also here as a web page.
GS Misc 910 The Governance of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion by Colin Podmore, available here as a PDF, and also here as a web page.
Last November, Mr Justin Brett asked a (written, electronic) Question, which is reported here:
Mr Justin Brett (Oxford) to ask the Secretary General:
Q2. What research has been undertaken to establish the effect of the Church of England’s participation in an Anglican Communion Covenant upon the relationship between the Church of England and the Crown, given the Queen’s position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and the consequent tension between her prerogative and the potential demands of a disciplinary process within the proposed Covenant?
Mr William Fittall to reply as Secretary General:
A. The Church of England response of 19 December 2007 to the initial draft Covenant noted on page 13 that ‘it would be unlawful for the General Synod to delegate its decision making powers to the primates, and that this therefore means that it could not sign up to a Covenant which purported to give the primates of the Communion the ability to give ‘direction’ about the course of action that the Church of England should take.’ The same would be true in relation to delegation to any other body of the Anglican Communion. Since as a matter of law the Church of England could not submit itself to any such external power of direction, any separate possible difficulties in relation to the Royal Prerogative could not in practice arise.
There is no reference in the new report to the point raised in this Q and A.
The report indicates that the House of Bishops believes the process of adoption of the Covenant should not involve the passing of any Measure or Canon, but rather the passing of a Synod resolution which should then be formally declared to be an Act of Synod. It also considers that such a resolution would most likely be both Article 7 and Article 8 business, and thus would require referral to the dioceses.
The Church of England’s earlier response to the (then) draft Covenant can be found here. The full text is available in html here.
The Church Times reported last year’s debate: Anglican Covenant: New Covenant draft welcomed more warmly.
The voting result at that time was reported here.
9 CommentsAndrew Brown thinks they are. Read his blog article, The conservatives take over the asylum, and the comments there.
The items to which this refers are:
21 CommentsLast week, the Church Times had a feature about theNational Archives at Kew, and the government documents that reveal the relationship between the state and the Church of England in the 20th century.
First, see Treasures buried in the archive by A.D. Harvey.
Then, read the full text of a 1960 memorandum from David Stephens, the Prime Minister’s appointments secretary, to Harold Macmillan about the filling of vacant sees.
A quiet word about the next archbishop.
3 Comments