The hugely comprehensive coverage of General Synod in today’s Church Times is available at present only to subscribers. TA will link to that material next week. For now, the following items are available:
News Report: Synod hands women over to drafting group
Leader: One faith, one Lord, one Church
Columnist: If only the Church could make its mind up by Giles Fraser
1 CommentThe Church of England Newspaper is on the web today with numerous reports of General Synod:
Quandary ahead on women bishops
Faithful Cities report lacks evangelistic focus – says Synod
Commissioners want scrutiny
Synod’s Carbon attitudes lukewarm
Women bishops are justified
Archbishop criticises US Churchs legal processes for doubts
Dr Williams clarifies his thinking on the plans for a two-tier Anglican Communion
Church to double FE chaplains
Pensions plan welcomed
Synod debates merits of tax policy
Archbishop demonstrates that he has found his true home in York
Couples allowed to wed in any churches where they have link
Plans for freehold replacement unveiled to Synod members
Prisons policy defended
The Times mentioned the final day of synod in Ruth Gledhill’s story about Ndungane’s letter: Church must keep to ‘middle ground’.
Jonathan Petre in the Telegraph was able to report Give married couples an even break on benefits, says Synod. This pleased the writers of leader columns there: The Synod’s solid sense.
2 CommentsUpdated Thursday – see below
As background to this question, the Church of England Newspaper published a news report last week headlined Prison ministry axed.
There was also a report in the Telegraph Prison service axes Christian course and an opinion item also.
The CEN article was mentioned during the debate on the report of the business committee, at the start of the synod meeting last Friday, and it also led to an additional question being raised, which was answered on Tuesday morning. There were also several supplementary questions. The whole sequence can be listened to here.
The Ven Alan Hawker (Bristol) to ask the Chairman of the House of Bishops:
Q: In the light of recent press reports about the ending of particular Christian programmes for prisons, will the House of Bishops, in consultation with the Mission and Public Affairs Council, ascertain the facts and make representations to the Home Secretary?
The Bishop of Worcester as the Bishop to HM Prisons to reply.
A: I thank the Archdeacon and Mrs Ruoff who first raised the issue for the opportunity to correct the very inaccurate reports in the Church of England Newspaper about the ending of the Inner Change Programme at HMP Dartmoor. These reports suggest that it is becoming more difficult or even impossible to gain approval for specifically Christian programmes in prisons. I have consulted with the Chaplain General, who is of course a member of the Synod and with us this morning.
The Inner Change programme failed on five different counts to obtain approval under the Prison Services ‘Effective Intervention’ Criteria. For instance objective research on re-offending rates sadly did not confirm the claims made for the programme: experience of the programme in the USA has been mixed, and there have been concerns about its ability to integrate with general chaplaincy provision. Contrary to what is said in the CEN, the Chaplain General was not involved in the decision, which was made by the Area Manager after the usual panel meeting. The same panel and the same Area Manager have accredited a number of specifically Christian programmes including Kairos. Many specifically Christian programmes are approved and taking place in prisons – Alpha probably being the best known. The idea that chaplains have to sign a ‘multi-faith covenant’ is simply not true.
The Standing Committee of the House of Bishops is currently planning the agenda for the October meeting of the House and I have been asked by the Archbishop of York to propose an outline for a session or sessions on the criminal justice system. I am sure that the position of the Christian faith and practice in prisons would be part of that discussion. I am in regular touch with Christopher Jones and the members of the Mission and Public Affairs Division, and shall be glad with him to supply any necessary briefing if the Private Member’s Motion which has just been tabled comes to be debated.
The pressures in the prison system, with record numbers incarcerated, and the variety of religious faiths represented, present a hugely challenging environment for the Service in general and the Chaplaincy in particular. Despite these pressures, the Chaplain General has enabled the production of policies which maintain the proper balance between maintaining that which is specifically Christian and enabling proper provision for other faith communities so that the needs of their members can be met. I would wish to assure him and all chaplains of our support and our prayers in their demanding task, and Synod of the continued validity of Christian witness in prisons.
Updates
Andrew Carey has responded to Bishop Selby: you can read it here. And there is a news item also: Prisons policy defended.
And Andrew has further comments about this on his blog here.
And, in relation to the Telegraph coverage, there is a letter from the Director General of the Prison Service here.
5 CommentsThe Presiding Bishop has issued some personal thoughts in A Word to the Church.
Bruce Mullin has written at Beliefnet What’s Going on in the Anglican Communion?
The Living Church has published an editorial comment Convention Stumbles and Falls on Windsor Report.
The Anglican Communion Institute has published Our New Season of Anglican Maturing by Christopher Seitz, Ephraim Radner, Philip Turner. Reaction to it by Matt Kennedy is here. A further article by Ephraim Radner in response to Kennedy is here.
Tom Woodward’s blog has published A Manifesto by The Rev. William R. Coats.
2 CommentsPRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE USE
11 July 2006
AFFIRMING CATHOLICISM WELCOMES SYNOD’S DECISION AND PLEDGES TO FIND WAYS TO INCLUDE OBJECTORS WITHOUT UNDERMINING FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES.
The Director of the Anglican organisation, Affirming Catholicism, the Rev’d Richard Jenkins, today welcomed the decision of the Church of England’s General Synod to press ahead with moves to admit women to the episcopate. The General Synod, meeting in York over the last 5 days, voted by substantial majorities to welcome and affirm the view that the development was consistent with Anglican faith and practice and to proceed with drafting necessary legislation for women to be ordained as Bishops. Synod also passed an amendment to endorse the view that those who oppose the move are equally loyal Anglicans.
I’m delighted that the Synod has voted so resoundingly to admit women to the episcopate. It has also underlined its determination to find principled ways to keep the minority who object to the move within the body of the Church. We will continue to engage in the process with charity and theological rigour in order to help craft legislation which admits women to the episcopate on the same basis as men, provides a safe and secure space for those who object, and encourages all of us to encounter and enrich each other in one polity.
In the run up to the recent debates, Affirming Catholicism’s theological group made submissions on the issue to the House of Bishops’ working parties and published a book outlining the Catholic case in favour of women bishops which was circulated to every member of General Synod. The Affirming Catholicism group will reconvene once the official legislative drafting group is created. Affirming Catholics in Synod (ACiS) numbers over 90.
ENDS
31 CommentsUpdated Wednesday
Nine parishes in the Diocese of Pittsburgh have today issued a press release. You can read the whole thing here. It starts like this:
Nine urban, suburban and rural congregations in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh today challenged the recent actions of the Right Reverend Robert William Duncan and the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. On 28 June 2006, the Bishop and Standing Committee announced their intention to withdraw from the duly recognized, geographically-determined Province III of The Episcopal Church, envisioning the emergence of a theologically-determined “Province X.” The parishes believe that these steps, if left unchallenged, could effectively remove the Diocese from The Episcopal Church. The congregations further believe that by requesting “alternative primatial oversight,” the Bishop and Standing Committee seek to remove the Diocese from the oversight of the presiding bishopelect of The Episcopal Church, the Right Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori. The parishes also believe that all of these actions constitute an effort to retain use of property which is properly within the jurisdiction of The Episcopal Church while withdrawing from The Episcopal Church.
The diocese has responded with its own press release. It says in part:
…“There continues to be confusion about the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh’s status in the Episcopal Church,” said Bishop Duncan, “I will say again what we have been saying for months now. We have no plans to be anything but faithful, orthodox, Anglican-Communion-bound Episcopalians, today, tomorrow and the day after that. We are the Episcopal Church in this place and we are going to continue being what we always have been.”
Bishop Duncan went on to note that the June 28 decisions of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Standing Committee did not bring the diocese outside of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church in any way. Instead, they simply served to make clear the diocese’s firm intention, expressed by overwhelming margins at numerous diocesan conventions, to remain a “constituent” member of the Anglican Communion, even while much of the Episcopal Church continues choosing a path that is breaking that bond…
Updates
Press coverage of this:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steve Levin Nine Episcopal parishes don’t want new province
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Craig Smith 9 parishes may go to court (This headline directly contradicts what was said at the press conference according to Levin in the P-G; the diocesan statistics are quoted differently too)
Response to claim by diocese concerning Missouri precedent:
Lionel Deimel of PEP has responded to a part of the diocesan press release as follows:
Claim: That the experience of Missouri provides a precedent for withdrawing from a province of the Episcopal Church.
Fact: Article VII of the Constitution of The Episcopal Church does require that a diocese agree to its placement in a particular province. Pittsburgh did agree to being in Province III. The canons of The Episcopal Church specify the assignment of each diocese to a province. There is no provision for withdrawing from a province, only for transferring to another existing province. Missouri was originally in Province VII, which includes most of the Southwest. In the 1960s, Missouri decided that it had little in common with dioceses in that geographical area and would fit better in a more Midwestern region. It stopped participating but did not try to withdraw formally from Province VII. This situation helped encourage General Convention to pass a canonical change specifying a means by which a diocese could transfer to another province. Missouri then followed the specified procedure to transfer to Province V, which includes much of the Midwest.
A much lengthier discussion of all this by Lionel Deimel can be found in An Appraisal of the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s “Withdrawal” of Consent to Inclusion in Province III (PDF format).
0 CommentsThe Nation now reports that Malango rules out Henderson return:
2 CommentsThe office of the Anglican Archbishop of Central Africa in Zomba has indicated that the decision to order Bishop James Mwenda to return to Zambia does not mean giving a chance for rejected British clergyman Paul Nicholas Henderson to head the Diocese of Lake Malawi.
Provincial Secretary Eston Pembamoyo said Monday Mwenda had to leave the country to allow for neutral discussions between Anglican bishops in Malawi and the laity of the Lake Malawi on the way forward.
Pembamoyo ruled out the possibility of reconsidering the diocese’s first choice, Henderson, who was rejected following allegations that he supported gay activities in the United Kingdom.“Henderson’s case is a closed chapter. There is no way we can start discussing him again,” said Pembamoyo…
Jonathan Petre in the Telegraph has New Church effort on women bishops
Ruth Gledhill in The Times has Synod vote on women clergy is setback for traditionalists
Matthew Davies for Episcopal News Service has a detailed report of the debate in Church of England begins long process toward ordaining women bishops
Michael Brown reporting for the Yorkshire Post concentrates on one single speech in Leading Yorkshire cleric attacks bishops over women’s ordination.
Also, though unrelated to synod, yesterday the Guardian had Bishops warn PM over Trident and the BBC had Bishops say Trident is ‘anti-God’.
3 CommentsThe official report is here. This will be updated following the evening session.
0 CommentsPaul Roberts has written about this morning’s debate here: General Synod – Monday.
Stephen Bates has also written: Going round in circles.
3 CommentsThe two major contributions of the Archbishop of Canterbury to today’s debate on women bishops can be found on his own website:
Speech given moving item 14 on Women in the Episcopate at the Church of England’s General Synod
Closing Speech on item 14 (as amended) on Women in the Episcopate at the Church of England’s General Synod
For audio links go here.
Reactions have already come from Forward in Faith, and from WATCH. The latter is a PDF file, so is reproduced below the fold.
0 CommentsThe Nation has a report by Juliet Chimwaga Mwenda kicked out, heads back home.
0 CommentsAnglican Bishop James Mwenda at the centre of a controversy over the headship of the Diocese of Lake Malawi is going back home in Zambia, the church’s Archbishop Bernard Malango confirmed Sunday.
But Malango could not give further details on the development, saying he would issue a press statement Monday…
The official report of this morning’s business is available here.
0 CommentsA letter appears in the Independent newspaper this morning. You can read it here, but the format makes it difficult. The text is therefore reproduced below. The newspaper does not list all the signatories, so they are listed in full below.
Sir: We write to add our voice to the public debate on the issue of the maintenance and renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons programme demanded by the House of Commons Defence Committee. We urge MPs seriously to consider our views when they come to a formal debate in the House and take part in any subsequent vote.
Whatever our various views on conventional warfare, we all agree that Just War arguments rule out the use of nuclear weapons and such weapons challenge the very core of Judeo-Christian Faith where humanity is given responsibility for the stewardship of God’s creation. But there are also practical, moral and economic objections to the basic concept of having a deterrent.
Practical because a deterrent is only effective if a potential enemy knows for certain it will be used. But the use of nuclear weapons would not be an option for us, as that would be nothing less than the mass murder of thousands if not tens of thousands of innocent civilians. The resultant fall-out from a tactical or battlefield weapon could not be confined to a particular area.
Moral because it is morally corrupting to threaten the use of weapons of mass destruction even when there is no real intention of using them.
Economic because the use of limited resources on WMDs diverts those resources from education, health and aid to those who are the poorest and most in need.
Humanity has the power to make or mar this planet. Current concern over global warming and the environment, as well as poverty and debt among the world’s most vulnerable people, demonstrate the need to re-engage with the task of caring for the world and its people.
Human dignity and freedom are foundation values for all people. Humanity has a right to live in dignity and freedom without fear. Trident and other nuclear arsenals threaten long-term and fatal damage to the global environment and its peoples. As such their end is evil and both possession and use profoundly anti-God acts.
Nuclear weapons are a direct denial of the Christian concept of peace and reconciliation, which are social and economic as well as physical and spiritual. The Christian Gospel is one of hope, enabling humanity to live in harmony with itself and nature and leading to prosperity and community life marked by joy.
At the Gleneagles summit a year ago the G8 pledged to “Make Poverty History” and to end the debt burden on the world’s poorest countries. The costs involved in the maintenance and replacement of Trident could be used to address pressing environmental concerns, the causes of terrorism, poverty and debt, and enable humanity and dignity to be the right of all, and would go a long way towards helping Make Poverty History.
RT REVD PETER PRICE, BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLS;
RT REVD COLIN BENNETTS, BISHOP OF COVENTRY
RT REVD MICHAEL HILL, BISHOP OF BRISTOL
RT REVD RICHARD LEWIS, BISHOP OF EDMUNSBURY AND IPSWICH
RT REVD JOHN SAXBEE, BISHOP OF LINCOLN
RT REVD TIMOTHY STEVENS, BISHOP OF LEICESTER
RT REVD JACK NICHOLLS, BISHOP OF SHEFFIELD
RT REV DR DAVID JAMES, BISHOP OF BRADFORD
AND 12 SUFFRAGAN BISHOPS
The suffragans are:
Stephen Lowe, Hulme
Stephen Cottrell, Reading
David Hawkins, Barking
Peter Broadbent, Willesden
James Langstaff, Lynn
David Rossdale, Grimsby
Ian Brackley, Dorking
James Bell, Knaresborough
Michael Lewis, Middleton
Graham Cray, Maidstone
Nicholas Baines, Croydon
Richard Inwood, Bedford
Michael Brown in the Yorkshire Post has Synod vote paves way for women bishops.
Stephen Bates in the Guardian reported that Terrorists are blasphemous, says archbishop.
Jonathan Petre in the Telegraph has Church accused of £100m asset stripping.
Robert Pigott at the BBC says Challenges continue over women bishops
4 CommentsThe official report is here.
Ruth Gledhill’s blog entry is here.
4 CommentsSunday Times Christopher Morgan Church rebels plan £1bn property grab
TRADITIONALISTS in the Church of England are preparing for a possible breakaway over women bishops by taking legal advice on whether they could claim property worth more than £1 billion…
Sunday Telegraph Jonathan Wynne-Jones Women can be bishops, Synod rules
Observer Jamie Doward Synod backs plans for women bishops and Peter Stanford Women on a mission to storm the gates of Rome
Independent Women bishops could be here by 2012, says C of E
Update BBC Sunday radio programme has a report by Trevor Barnes from General Synod. Go here and then go 5 minutes forward. Various synod personalities are interviewed about the state of the Anglican Communion, as well as women bishops in England (about 7 minutes).
5 CommentsThe presidential address given to the General Synod yesterday by the Archbishop of York has been published by Episcopal News Service.
Sunday afternoon UPDATE The text is now also online at the Church of England website.
3 CommentsThe official report of the afternoon and evening’s business can be found here.
3 Comments