Today’s newspaper had further reports on the matter of women bishops, and also some stories about what else will occur at the February synod meeting.
Earlier women bishops stories are here.
Stephen Bates in the Guardian had Clerics open long path to female Archbishop of Canterbury together with lots of pictures.
Jonathan Petre in the Telegraph said Female Archbishop of Canterbury ‘a possibility’ and also had Church told to apologise for its part in slave trade.
In The Times Ruth Gledhill also had two items: Ordination of women bishops a step closer and Churches facing ‘apocalypse soon’
2 CommentsUpdated Friday 20 Jan
The Tablet has today published a report of the conference: Amid the cold, signs of a thaw, and the Church Times has Unity is symphonic, says Cardinal.
The BBC Sunday programme has kindly made available to Thinking Anglicans a transcript of part of the item linked here earlier.
0 CommentsChanging Attitude has today published a web page concerning Mr Davis MacIyalla, Director of Changing Attitude Network (Nigeria).
This page contains a number of photographs of Mr MacIyalla in earlier years at various church events, a photograph taken at the recent CAN meeting, and a detailed analysis of the many charges against Mr MacIyalla made by an official of the Church of Nigeria, including those contained in this press release.
49 CommentsThe BBC’s Sunday radio programme reported on an international conference on Christian Unity held at Ushaw College, Durham.
The BBC report:
Cardinal Walter Kasper on Ecumenism
Last week one of the Vatican’s top Cardinals came to Durham to host an international conference on Christian Unity. Was Cardinal Walter Kasper wasting his time?
Report by Christopher Landau.
Listen with Real Audio(9m 9s)
Those interviewed also include Bp Tom Wright and Canon Nicholas Sagovsky. But the interview with Cardinal Kasper is particularly worth hearing.
For more backgound on the conference, see the Ushaw College press releases, all in .rtf format:
Press Release, Brief Listing of Participants, Conference Rationale and Schedule.
In The Times Rod Strange writes about gifts, Unearned, undeserved and sometimes unexpected, faith is a gift for life.
Christopher Howse in the Telegraph writes about A papal storm in a Santa hat.
Giles Fraser’s column in the Church Times asks Can war be moral?.
And in last week’s CT Robin Griffith-Jones finds presences and meaning in T. S. Eliot’s poem Journey of the Magi: ‘Eliot takes his readers far from Andrewes’s settled confidence’, Travelling to another death.
Late Addition
Face to faith from Saturday’s Guardian only arrived online today. Gilbert Márkus writes about Intelligent Design.
Last week the Church Times carried a report on this, but it only reached the public web today. Other press reports, contemporaneous with this one, are here.
The CT report by Pat Ashworth was headlined ‘Nigerian allegations are false’.
Today’s paper contains nothing further on this.
6 CommentsThis follows up the posting here on 12 December concerning James Behrens’ further opinion, under the title civil partnerships: a further legal opinion.
Derek Belcher has now issued a revised opinion, which you can read in full here.
This shows that there is even less difference between these opinions than it previously appeared. Also, the opportunity has been taken to restore the markup showing the revisions made by Chancellor Behrens to his opinion, which was missing when originally published.
18 CommentsIn the last issue of 2005, Pat Ashworth of the Church Times reported on this: Malango ‘closes case: Kunonga left to do as he likes’.
Some other recent news reports:
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
4 Jan Anglican parishioners puzzled over Kunonga trial decisions
5 Jan Church has no money for Kunonga retrial
Sokwanele
5 Jan Shameful silence on Nolbert Kunonga, Anglican Bishop of Harare
and this response from a reader on the Sokwanele blog, on 8 January.
I linked earlier to today’s BBC reports on this.
Now, Ruth Gledhill has a report Church wants women bishops by 2012 in Monday’s edition of The Times which discusses further the draft Guildford report that goes before the CofE House of Bishops this week. Ruth has received a copy of this draft.
And she also has a more detailed discussion of the matter on her blog:Women bishops by 2012.
Both items are essential reading.
5 CommentsLast week’s Church Times had a review of the year 2005. Here are links to the various articles:
January, February
March, April
May, June
July, August
September, October
November, December
Press
Radio
Television
Books
Arts
The Press review, which mentions TA, is not actually a review of items, but rather a discussion about the effect of the web on news. TA readers may find this of particular interest.
8 CommentsIn The Times Jonathan Sacks writes about daily prayer: Prayers from the past and present can shape our world of the future.
Christopher Howse writes in the Telegraph about Manger, wine and water.
The Guardian again has multiple items on religion:
Face to Faith is written by an Anglican priest, Ruth Scott, in which she talks about a “safe distance”.
The Essay slot has an article by Ian Buruma titled Cross Purposes in which he suggests that Conflicting views about religion threaten to divide Europe from the US.
And Madeleine Bunting has a very critical review of the forthcoming TV programmes about religion by Richard Dawkins in No wonder atheists are angry: they seem ready to believe anything.
The most recent newsletter for supporters of InclusiveChurch can be found on its website. A copy is also below the fold here.
Some dates to note:
Seminar with Bishop of Worcester: Sunday 22 January (application form here, scroll down)
St Albans Pilgrimage: Saturday 24 June, more details here
Day Conference Saturday 14th October
The laity elections for the Archbishops’ Council have now completed:
Archbishops’ Council: Lay members elected.
There is a further election to be held for two clergy places on the Council.
The most current membership list can be found here.
0 CommentsUpdated Sunday
The BBC Sunday radio programme had this report by Robert Pigott:
House of Bishops
There are increasing signs that division among Anglican bishops is intensifying over how to proceed towards legislation in the Church enabling women to be ordained as bishops. The House of Bishops is to meet tomorrow to discuss what options should be on the table at the General Synod meeting in a few weeks’ time, with opinion on both sides apparently polarising.
Listen with Real Audio (3m 38s)
See also this much briefer summary, Split over women bishops deepens
The Church Times has this report today: Hill sceptical about leak of ‘TEA’ plan which refers to rumours found in two earlier reports: this one in the Church of England Newspaper Commissary plan to appease the opponents of women bishops and this one in the Telegraph Church group is split over women bishops.
The official report of the Bishop of Guildford’s Group will be published on Monday 16 January.
Meanwhile the full transcript of the seminar on episcopacy held during the November synod is available within this rtf file. An html copy of the transcript is now here.
0 CommentsUpdated again Monday 9 January
Anglican gay group threatens legal action against Church of Nigeria appeared in Black Britain
Updated Thursday
Reports of the charges made against Changing Attitude by the Church of Nigeria are appearing in other places:
Church of England Newspaper George Conger Answers wanted on Nigerian gay charity
Ekklesia Nigerian church fraud warning includes allegation against gays
And the ACNS has republished one of the two Nigerian press releases here.
And in Nigeria:
Daily Independent Anglican Church disowns Nigerian gay activist
This Day Anglican Church Disowns Nigerian Gay-Activist
Vanguard Anglican Church disowns Nigerian gay-activist
But there is more information about this issue in the comments on this blog than in any of these reports so far.
Update
Changing Attitude has published a new press release today:
Statement by Changing Attitude (England) about allegations against Changing Attitude Network (Nigeria)
There has been a further development in the story about Changing Attitude Nigeria which has been chronicled in detail on TA previously.
First, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) issued two press releases on 28 December, see PRESS RELEASE – DISCLAIMER– Davis Mac- Iyalla. This leads to a second release which is more general in character, but also contains specific reference to Mac-Iyalla. (The page is currently poorly formatted but remains legible. A copy of it has been republished by ACNS.)
Second, Changing Attitude issued a press release in response to the above, on 31 December, Changing Attitude Network Nigeria responds to criticism by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
50 CommentsThe BBC’s radio programme Sunday has several items of Anglican interest today. (Real Audio required.) Full programme details including interesting items on Judaism and Islam as well here.
Richard Harries
A big figure on the national religious landscape is stepping down in 2006 – like the Chief Rabbi, Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, has a voice that is listened to outside his immediate constituency. He has been doing the job for 19 years – they were turbulent years for Anglicanism, and he was often to be found hacking away at the coal face of controversy. He talks about the highlights of his career.
Listen (6m 7s)
Guest discussion
Ned Temko from the Observer also the former editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Fareena Alam editor of the Muslim magazine Q-News and religious correspondent for The Times; Ruth Gledhill discuss the issue of homosexuality in the Church of England.
Listen (3m 43s)
New Year predictions
A New Year’s Day programme would not be complete without the predictions parlour game. Find out what big stories that the guests think will make it onto all the front pages in the course of the year.
Listen (2m 55s)
From the British newspapers:
Geoffrey Rowell in The Times writes that The calendar of commercialism does not reflect our spiritual rhythms.
Andrew Brown in the Guardian asks, in an essay entitled Belief systems: Are we hardwired for religion, or is it just a psychological and social need?
Two columns deal with the forthcoming 350th anniversary of the “resettlement” of the Jews in England:
Guardian Geoffrey Alderman in the Face to Faith column; and
The Times Jonathan Romain The timeless question: consolidate or integrate?
In the Telegraph, Christopher Howse writes about Naming the birds of heaven.
As it is New Year’s Eve today, the papers have articles about the New Year, like these:
Ruth Gledhill in The Times Bishops resolve to fight the flab – and end world poverty (see more about this column here), while Jonathan Petre in yesterday’s Telegraph was more sombre.
A range of essays from the Fall 2005 issue of Anglican Theological Review is now available from this page.
Several of these relate to the Windsor Report.
The Windsor Report: Communion, Structure, and Covenant by Ellen Wondra (this is an introduction to the set of articles, another copy is here)
A Note on the Role of North America in the Evolution of Anglicanism by Paul Marshall
After Dromantine by George Sumner
Authority, Unity, and Mission in the Windsor Report by Ian Douglas
Thoughts on the Windsor Report: What Went Wrong? by Paul F M Zahl
The Spiritual Context of the Windsor Report by Steven Charleston
“But It Shall Not Be So Among You”: Some Reflections Towards the Reception of the Windsor Report within ECUSA by A Katherine Grieb
Covenant, Contract, and Communion: Reflections on a Post-Windsor Anglicanism by Harold Lewis
Freedom and Covenant: The Miltonian Analogy Transfigured by Ephraim Radner
Restoring the Bonds of Affection by William R Carroll
The Windsor Report: Two Observations on Its Ecumenical Content by J. Robert Wright
The Windsor Report and Ecumenical Dialogue by Kevin Flynn
The Unopened Gift by Jeffrey Steenson
Updated 9 January
“Anglican Mainstream” has issued a press release. The text of it is not currently on at last posted to the AM website but meanwhile it can be found here. It says in part (emphasis added):
Following the passing of the Act, the House of Bishops of the Church of England released a pastoral statement on July 25 2005. Anglican Mainstream, the Church of England Evangelical Council, and Reform all issued responses to the Bishops’ statement between July and September. Between them they represent people in over 1000 churches and 2000 clergy throughout England. The Anglican Mainstream letter… has since been personally signed by over 1700 people, including 290 clergy and two Bishops from 260 churches in 38 dioceses. It has today been presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury as evidence of the deep disquiet within the Church about the pastoral situation which the Civil Partnership Act has created.
The statistics included in this press release are rather interesting. (Of course, any AM-originated statistics warrant caution in interpretation.)
Anglican Mainstream UK (which covers Wales, Scotland, and Ireland as well) has a Steering Committee which includes representatives from: Reform, CEEC, Church Society, and New Wine. It is curious that the latter two organisations are not mentioned in the press release.
If this coalition represents only 1000 churches and 2000 clergy in the Church of England then it would seem to be very far indeed from representing “mainstream” evangelical opinion within the Church of England.
What is even more significant is how few signatures AM has managed to obtain, even after several months of active solicitation.
According to the CofE official website, there are:
“… more than 9,000 paid clergy; more than 2,000 non-stipendiary ministers;… around 5,000 active retired clergy; and 1,100 chaplains in colleges, universities, hospitals, schools, prisons and the armed forces.”
and from here:
“The Church of England has some 16,000 church buildings, in 13,000 parishes covering the whole of England…”
And AM obtained less than 300 clergy signatures from only 260 churches.
40 Comments