The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church Bishop Idris Jones of Glasgow and Galloway has published his address to Diocesan Council in which he discusses the Lambeth Conference.
The full text is available here: Bishop’s reflections on Lambeth.
12 Comments…The fact is that neither of the extreme positions if I can call them that can be expected to give up what they believe God has called them to witness to as part of the life of their Province. There may be a way through but it is not dear yet where it would take us – meanwhile we hold to the position that we are in pending further provision in the Communion to take account of the need for some enlarged thinking. Whether the proposed Pastoral Forum to take over the care of congregations that have chosen to renounce the leadership of their Diocesan Bishop can have any place in this process I personally doubt.
It seems to me that the issue is not that we lack structure but that the structure has failed to address the situation and when it has attempted to do so Provinces have simply continued to do what they wanted to do and ignored the proposals put forward by the Instruments of Unity. I do have an unease that at the heart of our Communion there is a lack of evenhanded dealing. It was almost as if we were trapped into a game of “my pain is bigger than your pain”. The approach of the Church of Canada about which we were able to learn so much more this year and which was praised for its theological method was completely ignored and brushed aside for example whilst and the interference of another Province in Canada where proper and full provision had been made for congregations who felt alienated remained un -rebuked in spite of it having been forbidden by the recent Primates meeting.
The Canadian Anglican church has a long and strong history of fidelity and development – it gave the Communion AYPA for example – and has been not accorded the respect that it should have. There is more than one way of destroying a Communion but injustice is high on the list of how to achieve it.
We heard much about the need to support churches in other parts of the world; but very little of the vulnerability of the church where society has moved ahead of the game in its provisions which is the position that we find ourselves in along with other churches in the developed world.
We linked to official reports of this month’s meeting of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church here, here and here.
The Church Times now has this report Bishops in Scotland defeat membership proposal by Margaret Duggan. Although the title refers to one particular item before the synod, the article is a full report of all three day’s business.
0 CommentsThe Diocese of Edinburgh has launched a new website today. It contains a lecture given by the Bishop of Edinburgh on 17 June concerning current conflicts in the Anglican Communion.
The prefeace to the address reads:
This address was given to members of the Diocese of Edinburgh on 17 June 2008. Drawing upon earlier addresses and Bible studies given in the diocese, it argues that the church should allow the category of ‘the tragic’ to shape its perspective on the world, and should place more emphasis on what is highlighted as ‘ethical transcendence’ in its understanding of God. Doing this creates the possibility of articulating a circumscribed and limited pluralism, totally different from simple relativism. The paper concludes by suggesting that much in current approaches to Anglican difficulties rests upon a too limited approach to the doctrine of the Trinity. The heart of the paper is a plea that Anglicanism recaptures elements in the traditions which lie at the heart of its life, brings them to the fore and addresses our current disputes in their light.
The address appears in the ‘News’ section of the website. Or you can download it directly as a pdf or Word file.
8 CommentsThe Provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow has announced local plans to mark the Lambeth Conference.
Read An Announcement.
The plans include having the Primate of Canada as guest preacher on the morning of Sunday 13 July. And another is:
… Finally, it seems to me to be desirable to have someone at the end of the conference to come and preach to us. But who would the best person to have be? After all, all the bishops of Communion will be busy with Rowan Williams in Canterbury at the Conference. Well, all bar one. I’m delighted to announce that the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire has agreed to come and celebrate the Eucharist and to preach the gospel on 3 August 2008 at 1030 here in St Mary’s.
The Bishop of New Hampshire will also preach at St. Mary’s, Putney in London on Sunday July 13 at 6 p.m.
15 CommentsThe 2008 meeting of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church had its third, and final, day of business today.
Reports on today’s business on the Church’s website.
Written report
General Synod 2008 – Saturday 14 June
Verbal report
Update from General Synod 2008 12pm 14 June 2008
0 CommentsThe 2008 meeting of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church had its second day of business today.
Reports on today’s business on the Church’s website.
Written report
General Synod 2008 – Friday 13 June
Verbal reports (about five minutes each) on the morning and afternoon sessions
Synod 2008 Audio Update – 12pm 13 June 2008
Synod 2008 Audio Update – 5pm 13 June 2008
[updated Saturday morning to reflect correction of report title on SEC website]
Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, and a member of synod, is blogging from the floor of synod.
0 CommentsThe 2008 meeting of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church opened today. The afternoon session included a debate on the Anglican Covenant. The main motion (number 3) before synod was
That this Synod affirm an ‘in principle’ commitment to the Covenant process at this time (without committing itself to the details of any text).
This was amended to
That this Synod affirm an ‘in principle’ commitment to continue to participate actively in discussions regarding the future shape of the Anglican Communion at this time (without necessarily committing itself to the concept of a convenant).
The amended motion was carried (65 votes for; 56 against).
There are a number of reports on the day’s business on the Church’s website.
Written reports
General Synod 2008 – Thursday 12 June – contains the text of the Primus’s charge to the synod
General Synod 2008 – Thursday 12 June – day’s proceedings
Verbal reports (about five minutes each) on the morning and afternoon sessions
Synod Update 2008 Noon 12 June 2008
Synod Update 2008 5pm 12 June 2008
The Scottish Episcopal Church is holding the annual meeting of its General Synod from Thursday to Saturday this week (12 to 14 June) in Edinburgh.
There are several items on the Church’s website about the meeting.
Agenda and Papers
General Information
Preview
For an overview of the synod’s activities see here.
On Thursday afternoon the synod will debate these three motions on the proposed Anglican Covenant.
Motion 3: That this Synod affirm an ‘in principle’ commitment to the Covenant process at this time (without committing itself to the details of any text).
Motion 4: That this Synod ask the Faith and Order Board to respond to the ‘three questions’ in the letter from the Joint Standing Committee, incorporating this Synod’s response to Question 1.
Motion 5: That this Synod:
a) note the St Andrew’s draft Covenant, and ask dioceses to discuss it and submit comments to the Faith and Order Board by 31 December 2008;
b) ask the Faith and Order Board to prepare a response to the Anglican Communion on the draft Covenant, taking due cognisance of the views of this Synod and of dioceses.
The three questions referred to in motion 4 are:
1. Is the Province able to give an “in principle” commitment to the Covenant process at this time (without committing itself to the details of any text)?
2. Is it possible to give some indication of any synodical process which would have to be undertaken in order to adopt the Covenant in the fullness of time?
3. In considering the St Andrew’s Draft for an Anglican Covenant, are there any elements which would need extensive change in order to make the process of synodical adoption viable?
For links to the St Andrew’s draft and related documents see here.
7 Comments