Sorry for the absence of crossword puzzles for the past few weeks. I am just starting to get back on track after a family vacation. Here is last Sunday’s puzzler from the Times.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
London Times Cryptic Crossword for 19 October
Sorry for the absence of crossword puzzles for the past few weeks. I am just starting to get back on track after a family vacation. Here is last Sunday’s puzzler from the Times.
Monday, October 13, 2008
The Comeback Bishop
An interview with Bishop Bob Duncan, by Timothy Morgan of Christianity Today:
What’s your advice to the remnant of evangelicals still in the Episcopal Church about giving up church property?
Their property isn’t worth their souls’ health. While our property is precious and important, if it becomes an overwhelming aim, it’s probably good to let go of it. But having said that, the principal thing I would say is that we’re very hopeful that the spirit that we’ve been blessed with here in Pittsburgh will produce a settlement that will [make] a better way forward across the country. We’re also hopeful that the Episcopal Church, in losing battle after battle, will finally just decide that these property battles aren’t worth fighting.
So three things: First, I hope that the way we go through this will provide a precedent both moral and legal for the way other situations might be settled across the country. Second, I hope that the continued failure of the Episcopal Church in its litigation might help it wake up and cease the litigation. And third, in any place where the property has become an overwhelming issue, it might be better for evangelicals to let go of it. Trust the Lord that he’s got the cattle on 10,000 hills. He’s able to restore to us what we lost.
Do you have any second thoughts about creation of this new province for conservative Anglicans?
No second thoughts about it. I would have hoped that the Anglican Communion might simply recognize us as the legitimate bearers of the Anglican franchise here. But that’s not likely to happen in the short run. The significance of the Episcopal Church deposing me is much greater than what most people would assume in this battle for a province. For the worldwide Anglican Communion to see me deposed has been absolutely sobering, and even moderates are shocked and stunned by it…
How should we best interpret the recent silence of Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams?
Sometimes silence is golden. Not so long ago I wrote to him and thanked him for his silence. The silence could suggest two things. It could suggest an indifference, which I don’t think is the issue. Or it could suggest a diplomatic response in which it’s clear that the sands are shifting. The Archbishop of Canterbury and I have had regular contact, and that will continue. He is redefining his own role by his silence. He redefined the role of the Lambeth Conference. Those redefinitions are necessary in light of the emergence of a global communion. The existing Anglican structures are largely colonial. I acknowledge his authority to exercise his role the way he sees it, actually diminishing his role substantially for the future of the communion.
Is a new center emerging within Anglicanism?
A post-colonial Anglicanism with a conciliar structure will emerge. The notion that the Archbishop of Canterbury is first among equals is going to fade away. The 21st-century role of the Archbishop of Canterbury will go through the same metamorphosis that the role of the royal family went through in the 20th century. The British Empire is over, and sadly, so is a British-dominated communion.
How will conservatives negotiate the issues that divide them—women’s ordination and related concerns? Is there going to be a theological center?
The theological center on first-order issues has deep agreement. Most of us hold the issue of the ordination of women to be a second-order issue. We are committed to working with our partners in the communion as we try to come to some lasting agreement. The way I illustrate that is we are now wise enough to understand that we can’t settle the issue of reception of the ordination of women. The reason we can’t settle it is that East Africa ordains women and West Africa doesn’t. We have got to go through this together, and it’s going to take a couple generations to do it. There’s a deep commitment to one another across this divide.
Are you confident that there will be a new province for the North American Anglicans a year from now? And are you the most likely person to be the primate of that province?
The simple answers are yes and yes. I do believe that the Common Cause partners will put everything in place that we need to put in place by Christmas. The time has come. In terms of my leadership I think I understand, and those who put me in this place understand, that in this particular moment my task, my call has been to bring the partners to a place, to the creation of a province and to the beginning of its life, and then I’ll be happy to give it over as soon as it’s clear that I’m not called to do it anymore. We will operate in a way in which the primate of the province is a diocesan bishop, will serve for a term, and may be reelected for a term. Then another will take up that primacy.
How do all these events among Anglicans fit into the bigger picture?
They need to be read in the context of this great reformation in the Christian West. I thank God that it’s come as far as it has. I thank God for the people of Pittsburgh who supported me. I see a new day dawning—and not just for us, but for all our Christian partners. We Anglicans, who don’t theologically always get it right, have done something ecclesiologically that might have helped the whole Christian church.
You can read the entire interview here.
What’s your advice to the remnant of evangelicals still in the Episcopal Church about giving up church property?
Their property isn’t worth their souls’ health. While our property is precious and important, if it becomes an overwhelming aim, it’s probably good to let go of it. But having said that, the principal thing I would say is that we’re very hopeful that the spirit that we’ve been blessed with here in Pittsburgh will produce a settlement that will [make] a better way forward across the country. We’re also hopeful that the Episcopal Church, in losing battle after battle, will finally just decide that these property battles aren’t worth fighting.
So three things: First, I hope that the way we go through this will provide a precedent both moral and legal for the way other situations might be settled across the country. Second, I hope that the continued failure of the Episcopal Church in its litigation might help it wake up and cease the litigation. And third, in any place where the property has become an overwhelming issue, it might be better for evangelicals to let go of it. Trust the Lord that he’s got the cattle on 10,000 hills. He’s able to restore to us what we lost.
Do you have any second thoughts about creation of this new province for conservative Anglicans?
No second thoughts about it. I would have hoped that the Anglican Communion might simply recognize us as the legitimate bearers of the Anglican franchise here. But that’s not likely to happen in the short run. The significance of the Episcopal Church deposing me is much greater than what most people would assume in this battle for a province. For the worldwide Anglican Communion to see me deposed has been absolutely sobering, and even moderates are shocked and stunned by it…
How should we best interpret the recent silence of Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams?
Sometimes silence is golden. Not so long ago I wrote to him and thanked him for his silence. The silence could suggest two things. It could suggest an indifference, which I don’t think is the issue. Or it could suggest a diplomatic response in which it’s clear that the sands are shifting. The Archbishop of Canterbury and I have had regular contact, and that will continue. He is redefining his own role by his silence. He redefined the role of the Lambeth Conference. Those redefinitions are necessary in light of the emergence of a global communion. The existing Anglican structures are largely colonial. I acknowledge his authority to exercise his role the way he sees it, actually diminishing his role substantially for the future of the communion.
Is a new center emerging within Anglicanism?
A post-colonial Anglicanism with a conciliar structure will emerge. The notion that the Archbishop of Canterbury is first among equals is going to fade away. The 21st-century role of the Archbishop of Canterbury will go through the same metamorphosis that the role of the royal family went through in the 20th century. The British Empire is over, and sadly, so is a British-dominated communion.
How will conservatives negotiate the issues that divide them—women’s ordination and related concerns? Is there going to be a theological center?
The theological center on first-order issues has deep agreement. Most of us hold the issue of the ordination of women to be a second-order issue. We are committed to working with our partners in the communion as we try to come to some lasting agreement. The way I illustrate that is we are now wise enough to understand that we can’t settle the issue of reception of the ordination of women. The reason we can’t settle it is that East Africa ordains women and West Africa doesn’t. We have got to go through this together, and it’s going to take a couple generations to do it. There’s a deep commitment to one another across this divide.
Are you confident that there will be a new province for the North American Anglicans a year from now? And are you the most likely person to be the primate of that province?
The simple answers are yes and yes. I do believe that the Common Cause partners will put everything in place that we need to put in place by Christmas. The time has come. In terms of my leadership I think I understand, and those who put me in this place understand, that in this particular moment my task, my call has been to bring the partners to a place, to the creation of a province and to the beginning of its life, and then I’ll be happy to give it over as soon as it’s clear that I’m not called to do it anymore. We will operate in a way in which the primate of the province is a diocesan bishop, will serve for a term, and may be reelected for a term. Then another will take up that primacy.
How do all these events among Anglicans fit into the bigger picture?
They need to be read in the context of this great reformation in the Christian West. I thank God that it’s come as far as it has. I thank God for the people of Pittsburgh who supported me. I see a new day dawning—and not just for us, but for all our Christian partners. We Anglicans, who don’t theologically always get it right, have done something ecclesiologically that might have helped the whole Christian church.
You can read the entire interview here.
Uganda synod gives backing to US traditionalists
As reported by George Conger in the Church of England Newspaper:
The general synod of the Church of Uganda has backed the call for the creation of a second Anglican province in the United States and Canada for traditionalists. Meeting from Aug 26-28 at Uganda Christian University in Mukono, clergy and lay delegates to the 19th Provincial Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed Archbishop Henry Orombi’s participation in the Gafcon primates’ council, affirmed the Jerusalem Declaration, and pledged to support the Common Cause Partnership in North America’s transition into the 39th province of the Anglican Communion.
The synod also took up Archbishop Orombi’s call for a “Decade of Mission”, while approving in principle proposed changes to the church’s Anglican ecclesiology—making shared doctrine rather than communion with Canterbury, the defining relationship of the church.
In his charge to the province, Archbishop Orombi noted the Anglican Communion’s Decade of Evangelism from 1990 to 2000 produced mixed results… The Church of Uganda grew through a “strong emphasis on evangelism.” While “we continue to grow numerically each year,” he noted, “our percentage of the population is stagnant.”
Archbishop Orombi proposed a five-fold mission programme that would focus on personal regeneration, revitalization of the churches and community, transformation of the nation, and the reform and renewal of the Anglican Communion.
While the social and economic needs of Africa and the world were staggering, they could not be productively addressed until there had been a personal transformation of the individual—beginning with the “work ethic”. “Your work is sacred. It should be done to the glory of God,” he said. While Uganda was 85 percent Christian, it had “one of the highest levels of corruption in the world. I have come to the conclusion that the word ‘corruption’ is too polite a word. Brothers and sisters, we need to call corruption what it is…it is theft. It is stealing. It is seeking first my own kingdom, and not seeking first the Kingdom of God.”
To transform the church and world, Archbishop Orombi said a Christian must first allow God to transform his sinful heart. “We need a massive commitment on the part of all Christians to agree together to seek first, not our own kingdom, but God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. If we are faithful in this, then God will be faithful to add unto us everything we need,” he said…
Delegates to the synod also continued work on the revision of the provincial constitution, with an eye towards redefining the Church of Uganda’s ecclesial ties of communion in terms of a shared “adherence to doctrine and upholding the Bible,” and ending the nineteenth century tie of communion through the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Synod affirmed the broad principles behind the changes to the Church of Uganda’s ecclesiology, backing Archbishop Orombi’s position “that as a Church we declare that ‘we are in full communion with all Churches, Dioceses and Provinces of the Anglican Communion throughout the world that receive, hold, and maintain the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the Word of God written and the ultimate rule and standard of faith given by inspiration of God, and containing all things necessary for salvation’.”
I have a lot of respect for Archbishop Orombi and for his vision of a renewed Anglicanism that is not tied to British cultural norms. You can find the whole account of the Uganda synod here.
The general synod of the Church of Uganda has backed the call for the creation of a second Anglican province in the United States and Canada for traditionalists. Meeting from Aug 26-28 at Uganda Christian University in Mukono, clergy and lay delegates to the 19th Provincial Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed Archbishop Henry Orombi’s participation in the Gafcon primates’ council, affirmed the Jerusalem Declaration, and pledged to support the Common Cause Partnership in North America’s transition into the 39th province of the Anglican Communion.
The synod also took up Archbishop Orombi’s call for a “Decade of Mission”, while approving in principle proposed changes to the church’s Anglican ecclesiology—making shared doctrine rather than communion with Canterbury, the defining relationship of the church.
In his charge to the province, Archbishop Orombi noted the Anglican Communion’s Decade of Evangelism from 1990 to 2000 produced mixed results… The Church of Uganda grew through a “strong emphasis on evangelism.” While “we continue to grow numerically each year,” he noted, “our percentage of the population is stagnant.”
Archbishop Orombi proposed a five-fold mission programme that would focus on personal regeneration, revitalization of the churches and community, transformation of the nation, and the reform and renewal of the Anglican Communion.
While the social and economic needs of Africa and the world were staggering, they could not be productively addressed until there had been a personal transformation of the individual—beginning with the “work ethic”. “Your work is sacred. It should be done to the glory of God,” he said. While Uganda was 85 percent Christian, it had “one of the highest levels of corruption in the world. I have come to the conclusion that the word ‘corruption’ is too polite a word. Brothers and sisters, we need to call corruption what it is…it is theft. It is stealing. It is seeking first my own kingdom, and not seeking first the Kingdom of God.”
To transform the church and world, Archbishop Orombi said a Christian must first allow God to transform his sinful heart. “We need a massive commitment on the part of all Christians to agree together to seek first, not our own kingdom, but God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. If we are faithful in this, then God will be faithful to add unto us everything we need,” he said…
Delegates to the synod also continued work on the revision of the provincial constitution, with an eye towards redefining the Church of Uganda’s ecclesial ties of communion in terms of a shared “adherence to doctrine and upholding the Bible,” and ending the nineteenth century tie of communion through the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Synod affirmed the broad principles behind the changes to the Church of Uganda’s ecclesiology, backing Archbishop Orombi’s position “that as a Church we declare that ‘we are in full communion with all Churches, Dioceses and Provinces of the Anglican Communion throughout the world that receive, hold, and maintain the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the Word of God written and the ultimate rule and standard of faith given by inspiration of God, and containing all things necessary for salvation’.”
I have a lot of respect for Archbishop Orombi and for his vision of a renewed Anglicanism that is not tied to British cultural norms. You can find the whole account of the Uganda synod here.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Some dioceses leave, but worst over, Presiding Bishop says
From the Columbus Dispatch:
Days after the Pittsburgh Diocese voted to leave the Episcopal Church over its teachings on homosexuality and salvation, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said she thinks the worst of the crisis in the denomination is over. She also predicted that openly gay bishops will be elected in the future, despite an agreement among bishops not to consent to such elections for the time being. Jefferts Schori, the spiritual leader of the Episcopal Church, was in Columbus today to preach at Trinity Episcopal Church Downtown, where she was elected bishop in 2006...
Jefferts Schori spoke of her grief about the Pittsburgh Diocese's decision to leave because of disagreements with the church over biblical teachings about homosexuality and salvation. "That's just profoundly sad," she said. "Arguing about fine details of theology isn't the main reason for our existence." The focus instead should be on service and evangelism, she said...
The Pittsburgh Diocese was the second in the United States to leave the church, after the Diocese of San Joaquin in Fresno, Calif. Next month, dioceses in Fort Worth, Texas, and Quincy, Ill., are to vote on leaving the Episcopal Church. Individual churches, including several in Ohio, have also decided to break from the denomination. No other dioceses have expressed a desire to leave, Jefferts Schori said. "I think we're well past the worst of the crisis," she said.
The reorganization of the Pittsburgh Diocese has begun, led by diocesan officials who chose to remain with the Episcopal Church, Jefferts Schori said. The breakaway congregations still occupy church property, and the denomination will reclaim it through the courts if necessary. "Our job isn't to be vindictive about their departure but to say, 'We bless your journey, we wish you all the best. And if you want to come back, the door's open and we'll keep the porch light on.'"
As presiding bishop, her task is to refocus Episcopalians on the mission of the church, she said. Part of that mission is to fight oppression in all its forms, starting with racism. On Saturday in Philadelphia, Jefferts Schori apologized for the Episcopal Church's role in perpetuating and profiting from slavery.
There is a parallel between the historic oppression of black people and the challenges that gays and lesbians face, she said. "It's an age-old human struggle over who's an accepted member of the community," she said.
The worst over? Salvation no more than a fine detail of theology and not the main reason for our existence? Prosecuting parishes and dioceses, but not vindictive? Just what color is the sky in that woman's world? The whole article is here.
Days after the Pittsburgh Diocese voted to leave the Episcopal Church over its teachings on homosexuality and salvation, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said she thinks the worst of the crisis in the denomination is over. She also predicted that openly gay bishops will be elected in the future, despite an agreement among bishops not to consent to such elections for the time being. Jefferts Schori, the spiritual leader of the Episcopal Church, was in Columbus today to preach at Trinity Episcopal Church Downtown, where she was elected bishop in 2006...
Jefferts Schori spoke of her grief about the Pittsburgh Diocese's decision to leave because of disagreements with the church over biblical teachings about homosexuality and salvation. "That's just profoundly sad," she said. "Arguing about fine details of theology isn't the main reason for our existence." The focus instead should be on service and evangelism, she said...
The Pittsburgh Diocese was the second in the United States to leave the church, after the Diocese of San Joaquin in Fresno, Calif. Next month, dioceses in Fort Worth, Texas, and Quincy, Ill., are to vote on leaving the Episcopal Church. Individual churches, including several in Ohio, have also decided to break from the denomination. No other dioceses have expressed a desire to leave, Jefferts Schori said. "I think we're well past the worst of the crisis," she said.
The reorganization of the Pittsburgh Diocese has begun, led by diocesan officials who chose to remain with the Episcopal Church, Jefferts Schori said. The breakaway congregations still occupy church property, and the denomination will reclaim it through the courts if necessary. "Our job isn't to be vindictive about their departure but to say, 'We bless your journey, we wish you all the best. And if you want to come back, the door's open and we'll keep the porch light on.'"
As presiding bishop, her task is to refocus Episcopalians on the mission of the church, she said. Part of that mission is to fight oppression in all its forms, starting with racism. On Saturday in Philadelphia, Jefferts Schori apologized for the Episcopal Church's role in perpetuating and profiting from slavery.
There is a parallel between the historic oppression of black people and the challenges that gays and lesbians face, she said. "It's an age-old human struggle over who's an accepted member of the community," she said.
The worst over? Salvation no more than a fine detail of theology and not the main reason for our existence? Prosecuting parishes and dioceses, but not vindictive? Just what color is the sky in that woman's world? The whole article is here.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Two more parishes split from the Anglican Church of Canada
From the Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator:
A Hamilton church that voted on the weekend to leave the national Anglican church body and join the small but growing Anglican Network in Canada, says it is not breaking away.
"We are aligning with the worldwide Anglican church," said Rev. Sandy Copland of the Church of St. Peter in Hamilton, which was part of the Niagara diocese. "It's the Canadian church or parts of it that have broken away."
Votes were held at St. Peter and St. George's in Ottawa on Sunday, with overwhelming majorities. At St. Peter, 42 voted in favour and one was opposed. At St. George's, the vote was 130 in favour and 27 opposed. The churches, and others that have joined the network, believe the Anglican Church of Canada has drifted from core doctrine by taking a more liberal approach to interpreting the Bible...
Hamilton has roughly 20 diocesan churches. With the addition of these two parishes, the Network now has 21 parishes, 13 of which belonged to the Anglican Church of Canada.
This story does not seem to have had much coverage so far in Canada. You can find the whole article here.
A Hamilton church that voted on the weekend to leave the national Anglican church body and join the small but growing Anglican Network in Canada, says it is not breaking away.
"We are aligning with the worldwide Anglican church," said Rev. Sandy Copland of the Church of St. Peter in Hamilton, which was part of the Niagara diocese. "It's the Canadian church or parts of it that have broken away."
Votes were held at St. Peter and St. George's in Ottawa on Sunday, with overwhelming majorities. At St. Peter, 42 voted in favour and one was opposed. At St. George's, the vote was 130 in favour and 27 opposed. The churches, and others that have joined the network, believe the Anglican Church of Canada has drifted from core doctrine by taking a more liberal approach to interpreting the Bible...
Hamilton has roughly 20 diocesan churches. With the addition of these two parishes, the Network now has 21 parishes, 13 of which belonged to the Anglican Church of Canada.
This story does not seem to have had much coverage so far in Canada. You can find the whole article here.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Episcopal diocese chooses to secede
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh yesterday voted to secede from the Episcopal Church and join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America. At least 17 of 74 congregations elected to remain with the U.S. church. Meeting in Monroeville, the laity representatives voted 119-69 and the clergy voted, 121-33, to secede. Bishop Robert Duncan, whom the Episcopal House of Bishops deposed Sept 18 but is now "episcopal commissary" to Pittsburgh from the Southern Cone, called it "a historic day"...
The Episcopal Church views the Pittsburgh secession as a violation of canon law and claims full rights to all church property. Litigation is expected. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, primate of the Episcopal Church, said most of the worldwide church "will be intensely grieved by the actions of individuals" in Pittsburgh. Unlike in the past, however, she did not mention suing the breakaway group. "I have repeatedly reassured Episcopalians that there is abundant room for dissent within this Church, and that loyal opposition is a long and honored tradition within Anglicanism. Schism is not," she said...
The Southern Cone group will hold a convention Nov. 7-8 to elect a bishop, which is expected to be Bishop Duncan. The continuing Episcopal Diocese also expects to call a convention before the end of the year to elect new leaders, including a retired bishop to serve until a permanent bishop can be chosen.
The Rev. George Werner of Sewickley, a loyalist and a former top official of the Episcopal Church, said the denominations headquarters in New York was "to be advised" by local Episcopalians. "Many people, myself included, want to make sure that [national leaders] don't slam a bishop in here who will tear us to shreds," he said, an acknowledgement that many Episcopal loyalists are also conservative.
There is agreement that at least 17 parishes will not join the Southern Cone; and the Rev. Simons believes it could go as high as 28. Both sides also agree that many parishes on both sides are likely to lose some members to the other side. The Rev. Werner believes that splits in small churches could cause 20 to 30 of them to fail altogether...
The Rev. Mary Hays, a top official of the Anglican diocese, said she believed Pittsburgh would become a haven for women throughout the conservative movement. The Province of the Southern Cone, which does not itself ordain women, has agreed that Pittsburgh can continue to do so, she said. "Women in realignment who have a call to ordination will be ordained here," she said.
"What we have done today has been to bring the diocese fully back into mainstream Anglicanism," said Bishop Henry Scriven, Pittsburgh's former assistant bishop and now a "bishop providing assistance" to the Anglican diocese. Clergy were offered credentials from the Southern Cone, though they have two years to make up their minds. They were also given handouts for parish bulletins, explaining the vote.
You can find the whole article here.
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh yesterday voted to secede from the Episcopal Church and join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America. At least 17 of 74 congregations elected to remain with the U.S. church. Meeting in Monroeville, the laity representatives voted 119-69 and the clergy voted, 121-33, to secede. Bishop Robert Duncan, whom the Episcopal House of Bishops deposed Sept 18 but is now "episcopal commissary" to Pittsburgh from the Southern Cone, called it "a historic day"...
The Episcopal Church views the Pittsburgh secession as a violation of canon law and claims full rights to all church property. Litigation is expected. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, primate of the Episcopal Church, said most of the worldwide church "will be intensely grieved by the actions of individuals" in Pittsburgh. Unlike in the past, however, she did not mention suing the breakaway group. "I have repeatedly reassured Episcopalians that there is abundant room for dissent within this Church, and that loyal opposition is a long and honored tradition within Anglicanism. Schism is not," she said...
The Southern Cone group will hold a convention Nov. 7-8 to elect a bishop, which is expected to be Bishop Duncan. The continuing Episcopal Diocese also expects to call a convention before the end of the year to elect new leaders, including a retired bishop to serve until a permanent bishop can be chosen.
The Rev. George Werner of Sewickley, a loyalist and a former top official of the Episcopal Church, said the denominations headquarters in New York was "to be advised" by local Episcopalians. "Many people, myself included, want to make sure that [national leaders] don't slam a bishop in here who will tear us to shreds," he said, an acknowledgement that many Episcopal loyalists are also conservative.
There is agreement that at least 17 parishes will not join the Southern Cone; and the Rev. Simons believes it could go as high as 28. Both sides also agree that many parishes on both sides are likely to lose some members to the other side. The Rev. Werner believes that splits in small churches could cause 20 to 30 of them to fail altogether...
The Rev. Mary Hays, a top official of the Anglican diocese, said she believed Pittsburgh would become a haven for women throughout the conservative movement. The Province of the Southern Cone, which does not itself ordain women, has agreed that Pittsburgh can continue to do so, she said. "Women in realignment who have a call to ordination will be ordained here," she said.
"What we have done today has been to bring the diocese fully back into mainstream Anglicanism," said Bishop Henry Scriven, Pittsburgh's former assistant bishop and now a "bishop providing assistance" to the Anglican diocese. Clergy were offered credentials from the Southern Cone, though they have two years to make up their minds. They were also given handouts for parish bulletins, explaining the vote.
You can find the whole article here.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Algoma elects college president as bishop
Some encouraging news from the Anglican Journal (Canada):
The diocese of Algoma on Oct. 2 elected Rev. Stephen Andrews, who is General Synod prolocutor, as its new bishop. Bishop-elect Andrews, who is president and vice-chancellor of Thorneloe University in Sudbury, Ont., was elected on the ninth ballot, according to a brief announcement at the diocesan Web site, www.dioceseofalgoma.com
A respected New Testament scholar, Bishop-elect Andrews is a member of the Primate’s Theological Commission that published the St. Michael Report, a 2005 Canadian theological paper which concluded that the blessing of same-sex unions is a matter of doctrine, but not core doctrine. (The Commission, which is composed of bishops, priests and theologians, encourages and promotes theological discussion in the church.) He was also a member of the team that presented the Canadian church’s view on same-sex blessings to the international Anglican Consultative Council in 2005.
In 2007, he was elected by delegates to the Anglican Church of Canada’s General Synod as prolocutor, or chief deputy to the primate and second executive officer. The Council of General Synod (CoGS), the church’s governing body in between General Synods, recently elected him as one of the church’s representative to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC). The ACC provides consultation and guidance on policy issues, such as world mission and ecumenism, for the Anglican Communion.
A former rector of St. Alban’s Cathedral in Prince Albert, Sask., and dean of the diocese of Saskatchewan, he joined Thorneloe, an Anglican federated college of Laurentian University, in 2001. Bishop-elect Andrews, who is 52, holds a doctorate in Biblical studies from the University of Cambridge, England. He earned his master of divinity degree from Wycliffe College, Toronto, his diploma in Christian studies from Regent College, Vancouver, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Colorado. Ordained a priest in 1987, he also served as assistant curate at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Halifax.
He succeeds Bishop Ronald Ferris, who retired Sept. 30. As the 10th bishop of Algoma, Bishop-elect Andrews will lead a diocese with a wide mix of parishes in an area that is known as Ontario’s cottage country. Bishop-elect Andrews and his wife, Fawna, have two daughters, Clare, and Ellen. His hobbies include music, woodworking, gardening and birdwatching.
Before coming to assist me at St Paul's Church, Halifax (1986-1990), Steve had served as study assistant to the Rev. John Stott in London.
The diocese of Algoma on Oct. 2 elected Rev. Stephen Andrews, who is General Synod prolocutor, as its new bishop. Bishop-elect Andrews, who is president and vice-chancellor of Thorneloe University in Sudbury, Ont., was elected on the ninth ballot, according to a brief announcement at the diocesan Web site, www.dioceseofalgoma.com
A respected New Testament scholar, Bishop-elect Andrews is a member of the Primate’s Theological Commission that published the St. Michael Report, a 2005 Canadian theological paper which concluded that the blessing of same-sex unions is a matter of doctrine, but not core doctrine. (The Commission, which is composed of bishops, priests and theologians, encourages and promotes theological discussion in the church.) He was also a member of the team that presented the Canadian church’s view on same-sex blessings to the international Anglican Consultative Council in 2005.
In 2007, he was elected by delegates to the Anglican Church of Canada’s General Synod as prolocutor, or chief deputy to the primate and second executive officer. The Council of General Synod (CoGS), the church’s governing body in between General Synods, recently elected him as one of the church’s representative to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC). The ACC provides consultation and guidance on policy issues, such as world mission and ecumenism, for the Anglican Communion.
A former rector of St. Alban’s Cathedral in Prince Albert, Sask., and dean of the diocese of Saskatchewan, he joined Thorneloe, an Anglican federated college of Laurentian University, in 2001. Bishop-elect Andrews, who is 52, holds a doctorate in Biblical studies from the University of Cambridge, England. He earned his master of divinity degree from Wycliffe College, Toronto, his diploma in Christian studies from Regent College, Vancouver, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Colorado. Ordained a priest in 1987, he also served as assistant curate at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Halifax.
He succeeds Bishop Ronald Ferris, who retired Sept. 30. As the 10th bishop of Algoma, Bishop-elect Andrews will lead a diocese with a wide mix of parishes in an area that is known as Ontario’s cottage country. Bishop-elect Andrews and his wife, Fawna, have two daughters, Clare, and Ellen. His hobbies include music, woodworking, gardening and birdwatching.
Before coming to assist me at St Paul's Church, Halifax (1986-1990), Steve had served as study assistant to the Rev. John Stott in London.
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