There is an announcement about the meeting on 3 December, which is being billed as “historic”.
A Reuters report by Michael Conlon Episcopal Church dissidents aim for new church seems to have upset absolutely everybody.
On the one hand Baby Blue considers that the lead contains an offensive phrase. On the other hand, Episcopal Café thinks the numbers quoted are quite wrong.
George Conger wrote for the Church of England Newspaper about the province, see Lambeth faces Chicago test.
Mark Harris comments at The Third Province, the Anglican Church in North America, and other plots and plans.
33 CommentsUpdated again Tuesday
Bishop Jack Iker has been inhibited by the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church.
You can read the official notice here (PDF).
It probably won’t get announced on the website of the diocese.
The Steering Committee of North Texas Episcopalians has issued a statement which you can read here.
Monday evening update
I was wrong in my prediction about the diocesan website. It now carries the following: Press Release in response to attempted inhibition which includes both a statement by the bishop and a statement by the standing committee.
Episcopal News Service has published a very detailed report by Mary Frances Schjonberg headed Presiding Bishop inhibits Fort Worth bishop. This includes links to the certificate issued by the Title IV Review Committee, and to the documentation, here, and here, and also here, which was submitted to the committee.
Religious Intelligence has published a report by George Conger Fort Worth Bishop inhibited.
Tuesday update
The Living Church also has a report Bishop Iker Describes Inhibition by PB as ‘Irrelevant’.
25 CommentsAnother of the presentations has been published, this one by Michael Ovey. And this Bible Study.
Still no sign of the one by Christina Baxter.
Other presentations are linked here.
A Church of England Newspaper report of the meeting by Toby Cohen is at present only available here.
And another Church of England Newspaper article about it is A foot in many camps – a reply to Stephen Kuhrt by Chris Sugden.
4 CommentsChristopher Howse writes today in the Telegraph about Anglicans who’ve lost their memory.
Like an unwatched pan of milk, readers of the Church Times have seethed up and boiled over in response to an analysis of the Church of England by the ever-controversial historian Jonathan Clark…
Here are the links to the Church Times pages where this debate has proceeded:
First, Jonathan Clark wrote an article The C of E needs a strong story.
The next week, there were several letters in response, under the headline The new historiography: is an Anglican via media still defensible? from Jeremy Morris, Simon Heans and Andrew Burnham.
The following week, there was a further letter from Christopher Scargill and a response from Jonathan Clark, at The Church of England’s historical identity.
5 CommentsPewForum has an interesting report on How the News Media Covered Religion in the [US] General Election.
Stewart Dakers writes in the Guardian about how Faith and science need a collective reformation to celebrate the power of love.
Jonathan Sacks writes in The Times about Fashioning the world anew with winged thoughts.
Ekklesia has republished an article by Christopher Rowland on A kingdom, but not as we know it.
Giles Fraser talked on the BBC’s Thought for the Day last Wednesday.
Elaine Sciolino wrote in the New York Times about how Britain Grapples With Role for Islamic Justice.
2 CommentsThree items in today’s Church Times relating to the NEAC event last Saturday.
NEAC5 closes in acrimony after claims of ‘set-up’ by Pat Ashworth
Evangelicals cannot serve two masters by Giles Fraser
Leader column, Church parties within parties.
96 CommentsPeter Owen made reference yesterday to the Q and A concerning the cost of the Lambeth Conference. The full text of the relevant Questions and Answers is below the fold.
6 CommentsBill Fleener Jr has drawn attention on his blog Est Anima Legis to some earlier cases which are of interest now in connection with two dioceses which have recently voted to leave The Episcopal Church.
Fort Worth moves from Devious to Hypocrisy
Quincy Hypocrisy just like Fort Worth
26 CommentsAnswers to written Questions have been posted on the Church of England website.
See press release Synod members put questions to church bodies.
The original PDF file is here.
TA has provided an html copy of the file here.
Here are some particularly interesting questions and answers. In addition the answers to questions 19 and 24-26 have interesting information on the contributions of the Archbishops’ Council and the Church Commissioners to the cost of the Lambeth Conference.
Mr Justin Brett (Oxford) to ask the Secretary General:
Q2. What research has been undertaken to establish the effect of the Church of England’s participation in an Anglican Communion Covenant upon the relationship between the Church of England and the Crown, given the Queen’s position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and the consequent tension between her prerogative and the potential demands of a disciplinary process within the proposed Covenant?
Mr William Fittall to reply as Secretary General:
A. The Church of England response of 19 December 2007 to the initial draft Covenant noted on page 13 that ‘it would be unlawful for the General Synod to delegate its decision making powers to the primates, and that this therefore means that it could not sign up to a Covenant which purported to give the primates of the Communion the ability to give ‘direction’ about the course of action that the Church of England should take.’ The same would be true in relation to delegation to any other body of the Anglican Communion. Since as a matter of law the Church of England could not submit itself to any such external power of direction, any separate possible difficulties in relation to the Royal Prerogative could not in practice arise.
Mr Andrew Presland (Peterborough) to ask the Chairman of the Clergy Discipline Commission:
Q12. What are the current best estimates of the total costs incurred in carrying out each of the tribunal hearings that have taken place so far under the Clergy Discipline Measure?
His Honour Judge John Bullimore to reply as Deputy Chairman of the Clergy Discipline Commission:
A. Seven cases so far have had full tribunal hearings. The current best estimate of the total costs for those cases from referral to the tribunal to final determination is approximately £194,000. Within that total, costs vary from case to case depending on a number of different factors. The lowest cost total for a tribunal case is estimated to be £8,300, and the highest cost total was £66,087. There has been one appeal; the total additional cost for that appeal is estimated to be £11,400.
The Revd Hugh Lee (Oxford) to ask the Chairman of the House of Bishops:
Q27. Will the House of Bishops assure the General Synod that neither it nor the Women Bishops Legislative Drafting Group is seeking to go back on any part of the motion passed in the General Synod in July 2008 and that they are not questioning the manner of the debate, the use of electronic voting, the results of the votes on each of the amendments and the final motion, or the competence of General Synod to decide upon having women as bishops?
The Bishop of Manchester to reply as Chairman of the Women Bishops Legislative Drafting Group:
A. The Group has met a number of times since the Synod debate in July. The motion required consultation with the House: it considered material from the Group in October and will do so again in December. The Group will complete its work later that month. The draft Measure, amending canon and code of practice will therefore be available for Synod to debate in February and to commit to a Revision Committee. Both the Group and the House will continue to work consistently with the mandate given by Synod.
14 CommentsUpdated again Tuesday evening
Three reports that relate to the announcement made yesterday:
Living Church Primates Hold Key to New Province’s Recognition
Anglican Journal Anglican Network in Canada pushes for creation of North American province
Stand Firm Archbishops Anis, Nzimbi, Akrofi: We Will Recognize the New North American Province
Tuesday evening updates
Three more reports on this:
Covenant A New “Province” in North America: Neither the Only Nor the Right Answer for the Communion by Ephraim Radner
Washington Times Breakaway Episcopalians to unveil constitution by Julia Duin
Episcopal Café A new province: who makes the call? by Jim Naughton
Late Tuesday evening update
Anglican Journal Plans to create a conservative province ‘disturbing,’ says primate
34 CommentsUpdated Monday afternoon
The Living Church reports in Convention Planned to Form New Anglican Province by Steve Waring that:
When the Diocese of Fort Worth voted Nov. 15 to become the fourth American diocese to leave The Episcopal Church, the leadership of the Common Cause Partnership (CCP) scheduled a constitutional convention in the Chicago area Dec. 3 to form a new North American Anglican province. The event will be followed by “a province-by-province visitation and appeal for recognition of the separate ecclesiastical structure in North America.”
Significant details about the plan were revealed in a short AnglicanTV internet video clip containing remarks delivered by Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh and Bishop Bill Murdoch, a missionary bishop to the U.S. consecrated by the Anglican Church of Kenya…
The video clip can be found here.
Monday afternoon update
And now, here comes the press release, Anglican Leaders seek to unite North American Churches.
Draft Constitution to be Unveiled, Jerusalem Declaration Signed at Dec. 3 Chicago Gathering
WHEATON, IL, Nov. 14 — Leaders of the Common Cause Partnership, a federation of more than 100,000 Anglican Christians in North America, will release to the public on the evening of Dec. 3 the draft constitution of an emerging Anglican C–hurch in North America, formally subscribe to the Jerusalem Declaration of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) and affirm the GAFCON Statement on the Global Anglican Future at an evening worship celebration in suburban Chicago.
This historic event comes in the wake of GAFCON held in Israel last June with leaders from more than one-half of the world’s 77 million Anglicans. At the close of that gathering, Anglican leaders released the Jerusalem Declaration and the GAFCON Statement on the Global Anglican Future, which outlined their Christian beliefs and goals to reform, heal and revitalize the Anglican Communion worldwide…
Mark Harris writes about NIGPNA here with some coloured maps.
45 CommentsUpdated twice Monday afternoon
Bishop Jack Iker issued this statement to be read in parishes yesterday.
Katie Sherrod has detailed comments on it here.
The Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone issued this statement of greeting to Fort Worth.
The official report of the convention voting results is here.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has another news report, After Fort Worth Diocese breakaway, area Episcopalians were back in church Sunday by Terry Lee Goodrich.
Monday afternoon updates
George Conger reports for Religious Intelligence Fort Worth votes to secede from Episcopal Church.
Mark Harris has some analysis of the press conference, at Bishop Iker asks some questions, doesn’t answer others.
11 CommentsUpdated Monday afternoon
The resolution considered at NEAC is given in this report. See also this thread on Fulcrum for more about the procedural aspects.
Presentations:
The presentation by Christina Baxter is awaited.
Meanwhile, Graham Kings has written an analysis, which appears on Comment is free as What would Wilberforce do? and also on Fulcrum where it is titled The Restoration of Evangelicalism: Differences without Division.
9 CommentsJonathan Wynne-Jones reported for the Telegraph that Anglican Church lacks leadership, say bishops.
In a speech to conservative evangelicals, who debated proposals for a new “church within a church”, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali said that there has been a lack of discipline.
Traditionalists have been upset that the Episcopal Church escaped punishment despite consecrating Gene Robinson as Anglicanism’s first openly gay bishop.
The Bishop of Rochester told clergy that the new movement was equivalent to the Reformation in the sixteenth century, which led to the establishment of the Church of England…
And Agence France-Presse has a report Church of England Evangelicals dodge homosexuality vote.
Church of England Evangelicals meeting on Saturday refused to vote to establish their position on homosexuality — an issue that has caused deep splits within the worldwide Anglican communion.
The Church of England Evangelical Council met in central London but the 300 attendees declined an opportunity to vote.
“The opinions expressed were a wide range of opinions,” said The Reverend Doctor Richard Turnbull, chairman of the Church of England Evangelical Council.
“People decided that they didn’t actually want to vote on a resolution. The disadvantage of that is you then don’t exactly know what people think.”
The council meets again on December 4…
There is further information about the meeting at Fulcrum see here, and also here.
And now there is also a report there, by Wim Houtman, NEAC 2008: a Evangelical Dutch Report.
25 CommentsUpdated Sunday evening
The New York Times has Diocese in Texas Leaves Episcopal Church by Gretel C Kovach.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has Fort Worth Episcopal Diocese votes to dissociate from national church by Terry Lee Goodrich.
Associated Press has Fort Worth is 4th Episcopal diocese to break away by Rachel Zoll.
And the Dallas Morning News has a later version of its report, Fort Worth Diocese splits from Episcopal Church.
For earlier news reports see previous article.
A statement by The Steering Committee North Texas Episcopalians can be found here.
A statement by Fort Worth Via Media can be found here.
Sunday evening update
There is a transcript of the press conference here.
5 CommentsUpdated again later Saturday evening
Quite a bit of press coverage in advance of today’s voting by the Diocese of Fort Worth.
Agenda information here.
Houston Chronicle Fort Worth Episcopals set to leave national church
Dallas News Fort Worth Diocese to officially split from Episcopal Church today over social issues
Wichita Falls Times Record News Episcopalian realignment vote will affect local church properties
Religious Intelligence Fort Worth on verge of secession
Saturday evening update
Associated Press Fort Worth Is 4th Episcopal Diocese to Break Away
Dallas Morning News Fort Worth Diocese officially breaks away from Episcopal Church
The bishop’s address is published in full here.
Statement of delegates who will remain in TEC
The detailed results of the voting on the various resolutions are available from Katie Sherrod, see here.
Later Updates
Statement by the Presiding Bishop
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Fort Worth Episcopal Diocese votes to leave mother church
Living Church Fort Worth Convention Joins the Southern Cone
Episcopal News Service Fort Worth delegates vote to leave Episcopal Church, realign with Southern Cone
This report by Pat McCaughan is comprehensive.
And there is an earlier version with other detail, here.
Locations of those who are not leaving The Episcopal Church are listed here and here.
17 CommentsGeoffrey Rowell writes in The Times, The moral integrity that makes for a powerful speech.
George Pitcher writes in the Telegraph, The Prince of Wales must keep the faith.
Nick Jowett writes in the Guardian about Baron Friedrich von Hügel.
Earlier this week, Giles Fraser wrote in the Guardian about Proposition 8 in California, Sanctified discrimination.
Yesterday, in the Church Times he wrote Forces buck the me-first trend.
At Comment is free Belief the Question is Should we fight war to end wars? Those responding include Jonathan Bartley, see Redemptive violence is a myth, and Alan Wilson, see Crusading gives me the creeps. So does Valhalla.
And thanks to both Alan Wilson and David Keen, for linking to How To Actually Talk To Atheists (If You’re Christian) by Joe the Peacock.
5 CommentsTomorrow, there is a meeting, the National Evangelical Anglican Consultation 2008, organised by the Church of England Evangelical Council. There are a number of articles about this already published.
The programme is here.
This week’s Church of England Newspaper has Preventing CEEC from becoming a ‘Rump Parliament’ by Stephen Kuhrt.
John Richardson has responded here to that article.
This week’s Church Times has Is NEAC5 really representative? by Graham Kings, currently subscription-only, but another copy is available here at Fulcrum.
Also, Andrew Goddard wrote Hopes for NEAC 2008: A Personal Reflection.
10 CommentsBelow the fold, there is the full text of a memorandum written to the Canadian House of Bishops in October 2008 by the Primate of Canada, Archbishop Fred Hiltz.
Part of this text was quoted in the statement issued by the Canadian House of Bishops on 31 October.
40 CommentsFrom the latest InclusiveChurch newsletter (available as PDF here) and online here.
23 CommentsWrite NOW in Support of Women Bishops
(There is still work to be done!)
We have heard that Archbishop Rowan is receiving huge amounts of mail from those opposed to women as bishops and to having a Code of Practice. The opponents of inclusion are still fighting and believe that they can still change or influence Synod’s decision.
Please write to the Legislative Drafting Group (who are creating the legislation to include women as Bishops in the Church of England). We should also write to Rowan as Chair of the House of Bishops making similar and related points.
We need to act quickly because the Legislative Drafting Group meets next on 14th November and the House of Bishops meets next on 12th December.
It is vital to mobilise ALL those in the Church who want to have women as bishops, and who think a Code is an acceptable way forward.
Once again, reactionary conservatives / fundamentalists have pulled out all the stops to try to shake Rowan’s confidence that going ahead is the right thing at this time and that a Code will suffice.
We need to be able to show that we speak for the vast majority of Anglicans in this country.
Some points that could be made in a letter include:
• We know that the Church is ready for and wishes to have women as bishops
• General Synod is competent to decide on having women as bishops
• General Synod in July showed some of what Synod did not want. This must not be put into the Code.
• A Code of Practice CAN work (Forward in Faith is saying it cannot work).
• There must be no separately consecrated bishops. In other words, no more ‘flying’ bishops, and those men who are currently flying bishops should be invited to become ‘proper’ assistant bishops, ministering to all in their area, not just to those who oppose women’s ordained ministries.
• Most of all, we must act in faith based on what we believe about what baptism in Christ means for all people, our mission imperative (over the past 2000 years women have been excluded from different types of ministry because of how it would affect the mission of the Church in the context of the surrounding culture. We need to be asking, what will help our mission now?), and trusting in where God has led us so far.
If you write nothing else, please reassure Rowan that there are many thousands of people in the Church who long to have women as bishops and who see this as God’s guidance and direction for the Church. He needs to be supported in his position as Archbishop of Canterbury and encouraged that the vast majority of the Church are behind him and the bishops in moving forward with consecrating women.
Letters to the Legislative Drafting Group should be sent to: The Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, Bishopscourt, Bury New Road, Manchester, M7 4LE
Letters to the House of Bishops should be sent to: Jonathan Neil-Smith, Secretary to the House of Bishops, Church House, Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3NZ
With thanks to Christina Rees (Chair of WATCH)