Updated Saturday
Madeleine Davies Church Times ‘Trust but verify’ summarises new women-bishops package, says Fittall
Sam Jones The Guardian Church of England could have female bishops by 2014, says committee
Edward Malnick The Telegraph Ombudsman could rule on Church of England disputes
Thomas Penny Bloomberg Church of England May Back Women Bishops as Soon as Next Year
Update
The Bishop of Rochester, James Langstaff, chair of the Steering Committee was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme this morning. You can listen to the programme here; the interview starts at 01:47:54.
Kevin Rawlinson The Guardian Church of England ombudsman could resolve disputes over women bishops
BBC Synod to consider women bishops ‘ombudsman’
5 CommentsUpdated Friday 1 November
General Synod meets next month from 18 to 20 November, and the papers are starting to appear online. Most became available today and others will appear on 1 November.
There is a zip file of all the papers issued today (25 October).
There is now a zip file of the papers issued on 1 November, and a zip file of all the papers.
This list is in numerical order, with links to the individual papers and a note of the day on which debate is scheduled. It will be updated as more papers become available.
GS 1866B – Draft Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure [Monday]
GS 1877B – Draft Amending Canon No 31 [Monday]
GS 1866Z-1877Z – Report by the Steering Committee
GS 1906 – The work of the Elections Review Group: Second Report from the Business Committee [Wednesday]
GS 1914A and GS 1914B – Diocesan Synod Motion: A Review of the workings of the General Synod [Tuesday]
GS 1915 – Agenda November 2013
GS 1916 – Report by the Business Committee [Monday]
GS 1917 – Intentional Evangelism [Monday]
GS 1918 – Draft Diocese of Leeds Resolution [Monday]
GS 1919 – Draft Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction (Amendment) Measure [Tuesday]
GS 1919x – Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1920 – The Church School of the Future [Tuesday]
GS 1921 – Draft Church of England (Ecclesiastical Property) Measure [Tuesday]
GS 1921x – Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1922 – Draft Vacancy in See Committees (Amendment) Regulation 2013 [Tuesday]
GS 1922X – Explanatory Memorandum
GS 1923 – Forty Eighth Report of the Standing Orders Committee [Tuesday]
GS 1924 – Report of the Steering Committee for the Draft Legislation on Women in the Episcopate [Wednesday]
GS 1925 – Draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure [Wednesday]
GS 1926 – Draft Amending Canon No.33 [Wednesday]
GS 1925-6x – Explanatory Memorandum [Wednesday]
GS 1927A and GS 1927B – Diocesan Synod Motion: Name of Dioceses [contingency business]
GS 1928A and GS 1928B – Diocesan Synod Motion: Nature and Structure of the Church of England – National Debate
Synod members have also been sent these other papers.
GS Misc 1061 – Women in the Episcopate: Guide to the papers
GS Misc 1062 – Activities of the Archbishops’ Council
GS Misc 1063 – Credit Unions, The Financial Sector and the Church
1st Notice Paper
2nd Notice Paper
3rd Notice Paper
Church Care Impact Review 2013
13 CommentsThe agenda for next month’s meeting of General Synod was released this morning. It was accompanied by this press release.
1 CommentNEWS from the Church of England
PR 157.13
25/10/2013
For Immediate ReleaseAgenda for November 2013 General Synod
The General Synod of the Church of England meets in London in November for a three day meeting from 1.45 pm on Monday 18th November until 5.30 pm on Wednesday 20th November.
The agenda for the meeting is published today with the progression of legislation for enabling Women to become Bishops predominating. During its meeting Synod will consider the package of proposals drawn up by the Steering Committee for the draft legislation on women in the episcopate. There will also be debates on Evangelism and Church Schools.
Synod’s first debate on Monday will be on Intentional Evangelism, with the Archbishop of York proposing a motion reflecting the Church’s priority of evangelism and making of new disciples. The motion seeks to establish a new Task group on Evangelism with its first priority being a new call to prayer in June 2014.
On Monday evening the Bishop of Rochester will give a presentation of its proposals to admit women to the episcopate to aid discussion in small groups on the morning of Tuesday 19th November. This group work follows on from the generally well-received group work which took place at the July 2013 General Synod. There will then be two debates on Women in the Episcopate on Wednesday 20th November. In the morning there will be a debate on the Steering Committee’s Report which describes the package of proposals that the Committee has prepared in accordance with the mandate set by the Synod in July and includes the first draft of a House of Bishops declaration and a disputes resolution procedure. The Synod will be invited to welcome the proposals and the five guiding principles, already agreed by the House of Bishops, which underpin them.
Then before lunch Synod will move on to give first consideration to the draft Measure and draft Amending Canon prepared by the Committee. The Chair of the Steering Committee will move that the legislation should be committed for revision in full Synod without a prior Revision Committee Stage. The expectation is that the Revision Stage would be held in February.
On Monday afternoon, there will be a debate on Intentional Evangelism. The motion being debated supports the formation of an Archbishops’ Task Group on Evangelism. The debate is co-sponsored by the House of Bishops and the Archbishops’ Council.
On Tuesday afternoon there will be a Presidential Address by the Archbishop of York. This will be followed by a debate on a report from the Board of Education on the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the 2012 Chadwick Report on ‘The Church School of the Future’. The Bishop of Oxford, as Chair of the National Society and the Board of Education will present the progress report and invite Synod to endorse the next phase of the implementation process.
Other items of business on the synod’s agenda include the system for elections to the House of Laity and a debate on a Diocesan Synod Motion from London Diocese on the Review of the Workings of the General Synod which will look at the frequency and length of groups of sessions, the ways in which debate takes place and decisions are made and ‘whether…the current synodical framework and representative structures are still fit for purpose.’
Contingency business takes the form of two related Diocesan Synod Motions from Bradford and Wakefield. The Bradford Diocesan Synod calls on the Archbishops’ council ‘to introduce legislation to enable dioceses of the Church of England to be named by reference either to a city or substantial town or to a geographical area.’ The Wakefield Diocesan Synod Motion on The Nature and Structure of the Church of England asks the House of Bishops to facilitate a debate about the organisational shape of the Church.
Finally, the Synod will be considering several other pieces of legislation in addition to that relating to women in the episcopate, including a draft Measure intended to take further the reform of the faculty jurisdiction which was begun in July.
ENDS
The full agenda can be viewed online here.
The new proposals to allow women to be consecrated as bishops in the Church of England were published this morning. They will be debated at General Synod on Wednesday 20 November, and comprise these four papers:
GS 1924 – Report of the Steering Committee for the Draft Legislation on Women in the Episcopate
GS 1925 – Draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure
GS 1926 – Draft Amending Canon No.33
GS 1925-6x – Explanatory Memorandum
A guide to these papers [GS Misc 1061] has also been published and is copied below.
GS Misc 1061
GENERAL SYNOD
Women in the episcopate- guide to the papers1. In view of the significance of the material that it has produced and the fact that it is distributed across several documents the Steering Committee thought that Synod members might find it helpful to have a very short note on how they fit together.
2. The Steering Committee’s report is at GS 1924 and is the natural place to start. It gives an overview of the Committee’s work and of the package of proposals that it is recommending. It also explains the motion that the Steering Committee is bringing to the Synod in November and what the process would be thereafter.
3. Drafts of two elements of the package – the House of Bishops’ Declaration and the Regulations establishing a disputes resolution procedure – are set out at Annexes A and B of the report. In addition there is some background material on the disputes resolution procedure at Annex C. The drafts of the Declaration and the Regulations are, at this stage, proposals to the House of Bishops, which will consider them in more detail in December and then bring them, together with a motion for debate, to the Synod in February.
4. The other two elements of the package are the draft Measure and Amending Canon. These can be found at GS 1925 and 1926 respectively, together with an Explanatory Memorandum from the Legal Office at GS 1925-6X.
5. These two items of legislation are being brought for first consideration in November. The Steering Committee, with the consent of the Business Committee, is proposing that they be committed for revision in full Synod. This would enable all four elements of the package to be considered at the same group of sessions in February.
William Fittall 23 October 2013
Secretary General
There is also Women in the Episcopate: A Statement from the Archbishops which is copied below the fold.
2 CommentsThe Archbishop of Canterbury sent a video message to GAFCON 2013 and this is now available online: Archbishop’s message to GAFCON 2013: seek holiness and unity. The link also includes a transcript of the archbishop’s message and this summary:
1 CommentArchbishop Justin sent a video greeting to the Second Global Anglican Future (GAFCON) Conference, which is taking place in Nairobi this week. He told them that it was his prayer that they would ‘meet Jesus afresh with elation and joy’.
The Archbishop was unable to attend the GAFCON meeting because of previous commitments, including the baptism of Prince George on Wednesday.
In his message, Archbishop Justin affirms the recent call by the Archbishop of Kenya, Dr Eliud Wabukala, who chairs the GAFCON Primates Council, for the Church to proclaim the gospel confidently.
To do this, Archbishop Justin says, ‘we need to be a Church that is holy’. That is a ‘massive challenge’ to churches in different contexts around the world, but is ‘absolutely critical to our proclamation of the gospel’.
To proclaim the gospel effectively, the Church must also be ‘in unity’, the Archbishop says. ‘It doesn’t mean being unanimous, all saying exactly the same thing in exactly the same way. It means that, as Jesus prays in John 17, that we demonstrate by our love for one another that Jesus is the Son of God and therefore people are drawn to believe in him. We’ve got to find ways of doing that and I don’t underestimate the challenge that is to all of us.’
Updated Wednesday evening
On Wednesday 23 October 2013 the Archbishop of Canterbury will baptize His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge in a private ceremony at The Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace.
The archbishop has recorded a five-about minute video in which he talks about this event and the broader significance of baptism.
Here are just a few of the many articles in press.
The Guardian has this editorial today: In praise of … a right royal dunking.
The Telegraph
Prince George’s christening ‘hugely important’, says Archbishop of Canterbury
Gordon Rayner Prince George christening: tough times ahead for Duke and Duchess, says Archbishop
BBC
Archbishop hopes Prince George baptism will inspire
Update
The archbishop published this after the service: Prince George’s christening: read highlights from the Archbishop’s address.
6 CommentsGlenn Davies, the new Archbishop of Sydney, gave his first presidential address to his diocesan synod this week. ABC Religion and Ethics has published this slightly abbreviated version: Challenges for the gospel: Christian witness and the future of Anglicanism in Sydney.
Andrew Brown writes in The Guardian that To ask whether religions are rational is like asking whether they are pale green.
Shirley Pearce asks in the Church Times: Contentment or terror?
14 CommentsThe Church of England has published its Statistics for Mission 2012: Ministry today. You can download them here.
There is this accompanying press release.
1 CommentCofE ministry playing vital role in every community, show latest stats
18 October 2013Ministry Statistics for 2012, published today by the Research and Statistics Division of the Archbishops’ Council, show a change in patterns of ministry over the past 10 years with numbers remaining largely constant.
The overall number of diocesan licensed clergy declined by 1% in the decade between 2002 and 2012. The number of full-time stipendiary clergy was 7,798 in 2012, a fall of 2% since 2011. They now represent 69% of all licensed clergy compared to 80% in 2002. Over the same period the number of self-supporting ministers increased by 50% from 2,091 in 2002 to 3,148.
The 2012 statistics show a continuing trend of increase in the proportion of female clergy in all categories. Whereas in 2012 there were 6,017 male full-time stipendiary clergy compared with 7,920 in 2002, a fall of 24%, in the same period their female counterparts have increased by 41% from 1,262 to 1,781. Women now account for 21% or one in five incumbents or those of incumbent status. Amongst senior clergy the percentage has increased from 4% to 11%.
The number of ordinations has remained broadly stable since 2002. In 2012 22% of recommended candidates were under the age of 30, compared to 15% in both 2002 and 2007. This reflects a focus in the dioceses on encouraging vocations among younger people.
Ven Julian Hubbard, the Church of England’s director of ministry said: “These statistics reflect changing patterns of ministry, to meet the changing demands of 21st Century life, with an increasing reliance on self-supporting ministers and the spread of ministry teams. The continued commitment to ministry in the Church if England shows the importance of the Church as a Christian presence in every community.”
The election of another of the eight women to attend the House of Bishops has been announced by the Diocese of Lichfield. She is the Revd Dr Jane Tillier and joins the three other women whose election was announced last month.
The Lichfield announcement is copied below the fold.
The official press release from the Church of England announcing the first three names was dated 26 September 2013 and stated “The results for the elections in the 5 other regions are expected to be announced over the next two weeks.” Almost three weeks later four remain to be announced.
Update
I have heard unofficially that Annette Cooper, the Archdeacon of Colchester, was elected for the Eastern region.
3 CommentsThe Archbishops of Canterbury and York announced today that Canon Phil Potter has been appointed Archbishops’ Missioner and Fresh Expressions Team Leader
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are delighted to announce that Canon Phil Potter will be the next Archbishops’ Missioner and leader of the Fresh Expressions team.
Canon Potter, who is Director of Pioneer Ministry for the Diocese of Liverpool, will succeed Bishop Graham Cray, who has held the posts since 2009. Canon Potter will take up the role at the beginning of April 2014. His appointment has been warmly welcomed by the board of Fresh Expressions and its partners.
Archbishop Justin said: ‘Phil is a skilled and imaginative practitioner whose achievements as a pioneer minister and church builder have been extraordinary. At the same time, I would like to express my deep thanks to Bishop Graham for his five years of distinguished service.
‘I am also excited that the Revd Dr Martyn Atkins, General Secretary of the Methodist Church, will be chairman of the Board of Fresh Expressions.
‘I am grateful to God for the growth we have already seen through Fresh Expressions and for the other denominations with whom this ministry is shared. Working together provides the oxygen of mission and evangelism.’
The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, said: ‘Phil Potter has a strong track record in pioneer ministry in his own Diocese of Liverpool and beyond.
‘I am confident that his leadership of the Fresh Expressions team will strengthen the Church’s mission as both Fresh Expressions and inherited Church work together to proclaim Christ afresh in this and for coming generations. He has my full support and will be in my prayers.’
Lambeth Palace has provided additional information about Phil Potter and Fresh Expressions which is copied below the fold.
1 CommentJonathan Clatworthy writes for Modern Church about Bishops and inspirers.
Jennifer Levitz writes in The Wall Street Journal that Churches Take a Stand on Pews, Replacing Them With Chairs.
Watts & Co, the well known London ecclesiastical suppliers, are on a church crawl round London Underground’s Circle Line, starting at St James’s Park. Going clockwise they have reached Edgware Road; the full list is here.
Stanley Hauerwas explains How to write a theological sentence for ABC Religion and Ethics.
Richard Chapman writes that The C of E goes looking for ‘God-doing’ at the party conferences – and comes away impressed on Gillan Scott’s God & Politics in the UK blog.
Giles Fraser writes for The Guardian about Darkness as my constant companion.
Madeleine Davies writes for the Church Times about A new way to be a pilgrim.
8 CommentsBishops’ Office and Working Costs for 2012 have been published today, along with this press release.
Bishops’ Office and Working Costs Published
The 2012 office and working costs of bishops in the Church of England are published today. Figures for individual bishops were first published, for the year 2000, in December 2001.
The costs of their offices and the work of the bishops for 2012 was £20.0 million compared to a cost of £19.5 million in 2011, an annual increase of 2.5%.
This figure includes the work of the two Archbishops and the 113 bishops in the Church of England – 44 diocesan (leading) bishops and 69 suffragan (deputy) and fulltime assistant bishops, including area bishops and provincial episcopal visitors.
Included within the 2012 figure is approximately £2.8 million for legal costs during the year. House running costs for all bishops as a total was just over 750,000.
An annual block grant is made by the Church Commissioners to diocesan bishops to cover the bishops’ stipends, staff and working costs. The bishops determine how their funding is used. The Commissioners’ Board of Governors agreed to increase funding for the Archbishops by 2 per cent and for the bishops by 4 per cent, year on year for the 2011-2013 triennium.
Bishops’ office and working costs for the year ended 31 December 2012 are published on the Church of England website at:
http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1859514/final%20bishops%20office%20and%20working%20costs%202012.pdf
The media have been sent this additional Note to Editors.
Costs for earlier years are available here.
17 CommentsMathew Guest writes about University and the Christian faith: revisiting the relationship. A version of this article appeared in the Church Times on 13 September where it is only available to subscribers.
There is also this article about work by Dr Guest and his colleagues: Church faces “difficult decision” to engage liberal Christian students.
John L Allen Jr writes in The Spectator about The war on Christians.
Vicky Beeching interviews Kate Cooper and asks her Have women been airbrushed out of Church history?
Milton Jones asks is Christianity weird? in a video for the Guardian.
2 CommentsThe Anglican Communion News Service has announced today that Anglican Church of Southern Africa completes Adoption of Anglican Covenant.
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) has adopted the Anglican Communion Covenant.
Its Provincial Synod today unanimously voted to ratify the decision taken at its previous meeting in 2010 to adopt the Covenant. This completes the legal process.
The Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba, proposed the motion. Addressing the Synod, meeting this week in Benoni, Johannesburg, he emphasised ACSA’s commitment to being at the heart of Anglican life, often acting as a bridge-builder, and drawing on its own experiences of living with considerable diversity and wrestling with difference.
Seconding the motion, the Dean of the Province, Bishop Rubin Philip of Natal, quoted from the Introduction to the Covenant:
6. To covenant together is not intended to change the character of this Anglican expression of Christian faith. Rather, we recognise the importance of renewing in a solemn way our commitment to one another, and to the common understanding of faith and order we have received, so that the bonds of affection which hold us together may be re-affirmed and intensified. We do this in order to reflect, in our relations with one another, God’s own faithfulness and promises towards us in Christ (2 Cor 1.20-22).
With debate only addressing a minor wording amendment, the motion was passed without dissent.
The text of the motion is given below.
Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
This Synod
1. Notes the adoption of the Anglican Covenant at the Provincial Synod of 2010;
2. Recommits the Anglican Church of Southern Africa to playing the fullest possible role at the heart of the Anglican Communion, working to promote its unity in diversity and strengthening of bonds of affection, in a life of mutuality and interdependence, shared between autonomous churches, acting each as we are called in our own particular contexts and according to our own ordering, in response to this common gift and calling we have received in our Lord Jesus Christ;
3. Reaffirms its belief that this ordering of shared Communion life may be furthered as set out in the Preamble to the Covenant:
We, as Churches of the Anglican Communion, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, solemnly covenant together in these following affirmations and commitments. As people of God, drawn from “every nation, tribe, people and language” (Rev 7.9), we do this in order to proclaim more effectively in our different contexts the grace of God revealed in the gospel, to offer God’s love in responding to the needs of the world, to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and together with all God’s people to attain the full stature of Christ (Eph 4.3,13).
4. Resolves to confirm its adoption of the Anglican Covenant.
13 CommentsThe Briefing for Members of Vacancy in See Committees has been recently updated and is now dated July 2013.
There are a number of changes from the previous edition, including these.
1) Following the introduction of Common Tenure, diocesan bishops have a role profile and person specification. Details of how the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) prepare these is now included.
2) The section on the procedures of the CNC has been expanded, in particular by adding information on the interviews that are now held.
3) Under the section “The Prime Minister” there is this new sentence which requires further editing.
A medical and DBS ** [what does this mean???] are conducted prior to the [candidate’s formal nomination to the See?].
DBS refers to the Disclosure and Barring Service checks (previously CRB checks).
12 CommentsAndrew Brown writes in The Guardian that Outrage is the wrong reaction to outrageous crimes.
Vicky Beeching has interviewed Ruth Chapman for Faith in Feminism: Synod, WATCH & Women Bishops.
Joe Ware writes for the Church Times Enough for need, but not greed.
Huffington Post has photos to show that Abandoned Churches Are Eerily Beautiful. It also has photos of The World’s 50 Most Unusual Churches.
1 CommentA consortium including the Church Commissioners are the preferred bidders to purchase 314 bank branches from RBS, it was announced today. Details are in this press release from the Commissioners.
Church Commissioners statement on RBS bid
The Church Commissioners for England have today confirmed that as part of a consortium of investors they will be partnering with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to create a leading challenger bank from 314 RBS branches across the UK.
The confirmation follows the decision of the board of RBS to favour the bid of a consortium which includes the Corsair Capital investment fund, Centerbridge Partners and the Commissioners to create a new bank with a focus on ethical standards and servicing the needs of retail and SME customers.
The new bank, to be called Williams and Glyn’s (W&G), will be a vigorous challenger in UK business and retail banking sector with a projected 5% market share of the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) and mid-corporate banking markets, and a 2% share of UK personal current accounts.
Andreas Whittam Smith, first estates commissioner, said:
“The Church Commissioners are excited to have the opportunity to be involved in creating a U.K. challenger bank operating to the highest ethical standards and giving consumers more choice. We are delighted that the Royal Bank of Scotland recognised the strengths of our bid and the consortium’s vision, and have chosen the consortium as their preferred bidder.”
Andrew Brown, Secretary to the Church Commissioners, said:
“This is a great opportunity for the Commissioners to invest in an exciting opportunity for the benefit of the serving and retired clergy, bishops, cathedrals and the wide work of the Church of England throughout the country especially in areas of need and opportunity.”The Church Commissioners for England are responsible for managing a well-diversified investment portfolio with the aim of producing returns to support the Church of England’s work across the country.
Notes:
The Church Commissioners manage an investment fund of some £5.5 billion, held mainly in a diversified portfolio including equities, real estate and alternative investment strategies. The Commissioners’ work today supports the Church of England as a Christian presence in every community.The annual objectives of the Church Commissioners include:
- A return on investments of RPI +5%
- Supporting poorer dioceses with ministry costs
- Providing funds to support mission activities
- Paying for bishops’ ministry and some cathedral costs
- Administering the legal framework for pastoral reorganisation and settling the future of closed church buildings
- Paying clergy pensions for service prior to 1998
- Running the national payroll for serving and retired clergy
A copy of their annual report for 2012 can be found here.:
RBS says Return of Williams & Glyn’s moves closer.
Press reports include:
6 CommentsJames Quinn in The Telegraph RBS sells stake in Project Rainbow branches to Corsair for as much as £800m
Jill Treanor in The Guardian RBS sells 314 branches to church-backed Corsair consortium
BBC News RBS sells 314 bank branches to Corsair consortium
Sky News Church Consortium Wins RBS Branch Sale Race
The timetable for the November group of sessions of the General Synod of the Church of England is available for download, and is copied below.
|
GENERAL SYNOD: NOVEMBER 2013
Timetable |
|
| Monday 18 November | |
| 12 noon | Meeting of the House of Laity |
| 2 pm – 7 pm | |
| 1.45 pm | Worship |
| Formal business | |
| Briefing by the Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| Report by the Business Committee | |
| Quinquennium Goals Part II: Intentional Evangelism | |
| Legislative Business | |
| Miscellaneous Provisions Measure/Amending Canon No 31 – Final Drafting and Final Approval | |
| Yorkshire Diocesan Reorganisation Scheme: Resolution relating to Synodical representation | |
| Not later than 5.20 pm | Questions |
| Not later than 6.50 pm | Presentation on Steering Committee report on women in the episcopate |
| [7.05–7.25 pm] | Evening worship |
| Tuesday 19 November | |
| 9.15 am – 1 pm | |
| 9.15 am | Group work on Women in the Episcopate (to include morning worship) |
| 11.45 am | Legislative Business: |
| Any unfinished legislative business from Monday | |
| Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction (Amendment) Measure (re the Faculty Jurisdiction) – First Consideration | |
| 2.30 pm – 7 pm | |
| 2.30 pm | Presidential Address by the Archbishop of York |
| The Church School of the Future (Chadwick Report) | |
| Legislative business | |
| PCCs (Powers) Measure – First Consideration | |
| Amending Vacancy in See Committee Regulation (to give effect to Bradford DSM) | |
| Standing Orders Committee report | |
| Not later than 5.45 pm | London DSM: Review of the Workings of the General Synod |
| [7.05-7.25 pm] | Evening worship |
| Wednesday 20 November | |
| 9.15 am – 1 pm | |
| 9.15 am | Holy Communion |
| 10.30 am | Women in the episcopate: Motion on Steering Committee report |
| Legislative business | |
| Women in the Episcopate Draft Measure and Amending Canon – First Consideration | |
| 2.30 – 5.30pm | |
| 2.30 pm | Legislative Business |
| Women in the Episcopate: Draft Measure and Amending Canon – First Consideration cont’d | |
| The Work of the Elections Review Group: Second Report by the Business Committee (resumed debate) | |
| Not later than 5.15 pm | Farewells |
| 5.30 pm | Prorogation |
| Contingency business: | Bradford DSM: Name of Dioceses |
| Wakefield DSM: Nature and Structure of the Church of England – National Debate | |
Updated Friday morning
Here’s a round-up of where the process of choosing bishops for vacant English diocesan sees is at present.
Five dioceses have been allocated places in the queue for the Crown Nominations Commission.
Bath and Wells
The CNC has already held its first meeting (18 July), and the second is scheduled for 3/4 October 2013.
Leeds
The three dioceses that will be subsumed into the Diocese of Leeds have all published updates this week (Bradford, Ripon and Leeds, Wakefield) inviting “anyone wishing to comment on the needs of the diocese, or the wider Church, or who wishes to propose candidates” to write to the Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments by 3 October. This timetable is very short, but originally the closing date was 30 September.
Leeds has been allocated 12 November 2013 and 9/10 January 2014 for its CNC meetings, but the Ripon and Leeds update states “The Crown Nominations Commission will meet on November 12th, interview in January 2014 and will make its selection in February when it nominates the new bishop” whilst Bradford has “These diocesan reps will join the national reps in November to begin the formal process, with a further residential meeting in January. It is hoped that we will have the name of the new diocesan bishop by the end of February.” My interpretation of this is that there will be the usual two meetings (in November and January), and that the public announcement of the new bishop is expected in February.
The diocesan representatives on the CNC are David Ashton (Wakefield), Kathryn Fitzsimons (Ripon and Leeds) and Paul Slater, Zahida Mallard, Sam Corley and Debbie Child (Bradford).
Exeter
The CNC meetings will be on 18 October and 6/7 November 2013. Details of the diocesan statement of needs, and the six people elected from the diocese to serve on the CNC are here. These representatives are Anneliese Barrell, the Revd Douglas Dettmer, the Very Revd Jonathan Draper, Anne Foreman, Charles Hodgson and the Revd Gilly Maude.
Hereford
The CNC meetings will be on 22 January and 25/26 February 2014. The diocese has published this briefing note and this note from the chair of the vacancy in see committee.
Liverpool
The CNC meetings will be on 6 March and 1/2 April 2014. The diocese has published this guide to the process. Liverpool’s vacancy in see committee will be having its first meeting next week (1 October) and its main meeting on 3 December.
Other vacancies in the pipeline are Gibraltar in Europe, Guildford, St Edmundsbury & Ipswich, and Southwell & Nottingham.
Update
The usual notices of the vacancies in the Sees of Leeds and Hereford appear in the Church Times today (27 October) with closing dates for comments of 3 and 17 October respectively. The Religious Job site carries the notice for Leeds here.
26 CommentsFrom the Anglican Communion News Service:
Church of South India elects first woman bishop
The Church of South India has today appointed its first woman bishop.
The Revd Eggoni Pushpalalitha was ordained in 1983 and has most recently been a priest in the Diocese of Nadyal in Andhra Pradesh.
Her appointment comes only days after the Church of Ireland elected its first woman bishop, the Revd Pat (Patricia) Storey as the new Bishop of Meath and Kildare.
Provincial Secretary of the Church of South India, Mani M. Philip confirmed that Miss Pushpalalitha had been appointed by the Synod Selection Board this afternoon.
“We have been ordaining women since 1976,” he told ACNS, adding that in its constitution, the province mandates that at least 25 per cent of all statutory bodies should be women.
Bishop-designate Pushpalalitha is expected to be installed on Monday 30 September.
One of the 38 Member Churches of the Anglican Communion, the Church of South India is a ‘united’ Church—the result of the union of churches of varying traditions Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed. It was inaugurated in September 1947.
4 Comments