This one is in Time and is shared with another bishop. Read Gay Bishop vs. Straight Bishop by David Van Biema.
The other interview can be found here.
0 CommentsThe Sydney Morning Herald carries a report by David Marr titled The archbishop says No. It starts out:
The Anglican Church faces a modern Great Schism, with gay-tolerant Christians on one side and radical “Bible-believers” on the other. And at the forefront of the hardliners is Australia’s outspoken evangelist Peter Jensen.
Pilgrims to the mount of olives late this month may be startled to see a couple of hundred Anglican divines kitted out in purple toiling up the slope. Most of the faces will be black. Back home these men are princes of the church; their followers run into tens of millions. But somewhere among the bishops, dressed incongruously in civvies, will be the humble, smiling face of Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney.
What’s afoot in Jerusalem is the destruction of the Anglican Communion, the worldwide church loosely aligned to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It spread with the empire and has so far survived, despite all its contradictions, for about 450 years, guided by the tart good sense of its founding monarch, Elizabeth I: “There is only one Jesus Christ and all the rest is a dispute over trifles…”
And it ends with this:
…The Sydney bishops had still not made up their minds to boycott Lambeth after four weeks of “agonising and struggle” – the words of Jensen’s media officer Russell Powell – when Akinola announced their decision for them in far-off Lagos, telling a press conference he was not going to Lambeth – and nor were the bishops of Uganda, Rwanda and Sydney.
Jensen scrambled. He rang the Archbishop of Canterbury’s office to say the Sydney bishops were not coming. At some point the letter was signed and sent. Then Jensen made the decision public. But senior sources in the church say two bishops remain deeply troubled: “They were told to like it or lump it.” My calls to those men were flick-passed to Jensen’s office. Powell informed me that everyone, including Jensen, was upset not to be going. “But the bishops are gladly united in the decision that has been taken.”
Jensen drove all these big decisions. Only when they were signed and sealed did he take them to the Standing Committee of his synod – the parliament of his diocese – where they were rubber-stamped by the clergy and laity. Was that the right way round? “Some would think it a failure of leadership to do it any other way,” answers Powell. The Standing Committee gave its support and “thanks to God for the unreserved commitment to biblical teaching of the Archbishop and his Bishops.”
Jensen speaks of the old Anglican Communion in the past tense. As far as he’s concerned, it’s finished. Lambeth can go on quarrelling about homosexuality, but the Archbishop of Sydney expects the subject will hardly be mentioned at GAFCON. That’s in the past. It is, after all, a bond between them. “To my mind we are just living in a new age. We’re in a different sort of organisation. Now it’s exploring the possibilities of this different organisation that is now before us.” All the way from Westminster Abbey comes the sound of Queen Elizabeth I spinning in her tomb.
The article is very long but well worth reading in full.
31 CommentsThe 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 CommentsThe Prime Minister’s Spokesman said:
Asked if the Prime Minister accepted that the Church of England had been marginalised in the last few years, and that it had not been listened to perhaps as much as voices from other faiths, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would not accept that at all. The Prime Minister was obviously keen on engaging with all of the major religious groups in this country to ensure that their views were properly aired. We had worked very closely with the Church of England and other religious groups on a number of important policy issues such as the campaign on global debt reduction, which was very much lead by the Church, and which the Government responded to in a very significant way.
Francis Davis one of the report’s authors wrote this: ‘Moral, But No Compass’ – a challenge to every politician.
A Telegraph leader says: The Church of England sees sense.
And George Pitcher writes Labour has bungled religion.
The Times has David Aaronovitch saying The Church of England should drop its martyred tone.
And the letters page has several who disagree with the report: A grown-up Church should not need the State.
At Ekklesia Simon Barrow has written about A wonky church and welfare debate.
And there is a further news report at Church and welfare debate continues as new report is published.
And here’s a speech on the same topic, given last week by the Archbishop of York to the Institute of Jewish Policy Research: Archbishop’s Speech on The Role Of Religion In Politics.
1 CommentStephen Sackur of the BBC interviewed Bishop Martyn Minns for Hardtalk.
Watch the full interview here.
Read a summary of the interview at Episcopal Café.
78 CommentsUpdated Tuesday evening
The Church of Ireland has issued two press releases arising from what the Bishop of Cork, the Rt Revd Paul Colton, said at his diocesan synod on Saturday.
Bishop Colton: Anglican Covenant Raises Issues Of Canon Law
Speaking to members of the Church of Ireland in Cork, Cloyne and Ross at their annual Diocesan Synod on Saturday 7th June, the Bishop of Cork, the Rt Revd Paul Colton, said that the proposed Anglican Covenant which will be debated at next month’s Lambeth Conference raises some major issues for the Church of Ireland.
The Bishop said ‘… the proposed Anglican Covenant, if progressed through the central Anglican structures, the so-called Instruments of Unity, and if it is to be binding on the Church of Ireland, will have to come to the General Synod for ratification and incorporation into the law of the Church of Ireland.’
However, he said: ‘We already have our Preamble and Declaration. It too is a solemn document and covenantal in character: a covenant with and between ourselves formulated at a cathartic time of crisis. Drawn up in 1870 in anticipation of the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland, it is for us one of our title deeds…
Bishop Colton Encourages A New Approach To Canterbury Appointment
…The Bishop warned that the proposed Anglican Covenant gives the Archbishop of Canterbury significant new powers outside of the Church of England and within other Churches. Bishop Colton said that in spite of the Covenant’s protestations to the contrary, “… agreeing to it would result in compromising the autonomy of the Church of Ireland and other parts of the Anglican Communion.”
Bishop Colton said that while what was being proposed may be necessary to preserve the unity of Anglicanism, the proposal to enhance the powers of the Archbishop of Canterbury represented a partial move “…towards universal primacy at the expense of local conciliarity.”
He argued, therefore, that if this is to happen there would have to be a new approach to the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He said: “If the Covenant proposals and the framework for resolution of conflict are to be adopted internationally, a new approach to the appointment of future Archbishops of Canterbury will be needed as well as international involvement in those appointments. At a minimum this international involvement should involve a new process of formal and transparent consultation throughout Anglicanism.
“I realise that this will compromise the autonomy of the Church of England and raise issues of leadership, authority as well as constitutional concerns for establishment in the English context, which would in turn have to be addressed; but, equally, not to address this matter will raise ecclesial constitutional concerns throughout much of the rest of Anglicanism.”
Update
The full text of his remarks is available as a PDF file here.
6 CommentsUpdated Monday 16 June and Monday 23 June
Papers for next month’s meeting of General Synod are starting to appear online. Links will be added to the list below as they become available.
Agenda
Friday 4 July
Saturday 5 July
Sunday 6 July
Monday 7 July
Tuesday 8 July
Special Agenda I – Legislative Business
Notice Paper 1
Notice Paper 2
Notice Paper 4
Synod Papers
The scheduled day for debate is appended. Starred items will only be debated if a member requests a debate.
GS 1637B Draft Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure [Saturday]
GS 1637Z report by the Steering Committee
GS 1682A Draft Church of England Pensions (Amendment) Measure [Saturday]
GS 1683A Draft Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure [Saturday]
GS 1683Y report by the Revision Committee
GS 1685 Women Bishops: Report Of The Women Bishops Legislative Drafting Group [Saturday and Monday]
GS 1685A Report From The House Of Bishops [Monday]
GS 1685B Note from the Secretary General and revised Annex G
GS 1686 Appointment Of Chair Of The Church Of England Pensions Board [Sunday]
GS 1688 Report by the Business Committee [Friday]
GS 1689 Reader Ministry: Report From The Ministry Division Of The Archbishops’ Council [Saturday]
GS 1690 Annual Report Of The Audit Committee [Sunday]
GS 1691 Anglican/Methodist Covenant [Monday]
GS 1692 Draft Vacancies in Suffragan Sees and Other Ecclesiastical Offices Measure [Saturday]
GS 1692X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1693 Draft Crown Benefices (Parish Representatives) Measure [Saturday]
GS 1693X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1694 Vacancy in See Committees (Amendment) Regulation 2008 [Saturday]
GS 1694X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1695 Payments to the Churches Conservation Trust Order 2008 [Sunday]
GS 1695X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1696 Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2008 [Monday *]
GS 1697 Ecclesiastical Judges, Legal Officers and Others (Fees) Order 2008 [Monday *]
GS 1696-7X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1698 Parochial Fees Order 2008 [Monday *]
GS 1698X Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1699 Forty-Third Report Of The Standing Orders Committee [Monday]
GS 1700 Archbishops’ Council’s Draft Budget For 2009 [Tuesday]
GS 1701 Annual Report Of The Archbishops’ Council [Sunday *]
GS 1703 Supplementary Report From The Deployment, Remuneration And Conditions Of Service Committee to GS Misc 877 Parochial Fees: Four Funerals and a Wedding
GS 1704 Appointment Of Archbishops’ Council’s Auditors [Sunday]
GS 1705 Climate Change And Human Security: Challenging An Environment Of Injustice: A Report By The Mission And Public Affairs Council [Sunday]
GS 1706 The Church Of The Triune God: The Cyprus Agreed Statement Of The International Commission For Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue Briefing Paper From Faith And Order Advisory Group [Friday]
GS Misc 887 A and B and Annex B Private Member’s Motion: Church Tourism [Sunday]
GS Misc 890 A and B Diocesan Synod Motion: Faith, Work And Economic Life [Monday]
GS Misc 891 A and B Diocesan Synod Motion: Anglican Governance [Tuesday]
GS Misc 898 Diocesan Synod Motion: Voice of the Church in Public Life [contingency business]
Other Papers circulated to synod members
GS Misc 888 Apportionment Limited Review and Annexes 5a, 5b, 6 & 7
GS Misc 889 Crown Appointments
GS Misc 892 Mission Development Funding
GS Misc 893 Annual Report of the Clergy Discipline Commission
GS Misc 894 Into the New Quinquennium: 2nd Progress Report
GS Misc 895 A note from the Secretary General on Moral, But No Compass
GS Misc 896 Activities of the Archbishops’ Council
GS Misc 897 Presence and Engagement: An Update
The agenda for the July group of sessions of the General Synod is now available; an outline version follows.
July Group of Sessions 2008
Outline Agenda
Usual sitting hours: 9.30 am to 1 pm; 2.30 pm to 6.15 pm; 8.30 pm to 10 pm
Friday 4 July
[2.30-3.30 pm Provision for meetings of the Convocations and House of Laity if required]
4.00 pm Welcomes, introductions, message on behalf of ecumenical guests
Business Committee report
Address by Metropolitan John Zizioulas
Anglican/Orthodox relations, The Church of the Triune God
8.20 pm Introduction to group work by the Bishop of Manchester
Questions
Saturday 5 July
[9.30 am Group work]
11.00 am Women Bishops: take-note debate
2.30 pm Presidential Address by the Archbishop of York
Legislative Business:
– Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure: Final Drafting and Final Approval
– Church of England (Pensions) Amendment) Measure: Revision Stage, Final Drafting and Final Approval
Crown Appointments Legislation:
– Vacancies in Suffragan Sees and Other Ecclesiastical Offices Measure: First Consideration
– Crown Benefices (Parish Representatives) Measure: First Consideration
– Vacancy in See Committees (Amendment) Regulation
– Miscellaneous Provisions Measure:Revision Stage
8.30 pm Reader Ministry
Sunday 6 July
2.30 pm Church Tourism: Private Members’ Motion: Roy Thompson
Legislative Business: Payments to the Churches Conservation Trust
Climate Change and Human Security
Appointment of the Chairman of the Pensions Board
Audit Committee report
Appointment of auditors
Archbishops’ Council Annual Report: deemed approval
8.30 pm Fees: Four Funerals and a Wedding
Monday 7 July
9.30 am Prayers
Anglican/Methodist Covenant
Legislative Business
– Unfinished business from Saturday
– Fees Orders [deemed]
Standing Orders Committee Report
2.30 pm Women Bishops: debate on motion from House of Bishops
8.30 pm Faith, Work and Economic Life:St Albans Diocesan Synod Motion
Tuesday 8 July
9.30 am Prayers
Anglican Governance: Guildford Diocesan Synod Motion
Budget
Church Commissioners Annual Report: presentation and Questions & Answers session
Farewells
Prorogation
Contingency business: Chester Diocesan Synod Motion: Voice of the Church in Public Life
4 CommentsHere is the official Church of England press release on Moral, But No Compass: Von Hügel Institute: Government ‘moral without a compass’ says report into Church and Welfare.
The government is ‘planning blind and failing parts of civil society’ when it comes to faith communities in general and aspects of charity law and social policy in particular, concludes a report by the Von Hügel Institute, an academic research centre and think tank based at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge University. “The government has good intentions, but is moral without a compass,” the authors say.
The report, Moral, But No Compass – Government, Church, and the Future of Welfare, was commissioned by the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, Bishop for Urban Life and Faith, who officially received the report today on behalf of the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. It was researched and written by Francis Davis, co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Faith in Society at the Von Hügel Institute, Elizabeth Paulhus, a researcher at the Institute, and Andrew Bradstock, co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Faith in Society at the Institute.
The Institute’s research involved interviewees from politics, churches, other faiths, the civil service and the voluntary sector. It ‘uncovered huge gaps in government evidence about faith communities in general and the churches in particular,’ according to the report.
“We encountered on the part of Government,” the report says, “a significant lack of understanding of, or interest in, the Church of England’s current or potential contribution in the public sphere. Indeed we were told that Government had consciously decided to focus its evidence gathering almost exclusively on minority religions. We were unsurprised to hear that some of these consequently felt ‘victimised’…”
And the CofE comments:
…Welcoming this report, Bishop Stephen Lowe said: “We had little information about our own capacity or indeed level of existing activity. We had only a sketchy idea of political aspirations for our involvement. We needed an informed and reflective assessment of the position for the Church to consider the nature and extent of its future participation…I am delighted with the outcome.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, called it a ‘fascinating and important report’.
“On the one hand it highlights and details some truly remarkable examples of public good delivered by the Church and faith based organisations – sometimes funded by the state, though mostly not – and a general picture of committed social engagement which if grasped imaginatively by the state could, indeed would, yield some extraordinarily positive results,” the Archbishops said.
“On the other it reveals a depressing level of misunderstanding of the scale and quality of contribution faith-based organisations make to the civil and civic life of our nation – our common good. This is particularly true in relation to the contribution of the Church of England, and its membership, on which the report focuses.
“In short, this report urges the Church, government and others, notably the Charity Commissioners, to sit up, take note and to better understand each others roles and intentions in order to make the most of one of this nation’s most diverse, creative and enduring assets – the Church..
“We all need to consider very seriously the report’s recommendations and take appropriate action – for the good of the nation.”
The press release includes the full list of recommendations made by the report. Some of those are addressed not to the government but to the church. These are reproduced below the fold.
0 CommentsSee below for earlier reports.
Here is the publisher’s website description:
Moral, But No Compass
Government, Church and the Future of Welfare
In the heyday of Thatcherism the Church of England and the Conservative government of the day locked horns over the principles, policies, and strategic direction of the welfare state. The ensuing public debate, fraught with emotion, led to fundamental shifts in the political climate, not least with regard to the poorest members of UK society.
This new major study for the Church of England, drawing on hundreds of interviews and survey questionnaires, describes the modern setting in which the Labour Party’s welfare and related voluntary sector policies often are experienced as “discriminatory”, inadequately rooted in evidence and at risk of failing the faith communities. The government is “moral, with no compass” and needs to recover a principled approach to public service reform grounded in gift, covenant, advocacy and justice. Such an approach also demands a richer appreciation of the “civic value” added to the life, identity and health of the nation by Christian institutions in partnership with the whole realm of civil society. The Church too must adapt to the changing times, overcoming its (mistaken) perception that it is well understood by society. If the crisis of evidence and conversation can be repaired, the Church is in a position, should it so wish, to engage in even more extensive social entrepreneurship, community activism and public advocacy.
The report covers:
• Historical background of welfare;
• Critical assessment of the Labour and Conservative Party’s policy positions;
• The failures of third sector evidence and policy design in Government and at the Charity Commission;
• Analysis of the assets and membership of social voices, both secular and faith-based;
• New data on the capability and potential of Anglican dioceses as social incubators;
• Fresh insights into the role of cathedrals as civic actors and economic hubs;
• New information on the civic contribution of bishops.
• The Church’s view of principles needed by Government for ethical commissioning, as well as its reservations about the present funding regime.ISBN: 978-1-898366-91-1
And here is further comment by Simon Barrow in Church Caught In A Spin Over Welfare.
3 Comments…The initial reporting about Moral, But No Compass has been rather selective, “well spun” and based on what was either a leaked document or a deliberately placed one. In any event, the full report was originally embargoed until a press conference in London tomorrow at 11am and will still be unveiled in full then, though the tone of reception and response has already been established. The archbishops of Canterbury and York will apparently issue a statement.
There is much more to be said about this (I’m respecting the embargo, even if the rush to summary judgment has already begun), but my opening comment on behalf of Ekklesia was as follows: “We believe a more careful, calm and critical evaluation is needed of the role of faith groups in public service provision. It is particularly important that the needs of the vulnerable and the reasonable expectation of all people (whether religious or non-religious) for equal treatment from public services should not be subsumed too readily in a ‘contracting-out’ culture that can put the interests of providers – government, voluntary and private agencies – ahead of those they are supposed to be helping. Research and thought is badly needed, but a confused ‘debate’ fuelled by sensational headlines and half-truths will not help anybody.”
Updated Sunday
This is apparently (some variations exist in the reporting) the title of a report commissioned by the Church of England (180 pages) to be published on Monday. The Times already has seen it, and has published several articles about it:
Church attacks Labour for betraying Christians
The policies of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have helped to generate a spiritual, civic and economic crisis in Britain, according to an important Church of England report.
Labour is failing society and lacks the vision to restore a sense of British identity, the report says in the Church’s strongest attack on the Government for decades. It accuses the Government of “deep religious illiteracy” and of having “no convincing moral direction”.
The report, commissioned for the Church of England and to be published on Monday, accuses the Government of discriminating against the Christian Churches in favour of other faiths, including Islam. It calls for the appointment of a “Minister for Religion”, who would act as the Prime Minister’s personal “faith envoy” and who would recognise the contribution of faith communities to Britain across every government department…
Other Times articles:
Ignored and spurned, the Church has lost its faith – in government
Hunger to put faith into action is frustrated by secularist agenda Analysis by Ruth Gledhill
Times Leader: Church and State
Ruth Gledhill’s blog has substantial quotes from the report, at Church critiques Government’s ‘moral compass’
The Telegraph has also seen it, and published this:
Christianity ‘discriminated against by Gordon Brown’s Government’ by Jonathan Wynne-Jones
The Associated Press report includes:
The Church declined to release the report before a scheduled publication Monday and would not comment on specific recommendations.
Peter Crumpler, spokesman for the Church of England, said the institute was asked to prepare a report “that could assist our reflections and contribute to our conversations with government.”
“The hard-hitting report raises issues of considerable importance, the authors say, and makes recommendations that challenge the Government to recognize the Church’s involvement and potential in public service reform,” he said.
Lowe said the report has not yet been discussed, or endorsed, by senior members of the clergy.
“The report is not an attack on the government, but a call for greater understanding by all politicians of the role of the Church of England in the community life of this country,” Lowe said in a statement.
Update Sunday morning
The BBC Sunday radio programme has a 12 minute segment on this report. Listen here.
Or there is a podcast available here.
Government moral report
A report commissioned by the Church of England says that the UK’s Labour Government is moral, but it doesn’t have a moral compass. The report, released on Monday 9 June, also says that the Government discriminates against the Christian Churches in favour of other faiths, and is guilty of deep religious illiteracy.Roger spoke to one of the report’s authors, Francis Davis from the Von Hugel Institute at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge. He was also joined by the Bishop who commissioned the report, Stephen Lowe, and by the Communities and Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears.
BBC Ministers ignore us, says Church
Simon Barrow reports on Ekklesia that Row breaks out over report to Church on its welfare role:
22 CommentsA report looking at the role of the Church of England and other faith communities in welfare has been spun into an attack on government before it has even been published and properly digested, say the researchers involved in producing it.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Sunday’ programme this morning, co-author Francis Davis from the Von Hugel Institute in Cambridge, which was commissioned by the Church of England’s urban affairs bishop, the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, but produced its work independently, urged people to “carefully read and study the report” when it is published tomorrow rather than “quoting selectively from it.”
Another of the report’s academic authors, Dr Andrew Bradstock, is also deeply unhappy about the way that a lengthy and detailed document, embargoed until 9 June, has been spun by journalists into an attack on government.
“The purpose of this document is to resource an ongoing conversation, not to leap to conclusions or start apportioning general blame”, Dr Bradstock told Ekklesia this morning.
He points out that while the research indicates that some government departments have a sketchy view and little hard data on the church’s grassroots voluntary work, it is not suggesting a lack of moral purpose in any quarter – though it is raising tough questions and the need for action to address the shortcoming of the current situation…
Zaki Cooper writes in the Guardian about the relationship between faith and food.
In The Times Jonathan Sacks says that Religion can help in the desert of the lonely crowd.
Christopher Howse writes in the Telegraph about being Blisterless on the road to Santiago.
Giles Fraser in the Church Times has When mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
Andrea Useem has written an article asking Is Obama’s Real “Faith Asset” His Ability to Speak the Language of American Civil Religion?
Simon Barrow writes on Ekklesia about Moving religion from harm to healing.
0 CommentsThe document GS 1685A has been released, though not yet on the CofE website. This is the covering Note from the Presidents explaining what the House of Bishops has decided to do.
The full text of the document can be read here.
The text of the motion to be put is below, but do read this in the context of the whole document:
A member of the House of Bishops to move:
0 Comments‘That this Synod:
(a) reaffirm its wish for women to be admitted to the episcopate;
(b) affirm its view that special arrangements be available, within the existing structures of the Church of England, for those who as a matter of theological conviction will not be able to receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests;
(c) affirm that these should be contained in a national code of practice to which all concerned would be required to have regard; and
(d) instruct the legislative drafting group, in consultation with the House of Bishops, to complete its work accordingly, including preparing the first draft of a code of practice, so that the Business Committee can include first consideration of the draft legislation in the agenda for the February 2009 group of sessions.’
The Church Times and the Church of England Newspaper both have stories about the Ministry Division report that was leaked to the Sunday Telegraph, as reported earlier here.
Bill Bowder wrote Bishops question the clergy’s ability to cope in the Church Times.
Toby Cohen wrote Church report questions the ability of the clergy. The text of that story is not yet on the web, but is reproduced, with permission of the CEN, below the fold here. Update Religious Intelligence now has the original here.
The Ministry Division issued this press statement:
“This paper, written for consideration by the House of Bishops, represents part of the ongoing work of the Ministry Division in supporting and developing clergy at all stages of their ministry. The initial research exercise sought views on how our current programme of training should be developed to fully meet the challenges facing the Church in the future. One insight not reported [in the Sunday Telegraph] was that more than eight in ten bishops expressed confidence that our newly ordained clergy have the gifts and abilities to meet such challenges and opportunities.”
The Church Times also had a leader: Criticising the clergy? It’s not all bad:
0 CommentsIT IS possible to say anything about the clergy and for it to be broadly correct. Say that they are not adequately trained to lead mixed teams of professionals and volunteers, and most clerics will probably agree. Say that they lack theological or pastoral or managerial experience, and there will be few gainsayers. Say that aspects of worship, welcome, pastoral provision, discipleship, etc. in their churches are not the best they could be, and suspicion would attach to a priest who demurred. It is not suprising, therefore, that a survey of bishops, circulated last December and leaked this week, should articulate the same concerns about the capacity of priests and the adequacy of their training. Bishops naturally spend their energies on pastoral emergencies, hard-to-fill parishes, and hard-to-place clerics. It is all too easy for them to lose sight of the scores of competent priests working quietly in their dioceses, causing their bishops no anxiety…
The Diocese of New Westminster has this report: Bishop tells Diocesan Synod that schism must not become normal:
Bishop Michael Ingham told Diocesan Synod that as bishop he has a responsibility to ensure that schism does not become normal or accepted in the Anglican Church of Canada.
In a report on May 30 to about 300 synod members, about a third clergy and the rest lay, the bishop insisted that the decision of four congregations to join the South American Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, was not simply “divorce” but “schism…the setting up of a unlawful authority” to challenge the rightful authority, which is Diocesan Synod.
“I am fully aware that nobody wishes to see the church diverted from its mission by theprospect of civil litigation over property,” he said.
“But schism cannot stand, for if it were allowed to stand it would undermine the mission of the church across this country.”
Chancellor George Cadman, the synod’s chief legal officer, reported that the clergy remaining in four parishes—St. John’s Shaughnessy, St. Matthew Abbotsford, and Good Shepherd and St. Matthias/St. Luke of Vancouver—have relinquished and abandoned ordained ministry within the Anglican Church of Canada, and by remaining in parish buildings they are now trespassing…
The full text of the bishop’s remarks is here as a PDF.
The view of these events from Sydney, NSW was this: Canada bishop threatens Short.
And there is an interview with Dr JI Packer here (PDF) or more conveniently as html here.
0 CommentsAn official statement from Archbishop Henry Orombi says:
107 Ugandan Anglicans going to Jerusalem
Thirty-four Bishops from the Church of Uganda and their wives will travel to Jerusalem later this month for the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON). Also in the delegation, there will be thirty clergy and lay leaders from around the country with experience in different areas of ministry.
1,000 people from around the worldwide Anglican Communion, including more than 280 bishops, will participate in this Pilgrimage, and the Church of Uganda will be more than ten percent…
A news report in New Vision says Orombi wants pro-gay bishops to apologise. (Another copy here.) The full text of the news article is below the fold.
11 CommentsUpdated Friday
The Pittsburgh diocesan website has published the resolutions to be proposed to the diocesan convention: See this page here.
The resolutions are in a PDF file here.
They are reproduced in full below the fold.
Friday update
Episcopal Café draws attention to information originally at Preludium concerning the financial provisions being made by the senior staff of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Joan Gunderson writes:
“The situation in Pittsburgh is such that even if Bishop Duncan were to be deposed at a House of Bishops meeting in September, the Standing Committee would go forward with the vote at convention to eliminate the accession clause from the diocesan canons. In fact, the diocesan leadership decided at its spring leadership retreat to move the convention forward to the first weekend in October (usually first weekend in November) so that there would be less time between such a deposition and the convention.
Please note that Bishop Duncan has assured himself of a comfortable transition. He has built a retirement house on land owned by the diocese and he and his wife have been deeded (as of November 2007) a life interest estate (to the longest lived survivor) in that house. The diocese also loaned Bishop Duncan the money to build that house (terms not in the public record.) In addition we understand that he AND Bishop Scriven have signed consultant contracts with the diocese for two years at full pay which will go into effect SHOULD BISHOP DUNCAN BE DEPOSED.
The Standing Committee has an overwhelming majority that supports ‘realignment,’ but there is one member who signed a public letter saying he was not realigning. This person is working hard to encourage parishes to stay in TEC. Trying to bring members of the standing committee up on charges before ‘realignment’ would be useless because the group (‘The Array’) that would conduct any Title IV proceedings is itself packed with supporters of realignment. Furthermore, there is no provision for trying the 4 lay members of Standing Committee.
However, rest assured that there are people planning for the future of the EPISCOPAL diocese of Pittsburgh. The group doing the planning represents the full cross section of those who will still be Episcopalians AFTER convention. This includes clergy and parishes who until this year have voted for all the measures put forward by those now pushing ‘realignment.’ We are a larger group than you might think.”
Later on David Wilson, a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, President of that Standing Committee and a supporter of Bishop Duncan’s writes with this small correction to Joan’s words:
17 CommentsJust to set the record straight, the consultancy contracts are for one year not two and also include Canon Mary Hays as well as the two bishops.
Press release: Wider wedding welcome for couples as the Church of England names the day
The day is 1 October 2008.
Marriage Law Review & the Marriage Measure
Guidance from the House of Bishops (PDF – 37 pages)
Copy of the legislation via here (available as html or PDF).
Specimen “welcome form” (.doc – 5 pages) available here.
11 CommentsUpdated again Friday morning
Episcopal News Service reported first that Episcopal Church, San Joaquin diocese amend property dispute, and then later that Merrill Lynch freezes disputed San Joaquin diocesan accounts pending court ruling.
The Diocese of San Joaquin has a press release about it, Diocese of San Joaquin files amended lawsuit.
California newspapers are reporting it:
Stockton Record Rift deepens for dioceses in S.J. County
Modesto Bee Episcopal church: San Joaquin diocese bishop tried to transfer titles
Central Valley Business Times Episcopal Church diocese sues former bishop
Thursday evening update
A statement has been issued by the Southern Cone diocese, The Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin has fully complied with California State Law. Another copy is here. It starts out:
The following facts are given to correct and clarify recently published misunderstandings and misstatements regarding legal claims against the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin
All actions taken by the Diocese of San Joaquin were authorized by its governing bodies, namely, its Standing Committee and its Diocesan Council, along with Bishop Schofield. These actions were done in complete compliance with California law and were done to secure the property until a California court can rule on the issue of ownership. One of these actions was to retitle accounts held at Merrill Lynch; assets were not moved from Merrill Lynch. The property in question is owned by the Diocese and its parishes and not the Episcopal Church. The Diocese expects a favorable ruling by the California court on the issues of property ownership.
The Diocese of San Joaquin is a California unincorporated association that is governed by the California Corporations Code and its own internal Constitution and Canons (akin to bylaws). The Diocese is a corporate person; a legal entity recognized by the civil courts. In California, an unincorporated association is governed by majority vote of its members. There is nothing in the governing documents of the Episcopal Church which forbade or limited the right of the Diocese of San Joaquin from withdrawing and taking its property with it…
The Bakersfield Californian reports Frozen assets won’t shut down Anglicans or Episcopalians.
5 CommentsThe Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday convened an ecumenical gathering to discuss ways in which Christian-Muslim engagement might be strengthened and deepened.
It brought together more than 40 participants from a broad range of geographical, cultural and denominational settings.
In his welcome to the participants the Archbishop expressed his gratitude that so many had taken the “opportunity for church leaders and scholars representing something of the geographical and confessional diversity of Christianity to discuss together the current experience of dialogue with Muslims – situating the significance of the open letter A Common Word within it, and determining what degree of consensus might be possible as we look forward.”
During the discussions church representatives from around the globe, including Iraq, Lebanon, Nigeria, Malaysia – alongside those from Western countries where Christianity is the majority religion – shared their experience of engagement.
Dr Williams said, “It has been tremendously important to me personally … that we have heard such a range of perspectives. As well as deepening our shared understanding of the challenge before us it has, I think, renewed for us all the significance of the church’s work in this area of cooperation with other faiths for the sake of peace in our common home.”
Read the whole press release from Lambeth Palace Archbishop – Christian-Muslim engagement ‘for the sake of peace in our common home’.
See the website for A Common Word here.
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