Jonathan Petre reports that Williams turns to ‘wise men’ in crisis over gays by which he means:
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has quietly appointed four “wise men” to advise him on the crisis over homosexuals that is threatening to tear the worldwide Anglican Church apart.
They have yet to be named, but are expected to include the liberal Primate of Wales, Archbishop Barry Morgan, and the conservative Primate of Central Africa, Archbishop Bernard Malango.
The group will play a pivotal role following next month’s General Convention of the US Episcopal Church, the American equivalent of the Church of England’s General Synod…
Stephen Bates in the Guardian reports on Anglican relief as California diocese elects straight bishop:
…The election was greeted with some relief in senior church circles but not by the conservative American Anglican Council, which hopes to overturn the Episcopal leadership. A statement said that California remained a “bastion of amorphous Christianity” and criticised all the candidates for not pledging to withhold consent for “same-sex partnered individuals” as bishops.
James Bone in The Times Anglicans avert clash over gays
Meanwhile back in England, Ruth Gledhill reports Church seeks spirituality of youth . . . and doesn’t like what it finds:
THE Church of England has debunked the widely held view that young people are spiritual seekers on a journey to find transcendent truths to fill the “God-shaped hole†within them.
A report published by the Church today indicates that young people are quite happy with a life without God and prefer car boot sales to church…
The book is Making Sense of Generation Y. The Church of England press release is here.
Ruth has also written on her blog about the California election in US election makes schism unlikely.
39 CommentsMeeting of the Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada
Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre, Niagara Falls ON
2006 04 23-27 [regular spring meeting of the house]
RESOLUTION
Nigeria
moved by Bishop Lawrence [Archbishop of Moosonee] / seconded by Bishop Poole [Suffragan – Toronto/Credit Valley]
The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada notes with grave concern legislation before the Nigerian parliament that would prohibit or severely restrict the freedom of spech, association, expression, and assembly of gay and lesbian persons in Nigeria. This legislation is inconsistent with the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, that recognises these rights as derived from the inherent dignity of the human person.
The Archbishop and Bishops are especially grieved by the strong and public support for this legislation given by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). Whereas Lambeth 1998 resolution I.10 called on churches to listen to the experience of homosexual persons, the proposed legislation criminalises civil and religious same-sex marriage as well as the public and private expression of same-sex affection, all public affiliation between gay persons, and even publicity, public support, and media reporting of the same. The proposed legislation, endorsed in an official communique of the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria signed by its Primate, would make the very act of listening to homosexual persons impossible.
The members of the House of Bishops are in full agreement with the Primates’ statement from Dromantine in 2005, that ‘The victimisation or diminishment of human beings whose affections happen to be ordered towards people of the same sex is anathema to us.’ The Nigerian legislation, and its endorsement by the Church of Nigeria, is indeed anathema to us, and quite at odds with the grace and love given to all human beings in Jesus Christ.
We therefore disassociate ourselves from the actions of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) that are inconsistent with the Commitments of its bishops made at Lambeth and Dromantine, and we call on Anglicans throughout the Communion to listen and respect the human rights of homosexual persons.
Carried unanimously
28 CommentsThere is extensive news coverage this morning of the election by the Diocese of California of a heterosexual male as its diocesan bishop.
The BBC Sunday radio programme has an interview (about 3 minutes duration) with Craig Martin of the diocesan nominating committee.
Go 16 minutes into the recording, available here (Real Audio). (Better link on Monday).
Episcopal News Service California diocese elects Mark Andrus as bishop
Living Church Alabama Suffragan Elected Bishop of California
Reactions came from:
The Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes A Statement by Bishop Duncan on the California Election
The American Anglican Council The American Anglican Council (AAC) Comments on the Episcopal Election in the Diocese of California
Integrity html copy here of PDF original here
The Bishop of Upper South Carolina, Dorsey Henderson and Canon Kendall Harmon, S.C. bishop reacts to California election
Newspaper reports:
New York Times Neela Bannerjee Election of Episcopal Bishop Avoids Inflaming a Crisis
Washington Post John Pomfret Episcopalians Reject Gay Candidates
San Francisco Chronicle Episcopalians avoid rift in picking bishop
San Jose Mercury News Episcopalians avoid schism
Chicago Tribune All Saints keeps its pastor
Los Angeles Times Episcopalians Elect Straight Bishop in S.F.
Update
Here is a eyewitness description of the election by Karen on Kinesis Habemus episcopam!
I refer of course to the ECUSA episcopal elections.
Back here in England, we have columns of opinion:
The Times Jonathan Sacks The Jewish tradition is firmly opposed to assisted dying.
This is the view of the Church of England (see also this page on What Can I Do?) and also see the remarks of the Bishop of St Albans. And if you agree you can sign up at Care NOT Killing.
Also in The Times we have Ian Hislop on Broad of church and broad of mind.
In the Telegraph Christopher Howse reports on a new opera about Thomas Becket in King’s friend and victim.
The Guardian has a Face to Faith column by Simon Rocker in which he argues in favour of state funding for faith schools.
Earlier in the week, the Guardian had a column by Giles Fraser titled God is the God of all about the relationship between the BNP and evangelical Christians. The Methodist Church website to which he refers can be found here.
Addendum some more detail on the BNP/Christian issue can be found here.
Updated Saturday evening
There are a total of four episcopal elections in the USA today.
As any results are likely to be published late today, or even from an English viewpoint early tomorrow, I list here the places where the outcomes are most likely to be found.
Eastern Michigan
Background information
Results Election Completed: Ousley elected on 5th ballot.
Tennessee
Background information
Results Election Adjourned after 36 ballots.
Northern California
Background Information
Results Election completed: Beisner elected on 4th ballot.
California
Background Information
Press coverage prior to the election
Results Election completed: Andrus elected on 3rd ballot.
Initial press coverage afterwards:
BBC Bishop vote avoids gay clergy row
Reuters Heterosexual elected Episcopal Bishop of Calif
Corrected Version of Reuters report
AP via Washington Post Calif. Episcopalians Elect New Bishop
And Elizabeth Day in the Sunday Telegraph gets it spectacularly wrong with Anglicans on brink of crisis as California aims for first lesbian bishop
17 CommentsThe Church Times has a report today by Bill Bowder: Dioceses asked to find £10m to shore up pensions
The letter referred to in the article can be found on the Church of England web site linked from this page.
WARNING the .rtf file there is (at present) 4.3 Megabytes in size. [file size now fixed] You may find it more convenient to read the letter below the fold here.
There are reports of the hearing of the appeal being made by Richard Coekin against the action of Bishop Tom Butler of Southwark.
The Times Vicar defends protest against gay marriage
Church Times Scott-Joynt hears Southwark appeal
Church of England Newspaper Southwark appeal hearing for vicar
Meanwhile Mr Coekin is busy as described by the CEN in Why reaching men with the Gospel is no picnic in the park as well of course as here.
6 CommentsIn the Church Times Pat Ashworth reports: Archbishop defies court.
0 CommentsTHE ARCHBISHOP of Central Africa, the Most Revd Bernard Malango, and the disputed Bishop of Lake Malawi, the Rt Revd James Mwenda, have been found in contempt of court, and were due to appear with others before a judge yesterday. If they failed to appear, a warrant would be issued for their arrest…
According to the Anglican Journal:
Canada’s Anglican bishops unanimously endorsed a motion expressing “grave concern” about proposed legislation in Nigeria that “would prohibit or severely restrict the freedom of speech, association, expression and assembly of gay and lesbian persons.” Their motion also called criticized the (Anglican) Church of Nigeria for its support of the legislation…
Anglican Mainstream has issued an editorial comment, defending the Nigerian church, in response to this news story. You can read that here.
4 CommentsUpdate Saturday morning
The Times carries this article by James Bone Lesbian priest who could split the Anglican Church
Chicago Tribune via CentreDaily.com Lesbian priest may be selected for bishop position Original version: Pastor doesn’t shy from call
Reuters Episcopals consider gays in Calif. bishop election
Washington Post In Bay Area, Diocese May Elect Gay Bishop
Tri-Valley Herald Faithful facing colossal decision
National Public Radio feature on this (3.5 minutes) Listen via this page
San Francisco Examiner Anglicans choosing a bishop and see also the front page headline of the newspaper today (pdf format)
BBC Radio: Today programme interview of David Anderson and Susan Russell (4 minutes)
(hat tip KH for several of these links)
Update Friday
The New York Times has this on the eve of the election Episcopalians Divide Again Over Electing Gay Bishop
There are several news reports about this election for the Diocese of California, which takes place next Saturday.
The election site with all the official information is here.
San Mateo County Times Bishop hopefuls aim for diversity
AP via San Jose Mercury News California Episcopalians consider electing gay bishop
San Franciso Chronicle Gay issue at forefront of Episcopal bishop vote
Marin Independent Journal Episcopal churches brace for election of bishop
Los Angeles Times Church Braces for Possible Election of Gay Bishop
Christian Science Monitor Episcopalians face key votes over gays
11 CommentsTime has announced its 2006 list of
…the 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example, is transforming our world”.
Under the category of
Leaders & Revolutionaries – Dictators, democrats, holy men (and a TV host) – these are the people with the clout and power to change our world,…
they have included Archbishop Peter Akinola.
The article about him is written by Rick Warren.
Hat Tip: PoliticalSpaghetti.
Update Friday
This matter is reported in the Church of England Newspaper by Andrew Carey in an article titled Archbishop Akinola recognised on Time list.
The Church Times reported it only in a nib (not on web until next week) as follows:
14 CommentsAkinola makes top-people’s list
THE Archbishop of Nigeria, the Most Revd Peter Akinola, and Pope Benedict XVI have been included in Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. The Iraqi Muslim Shia cleric and military leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, was also included.
Earlier reaction from within ECUSA and in the press to the Special Commission report (issued on 7 April) was recorded here and also here.
Some further items have appeared. This is not a complete list, so please propose additions that I may have overlooked.
First, from the Anglican Communion Institute I want to link to two earlier articles that although not directly in response to the commission’s report, do have some relevance:
If there is a future for ECUSA and the Anglican Communion, then what? by Ephraim Radner dated 2 April
An open letter from the ACI to General Convention members, dated 4 April.
(More recently, Dr Radner wrote a personal note entitled Why I am Still a Member of the Anglican Communion Network and there is also this footnote.)
Next, a further article by Michael Watson Are the SCECAC resolutions intended to authorize private blessings?
David Simmons wrote this analysis and Sarah Dylan Breuer wrote this response to him.
The anthills blog contains several posts about the report. They include:
ARCHBISHOP ROWAN, PLEASE SPEAK UP NOW
LISTEN TO INSIDER MARK HARRIS.
Mark Harris’s four part commentary on the Windsor Report is here: one, two, three, and four.
Update part 5 added.
Fr Jake proposed some Amendments to the Special Commission’s Proposed Resolutions.
Integrity published its response as a PDF file, but AAC has republished it as html here.
23 CommentsChristopher Landau interviewed John Sentamu for the BBC Sunday programme.
You can hear that interview by going 19 minutes foward into this recording (Real Audio). Better and more permanent link from the BBC now available here. The segment is nearly 7 minutes long.
This took place at the Fulcrum conference on in Islington last Friday, at which the archbishop was a main speaker. You can find out all about the conference at this page.
Update CEN report of conference: Finding a place for the Gospel in modern day Europe
0 CommentsBishop Basil of Sergievo writes in The Times that Christians should not be trying to escape from the material world.
Undaunted, Christopher Howse in the Telegraph writes about Suicide club to tropical island.
In the Guardian’s Face to Faith column, Julian Baggini writes that
Part of the problem with assessing how religious we are is that it is not clear what “being religious” means.
Giles Fraser writes in the Church Times about Dealing with people who stop mission.
Robert Mickens in the Tablet reports on what Cardinal Martini has been saying in Clarion call on condoms.
0 CommentsThe press column in the Church Times last week discussed the New Yorker article. The best reason though for linking to what Andrew Brown said about it is because that way I can show you the cartoon that illustrated the original article.
24 CommentsUpdated August 2012
The links below are broken. The PDF file is now available here.
Washington Window, the monthly newspaper of the Diocese of Washington [D.C.] has a major feature in the May issue, in two parts, entitled Following the Money: Donors and Activists on the Anglican Right.
You can read it online here: Part 1, and also Part 2. Or the whole thing is available as a single PDF file here. (375 K)
Jim Naughton is the author of this work.
The full press release is here.
The first part of the series, “Investing in Upheaval,” draws on Internal Revenue Service Forms 990 to give a partial account of how contributions from Howard F. Ahmanson, Jr., the savings and loan heir, and five secular foundations have energized resistance to the Episcopal Church’s decision to consecrate an openly gay bishop and to permit the blessing of gay and lesbian relationships.
The article sets contributions to organizations such as the American Anglican Council (AAC) and the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) in the context of the donors’ other philanthropic activities which include support for conservative political candidates, think tanks and causes such as the intelligent design movement.
The second article, “A Global Strategy,” uses internal emails and memos from leaders of the AAC and IRD to examine efforts to have the Episcopal Church removed from the worldwide Anglican Communion and replaced with a more conservative entity. The documents surfaced during a Pennsylvania court case. The article also explores the financial relationship between conservative organizations in the United States and their allies in other parts of the world.
And that’s not all. Two other items just published touch on the same area:
If anyone still had illusions about the political slant of the IRD… from politicalspaghetti
This Schism Is Brought to You by the IRD by Daniel Webster in the Witness.
For the part of the Washington Window article that refers to UK recipients of funds, see below.
Update Friday 5 May This is reported in the Church Times Family trusts ‘fund ECUSA’s Right’
40 CommentsAvailable to download are full and summary versions of the Church Commissioners’ report and accounts for 2005.
Both are in the format of a PDF file.
Full version 3.2 M.
Summary version 720K.
More information here.
ABCD: a way ahead for the C of E was the title of an article written by David Edwards and printed in last week’s Church Times.
David L. Edwards sets out his vision for the future of the Church: ‘If the Anglican experiment is to be a failure, the tragedy should not be underestimated’.
The letters stand for Activities, Blessing, Conferences, and Discretion.
37 CommentsUpdated Wednesday evening and Thursday evening
There was an interview this morning with Lord Carey on the BBC radio programme Sunday . You can hear the 8.5 minute segment (Real Audio required) some 35 minutes into the programme at this link. (Better link now available from the BBC.)
The interview was concerned with the letter originally published last Sunday in the Sunday Times newspaper along with this report. The Sunday Times report did not claim any bishops had already signed the letter. It did not reveal its Australian origins either.
Letter original with signature list.
Lord Carey issued a statement. I found it at this location.
The story behind this was explained in Friday’s Church Times in Carey rebuts open letter as ‘mischievous and damaging’ by Pat Ashworth and Muriel Porter.
Sadly for Mr Ince and his colleagues Roger Bolton’s radio interview omitted any reference to LEAC.
Update Monday
The Guardian this morning says Lord Carey hits back at critics’ open letter. (Link to original commendation.)
Update Wednesday
The Australian press has caught up with this matter:
Sydney Morning Herald Anglican liberals pen rebuke to former head and Rent asunder as brawls replace talk
Melbourne Age Anglicans furious at former archbishop
ABC Radio The Archbishop of Canterbury and George Carey
Update Thursday
Ekklesia Anglicans need more jaw and less war by David Wood originator of the letter and
Lord Carey says ordaining a gay bishop verges on heresy
The Times today carries an article by Andrew Linzey entitled ‘The logic of all purity movements is to exclude’. The strapline reads Our correspondent suggests that Anglicans listen to the Holy Spirit, and not to the schismatic fundamentalists. No doubt TA readers will have something to say about this…
The Credo column is by Rod Strange, The doubt of Thomas was not a lack of faith but a deeper love.
In the Guardian the Face to Faith column is also critical of dogmatism. David Haslam writes that The risks of rigid methods of parenting have echoes in the dangers of the more dogmatic forms of religion.
Madeleine Bunting had a really interesting article on Friday about the Anglican church angles on The constitutional crisis we face when the Queen is gone.
Christopher Howse writes in the Telegraph about Yorkshire’s own chosen Emperor. The exhibition to which he refers Constantine the Great has its own website here.
26 Comments
