The Bishop of Durham has addressed his last diocesan synod. He had a lot to say about women bishops and about Anglican Communion matters. Read the full text at Diocese of Durham: Diocesan Synod, May 21 2010. Two extracts follow:
On women bishops:
…It therefore doesn’t surprise me that the discussion over women bishops has run into such difficulty. As you know, I have argued strongly and scripturally for the propriety of ordaining women to each order of ministry; my colours have been nailed to that mast for a long time. And I have argued, again and again, in line with successive Lambeth resolutions, that this is something the whole church has said it can live with but need not impose on everyone – though I am very well aware of the particular problem this poses. In other words, this has not been an innovation, carried out by rogue provinces who declare on their own local authority that this is adiaphora and can therefore be decided by them alone. It has been debated and decided by the whole church meeting in solemn conclave. That doesn’t, of course, make it any easier when the decision is passed down from Lambeth to Canterbury and York, which is where we now are. But it does tell us that the church as a whole has said that this matter is adiaphora: that it ought not to be something over which the church needs to divide.
I know, very well, that for some the issue is that Lambeth cannot decide such a thing while Rome, and perhaps also Constantinople, remains uninvolved. The obvious reply is that while Rome still officially treats Anglican orders as ‘absolutely null and utterly void’ it is hard to give them a veto on what we do with those orders, and that if we went that route we should have to return to the celibate priesthood and embrace the Papal dogmas. These are just as mandatory in Rome as male-only ordination, and I don’t know of a sustained argument as to why Anglicans who insist that only when Rome changes will we be allowed to do the same should be allowed to disagree with Rome on these other points. If there is an implicit hierarchy of truths there, I have yet to hear it articulated. However, like many bishops who are in principle committed to the ordination of women to the episcopate I do not think I have yet seen the scheme which would enable us to proceed as one body, without further and deepening division, without straining one another’s consciences. All ministry, according to St Paul, is given to serve the unity of the church, not to divide it. That is especially true of the ministry of Bishops. I hope and pray we will be able to square that circle, and I would rather get the right answer in two or three years’ time than the wrong one tomorrow. I really do believe that ordaining women is the right thing to do; but St Paul’s insistence on how adiaphora works prohibits me from forcing it on those who in conscience are not ready for it. And the answer here, I believe, is a proper theological argument, which we have not yet had. The Rochester report has never been properly discussed.
My hope and plea, then, is that this summer in General Synod, and in the months that follow whatever happens there, we will observe restraint and patience with one another, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. As followers of Jesus, invoking his Spirit at Pentecost, we should expect to have demands made on our charity, our forgiveness and our patience; not on our conscience. That is the key to how adiaphora works in the church.
And on TEC and the Anglican Covenant:
…And that, too, is why recent events in America are placing an ever greater strain on the Anglican Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury is, I believe, in the process of writing a pastoral letter to all the churches, and I don’t want to pre-empt what he will say. But the point is this. Unlike the situation with children and Communion; unlike the situation with the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate; in the case of sexual relations outside the marriage of a man and a woman, the church as a whole, in all its global meetings not least the Lambeth Conference, has solidly and consistently reaffirmed the clear and unambiguous teaching of the New Testament. But the substantive issue isn’t the point here. The point is that the Church as a whole has never declared these matters to be adiaphora. This isn’t something a Bishop, a parish, a diocese, or a province can declare on its own authority. You can’t simply say that you have decided that this is something we can all agree to differ on. Nobody can just ‘declare’ that. The step from mandatory to optional can never itself be a local option, and the Church as a whole has declared that the case for that step has not been made. By all means let us have the debate. But, as before, it must be a proper theological debate, not a postmodern exchange of prejudices.
Actually, if you want to know about the present state of the church in America you ought to watch the video of last Saturday’s service in Los Angeles, which is readily available on the web. The problems, shall we say, are not about one issue only. But my point for today is this. In November the newly elected General Synod will be asked to approve the Anglican Covenant, which has been through a long and thorough process of drafting, debate, redrafting, polishing and refining. Synod will be asked to send the Covenant to the Dioceses for approval, and all being well it should be with you, the Synod of this Diocese, by the end of the year, and you will be asked to think wisely and clearly about it. No doubt it isn’t perfect. But it is designed, not (as some have suggested) to close down debate or squash people into a corner, but precisely to create the appropriate space for appropriate debate in which issues of all sorts can be handled without pre-emptive strikes on the one hand or closed-minded defensiveness on the other. The Covenant is designed to recognise and work with the principle of adiaphora; and that requires that it should create a framework within which the church can be the church even as it wrestles with difficult issues, and through which the church can be united even as it is battered by forces that threaten to tear it apart. Some of the voices raised against the Covenant today are, in my judgment, voices raised against the biblical vision of how unity is accomplished and sustained, the vision which enables us to discern what is adiaphora and what is not. I hope and pray that this diocese at least will appreciate where the real issues lie, and think and live wisely and cheerfully in relation to them.
Also Martin Beckford reports in the Telegraph that
The Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Tom Wright, called repeated demands for Criminal Records Bureau checks a “waste of time” and claimed they are solely designed to create a “paper trail” rather than safeguarding the vulnerable.
He also condemned the weight of legislation created by the recent Labour government, saying that new rules and regulations do not make for a better society…
Read the full report at Bishop of Durham criticises ‘time-wasting paper trail’ of Criminal Record Bureau checks.
16 CommentsThe Bishops of the Church of Southern Africa have responded to the recent events in Malawi.
We, the Bishops of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa call upon the Government of South Africa to seek the release of Stephen Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, who were recently sentenced in Malawi to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour, after they shared in a traditional ceremony of engagement.
As we have previously stated, though there is a breadth of theological views among us on matters of human sexuality, we are united in opposing the criminalisation of homosexual people. We see the sentence that has been handed down to these two individuals as a gross violation of human rights and we therefore strongly condemn such sentences and behaviour towards other human beings. We emphasize the teachings of the Scriptures that all human beings are created in the image of God and therefore must be treated with respect and accorded human dignity…
Read the full text of their statement.
See also their earlier statement about Uganda.
8 CommentsBishop Tom Butler spoke on Radio 4’s Thought for the Day on Tuesday, about how people change their minds on issues such as divorce and remarriage, or homosexuality.
The press has been remarking on Theresa May’s response to a question from a member of the Question Time audience, about the new home secretary’s apparently less than gay-friendly voting record . Her reply: “I’ve changed my mind”.
I don’t think that she’s alone in that. It’s remarkable to observe how, in spite of traditional religious teaching, public opinion in Britain over a period of a decade or so, in a remarkable shift of thinking has mostly changed its mind on the worth and place of gay people in society. The reason is simple: it’s difficult to hold dogmatic views about what is good and desirable behaviour, when some of the often obviously good, loving and responsible people you actually encounter are behaving in an alternative way…
Read the full text here.
17 CommentsToday’s Observer newspaper carries this editorial article:
Homophobia
The church must not be complicit in gay persecution in Africa
with a strapline on the web version:
Anglican influence must be brought to bear to end this vile practice.
The article begins:
Homosexuality is not a sin or a crime. There is no caveat or quibble that should be added. The repression of gay men and women by legal means and public intimidation is an offence against the basic principles of a free and just society. Where it exists, which it does to varying degrees in many countries around the world, it must be confronted and defeated…
And the article ends:
The Anglican hierarchy in Britain has avoided speaking out too frankly on this matter to avoid a schism, but the church’s quiet diplomacy has done nothing to help the victims of homophobic repression. Increasingly, it looks like complicity.
For the background to this, see Love in the dock from Saturday’s Guardian.
18 CommentsUpdated again Thursday morning
The Anglican Mission in the Americas, which is linked to the Anglican Communion by its affiliation with the Province de l’Eglise Anglicane au Rwanda, has announced an intention to change the form of its relationship with the Anglican Church in North America.
Read the details in Special Report: Anglican Mission’s Structural Relationship within the ACNA.
…As a founding member of the ACNA, the Anglican Mission has invested significant time and energy into its formation and has been strongly supportive of the Province and Archbishop Duncan’s leadership. In light of this support, the Anglican Mission initially chose the jurisdictional option for membership in the ACNA while maintaining its identity as a missionary outreach of Rwanda. This “dual citizenship” approach, however, has resulted in significant confusion within the Anglican Mission and the ACNA regarding membership in two provinces, and more importantly, is inconsistent with the Constitution and Canons of the Province of the Anglican Church in Rwanda. Practically speaking, this jurisdictional/membership status became untenable and non-sustainable.
Given these circumstances, both the Anglican Mission’s Council of Bishops and the Rwanda House of Bishops has unanimously agreed that the Anglican Mission will apply for Ministry Partner status at next month’s ACNA Council meeting. This revised status, if approved in Boston, will allow the Anglican Mission to maintain a level of connection to the North American Province, even though the missionary movement will remain under the spiritual and canonical authority of Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini and the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda. It also allows for the Anglican Mission to continue to function as a missionary movement committed to church planting as we have for the last decade. Finally, this decision will serve to overcome the inherent confusion that has arisen, and we view a transition to Ministry Partner status as a positive development for all concerned…
Updates
There are reports elsewhere of an email from ACNA about this. See here. Or over here.
And an interesting conservative analysis in the comments of this report.
A fuller version of the ACNA email can be found here. This notes:
38 CommentsOther Ministry Partners within the Anglican Church in North America include:
- American Anglican Council
- Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans – North America
- Forward in Faith-North America
- Federation of Anglican Churches in America [FACA]
Doug LeBlanc wrote in the Living Church Lambeth Silent after Glasspool Consecration.
Tobias Haller wrote about The Pluperfect Mindset.
Savi Hensman wrote at Cif belief Mary Glasspool is ordained.
Jim Naughton asked at Episcopal Café What if we are asked to dis-invite ourselves again?
31 CommentsUpdated again Saturday
Michael Perham, the bishop of Gloucester, gave an address about the Anglican Communion to his clergy on 6 May 2010. Here is an extract.
I think there are some things here we need to explore sensitively together. In doing so I want to acknowledge the honesty and courage of my friend, James Jones, the Bishop of Liverpool, who has publicly told his own story of moving his position on the issue of homosexuality over recent years and urged the Church not to allow this issue to divide us in a way that breaks communion. And I also need to acknowledge that I have long been in a different place and so have not had to travel as difficult a path as he has to be in the place where I now am. My own understanding has long been that the Church of England’s current stance is not tenable long term, but that, while we engage, struggle, with these issues, it must be task of the bishop to uphold our agreed policy, with all its weaknesses, and to try to hold the Church together while we tackle the things that divide us. I don’t believe I can move away from that position, though I need to share with you some of my discomfort.
It is difficult to know where to begin, but I think the best place is with the categorising of first and second order issues. I am quite clear that the issues on which the creeds make a firm statement – God as trinity, the divinity of Christ, the death and the resurrection of the Lord, the role of the Spirit and more – are first order issues on which there can be no change in what the Church teaches. They are fundamental to the Christian faith. I am equally clear that there are second order issues, which are important, and where interpretation of the tradition needs to be careful and prayerful, but where nevertheless individual churches and provinces need to be free to define doctrine in the way that seems to them to be in accordance with the mind of Christ.
The full address is a 40kB Word document and can be downloaded here: Bishop Michael’s address on the Anglican Communion. Read the whole address for Bishop Michael’s views on first and second order issues, the Episcopal Church, his own diocesan triangular partnership with Western Tanganyika and El Camino Real, the Anglican covenant, and the status in England of clergy ordained abroad by a woman bishop.
Updates
An html copy of this address can now be found here on this website, and over at this website.
For Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves’ comments on this, see below the fold.
29 CommentsThe Anglican Communion Institute has published has published a paper Asking The Wrong Question: New Zealand and The Covenant. The paper is also available on the Fulcrum website.
The paper refers to Monday’s debate on the Anglican Covenant at the General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia that we linked to earlier.
5 CommentsThe Church of Ireland held its annual General Synod in Christ Church Cathedral Dublin from Thursday 6 to Saturday 8 May, 2010. There is an official Synod 2010 website with links to reports, news items and photographs.
One debate included some discussion of the proposed Anglican Covenant:
Inter-Anglican and Ecumenical Relations Highlighted in Standing Committee Debate.
Here is the Anglican Communion section of the Standing Committee report.
5 Comments3. ANGLICAN COMMUNION
In June 2009, the Standing Committee appointed the Anglican Covenant Working Group to examine Section 4 of the Ridley Cambridge Draft of the Anglican Covenant and to recommend a response.
In September 2009, the Standing Committee adopted the report of the Anglican Covenant Working Group (Appendix B on page 233) as the official response to Section 4 of the Ridley Cambridge draft of the Anglican Covenant from the Standing Committee of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland. This response was then forwarded to the Anglican Communion Office.
The final text of the Anglican Covenant (Appendix C on page 234) was submitted to the Standing Committee in January 2010. The Committee agreed to refer the final text of the Anglican Covenant to the Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue to enable the Commission to make a recommendation concerning appropriate action in relation to the Covenant at the General Synod 2011.
APPENDIX B
THE CHURCH OF IRELAND RESPONSE TO THE RIDLEY CAMBRIDGE DRAFT OF THE ANGLICAN COVENANTHaving considered Section 4 of the Draft Anglican Covenant very carefully, and bearing in mind a full range of points of view, we believe that the text of Section 4 as it stands commends itself in the current circumstances. The term ‘Joint Standing Committee’ clearly needs to be updated following its re-styling at ACC-14. We appreciate the work of the former Covenant Design Group, not least in taking into account the Church of Ireland’s views, and encourage the Archbishop of Canterbury and his new group under the chairmanship of the Archbishop of Dublin as they seek to conclude the work on the text of the Covenant.
The meeting of the General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia has come to an end. We have already linked to reports of Monday’s debate on the Anglican Covenant, and some other business. Here for the record are reports of the remaining business.
Thursday
Major reform for St John’s College
Synod votes to take action on Te Aute
Talking and tackling poverty
Educational milestone for Pasefika
Wednesday
Social justice comes under scrutiny
“Give us your best” – the mission challenge
Winston Halapua becomes our third Archbishop
Commission to look into resource sharing
Tuesday
Environment in the spotlight
An end to “hair curling” questions?
Synod to lobby Govt on family care
Journey over for Waikato and Taranaki
Synod seeks cuts in liquor advertising
Monday
Concern over growth of Sunday options
The General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia debated the proposed Anglican Covenant today (Monday). Anglican Taonga has a number of reports of the debate.
‘Fear not’ says Bishop Victoria
Covenant section seen as ‘punitive and unAnglican’
Covenant wins partial approval
The text of the Covenant is online here.
There are also these reports of weekend events at Synod.
Mission means mobilizing for justice, say Archbishops
Octopus or hammerhead? The Synod sermon
Archbishop Jabez gets pride of place at powhiri
The LGBT Anglican Coalition has issued this press release welcoming the forthcoming consecration of Diane Bruce and Mary Glasspool as bishops in Los Angeles.
LGBT Anglican Coalition Rejoices at Los Angeles Consecrations
The LGBT Anglican Coalition rejoices that Diane Bruce and Mary Glasspool will be consecrated as bishops in Los Angeles on the 15th May.
The Revd Diane Bruce and the Revd Mary Glasspool were each elected by large majorities of the laity, clergy and bishops of the Diocese of Los Angeles. Subsequently, their elections were confirmed by clear majorities, both of the bishops with jurisdiction in The Episcopal Church of the United States and of the standing committees of that church’s dioceses.
We rejoice that two more women will become bishops in the Anglican Communion. We send them our congratulations and welcome them as bishops with the many gifts that each will bring to the church.
We are deeply sorry that the reaction from some within the Church of England to the election of Mary Glasspool has been negative.
A great many people within the Church of England are unequivocally supportive of The Episcopal Church in being open to the election of bishops without regard to gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation. We pray that the Communion at large will grow in confidence and maturity, so that it can learn to celebrate both those things which hold us together and those things over which we disagree.
We agree with the Chicago Consultation that:
“As a bishop, she is no threat to the work of God, or to Jesus’ commandment that we love our neighbour as ourselves.”
Honouring the relationships and ministries of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians, is, in the end, the only way in which the Anglican Communion can be faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We hope that the whole Anglican Communion will come to acknowledge and celebrate the diversity we have among us.
We endorse the recent words of Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori addressed to the primates of the Anglican Communion concerning Mary Glasspool’s election and confirmation:
“It represents a prayerful and thoughtful decision, made in good faith that this Church is ‘working out its salvation in fear and trembling, believing that God is at work in us’ (Philippians 2:12-13).”
The LGBT Anglican Coalition is “here to provide UK-based Christian LGBT organisations with opportunities to create resources for the Anglican community and to develop a shared voice for the full acceptance of LGBT people in the Anglican Communion”.
The Coalition members are:
Accepting Evangelicals
Changing Attitude
The Clergy Consultation
Courage
The Evangelical Fellowship for Lesbian and Gay Christians
Inclusive Church
The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement
The Sibyls
The Christian Post has published a very lengthy article titled New Power Brokers Discuss Future of Anglicanism.
Paul Bagshaw has written about it, in a blog article No clear view of the Covenant from the South. He begins:
Singapore based The Christian Post has kindly set out the views of the Primates at the recent Global South Encounter concerning the Covenant in an article by Edmond Chua entitled New Power Brokers Discuss Future of Anglicanism.
I make the vote:
Yes 1
No 0
Depends on the Covenant / still negotiate 3
No clear statement 5 and (based on the tone of comments) probably no 2, probably yes 3It was clear that the Global South leaders do not agree on the matter, despite a statement prior to the meeting that 20 Provinces would be expected to endorse the Covenant…
Related to these views, Anglican Mainstream has published the views of Chris Sugden from the May issue of Evanglicals Now. This is in an article headed The Covenant, Canterbury and Persecution. The latter is a reference to Nigeria. His comments include this:
14 Comments…The UK website group Fulcrum have now recognized that TEC was dishonest from the beginning. But they are still blinded by the belief that Canterbury remains the key to the unity of the Communion and the integrity of orthodox faith in the Communion.
The real issue is not the Covenant, but the Archbishop of Canterbury. His track record in protecting and including TEC is obvious – namely reneging on the agreements at Dromantine (so that TEC was present at the ACC in Nottingham), inviting the consecrators of Gene Robinson to Lambeth ( in advance of the conclusion of the Dar-es-Salaam timetable), and undermining the debate at the ACC in Jamaica which would have mandated a covenant with sanctions…
The General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia will meet from 8 to 13 May.
Anglican Taonga, the “communications arm of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia” has two news items about the meeting.
Synod primed for covenant debate
New archbishop likely to be named at General Synod
But that appears to be all that is officially available online. In particular, none of the papers are available. This does not please everybody and Bosco Peters says put General Synod online.
3 CommentsBill Bowder Church Times Trumpet blast from the Global South
Andrew Gerns Episcopal Café Thus spake the Global South
Lionel Deimel Listening to the Trumpet
Mark Harris Some good stuff from the Global South Encounter. Where there is good, praise it.
23 CommentsUpdated twice Friday afternoon
The following statement has been issued at the end of the meeting: Fourth Trumpet from the Fourth Anglican Global South to South Encounter, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Singapore, 19th – 23rd April 2010.
An extract from it appears below the fold.
Press reports:
Living Church Christopher Wells Dispatch from Singapore: What is at Stake
Christian Post Anglican Global South Attracts Major Potential Ecumenical Partners
There are numerous audio recordings on this page.
There are video recordings on this page.
The remarks of Bishop Mouneer Anis on Global South Structures are transcribed below the video link here.
Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini’s speech is on video here.
Colin Coward has posted What has emerged from the Fourth Global South to South Encounter in Singapore?
ACNS has Global South’s final statement calls for greater holiness, purpose and discipline.
ENS has SINGAPORE: Global South Anglicans call for action against Episcopal Church, Anglican Church of Canada and ‘There are no quick solutions,’ Canterbury says in video message to Global South meeting.
22 CommentsJonathan Wynne-Jones has posted on his Telegraph blog: Is Archbishop Akinola in a civil partnership?
25 CommentsThe full text of Archbishop of Canterbury’s video address to the Fourth Global South to South Encounter, 20 April 2010 is available on the Lambeth Palace website.
The link contains the full text if you scroll down far enough. Before that there is also a link to the video itself. But first there is a press release about the address.
The full text is also available on the Global South Anglican website.
35 CommentsUpdated
There is a major feature article on the Church of England in The New Yorker dated 26 April, which is now online but is only available to paid subscribers and available to all via this link: A Canterbury Tale.
However, others have now written about it, so it is worth mentioning here.
Here’s the abstract from the New Yorker itself: Jane Kramer, A Reporter at Large, “A Canterbury Tale,” The New Yorker, April 26, 2010, p. 40. It starts out:
ABSTRACT: A REPORTER AT LARGE about the battle in the Church of England over female bishops. Today, women account for nearly a third of the Church of England’s working priests, and most of them are waiting for the investiture of the Church of England’s first female bishop—a process begun in 2008, when of the laity, clergy, and bishops in the Church’s governing body, the General Synod, voted in favor of removing the last vestiges of gender discrimination from canon law. Not everyone is pleased. Thousands of conservative Anglicans—priests and laymen—still refuse to take Communion from a female priest, and would certainly refuse to take it from any priest ordained by a female bishop. For the past two years, they have been threatening to leave the Church at the first sign of a woman in a bishop’s mitre. The next session of the General Synod, in July, is going to consider, and is expected to approve, the draft for a change in canon law that would open the episcopate to women. If a large number of militant conservatives do leave then, the Church of England and, with it, the churches of a worldwide Anglican Communion, will fracture…
The Living Church has New Yorker Article Features Abp. Williams.
USA Today has Anglican fight: Can a woman bishop speak for God in England?
And Episcopal Café has Ash in the air, and the CofE in The New Yorker.
19 CommentsACNS has the background: Fourth Anglican Global South to South Encounter begins in Singapore
Read news items from Global South Anglican:
Read the full texts of the Opening Addresses:
A Welcome Address from the Conference Host, Abp John Chew
Welcome Address from the Chairman, Abp Peter Akinola
GSE4 Thematic Address 1: “The Gospel of Jesus Christ” – Abp Nicholas Okoh
Sermon at GSE4 Opening Service – Abp Peter Akinola
Update Video of this sermon now available here.
An extract from the sermon is below the fold.
12 Comments