Press Release
1.0 Conservative Evangelicals are clearly trying to create a defining moment for the Anglican Communion. The declaration by the Anglican Church of Tanzania separating itself from all who ordain, who are, or who support homosexual people, together with Reform’s “Covenant” are the next stages in the rolling out of a strategy which will, if allowed to proceed destroy the Anglican Communion.
2.0 We are seeing the development of a long term plan developed by various people on various continents which is intended to bring the Anglican Communion out of its historically generous and open position, into a narrowly defined, confessional group of churches rooted in the religious right of the United States and extending from there across the world.
2.1 We understand that the Tanzania declaration was produced at the behest of others with the specific aims of undermining the Presiding Bishop of the United States, challenging the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and derailing the moves towards an inclusive Covenant which the Communion is beginning to make. It is a deliberately incendiary move. The intention is to pre-empt any decisions the Primates’ Meeting in February might make so that elements from the Global South and disaffected elements of the Episcopal Church rebels can proceed with their plan to set up an alternative Communion.
3.0 Reform’s “Covenant” brings this strategy into England. The authors of the “Covenant” (all male, all white) and their cohorts are, simply, using the politics of the playground, issuing financial threats and huffing and puffing in an attempt to bring the Church of England into line. The most cursory reading demonstrates a startlingly inadequate ecclesiology and a deep misunderstanding of the role of bishops. They are showing increasing militancy and becoming more and more vocal, because those of us who support the orthodox, historic and open tradition of Anglicanism are, unexpectedly, refusing to lie down and be trampled on.
4.0 Underlying all this is an obsession with homosexuality which flies in the face of human understanding, of natural law and of the Gospel; fundamentally, the labelling of homosexuality as “intrinsically sinful” offers the only chance for unity that these groups can find. It means that Biblical scholarship is distorted to justify the anathematising of homosexuals, and that the Gospel is reduced to a message where the rejection of lesbian and gay people lies millimetres below the surface.
5.0 InclusiveChurch has always, from the beginning, tried to be open to those with whom we disagree. We have sought meetings with conservative groups, and have tried to ensure that the breadth, generosity and openness of Anglicanism is extended to those who would reject that breadth and generosity. But we find that these groups, in the end, do not wish to engage. They wish to set up a separate structure which will keep them safe from taint. In the first place, the taint of homosexuality. Beyond that, the taint of women as bishops (or indeed as priests); and beyond that, the risk of change.
5.1 InclusiveChurch is committed to orthodox Anglicanism, which preaches the gospel of the liberating love of God. Jesus came to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and to let the oppressed go free. Nowhere in the statements of these conservative groups and churches do we hear of the boundless love of God. The theology of the Reform “Covenant” bears as much relation to Anglican theology as that of Calvin and Zwingli did to Hooker and Andrewes.
6.0 We ask the people of Reform: “Why do you not have the courage of your convictions and leave the Church of England altogether? When your actions and your statements display so clearly your wish to distort the church of the Elizabethan Settlement, the Protestant revival, the Oxford Movement and the innovations of the twentieth century, why do you not simply realign yourselves with other churches? Why do you want to remain Anglican if that Anglicanism is a travesty of the gift we have been given?
The logic of your statement is you should secede from the Church of England altogether, not have it restructured to accommodate your narrow views of who may or may not be an Anglican. Inclusivity is written into the title deeds of the Church of England and we ask you to respect it.
But if you leave, you may not take the name “Anglican”; for the church you create will not be an Anglican church.
6.1 Or, if you wish to remain in the Church of England, then remain in the knowledge that we are all required, in love, to engage with each other. We inclusive Christians undoubtedly have a great deal to learn from you; we all, undoubtedly have a great deal in common. Stay in the knowledge that engagement will bring about change. And that God speaks not just to you but to others as well. And that all our understanding of God’s will – yours and ours – is flawed, because we are all flawed.”
7.0 We say to the senior hierarchy of the Church, to Archbishops, Primates and senior staff of the church: “Enough is enough. This squabbling needs to be brought to an end. There is no justification for a Bishop from the province of Nigeria exercising jurisdiction in the United States. There is no justification for Alternative Episcopal Oversight or Extended Primatial Oversight or any other terms used to cloak intolerance. There is no way a province can declare itself to be “out of communion” with another province. We ask you to say to the rebels, whether they are provinces or parishes – ‘leave or engage: if you engage, respect the structures: and listen to the spirit as it speaks to the whole church’. This bullying and hectoring must cease, so that the Gospel can be proclaimed anew. If that means that this generation oversees a split in the Communion, so be it. We trust in God for the future of the Church.”
8.0 To laity and clergy throughout the Communion we say: “You are the future. The Gospel we have been given lies with you to pass on. Are you willing to allow that Gospel to be distorted and broken, to allow the Communion to be torn into something it is not, for the sake of a concept of tradition, biblical truth and God which is exclusive and condemnatory? Are you willing to allow the Communion to go the way of all sects, into marginal oblivion?
We need, all of us, to speak, to pray and to love. We need to seek ways to engage with those with whom we disagree, in worship, in prayer and in our daily lives. We need also to engage with all the structures of the Communion – the Instruments of Unity, Synods, Bishops and officers, making our passion and our commitment known.
But, in the end, we need to be willing to say to those who would undermine the Gospel we proclaim: leave, if you will. Taking your money with you. We are all diminished by division but if division comes, so be it. God’s love will not be constrained.”
Giles Goddard: Chair, InclusiveChurch
St John of the Cross: December 14th 2006
original press release here, and continued here.
Matt Thompson links to this Associated Press report which summarises the situation well: New law and old prejudices threaten Nigeria’s gay community.
Matt’s own report, which should be read in full, is here: “There is a lot of ignorance”.
25 CommentsUpdated again Thursday morning
The meeting mentioned in a newspaper report last Sunday took place today at Lambeth Palace. The report had forecast that:
Leading evangelicals will meet the Most Rev Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, on Tuesday to deliver papers laying out the plans for a restructuring of the Church.
However, according to the Anglican Mainstream website what happened was:
A small group met with the Archbishop of Canterbury on Tuesday December 12 and presented A Covenant for the Church of England on behalf of a wide group of Evangelical and Charismatic members of the Church of England with the support of a number of Anglo-Catholic leaders.
The Covenant is the fruit of an ongoing process reacting not to a few local or immediate difficulties but responding to widespread concerns in the national and global church.
The group were listened to carefully and as a result of the meeting it was agreed that there would be further discussion of the issues raised in the Covenant to find a way to maintain the unity of the Church of England.
The document that this group presented is published on the Reform website, and can be read in its entirety at A Covenant for the Church of England.
The press release is described as follows:
It is not a Reform press release as such but a press release by a wide group of Evangelical and Charismatic members of the Church of England with the support of a number of Anglo-Catholic leaders.
Update Wednesday evening
It is now revealed that:
The Covenant was drafted by a group under the following leadership:
Rev David Banting, Chair of Reform
Rev John Coles, Director of New Wine Networks
Rev Paul Perkin, Member of General Synod
Rev David Phillips, Director of Church Society
Rev Vaughan Roberts, Rector of St Ebbes’ Oxford
Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Executive Secretary, Anglican Mainstream
Rev William Taylor, Rector of St Helen’s Bishopsgate
Rev Dr Richard Turnbull, Chair of the Church of England Evangelical Council
Rev Dr Simon Vibert, Chair of the Fellowship of Word and Spirit
This list can also be found at the website of the Church of England Evangelical Council where it is claimed that:
“CEEC President and Chairman sign new Covenant on behalf of CEEC”
Update Thursday morning
Jonathan Petre in the Telegraph has this report: Williams warned of Church anarchy:
77 CommentsThe Church of England was plunged into a fresh crisis yesterday after evangelical leaders representing 2,000 churches told the Archbishop of Canterbury to allow them to bypass liberal bishops or face widespread anarchy.
The group, whose supporters include the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, warned Dr Rowan Williams that the crisis over issues such as gay clerics was escalating fast and could descend into schism.
At a confidential meeting at Lambeth Palace on Tuesday, they urged Dr Williams to create a parallel structure to free them from the interference of liberal bishops or risk a revolt against his authority…
Episcopal News Service has published a report TANZANIA: Bishops declare ‘impaired communion’ with Episcopal Church.
Update Tuesday: the statement now also appears at Global South Anglican and is now also on the ACNS site.
Update A PDF copy of the statement is now on the Tanzania site.
No similar report has yet appeared on the Anglican Communion News Service, nor on the Tanzanian provincial website.
The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT) issued a statement December 7 saying that its “communion with the Episcopal Church (USA) is severely impaired” in light the 75th General Convention’s response to the Windsor Report.
The bishops also declared that ACT “shall not knowingly accept financial and material aid from dioceses, parishes, Bishops, priests, individuals and institutions in the Episcopal Church (USA) that condone homosexual practice or bless same-sex unions.”
Meeting in Dar Es Salaam, where the next Primates’ Meeting will be held in February 2007, the bishops noted that the Episcopal Church did not “adequately respond to the requirement made to them by the Anglican Communion through the Windsor Report by their failure to register honest repentance for their actions.”
During the past three years, leaders of at least 14 out of the 38 Anglican provinces have issued statements saying that they are in a state of “impaired” or “broken” relationship with the Episcopal Church. It is unclear how many provincial synods have ratified the statements.
The full text of the statement is in the ENS report.
Here is the statement from Tanzania in 2003.
56 CommentsInclusiveChurch PRESS RELEASE: Advent 2: 10th Dec 2006
Rebel churches want to destroy the traditional breadth of the Church of England
Today’s Sunday Telegraph reports that a small group of conservative evangelical parishes are intending to set up an alternative jurisdiction within the Church of England using retired bishops to provide their own, separate ministry. What they are objecting to is in fact the agreed position of the House of Bishops.
The Rev. Dr. Giles Fraser, President of InclusiveChurch, said “These rebel churches want to destroy the traditional breadth of the Church of England and turn it into a puritan sect. They must not be allowed to succeed.”
Britain is aware of the dangers of religious extremism. Now, more than ever, the message of a broad and inclusive Christianity needs to be heard. The Civil Partnership legislation has clearly offered new opportunities for people in this country to express a profound and committed love for one another. InclusiveChurch welcomes that.
These parishes are attacking their Bishops for upholding the agreed position on the Civil Partnership legislation. We urge the House of Bishops to resist this attempt further to divide the Church of England. The threats of financial penalties sound very like an attempt to bully the church into a particular position. Rather than engage with the world, these parishes seem to wish to separate themselves from it.
These proposals represent part of a wider pattern which will, if allowed to continue, distort and ultimately destroy the Anglican Communion. Across the Communion, we see attempts to replace the breadth and openness of Anglican theology with a confessional, protestant theology and practice. The recent irregular ordinations in the Diocese of Southwark, the statements of the Primates of the Global South at Kigali in July, the moves by the diocese of San Joaquin and parishes in the Diocese of Virginia to remove themselves from the Episcopal Church, and the appointment by the Church of Nigeria of Martyn Minns as a Bishop in the United States are all part of this strategy.
Alternative Episcopal Oversight, when it was created, set a dangerous precedent for Anglican Christianity. It implied that a “mix and match” church was possible, with people and parishes being able to choose their bishops according to their views on specific issues. The request for Alternative Primatial Oversight in America is partly a result of this precedent. This proposal to bring bishops out of retirement in order to promote a view of the church which appears increasingly single-issue and dominated by homosexuality is another.
We repeat, as we have said before; the Anglican Communion is a gift. In all its complexity and untidiness it has a great deal to offer the world. For that reason we have welcomed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s proposals for working out a Covenant between us.
109 CommentsFor the second week running, English bishops are criticised by an Observer columnist. This time, Mary Riddell has a piece titled Integrate? Tell that to the Christian church, Mr Blair. Here’s an excerpt:
…Even so, the bishops are on the prowl. The Bishop of Rochester criticises diversity legislation, while lamenting the lack of Christmas celebrations in that hotbed of Saturnalia, the nation’s SureStart schemes. The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, announces that ‘illiberal atheists’ and ‘aggressive secularists’ have stolen Christmas. On a point of semantics, secularists do not wish to harm religion or deny its great cultural influence. They simply want it to know its place.
Which, in the view of many bishops, is in every corner of the public realm. In the current Times Higher Education Supplement, the Archbishop of Canterbury defends Christian campus groups which risk banishment because of their attitudes to gay sex. ‘It isn’t as though sexual activity were any different from any other conscious choice,’ writes Dr Rowan Williams, likening any threat to such groups to banning CND. Public organisations should operate within the statute. On 1 January, laws protecting gay people in Northern Ireland will be tightened. Ruth Kelly, who plans weaker, later rules for the rest of the UK, has bowed to religious leaders complaining that the pillars of Christendom will totter unless Christian adoption agencies, bookshops and hotels are allowed free rein for prejudice. Islamist extremism is obviously never to be compared to the behaviour of peaceful citizens. Even so, the harmonious society Mr Blair desires is not best served by Christian leaders passing themselves off as a persecuted minority and the whipping boy of multicultural Britain.
This is purest fallacy. The might of bishops trickles down from the House of Lords, where they sit without a fig leaf of democratic legitimacy. Cathedrals are forecasting record attendances this Christmas. In a fearful, divided country, religion is the beneficiary. Mr Blair, though recognising that shift, was too selective and too timid in his remedies. He condemned radical Muslim schools, quite rightly, but omitted to say that creationism in Christian ones is deplorable, too. He demanded that faith schools must abide by guidelines requiring tolerance and respect for other faiths…
The article by Rowan Williams to which she refers can be found in the Times Higher Education Supplement which is read largely by university academics and administrators. The article is trailed on the front page of the weekly journal this way:
The Archbishop of Canterbury has hit out at the “suppression” of Christian unions on university campuses with an impassioned defence of free speech in an exclusive article for The Times Higher.
and the background to it is summarised in a news article entitled Archbishop hits back.
Rowan Williams’ article is titled It is not a crime to hold traditional values. A couple of excerpts (but read it all, please):
…But beyond this, we sometimes seem to be unclear. Quite often in discussion of Christian attitudes to homosexuality (and this is often the presenting issue where Christian unions are concerned), it is taken for granted that any statement that a form of behaviour might be sinful is on a par with the expression of hate, so that it is impossible for a conservative Christian, Catholic or Protestant or, for that matter, an orthodox Muslim to state the traditional position of their faith without being accused of something akin to holocaust denial or racial bigotry.
Yet the truth surely is that while it is wholly indefensible to deny respect to a person as such, any person’s choices are bound to be open to challenge. Any kind of behaviour or policy freely opted for by a responsible adult is likely to be challenged from somewhere; it isn’t as though sexual activity were different from any other area of conscious choice. And to challenge behaviour may be deeply unwelcome and offensive in a personal sense, but it is not a matter for legislative action…
and this:
…Christian unions, like most student associations, can be a nuisance. As a university chaplain many years ago, I was blessed with good relations with members of the Christian union, thanks to the maturity and warmth of the local leadership; but I know that not every chaplain in higher education has the same good fortune. Questions about tests for orthodoxy recur regularly in the histories of Christian unions, and every few years there is likely to be some degree of conflict and sometimes schism (as in other societies – I can also remember the ferocity of debates in the 1970s within a university Labour Club at the time leading up to the formation of the Social Democrat Party). Furthermore, there is real debate and divergence among Christians about the ethics of same-sex relationships, and some more liberal Christians will find it embarrassing that the traditional position of the Christian union can be seen by the rest of the student world as something like an unquestioned Christian line. Christian unions can appear detached from the rest of student life in some campuses (by no means all); or they can lay themselves open to charges of insensitive recruitment; and so on. But the basic question remains. Is there a straightforward right of association for people with these convictions? …
Other material relating to the current dispute over Christian Unions on British university campuses can be found in this excellent report from Ekklesia (PDF file), which was also written up in the Guardian in Christian unions warned against legal action. See also Simon Barrow here.
32 CommentsUpdated 13 December
See earlier reports here and here.
The Richmond Times Dispatch has Episcopal churches may split and the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star has Will Neck church.
Truro Church’s Mary Springmann has a letter on the church’s website Why CANA? Convocation of Anglicans in North America (PDF file).
Jim Naughton contests the truth of the claims made in that letter in Another dubious claim from Truro. TA’s August report on the 2004 events that Jim mentions is here.
Mark Harris considers that Truro’s Vestry has gone round the bend.
BabyBlue (Mary Ailes) has published a photograph of the letter she got yesterday from Bishop Peter Lee. (You might need to click on it to show it full size.) Mary is unhappy about the letter.
The media have been given this instruction. (PDF file).
The Living Church added a report: National Church May ‘Retain Interest’ in Virginia Church Properties.
A statement from the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia
The following reports are delayed as the site was unreachable for me for several days:
Washington Times Julia Duin
8 Dec Virginia churches stuck in middle
12 Dec Episcopal Church sees first defection
This week The Tablet has a very interesting interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, conducted by the editor, Catherine Pepinster. Read it at Ambivalent archbishop.
Previously, the Church Times had this report of the visit: ‘Definite progress’ as Williams visit exceeds expectations by Rupert Shortt.
Earlier reports of the visit are collected here.
7 CommentsAndrew Linzey has written for The Times about why Animals must not be scapegoats.
Also in that paper, Roderick Strange writes that Advent means no more hiding out in the hills and valleys.
Colin Slee writes in the Guardian about why banning Christmas is ignorant and counter-cultural, see Face to Faith.
Christopher Howse has his regular Sacred Mysteries column in the Telegraph. This week the title is Another kind of comfort.
2 CommentsIt’s increasingly difficult to keep up. Several reports today:
The Church Times has a report by Doug LeBlanc about the San Joaquin convention: Californian diocese votes to move from ECUSA.
One assertion in that report is, I believe, inaccurate. I do not think that the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA has uttered the words attributed to her here. I think this is a reference to what a spokesman said, as reported by the New York Times.
The Senior Wardens of Truro Parish and The Falls Church have responded jointly, in fairly strong terms, to the earlier letter they and others received from the Bishop of Virginia. The response is in a PDF file and can be found here.
Update there is now an html copy of this document available here.
Stand Firm has published an interview with Neal Michell from the Diocese of Dallas.
And last but by no means least, a Press Release from the Anglican Alliance of North Florida states that the Bishop of Florida has deposed six of his clergy. The letter itself is available as a PDF file here.
Update Saturday Florida Times-Union report on this: Episcopal bishop revokes 6 priests
2 CommentsAccording to the Independent this morning, in Kelly rejects call to extend Ulster gay rights to the rest of Britain:
A row has broken out in the Cabinet over how far the Government should go in outlawing discrimination against gays, lesbians and bisexuals.
Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, has pushed through regulations in the province that will be tougher than the Government plans for England, Wales and Scotland. He has defied a call by Ruth Kelly, the Cabinet minister responsible for equality, to hold fire until a common approach has been agreed…
Meanwhile, the Tablet has a news report (only available to subscribers) about what the RC bishops in Northern Ireland said, and a leader column which you can read in full here: When tone matters.
According to Anglican Mainstream government telephones are besieged with phone calls from people concerning these proposals.
The Lawyers Christian Fellowship has published a press release concerning a survey of public opinion which it commissioned, and another press release summarising their view of progress: Opinion Poll Results Show Widespread Opposition To Sors; Annulment Of Sors Sought In Commons And Lords
51 CommentsUpdated Wednesday 13 December
According to the Church of England Newspaper, this is the case.
The report is reproduced in full on Global South Anglican and can be read at Archbishop of Nigeria “banned” from preaching in Sheffield – CEN.
And Anglican Mainstream has a further column by Andrew Carey An Apology is in Order.
Update Wednesday 13 December
The Sheffield Star reports: Bishop’s ‘snub’ claims rejected by Lucy Ashton
CLAIMS that the Bishop of Sheffield barred a visiting foreign Archbishop from preaching at a service in the city were today dismissed as “total rubbish”.
The report reads in part:
43 Comments…The Reverend Rob Marshall said: “There are clear rules that if an Archbishop is visiting the province he must get the Archbishop of York’s permission to preach. Protocol has to be followed and it’s also courtesy.
“The Archbishop asked Bishop Jack’s permission but he couldn’t say yes or no because it wasn’t his decision to make.
“It’s total rubbish about Bishop Jack barring him, he simply told him to contact the Archbishop of York.”
If an Archbishop wants to preach in another province, it usually just takes a phone call.
Mr. Marshall added: “The Bishop was very relaxed and simply said he had to follow protocol and all they had to do was ring the Archbishop of York’s office.
“It’s total nonsense to say he barred him.”
Mr. Marshall said there should have been plenty of time to arrange for the Archbishop to preach.
“We had this conversation on the Thursday before the service was taking place on the Sunday but you never have just three days notice of a visit.
“Normally Archbishops’ visits are planned months, sometimes two years in advance, so all this could have been arranged in advance…”
Further comments on ECUSA that are worth noting:
Diana Butler Bass was online at the Washington Post website on Wednesday discussing the State of the Episcopal Church.
Fr Jake wrote about the Network and the Global South, and asks Is There a Plan?
Jim Naughton followed this up with Disarray on the right?
Mark Harris asks Where Have All the Flowers Gone? and also later has Venables of the Southern Cone.
Episcopal Majority weighed in with The San Joaquin Matter Heats Up and ++Akinola Unhappy?
And much earlier in November, Harold Lewis wrote this essay for the magazine of Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh where he is Rector: Ironies, Ideologies, and Inconsistencies.
0 CommentsSeveral people have analysed what Mark Lawrence wrote to standing committees and bishops in connection with their forthcoming decisions on whether or not to consent to his election as bishop of South Carolina:
Mark Harris has written twice: first here, and then here. Tobias Haller wrote about this also, here. And also Andrew Gerns is here.
Addition Monday 11 Dec
I apologise for inadvertently omitting this Living Church report of 6 December: Bishop-elect Lawrence Sees Election Resistance in Broader Context which contains his own comments on the approval process.
Updated again Friday morning
The Associated Press has a lengthy article Historic Episcopal parishes in Va. moving toward break.
The local paper in Falls Church, the Falls Church News-Press has an article, Voting Begins Sunday on Pulling Out Of Denomination at F.C. Episcopal.
In response to the above, Matt Thompson at Political Spaghetti has written Archbishop Akinola DEFINITELY supports legislation in Nigeria that calls for prison sentences for homosexual activity.
Martyn Minns has written this on the website of Truro Parish, in response to an earlier news report in the Washington Post:
A Statement of Clarification
In a recent Washington Post article, Archbishop Peter J. Akinola was characterized as “an advocate of jailing gays.” That is not true.
Archbishop Akinola believes that all people—whatever their manner of life or sexual orientation—are made in the image of God and deserve to be treated with respect. “We are all broken and need the transforming love of God,” Archbishop Akinola said to me during a recent conversation.
Archbishop Akinola also said, “Jesus Christ is our example for this. He refused to condemn the woman caught in adultery instead he said. ‘Go now and sin no more.’ That is an essential part of the message of the Gospel and the teaching of our congregations.”
Your brother in Christ,
Martyn
Update this statement now also appears on the CANA website: A Statement of Clarification
Jim Naughton at daily episcopalian has responded strongly to Bishop Minns with a piece headlined Martyn Minns, clarifier.
Meanwhile, the CANA website has after a long interval had an update and now provides a Frequently Asked Questions page with answers to (currently) 25 questions.
Addition The Truro Parish website has a page headed The Vote.
This is your electronic resource center for Truro’s congregational vote December 10–17. Click on the links below for resources to help you be an informed voter.
Further addition Friday This PDF file contains information about The Anglican District of Virginia of CANA full text reproduced below the fold.
Update
Matt Thompson has more to say at Oh, Martyn.
Fr Jake has commented Does Abp. Akinola Want to Jail All Gays?
Mark Harris has also commented Bishop Martyn Minns defends Archbishop Akinola at an opportune time.
26 CommentsThe Sun newspaper came to the support of the Bishop of Rochester: Gay law is bashed by bishop.
Two columns on Comment is free do not support the bishop’s point of view:
Andrew Brown The view from the inside (the URL is more descriptive than the title) and the strap is:
When religions discriminate against a minority group, they are also fighting for something fundamental about the freedom of religion.
and Theo Hobson Divine judgment on religion
The church is meant to signify unity between Christians, but the gay crisis has completely undermined this concept.
Meanwhile, the Evangelical Alliance has issued a Call for consultation, Andrew Marr interviewed Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor on BBC TV on Sunday, and the Christian Institute issued this briefing on the Northern Ireland regulations (PDF file).
The latest statement from the Lawyers Christian Fellowship is here and also here. This Word document here is slightly older but is the source of some material attacking the regulations seen elsewhere, such as the Christian bookshop and Christian printshop examples of alleged difficulty.
30 CommentsUpdated Thursday evening
In no particular order:
The Vestry of Truro Church in Northern Virginia issued a Statement on 28 November: The Sources of Division.
…It is our hope and intention to bring clarity and transparency as to how we have come to the reluctant but ultimately firm conclusion that we should recommend that Truro Church sever its ties with The Episcopal Church…
The Living Church has a report by George Conger Archbishop Venables: Primates Coalition Will Support Second U.S. Jurisdiction. The video referred to in this report can be found at Archbishop Greg Venables speaks to Diocese of San Joaquin.
Update The full text of the remarks by Southern Cone Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables is now on the San Joaquin website here. (Scroll down for earlier items). Another copy of the text is now at Global South Anglican.
Beliefnet reported on the San Joaquin convention a bit differently to the New York Times: Calif. Episcopal Diocese Decides Against Split.
Earlier, the Living Church also carried this opinion piece by Jack Estes: Irreconcilable Differences.
And Christianity Today has published an excerpt from Philip Jenkins’ new book, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South. The excerpt is headlined “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?”
11 CommentsIt was previously announced that the Bishop of Manchester would chair the new group formed to draft legislation for the introduction of women bishops in the Church of England.
Today, the membership of the Women Bishops Legislative Drafting Group was announced:
The Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester (chair)
The Ven Donald Allister, Archdeacon of Chester
The Revd Jonathan Baker
The Rt Worshipful Dr Sheila Cameron, Dean of the Arches
The Very Revd Vivienne Faull, Dean of Leicester
Dr Paula Gooder
Mrs Margaret Swinson
Sister Anne Williams
The Rt Revd Trevor Willmott, Bishop of Basingstoke
Update Thursday
Women and the Church has issued a press release commenting on this. A copy is below the fold.
There has been a great deal of discussion concerning the confirmation of Mark Lawrence as Bishop of South Carolina. See, for example, here.
He has written a document, addressed to bishops and standing committees of ECUSA dioceses, containing his answers to various questions that have been put to him.
You can read this document in full here.
43 CommentsJim Naughton has drawn attention here to the Nigerian angle in the report about Northern Virginia that is in this morning’s Washington Post (also linked in the preceding item).
The Nigerian provincial website has this report of the recent meeting of Global South leaders in Northern Virginia. (Also on the Global South Anglican site.)
But Changing Attitude has a report from Nigeria which suggests all is not entirely well: Archbishop Peter Akinola unhappy with his secessionist friends in the USA.
3 Comments