‘Cloak and dagger’ Archbishop of Canterbury selection

“The committee choosing the next leader of the world’s 77 million Anglicans is facing growing discontent from within the Church amid clams that the long-running process has become a ‘cloak and dagger’ procedure.…

The first that the world’s 77 million Anglicans are expected to know of the identity of their new leader will be when the name is announced from Downing Street.”

– Opinion piece in today’s (UK) Telegraph.

Church Society urges C of E General Synod to reject Women Bishops measure

Church Society has written to members of the Church of England’s General Synod:

“…our Council and membership contain a substantial body of ordinands, younger clergy, lay leaders and laity all of whom subscribe fully to the Society’s position, such that their ministry within the Church of England will be threatened by the proposed Measure, if it is enacted. It would be immensely damaging to the Church of England and to our country if the ministries of such men and women were seemingly rejected by our beloved national church.

It would also put us significantly at odds with most of the provinces, and the vast majority of Anglicans, in the global Anglican Communion, who do not have female bishops.…”

– Read the full letter at Evangelicals.org.

Crown Nominations Commission — nothing to report

“This week’s meeting of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) has been accompanied by much speculation about possible candidates and the likely timing of an announcement of the name of who will succeed Dr Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury  … There will be no comment on any speculation about candidates or about the CNC’s deliberations.”

– from the Anglican Communion News Service.

‘Church leaders pay tribute as Bishop Wallace Benn nears retirement’

The Church of England Newspaper has a report on the coming retirement of Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes.
(Photo:Peter Frank / GAFCON.)

BBC Radio 4 programme on women bishops

Adrian Reynolds at The Proclamation Trust writes:

Interesting programme on Radio 4 yesterday including a very high quality section with Andrea Trevenna from St Nicholas’ Sevenoaks. Listen here. Go to 16:38 if you want to skip context and go straight to her part. She’s very strong on the authority of Scripture. She pretty much was the only person interviewed who mentioned the Bible.

(Includes comments from Kay Goldsworthy.)

Reform statement on Women Bishops measure in the C of E General Synod

“Reform says ‘furore’ over women bishops shows need for better provision.

Reform Chairman Rev’d Rod Thomas said today that “Reform deeply regrets that we have reached such an impasse on women bishops” with the current House of Bishops’ amendments not satisfying the conservative evangelical network’s concerns over their future in the Church of England. …”

– See the full Reform statement.

Church Society response to the Church of England Submission on Same-Sex Marriage

The Church Society media release below refers to this submission (PDF) from the Church of England.

“Church Society Response to the Church of England Submission on Same-Sex Marriage

Church Society welcomes the Church of England’s official submission to the government’s ‘consultation’ on sex-same marriage, which argues strongly in favour of retaining the current definition of marriage as “the voluntary union for life of one man with one woman to the exclusion of all others”.  Read more

‘Is David Cameron about to force the Queen to break her Coronation Oath?’

Well-known UK blogger ‘Archbishop Cranmer’ looks at some implications of the British government’s proposals –

“The newspapers today are full of reports of the likely consequences to the Church of England of the Government’s plans to redefine the institution of marriage to include same-sex unions, contra the official teaching of Church, as established by Act of Parliament. The Report has been hyped, selectively quoted, misquoted and misrepresented by much of the media, so His Grace urges you to READ IT for yourself…”

– Read it all here. (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)

2,200 Anglican women say ‘No Thanks!’ to having a woman bishop

“A petition signed by more than 2,200 Anglican women who oppose women bishops will be presented today to the House of Bishops at the start of their meeting in York…”

– Media statement from Reform.

UK Advertising Standards Authority investigates blogger

This from well-known UK blogger “Archbishop Cranmer” –

“Apparently there have been a number of complaints about one of the advertisements His Grace carried on behalf of the Coalition for Marriage. He has been sent all manner of official papers, formal documentation and threatening notices which demand answers to sundry questions by a certain deadline. He is instructed by the ‘Investigations Executive’ of this inquisition to keep all this confidential…”

– Read about it here.

Women Bishops in the Church of England

“We all know there are within the Church of England those who conscientiously object to the principle of consecrating women bishops. Those people, both lay and ordained, have been reassured on many occasions that they are loyal, faithful Anglicans. They have been reassured there is a place for them – on some occasions it has even been called an honoured place – within the church. They have been told that that place will remain. So far, so good, you may think…”

– Church Society Council member George Curry points out some of the implications of the Church of England’s current trajectory – in the latest issue of CrossWay (PDF file).

New Director for Church Society

It’s been announced that Lee Gatiss will be the new Director of Church Society from the start of 2013.

Announcement here.

When bishops disagree

“What should bishops do when a bishop breaks ranks and violates the collegiality of the House of Bishops?

That would seem to be the question confronting the Church of England since the Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam apparently stated, in an interview with The Times, that he did not see any need to ‘sublimate’ his support for same-sex marriage to the views of the Church.

Given the inevitable shortcomings of newspaper reporting, that may not be exactly what he said or exactly what he meant, but given also that there has been no refutation from him, for the moment we must assume this is the case…”

– John Richardson at the Ugley Vicar looks at events in the UK.
Related: ACL Statement on developments in the Diocese of Gippsland.

Reform urges C of E General Synod to avoid ‘brinkmanship’ on women bishops

Here’s a Media Statement from Reform:

“Do Synod members wish to see the ministry of those who are opposed to women bishops on theological grounds progressively removed from the Church of England, or can we, even at this late stage, encourage a more generous and inclusive approach?”

Reform chairman Rev’d Rod Thomas today called on fellow General Synod members to take a “generous approach” to those opposed to women bishops or risk seeing the legislation being voted down.

“When we come to vote on the Manchester Diocese Motion on Wednesday 8th, we will each have to choose. Do Synod members wish to see the ministry of those who are opposed to women bishops on theological grounds progressively removed from the Church of England, or can we, even at this late stage, encourage a more generous and inclusive approach?” he said.

“If the draft legislation comes back to General Synod for final approval next July unchanged, then we will have the unsavoury dilemma of either having to vote for a Measure which will lead to disunity and division, or of voting against it and thus prolonging the debate for another five years. Yet there is still an opportunity, through the amendments previously put forward by the Archbishops, to reach an agreed way forward.”

The Manchester Diocese Motion, which will be debated next Wednesday, recognises that the only body which now has legal authority to amend the draft legislation is the House of Bishops. The motion asks the House of Bishops to use their power to amend the draft legislation in line with the amendment put forward by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in 2010. That amendment provided that where arrangements are made for another bishop to exercise oversight over parishes which cannot accept the ministry of women bishops, such bishops could do so by exercising ‘co-ordinate’ rather than ‘delegated’ jurisdiction.

— Ends. (Also posted here.)

Related: “Anglicans to march in support of women bishops” – BBC News.

‘More new women priests than men for first time’ in C of E

“Official figures show that 290 women were ordained in 2010, the most recent year for which figures are available. By contrast, just 273 men entered the priesthood.

The watershed moment comes less than 20 years since the Church first allowed women to be priests…” – from The Telegraph.

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