There is a report in The Monitor (Kampala) by Tabu Butagira headlined Church of Uganda Steps Farther Away Over Gays (via AllAfrica.com)
…By Wednesday last week, at least 108 Ugandans had signed up to attend the June 22-29 symposium in Jerusalem that is expected to attract 1,000 people from 17 provinces of the Anglican Communion in the global south, representing about 35 million active followers.
The Communion has 38 provinces plus related churches representing some 80 million people across the world. Each province is led by a primate.
Forty two Ugandan bishops plus their spouses will be among those who will also visit sacred sites in Jerusalem such as the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Ophel Gardens and Temple steps where it is believed the first Pentecostal, Apostle Peter, preached…
The Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye said the upcoming conference will reinforce the faith and remove growing anxiety over the homosexuality and same-sex marriage debate that has pitted the liberal wing of the church against the conservative one.
“The Anglicans in Uganda want to remain steadfast in faith [but] when they begin to hear about things like homosexuality penetrating the Anglican Communion, they get worried that the future of Anglicans is uncertain,” said Canon Mwesigye, the spokesman/provincial secretary of the Church of Uganda.
This says 42 bishops, cf. Church Times report earlier, mentioning 31 bishops.
10 CommentsDave Walker has provided a full roundup of links related to this week’s major legislative event, also known as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.
0 CommentsEkklesia reports on this in Christian charity found to have discriminated on grounds of religion.
An Employment Tribunal in Abergele has today unanimously found in favour of a former employee of a Christian charity who was claiming constructive dismissal and discrimination on grounds of religion or belief.
The Tribunal heard that Prospects, a Christian charity which receives public money for its work with people with learning disabilities, and which had previously employed a number of non-Christian staff and volunteers – including a number who were transferred to them under TUPE Regulations – acted illegally when in 2004 it began recruiting only practising Christians for almost all posts, and told existing non-Christian staff that they were no longer eligible for promotion.
Mr James Boddy, Barrister from 11 King’s Bench Walk Chambers, representing the claimant Mr Mark Sheridan, declared: “This is an important decision because it is the first time an employment tribunal has been called on to decide the extent to which an organisation with a religious ethos is allowed to discriminate on grounds of religion or belief…”
This story was reported in some detail last December, by Ruth Gledhill in The Times see Christian ‘forced to discrimate’ against non-Christian staff and on her blog at Christian claims discrimination ‘on grounds of religion’.
See also the BHA press release, Tribunal victory for employee in landmark religious discrimination case.
And Simon Barrow’s comments are here.
24 CommentsSimon Barrow, co-director of Ekklesia, said: “This judgement ought to make religious charities sit up and think – not just about their legal responsibilities and the morality of non-discrimination, but about the impact of their behaviour on their image with the public at large.”
He continued: “Leaders and entrepreneurs in many faith organisations seem reluctant to embrace a comprehensive equalities agenda, or to recognise their culpability in issues of discrimination. Yet they are often the first to seek exemptions from legislation accepted by others and to complain that they are being ‘attacked’ when criticisms are raised.”
“The Christian message of love and justice is undermined by poor employment and equalities practices in the Christian organisations. This is an opportunity for the churches to get their house in order.”
Christopher Howse writes in the Telegraph about the City Churches in After the fires of London.
Simon Barrow writes for Wardman Wire on The Struggle to be Truthful: Thinking Aloud.
In the Church Times Rebecca Paveley interviewed Gordon Brown, see Not strangers but neighbours.
Giles Fraser wrote that Doctor Who proves the success of the gospel.
The Times has The value of mercy as a means of overcoming anger by Usama Hasan.
The Guardian has Andrew Copson writing about humanism and the school curriculum in Face to faith.
10 CommentsRemember that business about letters from the Archbishop of Canterbury to selected bishops? See for example, this earlier article.
Well, now read this in the Living Church Canterbury Calling: Archbishop on the Phone for Lambeth
7 CommentsArchbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams’ Pentecost letter to the bishops of the Anglican Communion was not the anticipated communication in which he reportedly would ask bishops to predicate their attendace at the Lambeth Conference this summer upon their willingness to accept the recommendations in the Windsor Report.
A spokesman said Archbishop Williams had modified his plan to write to bishops whose stated positions ran contrary to the colleagial gathering of equals he envisions for Lambeth. Instead, Archbishop Williams has been in telephone contact with a number of bishops, asking that they honor the integrity of the meeting, the spokesman told The Church of England Newspaper…
I reported earlier on the letter sent to the Primate of Uganda, Archbishop Henry Orombi.
On Thursday he responded to this. The full text of his letter is below the fold.
Episcopal News Service reported on this in Uganda archbishop responds to Presiding Bishop’s objection to his ‘incursion’ into Georgia by Matthew Davies.
41 CommentsUpdated again Saturday afternoon
A demonstration against the Bishop of Rochester is planned at Rochester Cathedral on Saturday.
Kent Online reports as follows:
Bishop denies gay prejudice claims – but protest is planned
One of the county’s cathedrals will be the stage for a gay rights group’s demonstration this weekend.
International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) is angry at the Bishop of Rochester’s opposition to an homosexual American bishop attending a key church meeting.
But the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali said he respected all people no matter their sexuality.
A spokesperson for the group said: “The Bishop can change his religion but, just as he cannot change his skin colour, we cannot change our sexuality.”
IDAHO also believes the bishop has opposed gay rights measures such as child adoption by gay partners.
The group will be protesting at Rochester Cathedral on Saturday.
Anglican Mainstream reports that the bishop has issued a statement, though I could not find it on the diocesan website. Here is what AM reports:
Bishop of Rochester’s statement about the demonstration planned against him on May 17:
A public notice of a demonstration against the Bishop of Rochester has been circulated (see below).
The Bishop of Rochester has responded.[ link to original of “public notice” ]
An IDAHO Day demo will be held outside Rochester Cathedral, Medway, Kent from 1200-1300 hrs. The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, has fairly regularly spoken out against LGBT rights. Late last year he spoke against civil partnerships and child adoption by gay couples. He has since apparently decided not to attend the forthcoming Lambeth Conference, due to be held in Canterbury (University site) in July/August 2008. Mainly it appears due to the gay issue and the position of Bishop Gene Robinson. Bishop Robinson is coming to the conference anyway and we will be challenging the Bishop of Rochester to stay in the UK an go and meet with and talk to Gene in Canterbury.
Further, the Bishop of Rochester has himself suffered and complained about abuse and even death threats because he converted from Islam to Christianity. Since he now knows exactly what such hatred is like, we will be asking why he still feels unable to make common cause with groups such as LGBT people who have are still suffering the same merely because of our sexuality including regularly from religionists. The Bishop can change his religion but, just as he cannot change his skin colour, we cannot change our sexuality. Neither he nor us, nor indeed anyone; should have to uffer abuse, threats or attacks because of such things. All will be welcome to join us whether LGBT or straight friends on the day. The gay run pub The Ship in Rochester High St- a few hundred yards away should be open for refreshments also. PLEASE NOTE THE EMAIL ADDRESS IS FOR USE WITH THIS DEMO ONLY.
Statement regarding the demonstration on 17 May 2008
I acknowledge and respect the equal dignity of all – regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. There is no place for the harassment or persecution of anyone for whatever reason.
We are thankful that in this country there is freedom of meeting and expression for all.
The Bible and the Church teach that the proper expression of our sexuality is in the context of marriage. This has to do with God’s purposes in creating us, respect for persons and the importance of the family as a basic unit of society.
+Michael Roffen:
Saturday morning update
The Medway Messenger carries a fuller report, Gay rights group set for cathedral protest concluding with this:
…Medway Police said they were aware of the demonstration. A spokesman said: “We are aware of a planned protest on Saturday and we will police it appropriately.”
May 17 marks the day the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from it’s list of recognised mental illnesses 18 years ago.
The day will also see Kent Police relaunch a telephone line to report homophobic acts…
Saturday afternoon update
And now, there is a much longer report on Kent News headlined Gay rights campaigners to protest at cathedral. This includes a detailed account of how Kent Police are taking seriously the issue of homophobic behaviour. The article was on the front page of the Kentish Saturday Observer as you can see from this PDF file.
6 CommentsBill Bowder has a report in the Church Times today Two months to go and bishops are still checking in.
On Wednesday, numbers stood at 620 of the possible 880 bishops in the Anglican Communion. Officials calculate that about ten per cent of sees are vacant. Nigeria has said that none of its 141 bishops will attend; nor will Uganda’s 31 bishops. This leaves fewer than 20 bishops unaccounted for.”
…The Anglican Communion Office said on Wednesday that it had received no official notification that any of the bishops who had been invited were not attending.
“It is not wise to say who will be there till much closer to the event,” said a spokesman.
So far, 570 spouses have registered for the spouses’ conference.
This week, the organisers of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) said that 280 bishops had registered to attend. GAFCON, a conservative gathering, takes place in Jordan and Jerusalem next month. It is now clear that many bishops plan to attend both conferences.
No mention in this article of others who have said they will not come:
Dave Walker has a nice cartoon here.
The official conference website has three posters, here, here, and here.
There are also numerous bookmarks here.
The bishops of the Anglican Church of Australia recently agreed a Protocol about Women in the Episcopate.
The text of this document can be found as a PDF file on the national church website, here.
It is also reproduced in full below the fold.
16 CommentsPress Release – 14th May 2008 for immediate release
Women Clergy Message to Bishops: “Yes” to Women Bishops, but not at any price
In an outspoken statement sent this week to all bishops in the Church of England, nearly half of all licensed women clergy called for no further delay on women bishops, but also, for no further discrimination written into the legislation.
The statement, drawn up by leading women priests, states: “We believe that it should be possible for women to be consecrated as bishop, but not at any price. The price of legal ‘safeguards’ for those opposed is simply too high, diminishing not just the women concerned, but the catholicity, integrity and mission of the episcopate and of the Church as a whole.”
It goes on to say: “We cannot countenance any proposal that would, once again, enshrine and formalise discrimination against women in legislation.” None of the 15 Anglican provinces which have voted for women bishops have included discriminatory legislation.
The statement challenges any suggestion that those who want the simplest statutory provisions do not care for those who remain opposed to women’s ordained ministry, and points to “strong relationships” and to the possibility of a code of practice that make “the passing of a single clause measure realistic in today’s Church, as well as theologically and ecclesiologically cohesive.”
The statement declares that “all bishops should work within clear expectations and codes of practice. The language of “protection” and “safeguard” is offensive to women, and we believe the existing disciplinary procedures are enough for women or men to be brought to account if they behave inappropriately.”
The covering letter, dated 11th May 2008, is signed by Jane Hedges, Canon Steward at Westminster Abbey, Rosemary Lain-Priestley, Secretary of the National Association of Diocesan Advisors in Women’s Ministry and Lucy Winkett, Canon Precentor at St Paul’s Cathedral and more than 500 other ordained women. Since then a further 213 women priests have added their names to the statement, representing nearly half of all ordained women in the Church of England.
CONTACTS:
Christina Rees (Chair National WATCH)
Tel: 01763-848-822
eMail: Christina@MediaMaxima.com
Revd Canon Lucy Winkett
Tel: 020-7246-8321
eMail: precentor@stpaulscathedral.org.uk
Revd Vanda Rowe
Tel: 01980-610-305
eMail: rev.vandarowe@gmail.com
Revd Canon Jane Hedges
Tel: 020-7654-4867
eMail: Jane.Hedges@westminster-abbey.org
The full text of the statement follows below the fold.
74 CommentsThe Irish Independent reports under the headline Plea for unity over gay bishop argument that:
The Archbishop of Dublin has urged Church of Ireland members not to split over the issue of ordaining gay men as bishops, which has caused a crisis for the world-wide Anglican Communion.
Speaking last night at the Synod’s annual service in Galway, Archbishop John Neill also suggested that a resolution of the church’s “gay bishop” crisis could be found when the world’s Anglican bishops meet in July for their 10-yearly Lambeth Conference…
The full text of John Neill’s sermon can be found here.
The synod is also reported by Episcopal News Service in Archbishop reflects on Holy Land visit, condemns car bomb attack:
Harper, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland since February 2007, told a news conference following the synod’s opening session that the Church of Ireland remains in communion with every part of the Anglican Communion and spoke about his hopes for this summer’s Lambeth Conference of bishops. “I believe that we will find a way to manage the differences that we have with respect to everyone’s ethically held positions,” he said.
Harper described the July 16-August 3 conference in Canterbury as an opportunity for the bishops “to pray together, to study together, to discuss the problems and issues which are particularly current from their own perspectives and in their own backgrounds, to gain strength from one another, and to recognize in one another a Communion which goes back over many centuries.”
Acknowledging that it has the power to make resolutions, but that the Anglican Communion’s 38 provinces are not required to conform to them, Harper said the conference “was never set up as a legislative body and it is not that now. If there is a particular direction that is to be embraced by the whole Communion, it isn’t the Lambeth Conference that makes that decision.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has invited some 880 bishops to attend this year’s gathering. Harper noted that certain bishops and primates have indicated their intention to boycott the Lambeth Conference, but said he expects the once-a-decade gathering to “reinforce the relationships amongst those bishops who attend.”
Also, the full text of Alan Harper’s presidential address to the synod can be found here (PDF).
6 CommentsLast week, the Church Times carried a lengthy article in which the Editor, Paul Handley, interviewed the Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson.
This is now available for all to read, at Never lonelier, never more blessed.
5 CommentsThis GAFCON press release 1,000 Christian leaders, 280 bishops to GAFCON in Jerusalem has been issued.
Over 1000 senior leaders from seventeen provinces in the Anglican Communion, representing 35 million church-going Anglicans, have registered for the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem at the close of the online registration process. They include 280 bishops, almost all accompanied by their wives. Final attendance figures will depend on smooth processing of requested visas, and other factors.
GAFCON leaders have met in the period leading up to Pentecost with the leaders of Anglican, Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic churches and Palestinian Christians and Messianic Jews in Jerusalem to brief them on the nature and purpose of GAFCON. GAFCON is concerned to affirm the continuing presence of the Church in the Holy Land.
Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, the chair of the Programme Committee reports that the programme is almost complete. “Our programme will focus on the transforming love of Christ. We will be drawing from the scriptures of the Old and New Testament in our pilgrimage, and their relevance to the challenges facing the church globally today. These include secularism, other religions, poverty and HIV/Aids as well as moral and theological issues.”
Pilgrims will visit traditional sites in Jerusalem during the pilgrimage June 22 – 29, 2008 including Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Ophel Gardens and Temple steps where at the first Pentecost Peter preached and people of all nations responded. The 1000 pilgrims will travel to Bethlehem to the Church of the Nativity and Shepherds’ Field, and then to Galilee.
The goals of the GAFCON conference in Jerusalem are to:
1. Provide an opportunity for fellowship as well as to continue to experience and proclaim the transforming love of Christ.
2. Develop a renewed understanding of our identity as Anglican Christians.
3. Prepare for an Anglican future in which the Gospel is uncompromised and Christ-centered mission a top priority. Pentecost 2008
This release does not mention Jordan, but the conference brochure (PDF) does refer to “An initial consultation in Jordan…”
Meanwhile, criticism of GAFCON from open evangelicals continues, see Graham Kings’ recent address here or another version here, which was in the Church of England Newspaper.
39 CommentsUpdated Thursday evening
Scroll down for the response by Archbishop Orombi
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has written to Archbishop Henry Orombi.
See Episcopal News Service Ugandan primate’s ‘incursion’ into Georgia violates Windsor Report, Presiding Bishop notes.
Archbishop of Uganda Henry Orombi’s actions to visit a Savannah congregation on May 14 without the invitation of Episcopal Bishop of Georgia Henry Louttit “violate the spirit and letter of the work of the Windsor Report, and only lead to heightened tensions,” Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori wrote in a May 12 letter to Orombi.
“We are more than willing to receive you for conversation, dialogue, and reconciliation, yet you continue to act without speaking with us,” Jefferts Schori wrote in her letter sent by email. “I hope and pray that you might respond to our invitation and meet with representatives of this Church.”But noting that Orombi’s planned visit comes without Louttit’s invitation, “I must protest this unwarranted incursion into The Episcopal Church,” Jefferts Schori wrote in her letter.
According to reports, Orombi plans to meet May 14 with clergy and laity who voted in October 2007 to disaffiliate with the Episcopal Church. The group continues to occupy historic Christ Church, Savannah, while the continuing Episcopal congregation meets at Savannah’s Church of St. Michael and All Angels. Christ Church, Savannah, dates from 1733.
The full text of Jefferts Schori’s letter follows.
May 12, 2008
The Most Revd Henry Luke Orombi
Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala
PO Box 14123
Kampala
UGANDA
EAST AFRICAMy dear brother,
I understand from advertising here that you plan to visit a congregation in the Diocese of Georgia on 14 May of this year. The diocesan, Bishop Henry Louttit, has not given any invitation for you to do so, nor received any information from you about your planned visit. I must protest this unwarranted incursion into The Episcopal Church. I am concerned that you seem to feel it appropriate to visit, preach, and exercise episcopal ministry within the territory of this Church, and I wonder how you would receive similar behavior in Uganda. These actions violate the spirit and letter of the work of the Windsor Report, and only lead to heightened tensions. We are more than willing to receive you for conversation, dialogue, and reconciliation, yet you continue to act without speaking with us. I hope and pray that you might respond to our invitation and meet with representatives of this Church.
I remain
Your servant in Christ,
Katharine Jefferts Schori
cc:
Bishop Henry Louttit
Archbishop Rowan Williams
Update Thursday evening
Archbishop Henry Orombi has responded to this letter in an email published at Stand Firm which you can read here.
20 CommentsTomorrow the House of Commons begins debating the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, an updated version of the current legislation which became law in 1990.
See Embryology Bill: the key points at the BBC.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has written in the Mail on Sunday about the issues involved, see We condemn torture, rape – anything that uses another’s body for our own purpose – Shouldn’t we show embryos similar respect?
Update The same Daily Mail text is now on the Lambeth Palace site as well.
Here is the earlier TA report on what was said when the House of Lords considered this bill.
Rather surprisingly, the Medical Research Council is discouraging scientists from attending Parliament, see BBC Scientists’ protest discouraged.
29 CommentsGeoffrey Rowell writes in The Times about The celestial fire that brings us new life and inspiration.
Chris Duggan writes in the Guardian about our ecological sins. See Face to faith.
Christopher Howse writes in the Daily Telegraph about Boris Johnson and the Holy Trinity.
Giles Fraser writes in the Church Times about Maude Royden in Do people need saving from this?
At Ekklesia there are several items. First, and rather belatedly, a link to a paper published some weeks ago by Savi Hensman under the heading Listening and learning in the sexuality debate.
Jonathan Bartley asks Are Christians facing discrimination?
Simon Barrow writes a column titled Land of hope and glory?
And, finally, over in the Spectator there is an article by Theo Hobson ‘It’s Harder For Straights To Feel Christian Charity Than Gays’
9 CommentsAnglican Church Bans Polygamy is the headline of a news article at PM News by Kazeem Ugbodaga:
The Anglican Communion in Nigeria has banned polygamy among members of the church.
The ban was handed down by the Archbishop and Primate of the Church, Most Reverend Peter Akinola.
Worried by the proliferation of marriages in the church among polygamous members, Akinola wrote to all Anglican Communions in the country to desist from such practice, which he described as unscriptural.
According to him, the integrity of the Christian faith is far more important than the reputation of those who turn their backs on the word of God.
“Those of us who are in the forefront of the prophetic call for a return to Biblical truth, cannot close our eyes to the increasingly blatant disregard for the teaching of the Bible on family life.
“The observation will destroy our witness if not firmly addressed. We cannot claim to be a Bible-believing church and yet be selective in our obedience,” he added.
Akinola stated emphatically that whosoever is involved in polygamous marriage, no matter how highly placed, must come under authority of the Bible.
He warned that any attempt to trivialise the Bible’s teaching on monogamy as the ultimate standard for the Christian family “will make a mockery of whatever else we stand for.
“Sadly, sometimes, even our leadership has looked the other way on this matter.”
The Anglican Communion Nigeria, during the crisis on whether to ordain gays (homosexuals) as preachers in the Anglican Communion overseas, stood against it…
Update Saturday
The BBC has a report on this, Warning for Christian polygamists.
76 CommentsUpdated again Friday evening
A body called Christian Research has made a number of claims that have been reported by newspapers:
The Times Ruth Gledhill Churchgoing on its knees as Christianity falls out of favour and also commentary at God-shaped hole will lead to loss of national sense of identity.
Daily Telegraph George Pitcher Practising Muslims ‘will outnumber Christians by 2035’
Daily Mail Ben Clerkin ‘More practising Muslims than Christians in Britain by 2035’
But are these claims true? And why are quotation marks used in the headlines?
The Church of England issued a statement Latest Religious Trends publication ‘flawed and dangerously misleading’. This says:
…Across Christian denominations and other faiths, the research does not compare like with like. The number of active Muslims, for example, is an estimated projection based on halving the number of people who said they were Muslim at the last national government census in 2001. The same process for those who said they were Christian at the last census would yield about 20 million active Christians of whom around 14 million are active Anglicans (based on recent national surveys).
Instead, this research estimates Christian ‘membership’ using, for example, the number of adults on the Church of England’s local parish based formal voting lists as the sole measure of its active ‘members’. Huge numbers of people worshipping every week and involved in their churches in all sorts of other ways are consequently missed…
David Keen has a blog post Why Christian Research is Wrong and Dave Walker has more at Is the church in decline?
Update Thursday evening
Andrew Brown has published an article on Comment is free titled Prayers for the fearful in which he criticises this research:
…These extrapolations are all based on present trends continuing, which tells us that they are certainly wrong. It is an absolutely safe bet that society will have changed drastically in the next 40 years and in ways that we can’t foresee. Present trends will not continue. They may get worse, of course, for Christianity, but I doubt it.
The real lesson of these figures is not that the Church of England may cease to exist, or even that Islam is on the rise. It is that religion does not exist as a distinct mode of thought or existence. Religious allegiance is not a matter of theology; it’s not even, really, a matter of spirituality.
What really drives it is its function of ritualising and dramatising moral values and stories about society. This means that any church, any mosque, and so on, serves as a focus for a particular community and is embedded with all sort of extra-religious cultural assumptions and practices. If the community disappears, so does the church. The community will disappear when it no longer has an economic or political function and when the cost of membership seems to exceed the benefits…
And now, the author of the original research is disputing the Ruth Gledhill article:
The Times has ran a double page feature from Ruth Gledhill on declining church attendance, and compares it to the rising number of Muslims and Hindus attending worship. Benita Hewitt is the new director of Christian Research Association, whose Religious Trends have been quoted, describes the article as very misleading. Church attendance once a week is compared to mosque attendance once a year, and no allowance has been made for once a month, once a year, midweek and FX church attendance…
Update Friday morning
David Keen has drawn attention in the comments to this sample article featured in the March 2008 issue of Quadrant, which contains data that doesn’t match the newspaper reports. See David’s own blog article about this here.
Update Friday evening
Ruth Gledhill has posted Latest religious trends which includes two tables taken from the report (click on the tables to enlarge them). See also the comments to this blog article for more information.
Letters to The Times can be found here.
Dave Walker has obtained more comment from Benita Hewitt which is available here.
29 CommentsThe Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has written to the Anglican church in Burma following the devastation of Cyclone Nargis in the area of the Irrawaddy River Delta.
See statement from Lambeth Palace here, and for background links to relief agencies, see the ACNS copy here.
In the letter to Archbishop Stephen Than Myint Oo, Dr Williams assures the church of the prayers of the Anglican Communion and commends the rescue operation now underway:
“I am heartened to know relief efforts are underway to help hundreds of thousands of people who are without clean water, food, or shelter. Our hearts grieve with all those who have lost their loved ones, their homes and their livelihoods. In the face of such loss, all I can offer in my prayers for you is the totality of the love of God, even in the face of all that on earth is disfigured by natural disaster. ‘This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.’ (John 6.39). Please be assured that your brothers and sisters across the Communion are holding you in their prayers.”
The Anglican church in Burma is known as the Church of the Province of Myanmar. Its leader is The Most Revd Stephen Than Myint Oo, Archbishop of Myanmar & Bishop of Yangon.
Update
Update from the Anglican Church of the Province of Myanmar
The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA has issued a statement about Zimbabwe. See ENS Presiding Bishop’s statement on the Zimbabwe crisis.
For earlier statements see here and earlier ACNS had Archbishop Thabo Makgoba calls for UN arms embargo on Zimbabwe.
Also, USPG: Anglicans in World Mission has issued a statement, see ACNS Anglican Church in Zimbabwe is making a difference:
USPG: Anglicans in World Mission, has been heartened by the response to the call to prayer issued for (27th April 2008) by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.
The Rt Revd Michael Doe, General Secretary of USPG today said: “USPG: Anglicans in World Mission, as the principal Anglican agency working in the Dioceses of Zimbabwe, has been overwhelmed by the response individuals, parishes and Dioceses are making to the call to prayer.
“We’d like to follow up the Archbishops’ call to ask for the prayers of individuals for the specific needs of those dioceses, and to share some of the good work that is continuing there. USPG has continued to stand by the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, and its steadfastness is an example to us all…”
And ENS also has Zimbabwe Anglicans face ‘communist-style’ persecution, says bishop.
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