Conger

The Bishop of New Hampshire has not been banned in Britain, a spokesman for the Archbishop of Canterbury tells The Church of England Newspaper, denying press speculation Bishop Gene Robinson had been muzzled by Dr. Rowan Williams from preaching in England.

On May 2, Lambeth Palace confirmed Bishop Robinson was not granted a license to officiate—to celebrate the Eucharist and other sacramental acts. However it was an exaggeration to say he had been banned from preaching as canon law does not permit the archbishop to ban preachers, his spokesman said.

On April 29 Bishop Robinson told the congregation at St Mary’s Putney that he had received an email from Dr. Williams that morning refusing his request to officiate and preach in the Province of Canterbury. The following day, the Episcopal News Service reported that Archbishop Williams would not permit Bishop Robinson “to preach or preside at a Eucharist while he is in England, according to reports.”

In Britain to promote his new book, “In the eye of the storm: Swept to the center by God,” Bishop Robinson told the BBC’s Hardtalk programme “in the past “[Dr. Williams] has … declined to give me permission to preach and to celebrate the Holy Communion and I would never do so without his permission.”

Under Canon C17.6 “by statute law it belongs to the archbishop to give permission to officiate within his province to any minister who has been ordained” by an “overseas” province. However, Canon B18.2 gives the authority of determining who may preach to the parish incumbent—with the permission of the diocesan bishop.

Bishop Robinson had sought permission to officiate in the past and Dr. Williams had declined to accede to that request, the spokesman said. Bishop Robinson had again broached the topic, seeking permission to officiate this summer and had also sought Dr. Williams’ endorsement to preach.

Dr. Williams again declined to license him, and had given “no endorsement for any of the invitations [Bishop Robinson] has received” to preach, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Press Secretary the Rev. Jonathan Jennings said.

Lambeth Palace press officer Marie Papworth told CEN copies of the correspondence would not be made public as it was the Archbishop’s policy not to disclose the contents of private communications.

The Archbishop of York’s press secretary, the Rev. Canon Arun Arora, stated he was unaware of any request from Bishop Robinson to officiate in the Province of York. Bishop Robinson did not respond to our request for clarification.

First published in The Living Church.

Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire has not been banned from pulpits in the Church of England according to a spokesman for the Archbishop of Canterbury, who denied press speculation that the Archbishop Rowan Williams was attempting to silence Bishop Robinson.

A press officer confirmed on May 2 that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams had not issued Bishop Robinson a license to officiate in the Province of Canterbury. However, Church of England canon law does not grant the archbishop the authority to ban preachers, the spokesman noted.

While traveling in Britain to promote his book, Bishop Robinson told the BBC “in the past [Archbishop Williams] has… declined to give me permission to preach and to celebrate the Holy Communion and I would never do so without his permission.” Episcopal News Service reported April 30 that Archbishop Williams would not permit Bishop Robinson “to preach or preside at a Eucharist while he is in England, according to reports.”

Under the Church of England’s Canon C17.6 “by statute law it belongs to the archbishop to give permission to officiate within his province to any minister who has been ordained” by an “overseas” province of the Anglican Communion. All visiting clergy who seek to perform the sacraments within the Province of Canterbury must secure the permission of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The same rules apply for the Province of York in the northern part of England. But another canon gives the authority to preach to a parish incumbent, with the permission of the diocesan bishop.

Bishop Robinson has sought permission to officiate in the past and Archbishop Williams has declined to accede to the request, the spokesman said. Bishop Robinson broached the topic again in a letter to Archbishop Williams, seeking permission to officiate in the province this summer and seeking his endorsement to preach. Archbishop Williams again declined to license Bishop Robinson to officiate, and had given “no endorsement for any of the invitations [Bishop Robinson] has received” to preach, said the Rev. Jonathan Jennings, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s press secretary.

The Rev. Arun Arora, director of communications for the Archbishop of York, said he was unaware of any request from Bishop Robinson to officiate in the Province of York.

THE BISHOP of New Hampshire has begun a tour of the Far East designed to gain the support of the Pacific Anglican Churches for his quest to be extended an invitation to the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

In an Oct 20 speech at Hong Kong’s City University entitled, ‘Grace under fire-securing justice for sexual minorities,’ Bishop V Gene Robinson said his consecration was a ‘remarkable experiment’ by the American Church in diversity and pluralism.

“In this global village, while we have different experiences and histories, how are we going to live together?” he asked.

The challenge to the Anglican Communion was not the innovation in doctrine and discipline his consecration represented, but the pursuit of tolerance.  The challenge to the church was whether it could “hold different opinions about certain hot issues without killing each other, without disrespecting each other? Can we actually stay in communion with each other while we have different opinions?” he said.

“If we can work it out, wouldn’t it be a great thing to teach the world?” Bishop Robinson suggested.

In an Oct 9 open letter to the American Church’s gay community, Bishop Robinson said the Episcopal Church would not halt its drive for the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church.

The ACC Primates joint standing committee had ‘misunderstood us’ when it reported the US House of Bishops had ‘declared a moratorium on all such public Rites’ of same-sex blessings, he said.

The Church of England would collapse were it not for the work of its gay clergy, the Bishop of New Hampshire said last week in a London interview.

Speaking to Scottish freelance journalist Andrew Collier, The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson said he was disturbed by the hypocrisy of the Church of England in not acknowledging or supporting its gay clergy.

“I think the thing that is the most mystifying to me and the most troubling about the Church of England is its refusal to be honest about just how many gay clergy it has - many of them partnered and many of them living in rectories,” Bishop Robinson said.

“I have met so many gay partnered clergy here and it is so troubling to hear them tell me that their bishop comes to their house for dinner, knows fully about their relationship, is wonderfully supportive but has also said if this ever becomes public then I’m your worst enemy,” he said.

Bishop Robinson called upon the Church of England to admit the gay issue was “not an American problem and just an American challenge. If all the gay people stayed away from church on a given Sunday the Church of England would be close to shut down between its organists, its clergy, its wardens.”

The controversial bishop, whose consecration has “torn the fabric” of the Church according to the Anglican Communion’s primates, said he had received a warm welcome in Britain, but was not permitted to function as a bishop.

“I have received huge support from the Church of England both from the clergy and from the pews. Hardly a day goes by never mind a week that I don’t receive encouraging words of support,” he said.

However, in a private meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, he was told by Dr. Williams he could not “function liturgically or to preach” while in the Province of Canterbury.

Bishop Robinson said it was unlikely the Episcopal Church would conform to the Primates’ demand that it cease ordaining or consecrating gay clergy. The Episcopal Church had been ordaining gay clergy for many years, he said, asserting that the trouble only arose with his consecration in 2003.

He claimed the mantle of Evangelical, noting “as a matter of fact I’m more evangelical than almost anyone you would run into in the Episcopal Church.”

“When I speak to gay and lesbian groups I don’t talk to them about gay rights, I talk to them about their souls. My goal is to get them to church and bring them to Jesus,” he asserted.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s office has released a statement denying press reports that there has been any change in the status of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson’s invitation to the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

On June 29, Lambeth Palace released a statement saying The Times ‘ report that “Gene Robinson is to be invited to the Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Church next summer,” was inaccurate.

“It should be noted that there is no change to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s decision not to invite the Bishop of New Hampshire to the conference as a participating bishop. It is still being explored whether Bishop Robinson might attend in another status but no invitation has been issued,” the Archbishop’s office said.

The Times reported that a member of the Dr. Williams’ staff had responded to queries about Bishop Robinson writing that he was aware of “the level of disappointment expressed by correspondents, following his decision not to extend an invitation to Bishop Gene Robinson to attend the Lambeth Conference along with the other bishops.”

The letter restated Dr. Williams’ reasons for not inviting Bishop Robinson, and had balanced the “widespread concern” felt by many in the Communion with “the position of Bishop Robinson within The Episcopal Church.”

“The Archbishop is therefore exploring inviting Bishop Robinson to the conference in another status,” the letter concluded.

A spokesman told The Church of England Newspaper there had been no changes or new actions taken over Bishop Robinson’s invitation to Lambeth since the invitations were extended last month, and urged a halt to speculation.

Senior advisers to Dr. Williams noted the invitation list was not caste in stone, and that it was entirely possible that some bishops who had received invitations, could be dis-invited to the gathering of the Communion’s bishops next summer in Canterbury.

In his letter to the Bishops of May 22, Dr. Williams stated, “with the recommendations of the Windsor Report particularly in mind, I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion.”

Last month US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori sent an email to the US bishops encouraging them to send in their response to the Lambeth invitation. “All bishops who have any inkling that they may wish to attend Lambeth are encouraged to respond positively to their invitation before the end of July,” she wrote.

“Once rejected, it is possible that an invitation would not be re-extended. It is always appropriate, however, to decline at a later date if circumstances - of any sort - make that necessary,” Bishop Schori noted.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s office has released a statement on the status of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson’s invitation to the 2008 Lambeth Conference, saying “there is no change to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s decision not to invite the Bishop of New Hampshire to the conference as a participating bishop.”

Last week a British daily newspaper reported that a member of the archbishop’s staff had informed several concerned clergy members of the Church of England by letter that Bishop Robinson would be attending.

Read it all in The Living Church.

Comment at TitusOneNine.

The Bishop of New Hampshire has given his clergy permission to bless same-sex unions. Speaking to the press on May 31 following the signing of a state law in New Hampshire establishing gay civil unions, Bishop Gene Robinson stated he would not compel his clergy to conduct gay blessings, but would leave it up to each priest’s conscience.

“That authority belongs to them and I would not in any way ask them not to do that. … Just like in marriages, every priest will have the option to bless or not to bless,” he said.

Gay civil unions are “not a radical departure,” Bishop Robinson said, according to the Associated Press. “This is a real confirmation of what New Hampshire has always been about: the freedom of its own citizens and fairness for everyone.”

The law will take effect in January 2008. Five states currently permit gay civil unions or domestic partnerships under law, with New Hampshire and two other states having adopted legislation that comes into force this coming year. Bishop Robinson stated he and his partner will take advantage of the new law and enter a civil union.

Paragraph 144 of the Windsor Report requested The Episcopal Church enact a moratorium on public same-sex blessing rites, and recommended “bishops who have authorised such rites in the United States and Canada be invited to express regret that the proper constraints of the bonds of affection were breached by such authorisation. Pending such expression of regret, we recommend that such bishops be invited to consider in all conscience whether they should withdraw themselves from representative functions in the Anglican Communion.”

On March 15, 2005 the US House of Bishops pledged to honor the Windsor Report’s request, stating “we pledge not to authorize any public rites for the blessing of same sex unions, and we will not bless any such unions, at least until the General Convention of 2006.”

The Episcopal Church’s 2006 General Convention did not respond to this request of the Windsor Report.

Gene Robinson is not coming to Lambeth. The New Hampshire bishop, CANA Bishop Martyn Minns and Bishop Chuck Murphy of the AMiA and his suffragans will not receive invitations to the July 16 to Aug 4 gathering in Canterbury of the bishops of the Anglican Communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon, the secretary of the 2008 Lambeth Conference said on May 22.

Invitations to the 2008 conference have been mailed to over 800 bishops by the Conference’s host, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams. Invitations to two other diocesan bishops, including the controversial Bishop of Harare, Dr. Nolbert Kunonga, have been held pending further “consultation,” said Canon Kearon, the ACC secretary general.

Dr. Williams is “seeking further advice” on inviting Dr. Kunonga, Canon Kearon told The Church of England Newspaper but noted his case and that of “one or two others” had “nothing to do with the Windsor process.” In 2002 the EU banned Dr. Kunonga from travel to Europe in response to his complicity with the crimes of the regime of Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe.

A spokesman for the ACC noted Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti of Recife would not be invited either. In 2005 Bishop Cavalcanti and 32 of his clergy were deposed by the Primate of Brazil for contumacy. They and over 90 percent of the communicants in the diocese transferred to the jurisdiction of the Province of the Southern Cone under the jurisdiction of Archbishop Gregory Venables.

In a letter accompanying the invitation, Dr. Williams stated he hoped the meeting would be “a place where we can try and get more clarity about the limits of our diversity and the means of deepening our Communion, so we can speak together with conviction and clarity to the world.”

He noted that Lambeth would not be “a formal Synod or Council of the bishops of the Communion” nor does attending the Conference commit a bishop to accept “the position of others as necessarily a legitimate expression of Anglican doctrine and discipline, or to any action that would compromise your conscience or the integrity of your local church.”

Dr. Williams said he had reserved the right “to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion.”

Canon Kearon stated there was “no question that Gene Robinson had been duly elected and consecrated” Bishop of New Hampshire in 2005. However, paragraph 133 of the Windsor Report recommends the Archbishop “exercise very considerable caution in inviting or admitting him to the councils of the Communion,” he said.

The “archbishop recognizes the widespread objections in many parts of the communion to [Bishop Robinson's] consecration and to his ministry,” said Canon Kearon. However, the “Archbishop intends to explore the possibility of inviting [Bishop Robinson] to Lambeth as a guest or observer,” he added.

The Bishops of the Anglican Mission in America would not be invited to Lambeth because of the decision taken by Archbishop George Carey in 2000. Archbishop Carey “wrote to them saying he could not recognize their ministry” and that their “consecrations were irregular,” Canon Kearon explained. This decision was “confirmed at Oporto” by the Primates in 2000 and the “decision was already fixed” by Dr. Williams’ predecessor.

The case of CANA Bishop Martyn Minns exhibits “no difference” from the AMiA and he falls into the same category, Canon Kearon said.

Dr. Williams has been under intense pressure to act upon the Lambeth invitations. While the Conference has no juridical powers, it is seen as the symbolic center of Anglican identity—and the arbiter of who is and is not an Anglican. The Primate of Canada, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison urged Dr. Williams to postpone Lambeth to forestall the political confrontation expected.

A number of American and British bishops had suggested they may boycott Lambeth should Bishop Robinson not be invited. However, on May 15 the Primate of the West Indies, Archbishop Drexel Gomez told The Church of England Newspaper the Global South Primates had written to Dr. Williams saying that if Bishop Robinson were invited to Lambeth, the Global South bishops would not attend.