General Synod: Membership of Organisations which contradict the duty to promote race equality
Updated Thursday to add the voting figures on one amendment.
This afternoon General Synod debated a private member’s motion about membership of organisations which contradict the duty to promote race equality. It was proposed by Ms Vasantha Gnanadoss of the diocese of Southwark. This is her motion:
That this Synod, noting that in 2004 the Association of Chief Police Officers adopted a policy whereby
“no member of the Police Service, whether police officer or police staff, may be a member of an organization whose constitution, aims, objectives or pronouncements contradict the general duty to promote race equality” and “this specifically includes the British National Party”,
request the House of Bishops to formulate and implement a comparable policy for the Church of England, to apply to clergy, ordinands, and such employed lay persons as have duties that require them to represent or speak on behalf of the Church.
The motion was carried by 322 votes to 13 with 20 recorded abstentions.
Background Papers
GS Misc 903A from Vasantha Gnanadoss
GS Misc 903B from the Secretary General
Ms Gnanadoss addressing the Synod
During the debate three amendments were moved but all were defeated.
Mr Justin Brett (Oxford) moved:
Leave out all the words after “That this Synod” and insert “affirm that membership of any organisation whose constitution, aims, objectives or pronouncements contradict the promotion of race equality is incompatible with the Apostolic Christian faith.”.
The Ven Norman Russell (Archdeacon of Berkshire) moved:
For the words “noting that in 2004” to “British National Party” substitute “recognising that every human being is made in the image of God”.
Leave out “comparable”; and
At the end insert “, which makes clear that racism has no place in the life of the Church.”.
Mr Tim Hind (Bath & Wells) moved:
Leave out “clergy, ordinands, and such employed lay persons as have duties that” and insert “persons whose duties”.
The voting on Tim Hind’s amendment was 166 in favour, 177 against and 11 recorded abstentions. The other two amendments were each defeated on a show of hands.
11 CommentsGeneral Synod – Archbishop of Canterbury's Presidential Address
The Archbishop of Canterbury gave his Presidential Address to General Synod this afternoon. Read it online here.
The Archbishop addressing the Synod
3 Commentsstill more on the primates meeting
Updated again Tuesday evening
Archbishop Peter Akinola has published A Wake Up Call to the People of God. It includes this:
…All through our gathering at the recently concluded Primates’ meeting I kept wondering whether we were the ones to whom John was writing. We have a glorious reputation – a worldwide communion of millions with a glorious history and beautiful heritage, fluid structures, grand cathedrals, “infallible” canons, historical ecclesiology and ‘flexible’ hermeneutics – but we are in danger of forgetting what we have received and heard and replacing it with the seemingly attractive gods and goddesses of our age. We are in danger of becoming the ‘living dead’ by giving the outward appearance of life but in reality we are no more than empty and ineffective vessels. In parts of our Communion some have merged the historical gospel message of Jesus the Christ with seductive ancient heresies and revisionist agendas, which have resulted in an adulterated and dangerous distortion of the gospel. The call to obedience and repentance is one that we must declare but we refuse and instead we replace it with a polite invitation to empty tolerance and endless conversation. Sometimes we think that we can replace the need for repentance with activities, programmes, endless meetings, conventions and communiqués —- we are wrong!
Bonnie Anderson President of the Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies, has released a statement on the communiqué from the recently-completed Primates Meeting and on the report of the Windsor Continuation Group, available here.
Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada has published a letter to Canadians, see A Reflection by our Primate.
…My observation is that in those dioceses where resolutions have been passed requesting the authorizing of rites for blessing same-sex unions the Bishops have shown gracious restraint. They have called for continuing discernment in some cases through the drafting and testing of such rites in a limited manner and have advised the House accordingly. I am of the opinion that while our church struggles to honour the call for gracious restraint in blessing same-sex unions, those who are the proponents of cross-border interventions have and continue to show no restraint. I have endeavored to address this situation since the Lambeth Conference and I regret to say that to date a conversation with the pertinent parties has not been possible. I am disappointed and dismayed. My feelings are grounded in my care and concern for the Bishops and dioceses most adversely affected by these cross-border interventions…
However, I am encouraged by the call in the Windsor Continuation Report for the Archbishop of Canterbury to initiate professional mediated conversations in conflicted situations. In supporting this call, the Primates were unanimous. I personally assured the Archbishop of Canterbury of my commitment on behalf of our Church to this initiative and expressed my hope that all other parties would also come to the table in a spirit of “honest exchange and mutual challenge” for the sake of the unity of the Church.
Tuesday updates
Steve Waring at the Living Church has published Analysis: Primates Offer Support, Warnings to Both Sides.
Bishop Jack Iker Fort Worth Reflections on the Alexandria Communiqué (PDF)
9 CommentsGeneral Synod – reports on day one
Updated again Tuesday evening
The official summary is at General Synod – Summary of Business Conducted on Monday 9th February 2009 PM.
This includes links to audio recordings of all the sessions. (When I tried, only one of them was working properly. Dave Walker had a similar problem with the live feed.)
There is also a link to the text of the speech by Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor. The press release from his office about this speech is here.
The Questions session is pretty difficult to understand on the audio, as the Questions, which are submitted in advance, and are available to everybody on the floor as a printed document, are not read out. It’s unclear why this document is not routinely made available beforehand on the web. The prepared Answers, which are read out, are not available in written form to those on the floor, but are available to the Press Gallery!
As the summary linked above says
46 written questions were submitted by members of the Synod. The text of these questions, alongside the written responses, will be available here within the next week.
For more colourful reporting of the afternoon, try some of these:
Ruth Gledhill General Synod Feb 2009: Day One and Times Online Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor: All churches “impoverished” by Anglican divisions
Martin Beckford Telegraph General Synod Day 1: Key Church of England meeting starts with debate on Catholic church and Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor calls on Anglicans to work with Roman Catholics against secular society.
Also George Pitcher Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor: United we stand and Damian Thompson Cardinal’s General Synod speech uses the loaded phrase ‘Ecclesial Community’ – meaning ‘not a Church’
BBC Cardinal ‘regrets’ CofE divisions
Justin Brett So what do you actually do at Synod, then?
Andrew Brown Is the Church of England together enough to split?
Tuesday updates
Comment is free Giles Fraser A week of terrible headlines
Unfortunately, during this synod, the Christian spirit is likely to be overshadowed by infighting and obscurantism…
Guardian Riazat Butt Calls for ecclesial unity amid homosexuality row (scroll down for this)
The Diocese of Lichfield has reports of two items in Questions, here, and here.
5 CommentsGeneral Synod – Weekend advance press reports
General Synod opened at 3 pm today. The following reports appeared over the weekend and earlier today.
Jonathan Wynne-Jones in the Telegraph Historic plans to introduce women bishops rejected by key traditionalist leaders
BBC Synod to discuss women bishops
Trevor Timpson at the BBC Waiting for the women bishops
Ruth Gledhill and Sean O’Neill in The Times Bishops resist moves to outlaw BNP membership
Ekklesia has Bishop backs ban on Church racism
Also at Ekklesia Church of England Synod to tackle key economic and social issues
George Pitcher in his Telegraph blog writes Will the General Synod ban golliwogs?
and Anglicans at their best when they’re boring
The Times also has Four decades of rule: How the General Synod works
11 Commentskeeping in touch with General Synod
Updated Tuesday morning
Thinking Anglicans is not the only place on the internet for learning what happens this week at General Synod.
The official GS website pages start here.
The unofficial General Synod Blog can be found here.
Premier Christian Radio will have a live audio feed of sessions.
The Church Times Blog is here.
We will add to this list any other sources that we learn about during the week.
2 CommentsCofE website wants user feedback
The Church of England website wants feedback from users.
See the press release What are you surfing for?
The Church of England is increasingly using a range of new media in order to enhance its web presence. So, the webmasters of the national Church of England web-site, recognising the need to engage directly with visitors to the site, have launched an on-line survey to gather visitors’ views.
It is available now at http://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/cofe/cofeweb and will be there until the end of March…
The site was designed by ILRT Bristol and launched in 2004.
TA readers are strongly encouraged to respond to the survey.
5 Commentsopinions from the papers
George Pitcher wrote in his blog for the Telegraph on Why Pope Benedict is like Rowan Williams.
Giles Fraser wrote in the Church Times that Growing up is a moral business. (For background links see here.)
And he also wrote at Comment is free that Atheists should get a life and leave our slot alone. Related to this, Jonathan Bartley at Ekklesia wrote The politics of Thought for the Day.
John Packer wrote in the Guardian about the upcoming General Synod debates on various public policy issues in Face to Faith. (We shall cover these in more detail during the week.)
Roderick Strange writes in The Times: Credo: Riveted by Mark’s Gospel, in one sitting.
Jonathan Bartley wrote in last week’s Church Times about An honest, vulnerable President.
19 CommentsLooking into the face of the enemy
Some years ago, some villagers in my parish, faced with the closure of their small church, rallied and organised themselves to see what could be done to make it viable. A retired civil servant listed the various tasks which he had arranged to be done, and he had achieved a great deal. He said that the practical tasks were within his ability but he couldn’t help with discussions about the nature of the universe or of God. I was taken aback by his view that our primary task was to conduct philosophical discussions, like early twentieth century French philosophers, and that anyone would want to join a church where this was being done!
The nature of God as a philosophical problem has never really engaged me, it belongs to the world of crosswords or sudoku. I appreciate the skill these things take, but I really don’t see the point. I can say that God has these qualities, say green eyes, and someone can say God has brown eyes. At the end of the day, so what? Who cares?
Now if I say that my green-eyed God revealed to my green-eyed people that the land you are standing on was given to us from the dawn of time, suddenly it matters. If I go on to say that you can remain on this land we’ve been given, but you won’t have the same employment opportunities, or your children won’t have the same life-chances as green-eyed people, it matters even more. You don’t have to go far with this idea before you begin to see resonances in nineteenth-century plantations in the deep south of the United States, twentieth-century unrest in Northern Ireland, and the ongoing wound which is Israel/Palestine. The list goes on and throughout history that engaging God in the cause of our tribal identity not only diminishes God, but gives us leave to commit all sorts of acts in the name of our tribal God.
If we believe we act in the name of the purposes of our God, then anything which opposes us is heresy. It might not make a difference if we have no power to act on what we believe other people to be. When Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, he described Jews as a disease, as germs. The idea remained for a few years, until he had the power to do what you do with disease or germs, which is eradicate them. If we feel our God is not acting quickly enough to eliminate those who believe heresy, or other religion, then if we have the power, we might help things along a bit and begin to try to eradicate these people. If the weapons we have are powerful enough, we may even eradicate ourselves in the process, but if we believe we are going to heaven, then we might go ahead anyway.
Jesus taught his disciples to pray ‘Our Father’, which implicitly identifies a shared God, a God of all. To see God in the face of your enemy is a much more difficult task than it is to simply write her/him off. To share God with your enemy means that you may have to acknowledge your kinship with someone whom you might find it easier to condemn. It may be that some of the evil characteristics your enemy has may also be in your own soul, but it is easier to put them out on someone else. To begin on the journey of understanding the God of everyone, we have to begin by seeing why we are compelled to make our enemy less human than us. This may be through fear of what lies within each of us. In other words, the path to reconciliation may begin with self-knowledge, of owning up to the darker characteristics of ourselves and our tribe.
Two months ago I was in a group of professionals involved in my community. I asked the question why our work hurt so much? It was the policeman who answered by saying that, to do his job properly, when he puts a prisoner in a cell, he has to understand that if his own life had been just slightly different, he could be that prisoner. He said he has to see himself in the face of the other. I had a similar experience a week or so later when I caught one of our heroin addicts trying to force a money box in church. I didn’t have to think for long to see how my life could have ended up like his.
So it matters very much what we believe God to be like. At worst, it can send us on holy war, whatever our religion; at best it can lead us into a path of self-discovery, with the possibility of learning that we all might be more alike than we are different, and all children of the same Spirit of Life.
8 CommentsFort Worth moves forward
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 CommentsWhat the British think about Darwin and Evolution
It’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 Commentsafter the primates meeting
Updated 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.
Review of Constitutions
Update Friday evening This cartoon by David Walker may assist those who are unfamiliar with the inner workings of Church House Westminster.
An interesting piece of business will start a process of consultation at General Synod on Tuesday of next week. This is a review of the constitutions of “bodies answerable to the Synod through the Archbishops’ Council”. These are
Board of Education
Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns
Council for Christian Unity
Finance Committee
Committee for Ministry of and among Deaf and Disabled People
Deployment, Remuneration and Conditions of Service Committee
Ministry Council
Mission and Public Affairs Council
The proposals for consultation are in a paper (GS 1714 Review of Constitutions) available here as a PDF, and also here as a web page. In summary it is proposed to abolish the boards and replace them by a “lead person” and a “report and review” group elected by Synod and meeting once a year in July.
Glyn Paflin wrote about the proposals in the Church Times in a subscriber-only article last week. This is now generally available online: Newly ‘streamlined’ Council would shed old-style boards
The full procedure to be followed is described in the two paragraphs from the report of the business committee copied below the fold.
2 CommentsDioceses Commission begins review of structures
The Church of England issued the press release below recently. There is some general information about the Dioceses Commission part way down this page.
Dioceses Commission begins review of structures
29 January 2009Further provisions of the Dioceses, Pastoral and Mission Measure 2007 come into force on 1 February. The Measure makes it a duty of the Dioceses Commission to review the provincial and diocesan structure of the Church of England, including the size, boundaries and number of provinces and dioceses, and arrangements for episcopal ministry. It will also have the power to draw up reorganization schemes.
The Commission, chaired by Dr Priscilla Chadwick, consulted diocesan bishops as to what its priorities should be and drew up an initial work programme in the light of comments and suggestions.
The Commission will begin by examining the apparent anomaly whereby seven parishes wholly or partly within the area of the City of Peterborough unitary authority, with more than one third of the City’s population, are in the Diocese of Ely rather than that of Peterborough.
In the autumn of 2009, the Commission will commence a review of the boundaries of the five Yorkshire dioceses (Bradford, Ripon and Leeds, Sheffield, Wakefield and York). The aim will be to establish whether the shape and boundaries of the existing dioceses tend to facilitate the Church’s mission to the people and communities of Yorkshire or whether different boundaries would enable the Church to relate to them more effectively. The Commission has no agenda to reduce or increase the number of dioceses, but rather to ensure the best configuration to the communities that the dioceses serve, which could involve merging existing dioceses and/or creating new ones.
“The Commission is embarking on its review work with an open mind and a willingness to think radically, as well as an awareness of the need to be realistic,” said Dr Chadwick. “We have every confidence that the bishops and dioceses concerned will engage with the process in the same spirit.”
The Commission has a responsibility to consult widely. Its first step will be to seek the insights of the diocesan bishops, archdeacons and diocesan secretaries of the dioceses under review. It will then consult other leading clergy and laypeople of the dioceses, and representatives of any deaneries and parishes that might be affected by changes. Proposals for change will normally need the agreement of the diocesan synods concerned before going to the General Synod for decision. The Commission sees its role as one of helping the bishops, clergy and people of the Church of England in the areas concerned to come to a view as to how the Church can best be structured for mission in the 21st century.
Notes
In identifying the local communities to which the Church needs to relate, the Commission will look at how diocesan boundaries correlate with the boundaries of counties and unitary/metropolitan authorities and which configurations might best further the Church’s mission. It will also have in mind other factors. Among these are:
- the sense of local identity resulting from history and shared culture,
- contemporary communities reflecting the places between which people travel for work, shopping, leisure, education and health services,
- road and rail communication routes, and
- the accessibility and distance of cathedral cities by car and public transport from all parts of the diocese.
Two sections of Part II of the Measure remain to be brought into force at a later date: section 12 (which will place diocesan bishops under a duty to keep provision of episcopal ministry under review) and the related section 17 (which will enable the Commission, when a suffragan see falls vacant, to require that the approval of the General Synod would be needed before the see could be filled). The Commission’s present expectation is that these provisions will be brought into force towards the end of 2009.
One consequence of the start of the Commission’s work is that the General Synod’s business committee has decided to park* this diocesan synod motion from Bradford “for the moment while the new Dioceses Commission, recently established at the initiative of the Synod, is having its initial meetings to consider the first phase of its programme of work”.
That this Synod request the Archbishops’ Council to formulate proposals for reductions in the numbers of episcopal and senior clergy posts, taking into account reductions for the number of stipendiary clergy since 1979; and submit a report with recommendations to the General Synod within three years.
* Note: Diocesan Synod motions are normally taken in order of receipt, but can be “parked” by the Business Committee if it makes sense to delay their consideration until some other related business has been completed.
2 Commentsyet more reports about Alexandria
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 Commentscommuniqués from the primates
Updated 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).
more news from Alexandria
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 CommentsPrimates' Statement on Zimbabwe
The 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 Commentsnews from Nigeria
Long-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.
news from the primates meeting
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 Comments