Chris Duggan writes about the meaning of words in the Guardian’s Face to Faith column.
Christopher Howse writes about The case of the missing Gospel in the Daily Telegraph.
Roderick Strange writes in The Times about True forgiveness.
Giles Fraser has a rant in the Church Times.
Commonweal has two articles, one by Timothy Luke Johnson, the other (scroll down) by Eve Tushnet on Homosexuality & the Church.
2 Commentspress release from the Group for Rescinding the Act of Synod:
GRAS Group for Rescinding the Act of Synod
Press Release – For Immediate Release
Senior Women Clergy Numbers Rise
Numbers of women clergy deployed in the dioceses in the Church of England have risen to an average of 25.8 of all clergy in the dioceses. Women now account for 17% of full time stipendiary clergy in the dioceses and for 8% of senior posts, including deans, archdeacons, other cathedral clergy and area deans.
These statistics have been gathered for the second time in five years in the Furlong Table, named in honour of the late Monica Furlong. Furlong, a witty and incisive writer and observer of the Church of England, and also a fearless and tireless campaigner for the ordination of women, suggested to a group of young female ordinands that statistics be gathered to monitor the deployment and promotion of women clergy in the Church of England.
The first Furlong Table was produced in 2000 for GRAS, the Group for Rescinding the Act of Synod, by Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Catherine Butt and Leah Vasey-Saunders, all then students at Cranmer Hall theological college in Durham. The updated figures for 2005 have been produced by the Reverend Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, now Chaplain and Solway Fellow of University College, Durham.
GRAS believes that
Contacts:
Revd Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes
University College, Durham, DH1 3RW
Tel: 0191-334-4116
Email: Miranda.Threlfall-holmes@durham.ac.uk
Revd Canon Peggy Jackson
The Rectory, 170 Sheen Lane, SW14 8LZ
Tel: 020-8876-4816
Email: pjackson@fish.co.uk
| Position | Diocese | Score | Change in Position |
Change in Score |
Score in 2000 |
| 1 | Oxford | 39.9 | +15 | 19.2 | 20.7 |
| 2 | St.Albans | 39.3 | +8 | 15.0 | 24.3 |
| 3 | Ely | 38.9 | +12 | 17.6 | 21.3 |
| 4 | Worcester | 36.9 | -1 | 5.0 | 31.9 |
| 5 | Leicester | 36.7 | -3 | 3.8 | 32.9 |
| 6 | Southwark | 34.3 | -5 | -0.5 | 34.8 |
| 7 | Ripon | 34.2 | -3 | 2.6 | 31.6 |
| 8 | Durham | 33.6 | +26 | 20.3 | 13.3 |
| 9 | Liverpool | 32.9 | +10 | 13.2 | 19.7 |
| 10 | Hereford | 32.7 | +2 | 10.5 | 22.2 |
| 11 | Peterborough | 31.9 | +15 | 14.4 | 17.5 |
| 12 | Salisbury | 30.8 | -3 | 5.7 | 25.1 |
| 13 | Wakefield | 30.6 | +4 | 10.0 | 20.6 |
| 14 | Truro | 29.7 | +26 | 23.2 | 6.5 |
| 15 | Sheffield | 29.0 | -9 | 0.3 | 28.7 |
| 16 | Southwell | 28.7 | -11 | -0.7 | 29.4 |
| 17 | Norwich | 28.0 | +6 | 9.5 | 18.5 |
| 18 | Derby | 27.9 | +17 | 14.9 | 13.0 |
| 19 | St.Edms & Ipswich | 27.5 | -6 | 5.5 | 22.0 |
| 20 | Chelmsford | 27.4 | 0 | 7.7 | 19.7 |
| Average | 25.8 | 7.2 | 18.6 | ||
| 21 | Lincoln | 25.7 | -13 | 0.0 | 25.7 |
| 22 | Manchester | 25.7 | +3 | 8.0 | 17.7 |
| 23 | Gloucester | 25.1 | -9 | 3.7 | 21.4 |
| 24 | Bath & Wells | 25.0 | +9 | 11.6 | 13.4 |
| 25 | Canterbury | 24.7 | +7 | 11.2 | 13.5 |
| 26 | York | 24.7 | +4 | 9.2 | 15.5 |
| 27 | London | 23.7 | +2 | 8.2 | 15.5 |
| 28 | Newcastle | 23.1 | -4 | 5.3 | 17.8 |
| 29 | Coventry | 23.0 | -2 | 7.1 | 15.9 |
| 30 | Guildford | 22.9 | -23 | -5.5 | 28.4 |
| 31 | Bradford | 22.6 | +6 | 11.8 | 10.8 |
| 32 | Lichfield | 21.9 | -11 | 2.9 | 19.0 |
| 33 | Chester | 21.7 | -5 | 5.9 | 15.8 |
| 34 | Birmingham | 20.3 | -12 | 1.7 | 18.6 |
| 35 | Rochester | 19.9 | -17 | -0.7 | 20.6 |
| 36 | Carlisle | 19.0 | +2 | 9.1 | 9.9 |
| 37 | Exeter | 17.8 | -1 | 5.5 | 12.3 |
| 38 | Bristol | 17.1 | -27 | -6.0 | 23.1 |
| 39 | Portsmouth | 14.4 | -8 | -0.2 | 14.6 |
| 40 | Winchester | 13.5 | -1 | 5.2 | 8.3 |
| 41 | Sodor and Man | 11.8 | +2 | 11.8 | 0.0 |
| 42 | Blackburn | 10.4 | -1 | 4.4 | 6.0 |
| 43 | Chichester | 5.5 | -1 | 2.9 | 2.6 |
Notes for Editors
The Furlong Table measures the numbers of women clergy deployed in each of the dioceses in the Church of England. The average points score has risen by over a third from 2000 to 2005, from 18.6 to 25.8. This is made up of an on average doubling of the points received from women in senior posts, together with a 50% increase in the number of other ordained women in full time stipendiary posts in the dioceses.
A perfect score in this table would be 100, representing 50% of all other full time stipendiary clergy in a diocese being female. The top score of 39.9 is still disappointingly low, but it is moving in the right direction. This means that in Oxford, which rose 15 points to become the best diocese in the Church of England for women’s deployment in 2005, women had been appointed to 17% of senior clergy posts, and 23% of other clergy were female.
Overall, in 2005, women represented 5% of cathedral deans, 6% of archdeacons, 14% of other cathedral clergy and 8% of area/rural deans.
The greatest percentage change was for Truro Diocese, which saw its score increase by 354%! Truro was joint with Durham Diocese for the biggest rise up the table, both gaining a massive 26 places. Truro rose from 40th place (out of 43) to 14th, whilst Durham rose from 34th to 8th place.
Other diocese which saw big gains were Derby, up 17 places from 35th to 18th, and Peterborough, up 15 places from 26th to 11th place. Three diocese have fallen badly in the table: Bristol fell 27 places, from 11th to 38th, Guildford fell 23 places from 7th to 30th, and Rochester fell 17 places from 18th to 35th place.
/ends
24 CommentsThe 38th General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada will be held in Winnipeg Manitoba from 19 June to 25 June, 2007.
The official web pages for the General Synod are here. They contain details of the primatial election, texts of the resolutions to be considered, and much other information.
The draft agenda is available as a small PDF file here. Yesterday’s news article is here: Anglicans prepare to gather in Winnipeg for crucial General Synod.
There will be detailed coverage of it in the Anglican Journal whose website is here.
Two previous Canadian reports on TA are here, and also here.
Today, the Toronto Globe & Mail carries a report by Michael Valpy Bless same-sex unions, retired archbishops urge which says:
4 Comments…The archbishops’ statement is signed by John Bothwell, Terence Finlay and Percy O’Driscoll, all former metropolitans, or chief bishops, of Ontario; David Crawley and David Somerville, former metropolitans of British Columbia; and Arthur Peters, former metropolitan of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.
It says: “We urge the members of general synod to vote in favour of affirming the blessing of faithful, committed, same-gender unions and to agree that dioceses may decide, by appropriate processes, how they will act in this matter.
“We have studied, reported [on] and discussed the place of gay men and lesbians in the church for 25 years…
“We are deeply concerned that ongoing study … will only continue to draw us away from issues which are gradually destroying God’s creation – child poverty, racism, global warming, economic injustice, concern for our aboriginal brothers and sisters, and the growing disparity between the rich and the poor…”
Updated Friday morning
Episcopal News Service reports that the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, USA (a body similar in some ways to the Archbishops’ Council in the Church of England) has declined to participate in the plan put forward by the Primates of the Anglican Communion in February for dealing with some disaffected Episcopal Church dioceses. This follows earlier action by the ECUSA House of Bishops.
Read the whole of the official press release: Executive Council declines to participate in Primates’ ‘pastoral scheme,’ says only Convention makes policy which begins:
The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council told the Anglican Communion June 14 that no governing body other than General Convention can interpret Convention resolutions or agree to deny “future decisions by dioceses or General Convention.”
The Council declined to participate in a plan put forward by the Primates of the Anglican Communion in February for dealing with some disaffected Episcopal Church dioceses.
The statement, titled “The Episcopal Church’s Commitment to Common Life in Anglican Communion,” “strongly affirm[ed] this Church’s desire to be in the fullest possible relationship with our Anglican sisters and brothers.”
The text of the statement and its accompanying resolutions passed with limited debate.
The statement agreed with the House of Bishops, which said in March that the so-called Pastoral Scheme “would be injurious to The Episcopal Church.” An accompanying resolution (EC012) also “respectfully requests the Presiding Bishop to decline as well.” The statement itself “respectfully ask[s] our Presiding Bishop not to take any of the actions asked of her by this scheme.”
Read the full statement text: The Episcopal Church’s Commitment to Common Life in the Anglican Communion.
The Living Church issued this report: Council Rejects Primates’ Pastoral Plan; Insists on Diocesan Accession Clause.
Update
A further ENS report is titled Executive Council puts disaffected dioceses on notice about constitutional changes:
Episcopal Church dioceses that change their constitutions in an attempt to bypass the Church’s Constitution and Canons were warned by the Executive Council June 14 that their actions are “null and void.”
The Council passed Resolution NAC023, reminding dioceses that they are required to “accede” to the Constitution and Canons, and declaring that any diocesan action that removes that accession from its constitution is “null and void.” That declaration, the resolution said, means that their constitutions “shall be as they were as if such amendments had not been passed…”
Rachel Zoll of Associated Press reports this development in Episcopal Panel Rejects Anglican Demand
Michael Conlon of Reuters has U.S. move on gay bishops may widen Anglican split
New York Times Laurie Goodstein Anglican Demand for Change Is Rebuffed by Episcopalians
Los Angeles Times K Connie Kang Anglicans’ demand on gays is rebuffed
Stephen Bates in the Guardian has Theological college’s head is undermining it, say predecessors. And Jonathan Petre in the Daily Telegraph has Oxford college row escalates. The Guardian begins:
The principal of Wycliffe Hall, the Oxford University Anglican evangelical theological college, was under renewed pressure last night after his three immediate predecessors claimed he was undermining its reputation and threatening its survival as an academic institution.
The unprecedented intervention, in the form of a joint letter leaked among members of the evangelical community, represented the latest twist in the crisis that has gripped the 130-year-old permanent private hall, which trains theological students and candidates for ordination in the Church of England, and its conservative evangelical principal, Richard Turnbull, following revelations about his conduct of the college…
The full text of the letter to Bishop James Jones described in the articles is as follows:
53 CommentsDear James,
The three most recent former Principals of Wycliffe, Geoffrey Shaw, Dick France and Alister McGrath, met today in view of the publicity given to the crisis in the Hall. Were it simply a matter of media speculation and sensationalism we would not have written to you. Our enquiries from a variety of sources have convinced us of the seriousness of the situation and filled us with deep foreboding.
The resignation of so many competent and dedicated teaching and admin staff all together in such a small community cannot be written off simply as a new broom sweeping away out of date and out of touch lumber. Nor as a supporter of Richard Turnbull has written “a few ruffled feathers reacting with sourness and extreme bad grace”! These are men and women who have given outstanding service to the Hall and its students and it is due to them that Wycliffe has gained a worldwide recognition for its excellence in biblical scholarship, study, exposition, personal devotion and praxis. Yet they have been made to feel stumbling blocks to a new regime by a man who despite the qualities many attribute to him has had no experience of academic and spiritual formation leadership in a college context.
The repercussions of all this are deeply disturbing. Already voices are being raised in the University as to the suitability of Wycliffe as a PPH. Bishops and DDOs may decide to give the Hall a wide berth. Staff with suitable qualifications may not apply for vacancies. Students from the broad range of evangelicalism which has traditionally characterised the Hall are unlikely to apply and the resultant limited focus on one strand of evangelicalism is unlikely to commend the Hall to the wider church. The Hall is running on borrowed capital and we fear for its future. If this sounds melodramatic it is realistic and is prompted by our love and concern for the Hall.
With very great sadness we must in all seriousness ask you to recognise before it is too late that there is a widespread lack of confidence in the present Principal, both in his managerial style and his myopic vision. We find it hard to envisage the Hall maintaining its erstwhile acknowledged reputation under its present leadership.
Not personally signed but authorised by
Geoffrey Shaw Principal 1979 – 1988
Dick France Principal 1989 – 1995
Alister McGrath Principal 1995 – 2004
Updated again Thursday morning
There were two news reports Wednesday:
In the Daily Telegraph Jonathan Petre reports under the headline Anglican coalition to force through breakaway that:
A powerful coalition of conservative Anglican leaders is preparing to create a parallel Church for conservatives in America in defiance of the Archbishop of Canterbury, provoking the biggest split in Anglican history, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
According to sources, at least six primates are planning the consecration of a prominent American cleric as a bishop to minister to Americans who have rejected their liberal bishops over the issue of homosexuality…
In the Living Church George Conger reports Kenyan Primate to Consecrate Former Episcopalian as U.S. Bishop:
The Most Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi, Primate of Kenya, has announced he will consecrate the Rev. Canon Bill Atwood as a suffragan bishop to oversee the U.S.-based congregations of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK).
The Aug. 30 consecration of Canon Atwood as “Suffragan Bishop of All Saints’ Cathedral Diocese, Nairobi” is “part of a broader and coordinated plan with other provinces,” Archbishop Nzimbi said on June 12, to “support the international interests of the Anglican Church of Kenya, including support of Kenyan clergy and congregations in North America.”
An undisclosed number of Global South primates are expected to participate in Canon Atwood’s consecration in Nairobi and are expected to work with the Kenyan Church in forming a “North American Anglican Coalition…”
For those who have never heard of Bill Atwood, this website may provide information (it’s rather out of date).
Update Kendall Harmon has posted the full text of an email from Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi:
FROM THE ARCHBISHOP OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF KENYA
RE: CONSECRATION OF THE REVD. CANON DR. BILL ATWOOD AS SUFFRAGAN BISHOP ON THURSDAY 30TH AUGUST, 2007
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ.
God in His mercy has granted us a great salvation in Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit. The foundations of that faith have been celebrated and shared through many centuries and cultures. In particular, we rejoice in the godly Christian heritage of this faith that we have received in the Anglican Communion.
Now, the fabric of the Anglican Communion has been torn by the actions of The Episcopal Church. The damage has been exacerbated by the failure of the House of Bishops there to provide for the care called for in the Windsor Report and to reject the Pastoral Council offered through the Primates in their Communiqué from Dar es Salaam.
Tragically, the Episcopal Church has refused to provide adequate care for the faithful who continue steadfastly in “the faith once delivered to the saints.” Following months of consultation with other provinces, the Anglican Church of Kenya is taking steps to provide for the care of churches under our charge.
As a part of a broader and coordinated plan with other provinces, the ACK will consecrate The Revd Canon Dr. Bill Atwood as Suffragan bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese, Nairobi of the ACK to support the international interests of the Anglican Church of Kenya, including support of Kenyan clergy and congregations in North America.
Our goal is to collaborate with faithful Anglicans (including those in North America who are related with other provinces). A North American Anglican Coalition can provide a safe haven for those who maintain historic Anglican faith and practice, and offer a way to live and work together in the furtherance of the Gospel.
Yours sincerely,
The Most Rev. Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi
ARCHBISHOP OF KENYA &
BISHOP OF ALL SAINTS CATHEDRAL DIOCESE
Wednesday evening update
Archbishop Akinola has also issued a statement which begins:
I have received news of the proposed consecration of Canon Bill Atwood as Suffragan Bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese, Nairobi, in the Anglican Church of Kenya, to serve Kenyan related congregations in North America. Canon Atwood has worked tirelessly throughout the Communion for the sake of the Gospel and is well known to many of us in the Church of Nigeria.
This action demonstrates a growing recognition by Anglican provinces in Africa that the situation in North America continues to deteriorate because of the intransigence of the leadership of The Episcopal Church. This was made most evident by the response of their House of Bishops to the carefully crafted Primates’ Dar es Salaam Communiqué. We cannot sit quietly by while those who continue steadfastly in the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’ are denied adequate pastoral care and made the targets of pernicious lawsuits…
Religious Intelligence has a report: New blow for Anglican Communion unity hopes by Nick Mackenzie.
Ruth Gledhill had US conservatives to defy Archbishop of Canterbury in Times Online.
And Archbishop Henry Orombi who issued this statement, was also quoted on a related matter in this report from the Kampala Monitor via AllAfrica.com, Fight Gay Acts in Schools – Orombi:
…Bishop Orombi reaffirmed his stand that the Church of Uganda will not restore links with churches in America that support homosexuality. “We shall not associate with them even if it means losing aid. We rather remain poor than accept aid which will in the end lead to moral decay of society,” he said…
The Anglican Communion Network issued a statement and so also did CANA. And there is also one from Fort Worth’s Bishop Jack Iker.
102 CommentsIn a Reader’s Viewpoint article in the Living Church for the issue dated 24 June, The Revd Francis H. Wade has written about the Windsor Report and the draft Anglican Covenant, which he describes as a Coup d’Eglise. He starts like this:
22 CommentsIn 1851, French President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte seized dictatorial powers that eventually allowed him to become Emperor Napoleon III, the last monarch of France. His actions gave currency to the term coup d’ètat, literally “strike the state,” which has described political takeovers from that day to this.
The parallel phrase coup d’èglise (strike the church) has not made it into the common lexicon but may be the only way to accurately describe the lightning ascendancy of the primates of the Anglican Communion. From their first meeting in 1979 to their asserted role in the proposed Anglican Covenant, the group has moved from non-existence to centrality. This may or may not be what the Anglican Communion needs; it may or may not be what every devoted Anglican wants; it may or may not be the leading of the Holy Spirit; but we should all know that it is happening…
Carolyn J Sharp, Associate Professor of Hebrew Scriptures at Yale Divinity School has written an essay about the Anglican Covenant.
You can read it here: Our Unity is in Christ.
27 CommentsThe Modern Churchpeople’s Union opposes the Draft Anglican Covenant and urges its rejection.
Jonathan Clatworthy, Paul Bagshaw and John Saxbee, Bishop of Lincoln, have prepared a detailed response to The Draft Anglican Covenant on behalf of the MCU.
Three documents are available here in several formats:
The Response concludes:
21 CommentsWe oppose the Draft Anglican Covenant on the grounds that:
- it would transform the Windsor process from admonition and counsel into an unprecedented and unjustifiable ecclesiastical coup d’état;
- its central proposal is to transfer power from the presently autonomous Provinces to a Meeting of the 38 Primates. The ambiguity of the text leaves open the possibility that this power would be unlimited, unaccountable, and irreversible;
- the consequences of this development for Anglican theology and polity, and for ecumenical agreements, would be extensive and have scarcely been explored;
- the proposed innovation in granting juridical power to the Primates’ Meeting would be a distortion and not a legitimate development in Anglican ecclesiology;
- the consultative processes and timetable are wholly inadequate and in particular they completely marginalise the voice of the laity;
- the proposals have not been adequately justified in their own terms (the creation of trust) nor in the wider terms of better ordering and facilitating the mission of the Church;
- and yet Anglicanism has a rich storehouse of dispersed authority, of hospitality, mutual respect and trusting co-operation, of valuing difference and openness to new developments, of the honest and open search for truth, all of which can provide an alternative to the Draft Anglican Covenant as grounds for hope for the future.
press release from InclusiveChurch:
“Global Centre” Comes To UK
InclusiveChurch is delighted to announce that the Most Revd Dr Idris Jones, Bishop of Glasgow & Galloway, has agreed to join the Archbishop of Mexico as a Patron of InclusiveChurch.
Bishop Idris is Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and a Primate of the Anglican Communion. He said:
“It is a privilege to be associated with Inclusive Church. The Anglican Communion is seeking how it may develop and deepen its life today – what better way could there be than working to keep our church as welcoming and encouraging to everyone who wants to follow Jesus so that everyone of us can be challenged by God’s love.”
We also announce that the Archbishop of Mexico, Bishop Carlos Touché-Porter, will be in England in September 2007. Bishop Carlos was a co-signatory of the Declaration by the Global Centre released in May 2007 which reaffirmed the call of Latin American bishops to preserve the “participative, diverse, ample and inclusive” nature of the Communion.
During his visit the Archbishop will take part in two major conferences:
These conferences will inform discussions at “DRENCHED IN GRACE”, InclusiveChurch’s first residential conference to be held in Derbyshire on 21st – 23rd November. “Drenched in Grace” will be a celebration and restatement of broad and inclusive Anglicanism. A discount of £20 applies for bookings received before the end of June. For further information go here.
For further information or advance registration contact InclusiveChurch here.
23 CommentsTwo documents have been published by InclusiveChurch and can be found from this page:
An Anglican Covenant?
InclusiveChurch believes that the Anglican Communion offers a creative and dynamic vision of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our structures, while loose and complex, mean that both tradition and development have a vital place in our attempts to live out the Gospel. Following the first Draft issued by the Covenant Drafting Committee and the way in which it influenced the Primates’ discussions in Dar Es Salaam, we have serious doubts about the proposed Draft Covenant. Tim Bartel and Savi Hensman have written responses which can be seen below:
- Casting off the Garment of Humility – Tim Bartel sets out some of the implications of the wording of the proposed Covenant.
- Love and Witness in a broken world – Savitri Hensman sets out her concern that the Covenant will lead to more, not less, disunity
The links above are to MS Word documents. For ease of access html pages are also available:
2 CommentsThe “King of the Tabloids” in Nigeria, the Sun reports that
7 CommentsThe love of money is the root of all evil, so says the Holy book. Love of power, it appears, is today threatening the brotherhood of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) following alleged attempts by the out-going National President, Right Reverend Peter Jasper Akinola, to “manipulate the electoral process”.
A leader in this week’s Church Times is titled At last, bishops who value diversity:
38 CommentsIT IS with a degree of shame that we acknowledge the statement from the bishops in Central and South America who met in Costa Rica at the end of last month. After all, a declaration by a group of Anglican bishops which talks of “the plurality and diversity that are universal characteristics of Anglicanism” was once an obvious candidate for the news editor’s spike. Times have changed, however. Now it is a relief to report determined, if somewhat fluffy, pronouncements about the Anglican Communion and its “participative nature, diverse, ample, and inclusive”. The Bishops support the view, often rehearsed in this paper, that plurality and diversity are a “rich source of growth” rather than a cause of dissension.
The present debate in the Communion has been undermined by unsubstantiated claims about who represents whom. Individual dioceses and provinces have their own structures of decision-making and accountability. The Church of England’s understanding of episcopacy — that bishops operate in synods or councils together with representatives of the clergy and laity — is replicated in one form or another across the provinces. The rise of the Primates’ Meeting has disturbed this balance, and its coincidence with — some would say, contribution to — the disunity in the Communion leaves many ordinary Anglicans unconvinced that the innovation is to be welcomed.
The expectation behind episcopacy is that the Church is governed by individuals with theological understanding and a particular charism to keep the flock together. In the same way as MPs are supposed to represent all their constituents, regardless whether they share any political views, bishops are called to mediate for and between Christians of all flavours. The Costa Rica statement is a pleasant reminder that this has not been entirely forgotten.
Reuters Anglican schism not inevitable says Williams by Michael Conlon
The Times Archbishop: Church unity is ‘very fragile’ by Ruth Gledhill
Daily Telegraph Anglican Church is ‘fragile’ over gay split by Jonathan Petre
Religious Intelligence Archbishop ‘hopeful’ Church will not split by Matt Cresswell
GetReligion Canterbury’s Time diplomacy by Doug LeBlanc
18 CommentsJonathan Petre has an article in today’s Daily Telegraph headlined Dispute grows over ‘abrasive’ Oxford principal:
20 CommentsPressure is mounting on Church of England authorities to take action against the principal of an Oxford theological college accused of alienating staff.
The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones, is being urged to withdraw his support for the Rev Richard Turnbull, the principal of Wycliffe Hall, who has been criticised for his allegedly abrasive management style and conservative brand of Christianity.
Alister McGrath, a leading theologian and Wycliffe’s previous principal, has pulled out of delivering a prestigious lecture in Liverpool in protest at the lack of action by Bishop Jones, who is the chairman of the hall’s governing council….
Jonathan Sacks asks in The Times Can we really learn to love people who aren’t like us?
Christopher Howse writes about The Beautiful Names of God.
Mordechai Beck writes in the Guardian about The New Sanhedrin.
Clifford Longley writes in the Tablet about Catholic bishops and their approach to UK politics.
Giles Fraser writes in the Church Times Remember that manners makyth man.
5 CommentsAmended Saturday
Time magazine has the Archbishop of Canterbury on the front cover of the European and African editions:
In an exclusive interview with TIME, his last before a three-month leave, the Archbishop Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, describes the Anglican Communion as “very fragile” — and explains how he hopes to reconcile its bitter factions.
The feature article, written by David Van Biema and Catherine Mayer is headlined Saving Grace.
An edited interview transcript is headed Keeping the Faith but there is also a podcast mp3 file (9 Mb) under the title Anglicanism in Crisis which contains much more material than the transcript.
41 CommentsLast Sunday, the Sunday Telegraph carried a report by Jonathan Wynne-Jones headlined Church to impose ‘rule book’ of beliefs.
Here’s what is actually happening, based closely on the so-called “bishops’ paper” to which the Sunday Telegraph refers.
The House of Bishops met at Market Bosworth in May. At that meeting they were asked to agree to a process for the Church of England to respond to the request made for all provinces of the Anglican Communion to comment by the end of 2007 on The Proposal for an Anglican Covenant.
This is only the first stage in quite a protracted process, involving the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the subsequent meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council and the subsequent submission of a final Covenant text to all Anglican provinces for synodical approval.
The initial process proposed was this:
At the meeting in Market Bosworth, the House of Bishops had before them a draft motion for the General Synod to consider in July, and two further documents intended as drafts of material to resource the July debate. The draft motion was as follows:
That this Synod
(a) affirm its willingness to engage positively with the unanimous recommendation of the Primates in February 2007 for a process designed to produce a covenant for the Anglican Communion;
(b) note that such a process will only be concluded when any definitive text has been duly considered through the synodical processes of the provinces of the Communion;
(c) invite the Presidents, having consulted the House of Bishops and the Archbishops’ Council, to agree the terms for a considered response for submission to the Anglican Communion Office by the end of the year on the draft from the Covenant Design Group.
One of the two further documents is a personal reflection entitled An Anglican Covenant? written by the Bishop of Chichester. The other is a paper entitled The rationale for the development of an Anglican Covenant written by Dr Martin Davie.
54 CommentsUpdated yet again Thursday evening
The Guardian has a news report about the apology! See Times apologises for bishop story.
Thursday morning
The Times issued this apology in the News in Brief column:
Bishop of Southwark
We were wrong to say in our headlines (June 6, 2007, front page and page 4) that the report of Judge Rupert Bursell, QC, into a complaint of drunkenness against Dr Tom Butler, the Bishop of Southwark, had concluded that Dr Butler was drunk. Judge Bursell did not hear any evidence or reach any conclusions as to the truth of the complaint. We apologise to Dr Butler for the distress and embarrassment this must have caused him.
Times archive Dec 19, 2006: Bishop of Southwark denies being drunk
Wednesday evening update
Damian Thompson offers an explanation for all this in The Bishop’s hangover.
The report in The Times has been republished at a new URL, with a new headline, Leaked report into Bishop of Southwark.
And there has been a further write-through of the Daily Mail report, now headlined Whitewash claims over bishop cleared of drunkenness.
Noon update
The story has been removed from the website of The Times although it still appears here. A new version of the story Bishop of Southwark escapes disciplinary action for drinking now appears on the Daily Mail website. And according to the Wimbledon Guardian:
The Bishop of Southwark is to go to the Press Complaints Commission after a report in the Times claimed he was drunk after a Christmas party.
The newspaper said a leaked Church of England document confirmed the Right Reverend Tom Butler was inebriated when he left a bash at the Irish Embassy.
But Lambeth Palace, which took “no further action” after a full investigation into the incident, said the preliminary report was based entirely upon a complainant’s account…
And, Ruth Gledhill has written further about all this on her blog at Judge’s report into Bishop of Southwark.
—
My original article:
Following a report in The Times by Ruth Gledhill and Lucy Bannerman the following press briefing from Lambeth Palace was issued early this morning:
Times report on the Bishop of Southwark – a correction
A report in today’s Times is headlined Bishop was drunk after Christmas Party, leaked report says (online version as at 12.35am; wording for other versions may differ). The headline accompanies a story about a report into allegations around an incident last December involving the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Revd Dr Tom Butler.
The suggestion in the headline that the report has concluded that the Bishop was drunk is completely misleading. It comes as a result of a misunderstanding of 1) what the report, prepared by Chancellor Bursell, is intended to address, 2) the stage it represents in the procedures of clergy discipine, and 3) the untested nature of the allegations which were set out in the complaint.
The report in question was a preliminary report, intended merely to assess whether – if true – the allegations made by the complainant would be strong enough to justify proceeding further with the disciplinary process under the Clergy Discipline Measure. The report’s finding is that some of the allegations – if true – would be serious enough to justify being taken on to the next stage. Some allegations it discounts.
At this preliminary stage, no explanation or answer by the person complained against is required or expected. Only at the next stage would the opportunity be given to the person complained against to give his side of the story. This report, therefore, is based on only the complainant’s account.
For that reason, the report does not make any judgement as to the truth of the allegations. A footnote makes it clear that other evidence ‘may in due time put a different complexion on the matter’ and, crucially, a clause in brackets makes it clear that the question of the truth of any allegation is yet to be determined: Chancellor Bursell qualifies references to the alleged drunkenness in the complaint with the phrase ‘if it occurred’.
The finding of the report was that the complaint was sufficiently serious to justify further exploration under the Measure. Although the complainant was not qualified under the Measure to bring it forward, a subsequent complaint was taken to the next stage in the disciplinary process, enabling the bishop to give his own account of what had happened. It was only at that point, on the basis of all the evidence then before the Archbishop, that he took the decision, announced last month, that no further action should be taken.
It would, therefore, be entirely misleading to represent this preliminary report as being any kind of judgement or finding that the Bishop of Southwark was drunk on the night in question.
ENDS
Revd Jonathan Jennings
Archbishop’s Press Secretary
A shorter version of the original report appears also in the Irish Independent and there is a derivative report in The Sun and another one Bishop of Southwark was drunk says church in the Daily Mail.
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