The letter from 17 men bishops provoked the following two items in the Church of England Newspaper
Women clergy express anger at bishops’ Synod appeal
and
A debilitating delay? by Christina Rees which says in part:
Last week’s letter from the Bishop in Europe and other bishops bears closer inspection, not only because of its contents, but also because of its timing and signatories. Of the six diocesan bishops who signed the letter, three – the Bishops of Blackburn, Chichester and Europe – are known as being opposed women’s ordination. It is difficult to understand why they have asked for a longer period of discussion, when they have made it clear that they are opposed to ordaining women as priests or as bishops, now or at any time.
The Bishop in Europe was a member of the House of Bishops Working Party on Women in the Episcopate, which produced the Rochester Report. That Working Party spent over four years in study and discussion and considered over 700 written submissions and a number of face to face submissions.
The Bishop of Blackburn is currently a member of another working party set up earlier this year by the House of Bishops to explore some of the options outlined in the Rochester Report and to report to the House of Bishops in January. It seems particularly odd that these two bishops, both involved with the open processes of the General Synod and their own House of Bishops, should choose to sign a letter asking for that very process to be deflected and delayed.
On the other hand, for Church Society the 17 bishops didn’t go anyway near far enough, OPEN LETTER TO THE ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
Fulcrum had this fence-sitting Response to the General Synod Motion on Women Bishops July 2005 but also re-published this article by Judith Rose to complement this one from Tom Wright.
8 CommentsQuestions to be answered at this weekend’s General Synod are now online. The answers will be given tonight starting at 8.30pm.
0 CommentsUpdated twice Friday
The Archbishop of Canterbury issued this Statement on London Terrorist Attacks
The Bishop of London issued this statement on explosions and also this: London Explosions.
Times Online carried this report by Ruth Gledhill Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders condemn attacks
Friday: Telegraph
Jonathan Petre Archbishop and the Pope condemn ‘evil’ attacks
Church Times
Helen Saxbee Religious leaders condemn London bomb attacks
BBC via ACNS
Rowan Williams Thought for the Day
Listen here with Real Audio
BBC Today radio programme
Andrew Hosken has been finding out how London is recovering this morning. The Rt Rev Rt Hon Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, joins us from St Paul’s.
Listen here with Real Audio (Bishop Chartres segment is about 6 minutes in and lasts about 3.5 minutes)
9 CommentsAs we await news of the G8’s deliberations, it was good to receive, as others must have done, letters from Tony Blair to all who had contacted him about the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign. It read like a ringing endorsement of our participation in the march around Edinburgh last Saturday.
As soon as we discovered that a cheap flight from Stansted would allow us to join the demonstaration, visit my sister in Edinburgh and get back in time for the Sunday services, we had to go. Initially the organisers had hoped for 100,000 people, double the number that had gone to make a human chain around Birmingham in 1998, appealing for the relief of debt as the jubilee year approached. Certainly our government had welcomed that human chain as a sign that the G8 needed a new agenda.
This time the numbers and the organisation proved far greater. Where Birmingham had a static human chain, Edinburgh the chain was a march which went on for hours. By the time we completed the circuit there were still so many people waiting to begin the march the whole queue was at a standstill, three hours after the first people had begun.
Initially the crowd met in the Meadows, where two stages with giant screens were set up. Images, speeches and music underlined the message of why we were there. Glorious sunshine, and colourful banners added to the enjoyment of the occasion. The rival attraction of watching the Bob Geldof concert either at home or on a large screen somewhere had obviously not diminished the crowds.
Compared with Birmingham, the police presence and the vast number of barricades, looked like complete overkill. On Princes Street, the main thoroughfare of the city, the width of the road filled with four rows of barricades was greater than the width afforded to the marchers. But why? The joyful crowds were adequately marshalled by a large contingent of trade unionists in yellow vests. Under their guidance we were held back at the start and then allowed through a fairly narrow gap, about ten abreast, for the march. Above us, across Edinburgh Castle on its crag, was a huge MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY banner.
One wag with a megaphone yelled out “Call this a march? It’s only an amble. Step it out as if you mean it!” He then turned on the megaphone to give a brief imitation of a police siren.
Amongst the sea of white clothing, a few anarchist troublemakers in black with hoods and faces covered stood out so much that they were easily rounded up by police before any problems could be caused.
The day before, preparations being made in the shopping centre were hugely varied. Some places remained open, and we were certainly grateful for the opportunity of a late lunch. Thousands more marchers must have appreciated the fact that most eating places were open. But apart from the demonstrators, Edinburgh was extremely quiet and many people must have gone on holiday. Some shops were closed, and had signs in the window saying “Closed — so that our staff can join the march”. Others were boarded up, some in order to remain open behind fortress like entrances, but the majority were closed. Perhaps Saturday, for the police and for those who boarded up their shops, was only a seen as a prelude to protests by violent protesters.
But for all who dressed in white and joined the march, it was a great and purposeful day, helping to set the world’s agenda in a way which meant that the poor could no longer be ignored, and that justice needed to be done. The city’s transport coped well, and there were no problems in making return journeys. Indeed, we were at home in time to see the conclusion of the Hyde Park concert.
1 CommentA few more Synod papers have appeared since my earlier lists here and here.
GS 1582 Archbishops’ Council’s Annual Report 2004
Report of Proceedings – February 2005
And there’s now a zipped version of one file which reduces its size from 20 to 2.6 MB.
GS 1577 Presence and Engagement
0 CommentsInclusive Communion, an international umbrella body for several groups, issued a press release about the Listening resolution, which can be found here.
LGCM and its Anglican Matters subgroup issued a press release which takes a somewhat different tack. As it is not yet on the LGCM website it is reproduced here, below the fold.
The American Anglican Council issued these:
ECUSA Shameless in Its Defense of a New Gospel
Anglican Consultative Council Endorses Primates Regarding ECUSA
To put into context the letter recently published arguing for further delay in the process of deciding about women bishops in the Church of England, the full wording of the motion to be debated is published below the fold.
The motion does not, as was the expectation earlier, ask synod to decide anything about the specific options for proceeding (see here for what the Rochester report said about options.)
It only asks for a decision yes/no about proceeding further at all.
If a yes decision is made, it asks that a further report be published before the February 2006 synod meeting and that options should be debated at that time. (No action on this topic is proposed for the November 2005 meeting.) A committee of the House of Bishops chaired by Christopher Hill is already working on this report.
2 CommentsPRESS RELEASE: The Time is Right
The Church of England’s General Synod debates whether to proceed to legislation for women bishops on July 11th. InclusiveChurch calls for a single clause measure welcoming the consecration of women as bishops, with a recommended code of practice for Dioceses to respect the needs of those who are unable to accept the ministry of women as bishops.
The issue has already been debated for many years. Nearly 10,000 people have signed up to the InclusiveChurch Statement (at www.inclusivechurch.net). Of these, the vast majority are members of the Church of England. InclusiveChurch’s supporters are explicit and clear. Full inclusion, regardless of gender, is a gospel imperative. We wish to see women and men treated equally by the Church of England; equally valued and equally deployed according to calling, gifts and experience.
The Chair of InclusiveChurch, the Revd. Dr Giles Fraser, said
“We do not need more time to discuss the issue. We cannot justify the profligate waste of the talents, experience, gifts and ministry of half the human race. We worship an inclusive God and the Church of England needs to be willing to wake up to the implications of our faith.”
We note that fewer than 10% of the House of Bishops have asked for a further delay in the consecration of women as Bishops and we look forward to a Church which is led equally by women and men.
16 CommentsWhat follows is the complete text of the resolution previously published only in part.
Additional text is underlined. Links to additional text in italics.
ACC Constitution (Recommendations of the Windsor Report)
The Anglican Consultative Council
(a) takes note that the Secretary General has taken appropriate steps to implement and respond to the recommendations of Appendix One of the Windsor Report insofar as they relate to the administration of the Anglican Communion Office, and thanks him for this work;
(b) requests that the Standing Committee of the Council and the Archbishop of Canterbury give consideration to convening a meeting of the Standing Committee at the same time and in the same place as the next meeting of the Primates, and that they facilitate the opportunity for joint sessions of business and consultation;
(c) requests that the Schedule of Membership of the Council be amended to make the members of the Primates’ Standing Committee for the time being ex officio members of the Anglican Consultative Council in accordance with the text set out in Appendix One;
(d) resolves that the Constitution of the Council be amended by the deletion of existing Article 7(a) and replacing it with the text set out in Appendix Two;
(e) requests that the Schedule of Membership of the Council be amended to provide that the Primates and Moderators of the Churches of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion shall be additional ex officio members of the Council, and that in order to achieve appropriate balance between the orders of bishops, clergy and laity in the Council that the representative members shall thereafter be only from either the priestly and diaconal orders or from the laity of the appropriate Provinces as set out in Appendix Three, the execution of this amendment being subject to:
(i) the Primates’ assent to such a change at their next meeting;
(ii) two thirds of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion giving their approval of such a change by resolution of the appropriate constitutional body;
(iii) final amendment (if any) and approval by the Standing Committee in the light of such deliberations;
(iv) such provisions taking effect in relation to existing members of the Council only upon the occasion of the next vacancy arising in the membership.
Appendix One
The Schedule of Membership shall be amended by adding the new category:
“(e) Ex officio members
Five members of the body known as the Standing Committee of the Primates of the Anglican Communion in each case for so long as they shall remain members of such Standing Committee.”
and that the remaining categories in the schedule be redesignated accordingly.
Appendix Two
Article 7(a) of the Constitution shall be amended to read as follows:
“7(a) The Council shall appoint a Standing Committee of fourteen members, which shall include the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Council, and the members listed in category (e) to the schedule to the Constitution. The Secretary General shall be the Secretary of the Standing Committee.”
Appendix Three
The Schedule of Membership shall be amended as follows:
3 Comments“(b) Three from each of the following, either two clergy (priests or deacons) and one lay person, or one priest or deacon and two lay persons.”
“ (c) Two from each of the following, consisting of one priest or deacon and one lay person.”
“(d) one lay person from each of the following:”
This press release from the Anglican Church of Canada tells of three addresses given by Andrew Hutchison at a Trinity College, Toronto conference Ties that Bind: Being in Communion in the Anglican Church of the 21st Century
The lectures can be found here:
A report on this from TLC by Aaron Orear:
Canadian Primate Says Spiritual Questions on Homosexuality Exist Throughout the Communion
The concluding statements of the conference are also at TLC:
A Responsible Place at the Table
My thoughts on the now-completed ACC meeting in Nottingham can be found at Anglicans Online this week, under the title The American Adventure. This complements my earlier AO report.
Further information about the missing annexes to that ACC resolution concerning the addition of Primates to ACC membership is still not available. When this become available, I will write further.
6 CommentsThe ACC has created a serious challenge for the Anglican Church
original here
The result of the vote at the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham on Weds 22nd June represents a serious challenge to the future of the Anglican Church. It is vital that those who celebrate the breadth and depth of the Anglican tradition begin to take seriously the threat to the future of our church.
St Paul says in the first letter to the Corinthians ‘Now the body is not made up of one part, but of many…..The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” ’ It is clear that the continued exclusion of the Episcopal Church of the USA and the Anglican Church of Canada, in spite of their open, honest and generous responses to the Windsor Report and the Primates’ request is a contradiction of the words of St Paul.
The preface to the Book of Common Prayer, published in 1662, opens with the words “It hath ever been the wisdom of the Church of England to keep the mean between two extremes.” The Church has lived with diversity and difference since its foundation. Anglicans from a vast breadth of theological and liturgical understandings have respected one another’s right to be members. The path has not always been easy but the Church has held together over nearly five centuries.
The Anglican Church has made a unique contribution to Christian witness. We have always been Catholic and Reformed, standing between the extreme certainties which caused such terror and suffering in the Reformation era. We are commtted to maintaining the value of that inheritance. We are not surprised when something that has so much within it that works for good and redemption is under attack.
But this Church that we love is now under threat. The Gospel of broad and generous inclusion is being undermined by a dangerously monochrome interpretation of scripture.
The loss of our voice; the change in our ecclesiology; the equating of our Anglican tradition with other hard-line, protestant, or neo-conservative churches would be a serious and permanent diminishing of Christian witness to the world.
InclusiveChurch and its thirteen partner organisations in the Church of England have welcomed the process of reception of the Windsor Report and the institution of the “Listening process” agreed by the Anglican Consultative Council. We are working closely with other groups within the Anglican Commuion, both in the UK and abroad. We are committed to this so that we can try to ensure that the ecclesiology of the Anglican Communion is not subverted.
The decision taken at the ACC meeting in Nottingham to include all the Primates as full members of the Anglican Consultative Council sets an alarming precedent. There is a real possibility of imposed doctrinal and theological positions from a conservative grouping.
We cannot risk becoming a church where the Primates can equate homosexuality with bestiality; or where there is permanent subjugation of women and institutionalised inequality; or where genuine debate and searching are replaced by an imposed orthodoxy.
We are aware that the Church faces very different challenges around the world, and we have no wish to exclude from the church those who have a different interpretation of the Gospel. But for the sake of the Church we repeat clearly that we are committed to finding ways to ensure that the diversity of the Anglican Communion continues to be celebrated and encouraged.
InclusiveChurch deeply regrets the continued exclusion of ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada from full participation in the life of the Anglican Communion. We express our full support for their respect for the Anglican Communion and their membership of it.
We believe that the Gospel witness we offer must continue to grow and to that end we call on all members of our Communion to become aware of the risks we are facing. ‘The eye cannot say to the hand – “I do not need you.”’
Giles Goddard
Executive Secretary
InclusiveChurch
Official press releases on the discussion of same-sex blessings at the recent Methodist Conference at Torquay give a slightly different view to that portrayed in the press:
Official:
Statement on Press Coverage of the ‘Pilgrimage of Faith’ debate
Methodist Church receives major report on human sexuality
Text of the report Pilgrimage of Faith (This is downloadable only in MS Word format)
Press reports:
Guardian Stephen Bates Methodist leaders vote to bless gay couples
The Times Ruth Gledhill Methodists will bless gays
Telegraph Jonathan Petre Church opens the door to blessings for gays
The Methodists also discussed bishops, as reported by Paul Handley in the Church Times
Methodists will vote on bishops in 2007
Full text of What sort of bishops (This is downloadable only in MS Word format)
Official statement: Methodist Church moves towards Bishops
The Methodists also welcomed the the first report from the Joint Implementation Commission on the Anglican-Methodist Covenant, see Methodist Church welcomes Covenant report
1 CommentJudith Maltby writes in the Guardian today about the need for women bishops in the Church of England, Time for bishop’s move. She concludes:
The debate on women bishops is not, at its heart, a matter of internal governance, but about what sort of sign the Church of England wants to be to the world. How can a church which continues to bury the talents, which have been freely given to it, stand as a sign to our neighbours of God’s bounty? Will we put our trust in our “achievements” or in God’s scandalous generosity?
The talents have been given to the church by an open-handed God – a God who, contrary to our way of thinking, knows that the more grace you give away, the more there is. One hopes that, in York, the Church of England will resist the temptation to break out the shovels.
Geoffrey Rowell, who has written elsewhere this week on women bishops, write in The Times about Cassian, in Chastity of mind is the bridle of our rampaging desires. This includes the following passage:
As desiring animals we human beings are curious to know, and the old Genesis story of the fall of Adam tells how forbidden knowledge led to expulsion from the garden of innocence. It is the story of the growing up of all of us, and equally a recognition that knowledge has power for good and evil. There is promiscuous knowing as well as promiscuous relationships.
The explosion of information technology, the unfettered and unregulated “knowledge” that the internet offers, demands of us ascetic disciplines, of a piece with ancient spiritual wisdom though having new applications. To be overwhelmed by tsunamis of emails, to communicate simply at the touch of a button just because it is possible, is a modern form of unrestrained desire. We need to learn a chastity of communication, a disciplined and loving sensitivity, in this area as in many others.
Newman and the leaders of the Oxford Movement emphasised the importance of “reserve” in communication. Mystery is destroyed by over-definition, and no less through salvation by slogans. God reveals himself gradually, and the wisdom of God can only be learnt by patient pilgrimage. To know another person we have to learn to attend, to listen and to receive. So it is with the God in whose image we are made.
In the Telegraph Christopher Howse has been reading this article in the Church Times and so writes his column on The vicars who sacrifice goats
Two fascinating items from the USA:
A recent New Yorker article profiling Patrick Henry College in Virginia, GOD AND COUNTRY by Hanna Rosin, plus some helpful links from Doug LeBlanc including an Independent report.
A column that first appeared in the New York Times by John C Danforth Onward, Moderate Christian Soldiers.
1 Comment17 bishops of the Church of England have written a letter, which is published this week in the Church Times
Delay vote on women, say bishops
the Church of England Newspaper
Church urged to refrain from allowing women bishops
and also The Tablet (where the letter lacks one signature).
The letter (full text below the fold) is also reported in The Times as Senior clergy move to block ordination of women bishops
The bishops include 6 diocesans, one suffragan (Beverley, PEV for the Northern Province) who is an elected member of the House of Bishops, and 10 other suffragans (the Assistant Bishop of Newcastle is a suffragan in all but name).
Most of these bishops are well known to be opposed to the ordination of women as priests, never mind bishops. The exceptions are Tom Wright (Durham), Peter Forster (Chester) and Michael Langrish (Exeter).
8 CommentsUpdated
To complement the first Church Times article below, here from the Living Church is a transcript by George Conger of the interview on which the article was based: Q&A With the Archbishop of Canterbury
and this An Analysis of ACC-13 by George Conger
Church of England Newspaper
Church ‘has reinforced traditional teaching’ at ACC
Archbishop seeks to reassure after controversial Israel vote
Church Times
This week:
Williams: ‘we’ve held the line’ by Pat Ashworth
Feelings run high over resolution on Israeli investment by Pat Ashworth
UK policy on Zimbabwean refugees ‘inhuman’ by Bill Bowder
And more from last week:
The US and Canada justify their moves on sex by Pat Ashworth
ACC chairman ticks off Primates
Two recent Globe and Mail reports relating to this:
Same-sex marriage creates rift for Anglicans
Gays seen as part of Anglican power struggle
Part of the text of the second article follows.
8 CommentsIn the final session of the Anglican Consultative Council meeting at Nottingham, the Resolutions Committee proposed a Supplementary Resolution of Thanks to the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada.
According to the American Anglican Council:
The resolution prompted an amendment followed by intense and heated debate with several delegates expressing concern that it undermined the Resolution Concerning the Primates’ Statement at Dromantine and indicated a subtle approval of the US and Canadian presentations. The Archbishop of Canterbury intervened offering language that was accepted by the body. This debate illustrated that the Council remains deeply divided on the presence and presentation of the North American delegations as well as demonstrated the delegates’ concern that any resolution of thanks be consonant with the mind of the Council, thereby maintaining the integrity of the decisions of the meeting.
The resolution is shown below with the original language and the amended text:
0 CommentsThe Anglican Consultative Council:
- Notes
the helpful manner in whichwith appreciation the response of the Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canadarespondedto the request of the Primates’ Dromantine Statement;- Expresses its appreciation for the presentations made on Tuesday, 21st June; and requests the observers from those Provinces to convey that appreciation back to their Provinces;
- Reminds all parties to have regard for the admonitions in paragraphs 156 and 157 of the Windsor Report
[NOTE: The Windsor Report, paragraphs 156 and 157 were included.]
TLC George Conger
ACC Briefed on Lambeth 2008
Ecumenical Visitors Bring Greetings, Suggestions
ACC Calls for End to Land Confiscation in Zimbabwe
ENS Bob Williams
Poverty relief, cross-cultural listening in focus as ACC-13 adjourns
Video Stream: Archbishop of Canterbury sees collaborative way forward
Video Stream: Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking central in Anglican network report
The Times Ruth Gledhill and Daniel McGrory Zimbabwe deportations halted until G8 summit
Full text of Tom Wright’s presentation
0 CommentsFrom this morning’s BBC Radio 4 Today programme:
0733 Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams on world poverty, Aids and Zimbabwe
Listen with Real Audio (8 minutes)
ACNS Anglicans call on Zimbabwe Government to halt policies of destruction
Full text of resolution as passed is below the fold.
BBC Asylum returns immoral – Williams
The Times Ruth Gledhill Archbishop attacks ‘immoral’ deportations to Zimbabwe
Reuters Envoy wants ‘comprehensive’ picture of Zimbabwe
Press Association ‘Immoral’ to Send Asylum Seekers Back, Says Archbishop
ENS Zimbabwe crisis, Lambeth Conference planning raised by ACC
This includes a note on the presentation by Tom Wright.
Earlier reports on Zimbabwe
Press Association Bishop Backs Zimbabwean Asylum Seekers
Observer Church hits at Zimbabwe deportations