First, Martyn Minns has responded to last weekend’s Washington Post article by Bishop John Chane. His response is in a Word document on his own parish website, but an html copy can be seen here. As you would expect, he is strongly critical of Bishop Chane.
Second, Andrew Carey has interviewed the Archbishop of Kaduna, Josiah Idowu-Fearon about the violence in Nigeria, in this week’s Church of England Newspaper, Why should a cartoon bring us to civil war? His views are very interesting.
5 CommentsUpdate Tuesday
Malawi Daily Times Anglican bishop’s offices still closed
The Province of Central Africa issued a press release on 25 February. This can be found on the Anglican Mainstream site, where it was posted on 2 March. The press release starts out:
The office of the Church of the Province of Central Africa would like to categorically refute some of the information masqueraded as facts that appeared in both The Nation and The Daily Times newspapers of Friday’s edition which is not only incorrect but misleading…
Those reports are linked from this TA news article of 24 February.
The pastoral letter mentioned further on in the press release was linked here.
Nevertheless the Church of England Newspaper published this further report on 3 March, Archbishop forced to flee following Malawi protest.
0 CommentsThe BBC TV programme The Heaven and Earth Show this morning carried an interview of Rowan Williams which had been conducted in Khartoum by David Frost.
The full video interview (nearly 20 minutes) is now on the web, here.
At present the programme’s website carries only a brief note about it. However, the interview was also discussed on the BBC Sunday radio programme. The website for that programme, which used to be updated within hours of the live transmission, has now announced that it will not be updated until Monday morning. So I cannot at present give a link to the individual item. There is a link to the audio of the entire (45 minute) programme here (Real Audio). The discussion – Ed Stourton talked to Ruth Gledhill – of the Rowan Williams interview, which includes audio clips, starts about 30.5 minutes in and lasts about six minutes.
Update the programme details page has now been updated. The direct link to the 6 minute audio item is here.
Other reports of this interview:
BBC Archbishop fears Church ‘rupture’ NB story has been rewritten and now headlined Williams attacks Guantanamo camp
Telegraph Archbishop fears gay ‘rupture’ of Anglican church
Reuters Anglican leader criticises Guantanamo, terrorism
Press Association Archbishop condemns Guantanamo camp
Associated Press Guantanamo Worries England’s Archbishop
Giles Fraser got Lent off to a good start with his Thought for the Day on Thursday on the BBC.
Some newspaper columns look at recent events in various lights. The Times has Jonathan Sacks writing about One thing a Muslim, a Jew, a Christian and a humanist can agree on. The Guardian has Ian Bradley comparing the recent Lib Dem leadership contest to contemporary British Christianity in Face to Faith. Earlier this week, the Guardian had an interesting column by Madeleine Bunting on British multiculturalism, It takes more than tea and biscuits to overcome indifference and fear.
Christopher Howse in the Telegraph reviews a book: Can hope save you from hell?
More substantial is this article from the Economist by Matthew Bishop The business of giving.
0 CommentsThe members of the US House of Bishops have each been sent a questionnaire. Absolutely everything that is known about this questionnaire can be seen in the photo scans of the document that I have uploaded:
Cover
First page
Second page
(you might need to click on each picture to get it full-size and easily legible, depending on what browser you use)
Ruth Gledhill has a report on her blog today, Church-State war looms over women bishops.
She reports that Chris Bryant, who is a Labour MP for a Welsh constituency, has tabled a private member’s bill which will have its First Reading on 21 March. The official confirmation of this fact can be found here:
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993 so as to remove the bar on the consecration of women as bishops; and for connected purposes.
The text of his bill will not be published until 21 March, but it is safe to assume that it would amend Clause 1 of the Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993 (No. 2) along the following lines:
1.—(1) It shall be lawful for the General Synod to make provision by Canon for enabling a woman to be ordained to the office of priest or to consecrate a woman as bishop if she otherwise satisfies the requirements of Canon Law as to the persons who may be ordained as priests.
(2) Nothing in this Measure shall make it lawful for a woman to be consecrated to the office of bishop.
This is likely to upset quite a lot of church people, but on the other hand, as Ruth notes, it might well get significant support from parliamentarians, not all of whom are sympathetic to the Church of England’s self-perception.
See also this report from Ekklesia Bill to pave way for women bishops
44 CommentsUpdated again Tuesday 14 March
Updated Friday evening
The Church of Nigeria’s official website has published an article, titled The Absurdity Of Same Sex Union. The article is written by The Rt. Rev. David Onuoha, M.A. (Bishop of Okigwe South).
I think it is reasonable to assume that the views expressed in this article are shared by other Nigerian Anglican leaders.
Update
A long article has appeared in the Vanguard, dated Saturday, which is titled WAR AGAINST GAYS, LESBIANS: We must use all we have to chase ‘em away, say clerics. This contains quotes from many religious leaders in Nigeria. Scroll down to the end for the comments by the Anglican Bishop of Lagos, Dr. Ephraim Adebola Ademowo under the heading Judiciary must ensure there’s no breach:
It is crazy, abnormal and is not promoted by any religion known to man. Islam condemns it, Christianity loathes it and there is no known religion that accommodates the practice. If you are asking the position of my church, I think it is very well known all over the world and we have not changed.
As a matter of fact, we commend the Federal Government for the bold step it has taken thus far on the issue and we hope it will go the whole hog to make the National Assembly complete the process by enacting it into law which will be completed to the letter.
It is an unhealthy practice and every normal human being will boldly tell you it is not part of the traditional African culture. But above all, the Bible is very clear on the issue. It described it as an abberation and should not be seen among men who are called of by the name of God.
So, we totally commend the Federal Government for its initiatives and we will continue to pray that the National Assembly will enact the law and the judiciary will follow suit to interprete the laws when the time comes in order to forestall any breach of the law.
Update 14 March
A response to the first item above has been published by Changing Attitude Nigeria and can be read at The Truth of same-sex unions in the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
The Church Times has an exclusive news report this morning. In Dr Williams asked to censure Akinola over riot reaction Rachel Harden reports that:
A COALITION of volunteers in Nigeria has written an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury asking him to denounce last week’s “irresponsible” statement by the Archbishop of Nigeria, the Most Revd Peter Akinola, on the current Christian-Muslim riots…
…The volunteers say this “aggressive and inflammatory rhetoric” will incite further violence…
…The writers, a group of mixed nationalities and religions, all believed that the statement issued by the Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria, which appealed for calm, was far more effective…
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria website has two reports related to this: a statement here and this earlier one.
UPDATE 10 March
Belatedly, I have found a link to the actual STATEMENT OF THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF NIGERIA ON THE MAIDUGURI RIOTS.
InclusiveChurch calls on the Archbishop of Canterbury to support lesbian and gay Anglicans in Nigeria and Uganda
Press Release
InclusiveChurch and its Partner Organisations have called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to support lesbian and gay Christians in Nigeria and Uganda and asked him to encourage the Anglican Churches in Nigeria and Uganda to desist from denigrating them and denying their existence as committed and active Anglicans.
InclusiveChurch welcomes the establishment of Changing Attitude Nigeria and Integrity Uganda as legitimate voices of gay and lesbian Africans within our Anglican Communion. InclusiveChurch believes that the dire situation of lesbian and gay Anglicans in these countries is exacerbated by the actions of our own church.
In their joint letter to the Archbishop, the Rev. Dr. Giles Fraser, President of InclusiveChurch and the Rev. Giles Goddard, Chair say, ‘We are deeply concerned that in Nigeria in particular the Anglican Church appears to be encouraging the State to engage in active persecution of gay people and those who speak for them.’
Successive Lambeth Conferences have called on the Anglican Communion to engage in dialogue with gay Christians and to listen to their experiences. Integrity Uganda and Changing Attitude Nigeria provide ways of responding to this call. InclusiveChurch believes that all Anglicans should welcome the establishment of these groups and seek to assist them in their difficult and dangerous situations. To deny them a legitimate place in the life of the church is reject the call of the Lambeth Conference resolutions.
InclusiveChurch believes that the full inclusion, without conditions, of women, lesbian and gay people, people from all ethnic backgrounds and people with disabilities at all levels of the church is essential as a sign of the universal love of God.
InclusiveChurch is a campaigning organisation which is committed to celebrating and maintaining the Anglican tradition of inclusion and diversity. More information at www.inclusivechurch.net.
For further information contact The Rev. Giles Goddard at giles@inclusivechurch.net 07762 373 674
The full text of the open letter appears below the fold.
19 CommentsThe website of the Diocese of Lake Malawi has not been updated since last July. But today the following appeared on the blog of the American Anglican Council:
Pastoral Letter from the Bishops of the Province to the Diocese of Lake Malawi.
The letter is dated 15 February.
On the one hand, the American Church Pension Group has announced plans to make significant increases in USA clergy pensions that they pay out.
See:
ENS Pension benefit formula to get adjustment
TLC Pension Group Enhances Benefits
A detailed announcement will be made soon, but Sullivan said the change means a “meaningful across-the-board increases” in benefits. Clergy with a history of very low compensation will see the biggest increases, averaging 18 percent. Those with the highest earning history will have an average 12 percent increase.
Sullivan said the decision is one of many the pension fund has made in recent months in response to its excellent financial picture. As of the end of 2005, Sullivan said, the fund had an all-time high of $7.6 billion available for pension benefits plus sizable additional reserves.
This bottom line is unlike that of the top 100 pension funds in the United States. Most of those funds have liabilities that far outstrip their assets and the federal government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation says the U.S. faces a $450 billion such gap, Sullivan said.
On the other hand, the Church of England today made this announcement:
Church launches consultation on pensions policy
In common with private companies and public bodies, the Church of England is to review its pensions policy.
Like other defined benefit pension schemes, the Church’s pension schemes are under pressure because of the long-term reduction in returns from stock exchange investments, and the increasing life expectancy of members.
Recent government moves designed to make pension schemes more secure for their members are also likely to have an adverse impact on the cost of the Church’s pension schemes.
…Taken together, the impact of the new regulations could prompt an increase in the contribution rate paid into the Clergy Pensions scheme from the present 33.8 per cent of the pensionable stipend to between 46 per cent and 57 per cent.
It seems ECUSA has got something right 🙂
Full text of the CofE report is here (RTF). Annex is here (contains key facts).
2 CommentsThe Living Church has published a report on what Bishop Chane said, Washington Bishop Condemns Proposed Nigerian Law, Primate’s Role. The article contains two separate further pieces of information:
What Rowan Williams said about this in Brazil:
…Speaking to delegates at the World Council of Churches on Feb. 17, the Archbishop of Canterbury declined to defend or condemn the proposed Nigerian legislation, saying “there is a difference between what might be said theologically about patterns [of behavior] and what is said about human and civil rights.”
It is a “real challenge” to “give effect to the listening process in situations where gay people are actively persecuted,” the Most Rev. Williams said. However, “the primates have said, more than once, that they deplore such activities, corporately.”
The “question is whether their churches” can find “ways of acting on that recognition on the wrongness of persecution,” he said…
What Canon Popoola said about this to TLC:
38 Comments…A spokesman for the Church of Nigeria, Canon Akintunde Popoola, disputed this characterization, arguing Bishop Chane misconstrued the text of the bill and Archbishop Akinola’s role in the legislative process. “Archbishop Peter to my knowledge is yet to comment [publicly] on the bill. I have said we welcome it because we view homosexuality as ‘against the norm’.”
While banning ‘gay clubs’ in “institutions from secondary to the tertiary level or other institutions in particular” and “generally, by government agencies,” the proposed law is silent as to the status of private gay clubs.
The proposed law should also be seen in light of the wider conflict between civil law and Shariah law in Nigeria, Canon Popoola said. Under existing “Islamic law” in effect in “some parts of the country,” the acts covered by the proposed law currently “stipulate the death penalty,” he said.
Last December, TA reported briefly on the Welsh bishops statement on civil partnerships, and on Andrew Goddard’s response to it.
Then in January, TA reported on the Bishop of Bangor’s forthright response to Andrew Goddard.
Since then, Andrew Goddard responded by republishing an earlier essay entitled Semper Reformanda in a Changing World: Calvin, Usury and Evangelical Moral Theology.
Now, the bishop, Anthony Crockett, has published this further article. It’s quite long, but does come back eventually to the original topic:
8 Comments…The Welsh Bishops, to get back to my original paper, tried in their statements on homosexuality and civil partnerships to indicate their perception of where Christians who read the Bible with integrity are, like Calvin in his day. Some of the views they mentioned are undoubtedly revisionist, in terms of the biblical and traditional material – as revisionist, but not more so, as Calvin’s in relation to usury – and on the same grounds, namely the principle of equity and the application of the Golden Rule ‘on which hang the law and the prophets’. The Bishops might have taken the trouble to produce ‘a form of moral argumentation and an appeal to Scripture’, to say nothing of tradition, social change and the ‘way in which our current situation is different from that of the biblical writers’. But those arguments are already much in the public domain. The Bishops appreciated the need, felt by some, to reconceptualise the phenomenon of homosexuality (cf Calvin’s identical argument on p12), and now Dr Goddard, in posting his paper on the Fulcrum website, has done them the favour of reproducing that argumentation for all to see, and to make up their minds. The Bishops will welcome his willingness to apply Calvin’s method based on equity and the Golden Rule, for like Calvin, they do not want to ‘turn (their) back on Scripture. Rather (they want to) let Scripture shape (their) thinking at the level of moral and theological principles’ (p10).
Perhaps Dr Goddard would agree that it would have been better if he had applied his analysis of Calvin’s hermeneutical method to our Statements, before he reached for his pen. Then his precipitate response and unhelpful tone might have been avoided. But all’s well that ends well. We should be glad that his lucid presentation of Calvin’s rationale for his revision of the consistent, unwavering, ‘clear’ biblical and traditional veto on usury is now in the public domain. I should like to suggest that we should all apply it consistently and conscientiously to the issue of same-sex relationships, refusing to confuse the issue with that of promiscuity, as Gagnon – he of the unpleasant tone – does. Instead of condemnation, we should admit that when homosexual people talk of permanent, loving, same-sex relationships, they are speaking of something which ‘is in fact significantly different in practice from Scriptural concerns and so cannot simply be subsumed in the standard moral descriptions and condemnations’, as Dr Goddard himself recognises could be the case (p12). Who knows, we might even consent to listen ‘to homosexual people, welcoming them into our homes and sitting down to eat with them’, as Stephen Fowl (p6) recommends.
The Living Church has published another article, which summarises what the archbishop said at a meeting of Anglican delegates to the Assembly:
Archbishop Williams Urges Shared Sacrifice, Continued Dialogue
This gives a lot more detail than was in the earlier ACNS report linked previously here. Read it all, please. The concluding paragraphs are:
5 CommentsThe “challenge to every single member of the Communion” therefore is “together [to] rediscover a sense that we are all under the judgment of God; that we are all called to holiness; that we are all called to sacrifice.”
It will not do to present the problem “as a matter in which one side would win and the other lose” as “we need each other desperately. And that is my deepest conviction about the Anglican Communion,” Archbishop Williams said.
“We need therefore to go on meeting and listening,” he said, “where people listen and look, not in great political assemblies, but in fellowship between parishes, dioceses, and projects.”
That is the way forward to an “Anglican future that is not completely polarized, that is not completely divided culturally, ideologically, theologically. Where we can share with one another patterns of obedience of Christ without expecting them to be always the same everywhere, but at least trying to be recognizable to each other.”
Press Release: Anglican and Roman Catholics argue for women bishops
The Anglican organisation Affirming Catholicism is to hold a day conference on Saturday 11 March promoting the ordination of women as bishops. The ‘symposium’, to be held in St Matthew’s Church, Westminster, will see leading Oxford theologians Dr Jane Shaw, Dr Charlotte Methuen and Dr Mark Chapman setting out the case for women’s Episcopal ordination from a catholic point of view. They will be joined by Roman Catholic proponent of women’s ordination, John Wijngaards.
‘There is a mistaken perception that most Anglican catholics oppose the ordination of women,’ says the Rev’d Richard Jenkins, Director of Affirming Catholicism. ‘That simply isn’t the case. We want to celebrate the ministry of ordained women and to demonstrate that the full inclusion of women in the apostolic ministry enhances its symbolic and effective witness.’
Participants will also grapple with the theological and practical issue of how and to what extent the Church of England can accommodate those who disagree with the ordination of women. Members of the public can take part in the symposium by contacting Lisa Martell on 020 7222 5166 or by email, administrator@affirmingcatholicism.org.uk. (Cost, including lunch, £10, £5 concessions).
Papers delivered on the day will be published by Affirming Catholicism as a contribution to the Church of England’s ongoing debate about the consecration of women. The General Synod of the Church of England will next debate the issue in its July group of sessions when it will decide how to proceed with legislation to create women bishops.
Dr Mark Chapman is vice-Principal of Ripon College, Cuddesdon; Dr Charlotte Methuen is Departmental Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History at Keble College, Oxford; Dr Jane Shaw is Chaplain of New College, Oxford. John Wijngaards is theological adviser to the Roman Catholic movement ‘women priests’.
1 CommentRecently, the Scottish RC bishops issued a Pastoral Letter on Family Law. This is a response to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.
That letter was discussed in an article by Aidan O’Neill originally published under the title Ties that bind. This article first appeared on 11 February 2006 in The Tablet, the Catholic weekly. www.thetablet.co.uk, and is reproduced here with permission.
Aidan O’Neill is a QC based in Scotland.
The article will I believe be of interest to Anglicans.
4 CommentsFrom the Church of Nigeria official website:
Anglican Leaders seek end to religious crisis
Ibadan, Feb. 24, 2006- The carnage of violence that has besieged the nation this past week has led many religious leaders to ask the reason behind the avoidable mayhem.
In separate interviews, Anglican Bishops, whose areas of jurisdiction witnessed religious riots, called for an immediate cessation to further killings.
They also want government to address the issue of religious intolerance. …
Bishop of Gombe, the Rt. Rev Henry Ndukuba, Bishop on the Niger in Anambra state the Rt. Rev Ken Okeke, In Niger Delta, Bishop Edafe Emamezi of the Missionary Diocese of Western Izon, are all quoted.
6 CommentsFrom the Sunday programme on BBC Radio 4
Religious riots in Nigeria
Religious riots in Nigeria have claimed more than 100 lives this week.
Nigeria’s 120 million people are roughly equally divided between northern Muslims, and Christians and animists in the south.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in communal violence since 1999. For the latest news Roger Bolton was joined by the BBC’s Alex Last in the Niger Delta.
bbc.co.uk/news – Nigeria country profile
Listen (3m 51s) (Real Audio)
Updated Saturday 4 March
The Washington Post carries this article by John Chane Bishop of Washington, A Gospel of Intolerance, which will appear in the Sunday edition of the newspaper. It is strongly critical of Archbishop Akinola:
…Archbishop Peter J. Akinola, primate of the Church of Nigeria and leader of the conservative wing of the communion, recently threw his prestige and resources behind a new law that criminalizes same-sex marriage in his country and denies gay citizens the freedoms to assemble and petition their government. The law also infringes upon press and religious freedom by authorizing Nigeria’s government to prosecute newspapers that publicize same-sex associations and religious organizations that permit same-sex unions…
… Surprisingly, few voices — Anglican or otherwise — have been raised in opposition to the archbishop. When I compare this silence with the cacophony that followed the Episcopal Church’s decision to consecrate the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, a gay man who lives openly with his partner, as the bishop of New Hampshire, I am compelled to ask whether the global Christian community has lost not only its backbone but its moral bearings. Have we become so cowed by the periodic eruptions about the decadent West that Archbishop Akinola and his allies issue that we are no longer willing to name an injustice when we see one?…
Update Saturday 4 March
Martyn Minns has responded to this article.
Christianity Today’s weblog has comprehensive reporting of the Nigerian disturbances, and that includes a link to this annotated map showing where each reported event has occurred.
Hat Tip to GetReligion for this.
