Wednesday 28th February 2007
“Bruce Metzger, authority on biblical manuscripts, dies at 93” “Bruce Manning Metzger, professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary and an authority on Greek manuscripts of the Bible, has died at age 93. Metzger, who was born in Middletown, Pa., died Tuesday of natural causes, according to The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home Princeton...” This news is about two weeks old – from Newsday. See also this article from Associated Baptist Press.
Tuesday 27th February 2007
“Peace in our Time” “For all practical purposes, Katharine Jefferts Schori has admitted that signing the Dar es Salaam Communique was nothing more than a tactic. Selections: Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on February 23 told the community of people who work at the Episcopal Church Center in New York that the new structures asked for by the primates in Dar es Salaam, and the clarifications they want about the Episcopal Church’s stance on blessing same-gender relationships and partnered gay and lesbian priests becoming bishops, can be a “container” in which the Anglican Communion can continue to discuss issues that many Anglicans would rather avoid. She told the gathering that the Episcopal Church is called to ensure that the conversation about the inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church continues in the Communion... ... All of which means that TEC will sign anything anyone puts in front of it. And it’s not like this thing’s going to be actually enforced or anything. Does anyone really believe that if a defiant John Chane authorizes a same-sex marriage rite and personally performs a same-sex marriage at the NatCat with cameras rolling that Schori or the rest of the bishops will do anything substantive about it other than ‘study’ the question? Thought not.” Opinion from Christopher S. Johnson’s Midwest Conservative Journal.
Tuesday 27th February 2007
 “The £3.5 billion church robbery” “The General Synod of the Church of England will tomorrow debate plans to remove nearly 9,000 clergy houses from local ownership and put them in the hands of the Diocesan Boards. These houses have been estimated to be worth £3.5bn. The proposals are just one of the controversial features of the new, but unexcitingly named, Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure... Of equal concern is the gradual shift towards a centralised denominational church and away from parish based church of the people...”. This Press Release from the Church Society highlights one of the hot issues coming up at the Church of England General Synod.
Sunday 25th February 2007
 Video of Bishop Duncan’s Report on the Primates’ Meeting Bishop Robert Duncan, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, and Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network yesterday met with his clergy to report on the Primates’ meeting in Dar es Salaam. Bishop Duncan was invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be present at the Primates’ meeting. Watch his 37 minute report – thanks to Anglican TV. On the Diocese of Pittsburgh website. Worth watching. See also Bishop Duncan’s Pastoral Letter about the Primates’ meeting, which was released on Friday.
Sunday 25th February 2007
 “Archbishop Hutchison ‘discouraged’ by primates’ communiqué” “Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said that he had been “profoundly discouraged” by the communiqué issued by Anglican leaders warning the U.S. church of consequences if it did not abandon its liberal stance on sexuality, and had found it “tempting” not to sign it. Archbishop Hutchison acknowledged that some Canadian Anglicans are “angry” that he signed the communiqué, but explained that he had taken his lead from U.S. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. “I told her (Bishop Jefferts Schori), ‘It’s all about you. If you decide not to sign, I won’t sign. I’ll be there with you.’ ”...” From The Anglican Journal, published by the Anglican Church of Canada.
Saturday 24th February 2007
“Hollywood's ‘Amazing’ Glaze” “It is rare that a Hollywood film takes up a subject like William Wilberforce (1759-1833), the British parliamentarian who devoted nearly his entire 45-year political career to banning the British slave trade. Alas, a lot of people watching ‘Amazing Grace,’ Michael Apted’s just-released film, may get the impression – perhaps deliberately fostered by Mr. Apted – that Wilberforce was a mostly secular humanitarian whose main passion was not Christian faith but politics and social justice. Along the way, they may also get the impression that the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ is no more than an uplifting piece of music that sounds especially rousing on the bagpipes...” From The Wall Street Journal. Worth reading as today we reach the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.
Saturday 24th February 2007
“Presiding Bishop sets live webcast to discuss current issues” “Listening, Lent and reflection on the recent Anglican Primates’ Meeting will be among themes addressed as Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori facilitates a live webcast conversation with Episcopalians churchwide on Wednesday, February 28, beginning at 10 a.m. EST...” From the Episcopal News Service.
Thursday 22nd February 2007
“Orombi boycotts Holy Communion over gays” “Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi refused Holy Communion while at the Anglican Communion Primates Summit in Tanzania over the issue of homosexuality. He also reiterated his stance that the Church of Uganda cannot accept homosexuality because it contravenes the Bible and African culture. ‘I have not received Holy Communion at any primates’ meeting since the US Episcopal Church consecrated a divorced bishop living in a same-sex relationship,” Orombi revealed during a press conference at his residence in Namirembe yesterday.’... Others who boycotted Holy Communion were the archbishops of Nigeria, Singapore, Kenya, Rwanda and West Africa...” From The New Vision, Uganda.
Thursday 22nd February 2007
“Same-sex edict worries Bay Area Episcopalians” “The Anglican Communion’s directive this week that its Episcopal branch in the United States ban the blessing of same-sex unions is a direct rebuke to the Bay Area, where the Diocese of California has blessed the practice for nearly three decades. The Episcopal Church risks being severed from the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, the largest, most unified Protestant denomination in the world. The question roiling the global body is whether it can be multicultural enough to include literal believers in Nigeria as well as liberals in the Bay Area. In the Bay Area diocese, which is believed to have performed more same-sex unions than any other in the country, many Episcopalians say unity must not come at any cost...” Report from The San Francisco Chronicle.
Wednesday 21st February 2007
“Forget unity, just getting on is fine” “There is no doubt Jesus taught on the possibility of unity, stating, “May they be one as We are one”, referring to the accord in the Trinity. But both Australia’s Catholic head and Sydney’s Anglican archbishop believe it is impossible. They yesterday told The Daily Telegraph the two streams of faith could co-exist and still showcase a united Christian front. ‘We have a great deal of respect for each other, but the idea of one big church ... under a human leader is not something I agree with,’ Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen said. ‘The gap is very wide and although relationships are much better now, there are underlying divisions that remain profound.’...” Report by Andrew Carswell on news.com.au.
Wednesday 21st February 2007
 Two interesting Radio reports on the Primates’ meeting 1.) Archbishop Henry Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda was interviewed about the Primates’ meeting – by Andy Walton on London’s Premier Christian Radio. “I don’t think it’s a compromise deal – I think it’s one last chance given to The Episcopal Church...” Hear the 5 min 36 sec interview here via Anglican Mainstream. (The mp3 file is 6.4MB.)
2.) BBC Radio 4 Today’s Robert Piggot analyses the outcome of the Primates’ meeting – hear the 5 min 40 sec RealPlayer file here. “The Episcopal Church is having to accept this entity as part of its territory – given over to a parallel organisation – for these breakaway traditionalists. Now they’ll have their own chief cleric, he’ll answer to a body with majority membership outside the Episcopal Church – and we know the Americans guard their independence jealously and I think this is a sign of how seriously they took the threat of being expelled from the Communion, that they accepted this...”
Wednesday 21st February 2007
“Why the Communique and Recommendations are really groundbreaking” “Well, I’ve had a night to sleep on it and to think a bit more about what’s been said and written in the past 12 or so hours. It strikes me that we are at a really dramatic point in the life of the Communion. Let me explain why:... ... They call for a ban on consenting to consecrate as a Bishop anybody in a same-sex union. The subtlelty is that the union does not necessarily have to be sexually active – the moral ruling of the Primates has not been made in this regard. It is enough that someone is in a same-sex union, regardless of the manner or content of sexual activity within that union....” Read Peter Ould’s thoughts at peter-ould.net.
Tuesday 20th February 2007
“TEC put on notice” “There has been a surprising, late-night development from Tanzania. I had speculated that the softness so far towards TEC augured a tough line in the Covenant and Communique, but even I did not expect anything quite so hard-line. The US Episcopal Church has been given seven months to change its ways or face being kicked out of the Anglican Communion. In an unexpectedly hard-hitting set of recommendations, Primates of the Anglican Communion demanded an "unequivocal common covenant" under which dioceses in The Episcopal Church agree not to authorise same-sex blessings. ... The bishops of the Episcopal Church have been given until September 30 to respond. If they refuse to comply, action is certain to be taken to suspend in some way the province’s membership of the central councils of the Communion. It would be doubly embarrassing for the province given that their Primate, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, was also elected onto the Standing Committee of the Primates, a highly-prestigious seat which places her at the right hand of the Archbishop of Canterbury and at the centre of the structures of power in the Anglican Church....” Latest news from Ruth Gledhill on Times Online.
Tuesday 20th February 2007
“An Anglican unity of sorts, but bring on Lambeth” “‘Behold,’ says Psalm 133, ‘how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!’ Many Anglicans, however, may have a different view following the four-day meeting of their provincial leaders – or primates – in Tanzania, which ended yesterday. The gathering managed to preserve the unity of the Anglican Communion but at the cost of avoiding a decisive resolution to the crisis generated by moves within the liberal Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) to include practising homosexuals in all facets of church life... ... And it will be at this Lambeth gathering, rather than at a meeting of primates, that the strongest divisions between liberals and conservatives are likely to emerge. In Tanzania, for instance, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall – a moderate – represented the province of Australia; at Lambeth next year, Archbishop Peter Jensen – an outspoken opponent of homosexual ordination and blessing same-sex unions – will represent the Diocese of Sydney.” Report by Chris McGillon in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Tuesday 20th February 2007
“Primates Meeting Communique” The Communique has just been released. Among other things, read about The Hermeneutics Project, Following through the Windsor Report, The Listening Process, The Panel of Reference and The Episcopal Church… Note especially this section near the end… “On Clarifying the Response to Windsor The Primates recognise the seriousness with which The Episcopal Church addressed the requests of the Windsor Report put to it by the Primates at their Dromantine Meeting. They value and accept the apology and the request for forgiveness made [4]. While they appreciate the actions of the 75th General Convention which offer some affirmation of the Windsor Report and its recommendations, they deeply regret a lack of clarity about certain of those responses. In particular, the Primates request, through the Presiding Bishop, that the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church 1. make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorise any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through General Convention (cf TWR, §143, 144); and 2. confirm that the passing of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention means that a candidate for episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent (cf TWR, §134); unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion (cf TWR, §134). The Primates request that the answer of the House of Bishops is conveyed to the Primates by the Presiding Bishop by 30th September 2007. If the reassurances requested of the House of Bishops cannot in good conscience be given, the relationship between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remains damaged at best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the Church in the life of the Communion..”
The text of the Communique is now on the Anglican Communion website and will be a source of much discussion.
Tuesday 20th February 2007
“An Anglican Covenant – Draft prepared by the Covenant Design Group, January 2007” “We, the Churches of the Anglican Communion, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ , solemnly covenant together in these articles, in order to proclaim more effectively in our different contexts the Grace of God revealed in the Gospel, to offer God’s love in responding to the needs of the world, to maintain the unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace, and to grow up together as a worldwide Communion to the full stature of Christ...” The text of the draft ‘Covenant’ is now on the Anglican Communion website.
Tuesday 20th February 2007
“Anglican Covenant now published” “The Anglican Covenant can now be read at ACNS, along with the report of the design group. The key paragraph of the Covenant comes at the end: ‘We acknowledge that in the most extreme circumstances, where member churches choose not to fulfil the substance of the covenant as understood by the Councils of the Instruments of Communion, we will consider that such churches will have relinquished for themselves the force and meaning of the covenant’s purpose, and a process of restoration and renewal will be required to re-establish their covenant relationship with other member churches.’...”
From Ruth Gledhill’s blog on Times Online.
Tuesday 20th February 2007
 “Schori triumphs in Dar as new Anglican queen” “So far from being excluded from the Primates’ Meeting in Dar es Salaam, I can break the news that TEC Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has been elected onto the all-important policy-making Standing Committee...” From Ruth Gledhill’s blog on Times Online.
Monday 19th February 2007
“Divisions Remain as Deadline for Communique Approaches” “The fact that the [Primates] remain divided was symbolically expressed in events surrounding the Feb. 18 Eucharist at Christ Church Cathedral in Zanzibar. In one of several breaks with custom, staffers told the press after the service that no group photograph would be taken. Conference organizers declined to offer an explanation... In his sermon to the cathedral congregation, [Rowan Williams] offered oblique criticisms of those not receiving the sacraments, and encouraged an inclusive church centered round love... In high ritual style, Archbishop Mtetemela sung the liturgy, as clouds of incense arose from a censer held by the former Archbishop of Zanzibar, John Rahamdhani. The altar service reflected an ecclesial style seldom seen in The Episcopal Church, with copes, maniples, zucchettos and other finery...” From George Conger in Dar es Salaam via The Living Church.
Monday 19th February 2007
“Pope rules ok. Or, ‘Growing Together in Unity and Mission’.” “Could it be that this mild-mannered Archbishop has a mission for unity which reaches far beyond the Anglican shores and its 78 million adherents? I ask this, having just read and written about the first agreed statement from Iarccum, the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission. The 42-page report is called Growing Together in Unity and Mission. It is not available online yet as it is still being considered by the Vatican. I’ve reproduced a few pars below. As ecumenical reports go, it is something of a stunner... ... ‘114. We urge Anglicans and Roman Catholics to explore together how the ministry of the Bishop of Rome might be offered and received in order to assist our Communions to grow towards full, ecclesial communion.’ ” From Ruth Gledhill’s blog on Times Online.
Monday 19th February 2007
“The Anglican Communion’s ‘Bishop Pike’ Moment” “Two observations on the developments surrounding the sub-group’s report, and neither are very pleasant: First, the Archbishop of Canterbury has shown his hand, and it is a willingness to embrace a deception on behalf of the Episcopal Church. Until he admits the falsehoods in the report and repents of his embrace of them, he should not be considered an honest broker by conservatives. Second, a group of communion conservatives is attempting to spin the sub-group report as a victory for conservatives. They may mean well, but the effect is still spin, and it’s no more palatable coming from conservatives than it is coming from liberals...” Strong words in this opinion piece from Greg Griffith on Stand Firm.
Sunday 18th February 2007
 Anglican TV report from Tanzania At the White Sands Resort in Tanzania, Kevin Kallsen and The Rev. George Conger Discuss: The Report on TEC’s response to the Windsor Report, and the question, ‘Have we been Sold Out?’. A continuing theme: The Primates’ meeting is not yet over, so it is a little early to make pronouncements. 18 minute report on Anglican TV. Worth watching.
Sunday 18th February 2007
“Inside the ‘Ring of Steel’, Primates Under Intense Pressure to Reach Agreement” “Archbishop Williams faces the challenge of his ministry in building a document that satisfies the demands of the Global South coalition while not endangering the historic integrity of Anglicanism or creating new fissures in the Church of England and other divided provinces. Global South leaders have disputed suggestions that the lack of dramatic moves early on in the conference against Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and The Episcopal Church are indicative of a weakening of their resolve or a diminution of their coalition’s strength. The coalition is working towards a common goal, one of its leaders noted, and would not abandon its friends...” Report from George Conger via The Living Church.
Saturday 17th February 2007
 “From My Ear to Yours...” “It’s a waiting game. Speculation is rife about what is going to happen next. The Indian Ocean shimmers in the midday heat; the sand is hot and the pool uncomfortably warm as reporters sip water and beer while waiting, waiting, waiting. Behind closed doors, the Primates are in theological combat mode trying to hammer out a Covenant they can all live with. ...the Communion is doing what it always does – limp along with more ‘conversation’, more ‘covenants’, endless ‘listening’and the new antidote to absolute decision making, ‘hermeneutics‘ – the science of contextualizing sodomy. This is living proof that sodomy is an abomination in the Anglican Communion which it can apparently live with, merely an anathema, hardly a communion breaker...” Report from David Virtue in Dar es Salaam. Update: Text of the Press Briefing given yesterday by Archbishop Philip Aspinall is now online at the Anglican Communion News Service.
Saturday 17th February 2007
 Jim Packer endorses “Battle for the Soul of Canada” Dr J I Packer of Regent College Vancouver recommends Ed Hird’s book, “Battle for the Soul of Canada” in this 11 minute online video (click the bottom video icon on the right of this page). Dr Packer, who wrote the preface, speaks of his hopes for Canada. For details about the book, see this earlier post.
Saturday 17th February 2007
“Sitting at The Lord’s Table: Primates explain absence at Holy Eucharist” “A number of the Global South Primates have not shared in the Holy Eucharist today with their fellow primates. They include Abp. Peter Akinola, Abp John Chew, Abp. Benjamin Nzimbi, Abp Justice Akrofi, Abp. Henry Orombi, Abp. Gregory Venables, and Abp. Emmanuel Kolini. They represent more than 30 million faithful Anglicans. They have released this statement:...” Read the statement on the Church of Nigeria website.
Friday 16th February 2007
“Primates Miss An Historic Opportunity” “If it looks like fudge, smells like fudge, even tastes like fudge, is there any chance that it might be something different?... The next time TEC consecrates a gay bishop, or approves legislations affirming gay unions, even if they violate some technical language generated by tomorrow’s meeting, the Primates will have lost the moral authority to enforce discipline. A thunderous response will be taken as blowing smoke. There they go again! The moment has come and gone..” The Rev. Canon J. Gary L'Hommedie, columnist for VirtueOnline, is perplexed by reports from the Primates’ meeting. However – the meeting is not over yet by any means. Peter Ould has compiled this report on the press conference (chaired by Archbishop Philip Aspinall) – and George Conger in Dar Es Salaam has this interesting report.
Friday 16th February 2007
“TEC ‘regret’ ok, says Gang of Four” “The report of the ‘Gang of Four’, the group set up to look at TEC’s response to Windsor, has been presented to the Primates meeting in Tanzania today, Thursday. At first glance, it looked good and augured well for future unity. But initial responses from the orthodox are not promising. ‘Chilling,’ is how Kendall Harmon described it, warning that schism now was even closer than before. This report would have the effect of propelling TEC further away from the centre and hasten any breach that is looming, he said.” Ruth Gledhill reports from Tanzania.
Friday 16th February 2007
“A Statement by the American Anglican Council on the Communion Sub-Group Report” “The American Anglican Council (AAC) finds a report released today by the Anglican Communion Sub-Group highly inadequate in its assessment of the U.S. Episcopal Church’s response to requests made of the church by the Anglican Communion primates...” From The American Anglican Council.
Friday 16th February 2007
“Primates Blink. Schori and Sentamu Seated.” “The 35 Primates of the Anglican Communion agreed today that the American Episcopal Church had not lived totally up to the demands of the Windsor Report, but gave the TEC a pass saying that its actions were ‘sufficient’ and ‘adequate in its own terms’. The Primates refused any formal censure of the Episcopal Church. There was no public reprimand of the TEC in its continued leftward swing on faith and morals and there was no talk of schism in the meeting at all...” Report from David Virtue in Dar es Salaam, referring, it seems, primarily to the Communion Sub-Group Report. (Bear in mind, however, that the meeting has only just begun.)
Thursday 15th February 2007
“Primates’ Official Opening Session Likely to Be Contentious” “The Archbishop of Canterbury has backed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s invitation to the primates’ meeting over the protests of the Global South primates, setting the scene for a clash of wills at the opening session Thursday in Tanzania. ‘There is no question of her presence’ at the meeting. She is ‘here by right,’ said Canon James Rosenthal, director of communications for the Anglican Consultative Council, at a press briefing on Wednesday. This was ‘confirmed this morning’ by Archbishop Rowan Williams, Canon Rosenthal said. The Global South coalition of primates had lobbied Archbishop Williams to rescind the invitation to the Presiding Bishop in light of her doctrinal views and actions as Bishop of Nevada...” From George Conger in The Living Church.
Wednesday 14th February 2007
“In case of spiritual crisis... break this glass” “An unexpected visitor at the White Sands resort is Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Archbishop of Bendel in Nigeria. He is one of the nine archbishops in the Church of Nigeria who are led by the Primate of All Nigeria, Peter Akinola. He has nine dioceses in his province. Before becoming a Bishop, Archbishop Okoh was a colonel in the Nigerian army. Global South delegates are saying privately that his presence is in response to the trend begun by Rowan Williams in flying in with the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu. Expect all Archbishop Okoh's military expertise to be brought to bear in this war when battle commences tomorrow, Thursday morning. ‘Something is afoot,’ an insider told me. ‘Nigerians do not fly Archbishops around the world just to carry their bags.’ Dr Rowan Williams, who as Archbishop of Canterbury and the Communion’s ‘focus for unity’, asked for prayers when he flew in this morning. He’s going to need them, I fear...” From Ruth Gledhill’s blog for The Times.
Tuesday 13th February 2007
 “Archbishop’s peace talks threatened” “The Archbishop of Canterbury flies into the biggest Anglican crisis since the Reformation today without even knowing whether his fellow Church leaders will sit in the same room together. ... To the consternation of officials, the conservative primates have set up their own headquarters in the neighbouring Beachcomber hotel, at which they will determine their collective strategy, and they are threatening to snub Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the liberal leader of the Episcopal Church, the American branch of Anglicanism...” Report from Jonathan Petre in Dar es Salaam in The Telegraph.
Tuesday 13th February 2007
“Ring of steel around the archbishops” “The relaxed atmosphere that has prevailed for the last day or two between the three or four journalists who have travelled out to Dar Es Salaam and the Communion Office responsible for running the meeting has been soured by a tinge of paranoia. A ‘ring of steel’, or at least a heavy security presence, has been imposed overnight around the conference centre in the White Sands hotel where the five-day meeting, which will determine whether the Communion has a future, will begin on Thursday...” From Jonathan Petre’s blog at The Telegraph. See also this story – “Episcopal Church goes to court in Virginia to retain parishes’ property” – about another lawsuit just before Katharine Jefferts Schori leaves for Dar Es Salaam – and this report from VirtueOnline.
Tuesday 13th February 2007
 “Church must confront this clash of convictions” “Christians sometimes have to decide that the truth of some major issue does not permit them to have unity with each other in the same way as before. We must be welcoming, but we cannot embrace indifference about doctrine and hope to survive. The world-wide Anglican Communion is struggling with the issue of human sexuality. Despite the pleas of other Anglicans from around the world, the United States church consecrated as a bishop a homosexual. Very significant numbers of Anglicans regard this as a clear violation of the Bible. They have, therefore, a broken relationship with those who have taken this step. This has made life very awkward for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. He has some immensely hard decisions to make involving questions of relationship. Who still belongs to the Anglican Communion?...” Opinion piece by Archbishop Peter Jensen in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Monday 12th February 2007
“Archbishop battles to ward off final Anglican split on homosexuality” “The Archbishop of Canterbury’s hopes this week of preventing the 78 million-strong worldwide Anglican communion from finally sliding into schism over the issue of homosexuality appeared slim yesterday as he prepared to fly to Tanzania for a meeting of the church's primates. Conservative archbishops, mainly from the developing world, have gathered in Dar es Salaam for a separate two-day conference in advance of a formal meeting on Wednesday to plot tactics and agree a strategy before Rowan Williams arrives tomorrow...” Report from The Guardian.
Monday 12th February 2007
“Friends give thanks for Richard” Anglican Media reports on the Thanksgiving Service today for the Rev. Richard Nixey, Rector of Belmore, godly servant of Christ, and League member, who departed this mortal life last Thursday after a brief illness. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21.
Saturday 10th February 2007
“Primates head into a storm in Dar es Salaam” “Primates from the Global South and the new US Presiding Bishop, Dr Katharine Jefferts Schori, have confirmed their intention to attend next week’s Primates’ Meeting in Tanzania despite reports of disharmony, it was announced on Tuesday... The Episcopal Church in the US will be in the spotlight at the meeting. Two full sessions of the Primates’ Meeting, as well as two external sessions with presentations by US conservatives, will discuss the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.A report on the Living Church website suggests that Dr Schori is expected to face tough questioning, and is likely to outline what steps the Episcopal Church has taken in response to the Windsor Report... At the weekend, reports suggested that conservative Primates from the Global South were continuing to refuse to sit at the same table as Dr Schori...” Report from Church Times.
Thursday 8th February 2007
 New Principal for Oak Hill Theological College This news has just been released by Oak Hill College in London – “The Revd Dr Michael Ovey has been appointed as the new Principal of Oak Hill College. He will take over from the current Principal, David Peterson, when he returns to Australia this summer. Mike is highly regarded by colleagues, students and friends of the College, as a theologian and pastor-teacher. He has been a tutor at Oak Hill since 1998, teaching Christian Doctrine and Apologetics. As College Dean, he has been involved in pastoring the students and non-teaching staff, and has been a member of the College’s Management Team, where he has worked closely with David Peterson in shaping the future vision for the College. Mike is married to Heather and they have three school-age children. Mike comments; ‘I have been delighted to see and take part in the college’s growth over the last ten years. It is a joy to work in a College and with colleagues who are so committed to the Lord Jesus and to equipping ministers in His Church with the skills and knowledge to bring God’s Word home to His people. I am honoured, privileged and humbled to be asked to continue leading in this work, and look forward to even closer fellowship in the Gospel with our friends in local churches, partnerships and other para-church organisations.’ On Mike’s appointment, David Peterson adds; ‘I am enormously pleased that the College Council has appointed Mike to be the next Principal. I believe Mike is capable of giving outstanding theological and pastoral leadership in the College and in the Church at large. Lesley and I feel very confident about handing over our responsibilities to Mike and Heather.’ Mike’s first degree was in Law at Oxford and he was called to the English Bar in 1983. He trained for ordination at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, where he completed the theological Tripos. He served his curacy at All Saints Church Crowborough, East Sussex. Before Oak Hill, Mike was a lecturer at Moore Theological College, Sydney, where he also studied for a Master in Theology Degree. Mike’s doctoral study on the eternal relationship between Father and Son was supervised by Colin Gunton and Murray Rae at the University of London. He has co-authored Pierced for our Transgressions, which defends and explains penal substitution in the Atonement. This is due to be published by IVP in the spring.”
Thursday 8th February 2007
Church Society posts helpful tracts They may be old, but the Church Society has done Anglicans a service by posting online a number of Church Association Tracts published between 1860 and 1918. More than a dozen tracts – some by Bishop J. C. Ryle – are available on the Church Society website. Topics include, “Reasons for Opposing Ritualism”, “What do we owe to the Reformation?”, and ”The Distinctive Principles of the Church of England.”
Thursday 8th February 2007
“In this season: Christ in the stranger’s guise – A reflection from the Presiding Bishop” “As the primates of the Anglican Communion prepare to gather next week in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, I ask your prayers for all of us, and for our time together. I especially ask you to remember the mission that is our reason for being as the Anglican Communion -- God's mission to heal this broken world... ... And as we seek to serve that suffering servant made evident in our midst, we might reflect on what Jesus himself called us – friends (John 15:15).” US Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori – from the Episcopal Church website. (It’s also worth reflecting on John 15:10.)
Tuesday 6th February 2007
“Challenge for the Church” “The Anglican Communion has been ‘on the brink of schism’ for so long now that this seems to have become its default position – forever poised to fall apart, though never quite taking the leap into formal disunity. But perhaps we should take a closer look at the arrangements for the meeting of Anglican primates in Tanzania next week. As we report today, conservative archbishops are refusing to receive the Eucharist alongside liberal colleagues. Only in the strange world of Anglican ecclesiology could both parties be regarded as belonging to the same Communion. Arguably, the schism has already begun...” Opinion piece from the UK Telegraph.
Tuesday 6th February 2007
“Are you sure enough to kill?” “...You would want to be really, really confident that killing a person in the hope of relieving their suffering was going to be better than the alternative. Why? Because the cost of getting it wrong is just so great. If death is like falling asleep, and consciousness simply comes to an end, this might indeed be better than what some people are currently suffering. But what if – as most people on our planet believe and as most religions claim – death is not the end? What if, as the Bible teaches, we will wake after death and face the possibility of a far greater suffering than any we have ever known, with no possibility of release?... ” Opinion piece by Gordon Cheng in The Daily Telegraph.
Monday 5th February 2007
 “Drive to bar liberal from Church’s crisis summit” “The Archbishop of Canterbury’s efforts to defuse the bitter Anglican row over gays looked increasingly doomed last night after conservative leaders threatened to bar a leading liberal from a crisis meeting in Africa next week. Dr Rowan Williams invited Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the new head of the liberal American Church, in the hope that the warring factions might reach a compromise if they could talk face-to-face. The primates’ meeting is regarded as a last-ditch attempt to avert a formal split over homosexuality, and Dr Williams has even asked conservative American bishops to fly in to appear even-handed. But in a humiliating blow to the Archbishop’s authority, senior conservative leaders privately wrote to him last month warning that he had no right to invite Bishop Schori to the summit without their consent... ” Story from The Telegraph.
Monday 5th February 2007
“Anglican Agenda Laid Out for Upcoming Meeting” “The Church of England Newspaper has released the agenda for the global Anglican meeting that may determine the continued unity or break of the Communion. According to the released report, the 2007 Primates meeting will devote four hours to discussion of the Episcopal Church and its response to the Windsor Report , the 2004 compiled report that called for a moratorium on the consecration of homosexual candidates and for repentance by the parties who attended the ordination of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003. Among the three sessions devoted to the Episcopal Church, US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is reportedly scheduled for two of the sessions to respond to criticisms against the US body for not honouring the recommendations of the Windsor Report... ” From Christian Today.
Saturday 3rd February 2007
“Religious battle in Attleboro” “The fight between the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and a dissident congregation that voted last October to drop its ties to the diocese and to align itself with a more conservative diocese in Africa has taken a new turn... As if to underscore the global dimensions of this spiritual divide, the Massachusetts Diocese plans to have retired Bishop Barbara Harris, who made history as the first woman ever to be ordained a bishop in the world-wide Anglican communion, will take part in a service that will be led by the Rev. William Underhill, at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the original All Saints Church on North Main Street... As the rector and a number of other parish leaders see it, the stand taken by Bishop Shaw reflects what they see as a new and “vicious” strategy on the part of the Episcopal Church nationally — to take a hardline approach toward congregations wanting to leave and take the property with them... ” From The Providence Journal in Providence, Rhode Island.
Saturday 3rd February 2007
 “Bishop Minns: CANA No Different Than Diocese of Virginia” “The Diocese of Virginia recently filed suit to recover the real and personal assets of 11 parishes where the majority of the congregation voted to leave and affiliate with the Anglican Church of Nigeria. The Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns serves as rector of Truro Parish, one of the departing congregations and missionary bishop for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). He recently responded to a series of questions posed to him by a reporter for The Living Church... ” From The Living Church.
Friday 2nd February 2007
“Jesus loves – not approves of – Osama” “Jesus does indeed love Osama bin Laden, but a controversial Sydney church sign saying so is misleading, says Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen. The sign ‘Jesus Loves Osama’ outside a number of local churches, including some Anglican, also features a Bible extract saying, ‘love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’... ” From The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph. See also ‘Fury at church signs’ in The Herald-Sun (Melbourne)
Thursday 1st February 2007
“Virginia diocese files suits against property claims of separated congregations” “The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia went to court January 31 over the real and personal property held in trust by 11 congregations where the majority membership has voted to leave the Episcopal Church, but have not vacated or relinquished that property to the diocese. According to a diocesan news release, eight of the congregations initiated proceedings in their respective circuit courts to transfer ownership of their real properties from the diocese and the Episcopal Church and to the Church of Nigeria through an organization called Convocation of Anglicans of North America (CANA). Last week the diocese filed responses to those eight actions, objecting to any transfer of property, citing both Virginia law and the canons of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese... ” From the Episcopal News Service.
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New Principal for Oak Hill Theological College