No right to ordination for gay man, Human Rights Tribunal rules: Anglican Ink, October 19, 2013 October 19, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Anglican Ink, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue.Tags: Diocese of Auckland, Ross Bay
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The New Zealand Human Rights Review Tribunal has dismissed a complaint accusing the Bishop of Auckland of discrimination against homosexuals.
On 18 October 2013 the tribunal ruled the Bishop of Auckland, the Rt. Rev. Ross Bay, had not violated the country’s Human Rights laws by refusing to allow Eugene Sisneros to begin the ordination process on because he is in a same-sex partnership.
Mr. Sisneros, a lay employee of St. Matthews-in-the-City in Auckland, filed a complaint with the tribunal stating he “felt totally humiliated that I had spent six years of my life in study, for a process that I was not permitted to enter because I was a gay man and in a relationship,” adding “My humiliation and disappointment continue to this day.”\
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
ACNA keeps the filioque clause: Anglican Ink, October 17, 2013 October 17, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of North America, Anglican Ink.Tags: Filioque, pneumatology
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The decision to keep the filioque clause in “Texts for Common Prayer” represents a victory of common sense over special interests writes George Conger and is a mark of the political and theological maturity of the Anglican Church of North America.
On 18 October 2013 the ACNA released its long awaited Eucharistic liturgies. The document entitled “Texts for Common Prayer” retained the language of the double procession of the Spirit, the filioque, but permitted its omission when reciting the creed.
A draft text released in June had called for the omission of the “and the son” or filioque clause following the statement: “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father.”
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Belief in the Virgin Birth an optional extra, new Swedish archbishop declares: Anglican Ink, October 16, 2013 October 16, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of Sweden, Women Priests.Tags: Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of Uppsala
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The Church of Sweden has elected its first woman archbishop.
On 15 October 2013 the Rt. Rev. Antje Jackelén, Bishop of Lund, was elected Archbishop of Uppsala and primate of the Church of Sweden. She is the second Archbishop of Uppsala to be elected by popular vote by the church’s synod following the separation of the Church of Sweden from the state on January 1, 2000, and succeeds the Most Rev. Anders Wejryd who was elected in2006.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
The decline of the art of Anglican lying: Anglican Ink, October 7, 2013 October 8, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of England, GAFCON.Tags: Justin Welby
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I do not mean to suggest that the custom of lying has suffered any decay or interruption,–no, for the Lie, as a Virtue, a Principle, is eternal; the Lie, as a recreation, a solace, a refuge in time of need, the fourth Grace, the tenth Muse, man’s best and surest friend, is immortal, and cannot perish from the earth … My complaint simply concerns the decay of the art of lying. No high-minded man, no man of right feeling, can contemplate the lumbering and slovenly lying of the present day without grieving to see a noble art so prostituted.
Mark Twain. “On the Decay of the Art of Lying” (1882)
It pains me to see the decline of lying. Our forefathers were unsurpassed in the gentle art of polite fiction, of the little white lie. The feeble attempts of our debased modern age are insults to a grand and glorious tradition of obfuscation. We are midgets standing on the shoulders of giants.
The dulling of the craft is most pronounced within the ranks of the Church. Monday’s announcement that the Archbishop of Canterbury will make a flying visit to Kenya in solidarity with the victims of the Westgate Mall terror attack is not only witless but unproductive – this silly explanation will not convince the liberal wing of the Church of England (it’s intended audience), will cause the conservatives to chortle and will insult the Churches of Pakistan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Nigeria.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Seek peace with honor in the TEC wars: Anglican Ink, October 6, 2013 October 6, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Ink, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Anglican Communion Institute, Christopher Seitz, ecclesiology, Wycliffe College Toronto
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Toronto: Conservatives should seek terms for a negotiated peace to the Anglican wars, the Rev. Canon Christopher Seitz, Old Testament Scholar and Senior Research Professor at Wycliffe College in the University of Toronto and a leader of the Anglican Communion Institute told a conference marking the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 Toronto Pan-Anglican Congress.
The battle had been lost leaving conservatives as “strangers in their own church,” he said, and “the question for conservatives [now] is about encouragement. Will we be allowed to walk the well-worn paths of the faith,” he asked “or must we follow the trailblazers?”
While engaged in the preparation of a commentary on the Book of Jeremiah while on a study leave at the University of Tubingen, Prof. Seitz stated it was his custom to tread the paths in the forests surrounding the town. Warming upon this theme, he told the conference participants gathered at St Paul’s Bloor Street in Toronto that traditionalists are being told the “paths of our fathers are wrong paths” and our understanding of God’s plan for salvation has reached its “sell-by date.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Justin Welby not going to Gafcon II: Anglican Ink, October 1, 2013 October 2, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of England, GAFCON.Tags: Justin Welby
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The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will not be attending the GAFCON II Conference in Nairobi this month, a spokesman tells Anglican Ink, due to a schedule conflict.
A spokesman from the Lambeth Press Office said the Archbishop had been invited to address the 21-26 October 2013 meeting of centrist and conservative Anglican leaders set for All Saints’ Cathedral in Nairobi. However, he “is unable to attend because of a long-standing commitment on the same date. He will be sending a pre-recorded video greeting,” the spokesman said.
On 23 Oct, the Archbishop will baptize Prince George of Cambridge at the Chapel Royal at St James’ Palace in London.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Archbishop David Gitari dead at 76: Anglican Ink, September 30, 2013 September 30, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Kenya, Anglican Ink.Tags: David Gitari
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The former Archbishop of Kenya, the Most Rev. David Mukuba Gitari has died following a short illness, his grandson, Dennis Itumbi, has reported in a post on Facebook.
On 30 September 2013 Archbishop Gitari died in the intensive care unit of Mater Hospital at 2:15 pm local time. The archbishop had been scheduled for surgery, but was transferred to the ICU after his heart stopped. He was 76.
The President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta offered his condolences to the archbishop’s family and friends. In a message released on the State House website, President Kenyatta described the late Archbishop as “a true servant of the people and a dedicated leader who made a lot of personal sacrifices to serve humanity.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
India consecrates its first woman bishop: Anglican Ink, September 30, 2013 September 30, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of South India, Women Priests.Tags: Pushpa Lalitha
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The Church of South India has consecrated its first woman bishop.
On 29 September 2013 the Rt. Rev. E. Pushpa Lalitha was consecrated and installed as Bishop in Nandyal at Holy Cross Cathedral in Nandyal. She was selected by the CSI’s Executive Synod on 25 Sept from four candidates chosen by the diocese.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Overseas bishop to lead loyalist faction in San Joaquin: Anglican Ink, September 29, 2013 September 30, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Anglican Ink, San Joaquin.Tags: David Rice, Diocese of Waiapu
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The Bishop of Waiapu has been tapped to be the next Provisional Bishop of San Joaquin, the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia’s press office has announced.
The Rt. Rev. David Rice is expected to take up his post following confirmation by the diocesan synod. An American expatriate, Bishop Rice was born in North Carolina and trained for the ministry at Duke University Divinity School. He was ordained deacon in 1989 and elder in 1991 in the United Methodist Church in Western North Carolina and served congregations in the state from 1989 to 1997. From 1991-93 Bishop Rice led a congregation in New Zealand and returned to the country in 1997 to be ordained a deacon and priest in the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch.
After entering the Anglican Church the bishop served as a parish priest and was appointed Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in Dunedin in 2002. In 2008 Bishop Rice was elected Bishop of the Diocese of Waiapu on New Zealand’s North Island. He also was one of four candidates who stood for election as Bishop of Southwest Virginia in March 2013.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
India appoints its first woman bishop: Anglican Ink, September 28, 2013 September 28, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of South India, Women Priests.Tags: Pushpa Lalitha
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The Church of South India has appointed the subcontinent’s first woman bishop. On 25 Sept 2013 the CSI’s Synod Executive selected the Rev. E. Pushpa Lalitha from among four candidates to be the next Bishop in Nandyal.
Bishop-elect Lalitha (57) was born in Diguvappad village in the Kurnool district of Andhra Predesh in Southern India. Educated at Andhra Christian Theological College, she was ordained a priest in 1984. A Telugu speaker, the Rev. Pushpa Lalitha ministered in several villages before serving as the director of Vishranthi Nilayam in Bangalore and as the administrative head of the CSI’s women fellowship.
In a statement released on her behalf by the CSI, Bishop-elect Lalitha said: “My parents had decided to dedicate me to the lord even before I was born, as they had already lost two sons. My life has been God’s mercy, and I wish to be his servant for life.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Gafcon II is a go: Anglican Ink, September 27, 2013 September 26, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Kenya, Anglican Ink, GAFCON.Tags: Eliud Wabukla, Nairobi, Peter Jensen, Westgate Mall
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Archbishop Eliud Wabukala of Kenya
Last week’s terror attack on the Westgate Mall will not derail the Gafcon II conference set for 21-26 October 2013 at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi, the secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans tells Anglican.TV.
In an interview recorded on 26 September 2013 with Anglican.TV’s Kevin Kallsen, Dr. Peter Jensen stated that he and Bishop Martyn Minns had flown to Kenya to meet with local conference organizers to discuss security arrangements. Dr. Jensen said he was satisfied with the precautions taken by conference organizers to forestall disruptions of the proceedings and noted the Kenyan government had matters well in hand.
The archbishop’s flying visit coincided with a special meeting of the Anglican Church of Kenya’s synod on 25-26 Sept 2013 at All Saints’ Cathedral to discuss the attack on the Westgate Mall by terrorists linked to the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab and the Gafcon meeting.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Archbishop Welby sets the agenda for the Anglican future: Anglican Ink, September 24, 2013 September 24, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Communion, Anglican Ink, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England.Tags: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Justin Welby, Wycliffe College
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Archbishop Welby speaking to the Toronto conference via Skype on 18 Sept 2013
Toronto: The Archbishop of Canterbury has laid out his vision for a reformed and renewed Anglican Communion during an address delivered last week at Wycliffe College of the University of Toronto.
The Anglican way forwards was through a church whose mission and message had a concrete impact on the real world of modern men and women. But this church was not merely a vehicle for good works, but one that took a wholly Christ-centered approach to theology and was grounded entirely in the New Testament.
In an unscripted address via Skype to the “Back to the Anglican Future: The Toronto Congress 1963 and the Future of Global Communion” Conference held on 18 September 2013 Archbishop Welby acknowledged the impact of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s ideal of the Church as “Christ existing as community” as his guide.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Return al Qaeda hate with peace, Nairobi bishop asks Kenyans: Anglican Ink, September 23, 2013 September 23, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Kenya, Anglican Ink, Terrorism.Tags: al Shabaab, Joel Waweru, Nairobi, Westgate Mall
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Westgate Mall, Nairobi
Religious leaders in Kenya have called upon Christians and Muslims to foreswear revenge in the wake of the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in suburban Nairobi, urging all Kenyans to remain united in the face of terrorism.
On 21 September 2013 upwards of 15 members of the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab attacked shoppers in the upscale mall patronized by the city’s expatriate community and the burgeoning middle classes. Reports from survivors state the terrorists, including one woman, began to spray shoppers with automatic rifle fire and lobbed grenades into stores and restaurants.
Some patrons of the mall were taken hostage, eyewitnesses reported. Those who were able to recite the Shadada, the Muslim profession of belief, were released. Those who would not convert to Islam were executed. The Red Cross reports that 69 bodies had been recovered from the Mall, including those of two terrorists. However the interior ministry reports only 59 dead so far, but concedes the death toll will rise.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Scores dead in Taliban church attack: Anglican Ink, September 23, 2013 September 23, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of Pakistan, Terrorism.Tags: Diocese of Peshawar, Taliban
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In near simultaneous explosions, two suicide bombers exploded shrapnel laden vests outside All Saints’ Church in the old city of Peshawar on Sunday killing scores of Pakistani Christians in the Taliban’s latest attack on religious minorities in Pakistan.
Police reported at least 78 people, including 37 children killed in the blast. Church of Pakistan leaders tell Anglican Ink they estimate the death toll to be at least 150, with hundreds more wounded.
The attack came following the main service at All Saints Kohati Gate, a colonial church built in 1883 by the CMS along the design of a mosque to offer a familiar atmosphere to converts to Christianity. As the 600 worshippers filed out the front of the church to waiting buffet tables offering coffee and a light lunch, two men walked past a police guard into the compound and detonated their vests, sending ball bearings, nails and other pieces of shrapnel through the crowd.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Gafcon leaders to review Nairobi meeting plans: Anglican Ink, September 22, 2013 September 23, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Korea, Anglican Ink.Tags: Gafcon II
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150 dead in Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria: Anglican Ink, September 22, 2013 September 23, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of Nigeria.Tags: Boko Haram
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Over 150 people were killed in a series of terror attacks in northern Nigeria last week. On 17 September 2013 the Islamist militant group Boko Haram blocked the highway from Maiduguri to Damatura, killing 143 travelers, and on the 18th Boko Haram gunmen attacked two towns.
On the 17th, the terrorist group ambushed a military convoy on the Baga to Maidurguri highway. The army reports that an officer and 15 soldiers were killed in the attack, though local news sources report 40 soldiers dead and 65 missing. The ambush followed a clash between government forces and Boko Haram earlier in the week in Kafiya Forest in Borno State, which killed 150 Boko Haram fighters.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
West Virginia bishop authorizes gay blessings: Anglican Ink, September 21, 2013 September 21, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Diocese of West Virginia, gay blessings, Michie Kluysmeyer
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The Rt. Rev. W. Michie Klusmeyer has authorized clergy in the Diocese of West Virginia to conduct rites for the blessing of same-sex unions.
In an address to the diocesan convention held on 21 September 2013 at the Days Conference Center in Flatwoods, WV, Bishop Kluysmeyer stated that blessings may commence in Advent (Dec 1). Couples seeking a blessing must be baptized members of their church and have been attending for at least six months, he told the convention.
There will be no “right” or requirement that a church must provide the blessings, the bishop said. Before a church begins to solemnize gay unions both the rector or priest in charge and the vestry must agree to allow gay blessings to take place.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Legal loss for Ontario ACNA parish: Anglican Ink, September 16, 2013 September 17, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Church of North America, Anglican Ink.Tags: ANiC, St Aidans Windsor Ontario, Tom Carman
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An Ontario parish of the Anglican Church in North America has lost its appeal of a lower court ruling that awarded its parish property to the Anglican Church of Canada’s Diocese of Huron.
Last week the Court of Appeal of Ontario upheld a 15 August 2011 ruling of the Superior Court that held the property and assets of St Aidan’s Church in Windsor, Ontario did not belong to the parish, but were held in trust by a congregation on behalf of the diocese and the Anglican Church of Canada.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Archbishop Kattey freed: Anglican Ink, September 15, 2013 September 15, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of Nigeria.Tags: Ignatius Kattey
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The Church of Nigeria’s number two man, the Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey has been freed, sources in Nigeria tell Anglican Ink.
The archbishop is understood to have been unharmed, but no details as to the events surrounding his release have been confirmed by the Church of Nigeria.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Episcopal Church confident it will win Fort Worth fight: Anglican Ink, September 12, 2013 September 13, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Fort Worth, Property Litigation, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Allan Haley, Dennis Canon, Jack L. Iker, Rayford High
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The Provisional Bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt. Rev. Rayford High
The Episcopal Church will prevail in its court battle with Bishop Jack L. Iker and the Diocese of Fort Worth, the Provisional Bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt. Rev. Rayford B. High, Jr., said this week, arguing the doctrine of neutral principles of law favors their cause.
On 9 Sept 2013 Bishop High and members of the diocesan standing committee along with the national church appointed trustees of the Corporation of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and officers for the Fund for the Endowment of the Episcopate met with their lawyers to review the Texas Supreme Court’s 30 August 2013 decision in No. 11-0265, Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, et al. v. The Episcopal Church, et al.
In the Fort Worth case the Court by a vote of 5 to 4 overturned a Tarrant County trial court decision that awarded the property of the Diocese of Fort Worth to the national Episcopal Church and its local allies. The Supreme Court held the trial court erred in deferring to the denominational polity of the national church. The ruling nullified the Episcopal Church’s Dennis Canon in Texas, holding the national church’s property rules had no legal effect in the state.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Church in Wales votes for women bishops: Anglican Ink, September 12, 2013 September 12, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church in Wales, Women Priests.comments closed
The Governing Body of the Church in Wales has adopted a Bill to allow women clergy to be ordained to the episcopate.
Meeting on 12 Sept 2013 at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in Lampeter the Governing Body amended the original Bill put forward by the House of Bishops to adopt a staged introduction of women bishops so that an adequate provision for opponents of women bishops might be codified.
However, the Archdeacon of Llandaff, the Ven. Peggy Jackson and the Rev. Canon Jenny Wigley put forward an amendment that would allow the ordination of women to the episcopate without waiting for a code of practice to be adopted.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Magna Carta on its way to Texas: Anglican Ink, September 12, 2013 September 12, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of England.Tags: Hereford Cathedral, Magna Carta
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Hereford Cathedral has agreed to lend its copy of the Magna Carta to the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
The Great Charter of Liberties, signed by King John of England in 1215, limited the arbitrary rights of the king, subordinating his power to the law of the land. Three of its clauses remain the law of England, including the freedom of the church, the liberties of the City of London, and the right to due process: “No Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.” [Clause 29]
The Magna Carta will be accompanied by the King’s Writ, a document dated 1215 and issued from Runnymede ahead of that issue of the Magna Carta and giving local sheriffs advance warning of the impending arrival of the charter and telling them to prepare its implementation. It is the only known surviving example.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Church of Nigeria will not pay ransom for kidnapped archbishop: Anglican Ink, September 10, 2013 September 12, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of Nigeria.Tags: Ignatius Kattey, kidnapping
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The Diocese of Niger Delta North will not pay a ransom for its kidnapped archbishop, the Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey – Dean of the Church of Nigeria and Archbishop of the Province of the Niger Delta.
At an 8 September 2013 press conference in Port Harcourt, the Ven. Richard Opara, president of the diocesan clergy council said that while no ransom demand had been received, the diocese would not negotiate with criminals.
“No contact has been made with the captors. We will not pay any ransom. Ransom payment is not in our dictionary. We are only asking for his unconditional release. We are not happy and the Church of Nigeria is weeping because the number two man has been taken away,” the archdeacon told the press conference.
First printed at Anglican Ink.
English women priest elected co-bishop in New Zealand: Anglican Ink, September 10, 2013 September 12, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Anglican Ink, Women Priests.Tags: Diocese of Waikato, Helen-Ann Hartley
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New Zealand has elected the first female priest of the Church of England to the episcopate. On 7 Sept 2013 the Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki elected the Rev. Dr. Helen-Ann Hartley (40) to be Bishop of Waikato.
Bishop-elect Hartley will join the Rt. Rev. Victoria Matthews, Bishop of Christchurch, as one of two women bishops in New Zealand, and the province’s third female bishop. In 1990 the Rt. Rev. Penelope Jamieson became the Communion’s first female bishop when she was elected Bishop of Dunedin, New Zealand.
Born in Edinburgh and reared in Northeast England, at the time of her election, Dr. Hartley served as dean of students at St John’s College in Auckland. Ordained in 2005 in the Diocese of Oxford, she served her curacy as part of a rural team ministry before being appointed Director of Biblical Studies and lecturer in New Testament at Ripon College, Cuddesdon. In 2010, Dr. Hartley and her husband, a church musician, moved to St John’s College to conduct research and she was appointed dean in 2013.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
TEC loses battle for Quincy: Anglican Ink, September 10, 2013 September 12, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Property Litigation, Quincy, The Episcopal Church.comments closed
An Illinois circuit court has rejected the national Episcopal Church’s claim that it is a “hierarchical church” under law, handing down a ruling that supports the Diocese of Quincy’s secession from the national church.
Details of the court’s ruling have yet to be analyzed by Anglican Ink, but the Illinois ruling appears to have rejected the legal arguments brought by the national Episcopal Church in its litigation with departing dioceses and congregations — upholding the neutral principles of law doctrine over deference to the denominational polity of the church.
The suit came On 7 Nov 2008 delegates to the diocesan synod meeting at St John’s Church in Quincy, Illinois, approved the second and final reading of a constitutional amendment withdrawing from the Episcopal Church. The vote was 41-14 in the clergy order and 54-12 by the laity. A second resolution affiliating the diocese with the Southern Cone pending the creation of a Third Province in North America was approved 46-4 in the clergy order and 55-8 in the lay order.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Auckland Synod rejects gay marriage: Anglican Ink, September 7, 2013 September 8, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Anglican Ink, Marriage.Tags: Diocese of Auckland, gay marriage, Ross Bay
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The Rt Rev Ross Bay, Bishop of Auckland
Lay delegates to the Auckland Synod have blocked the diocese from moving forward with gay marriages.
On 7 September 2013 delegates to the 54th meeting of the diocesan synod split over Motion 6, which would have begun the process towards gay marriage by changing the canons and creating same-sex marriage liturgies.
The bishop and assistant bishop gave their assent to the motion, while the clergy voted 80 in favor, 44 opposed and 4 abstained. However in the lay order the motion failed to break the 50 percent threshold. While 72 delegates voted in favor, 65 were opposed and 8 abstained – giving 73 “no” votes.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Pakistani Anglican bishop warns against foreign intervention in Syria: Anglican Ink, Sept 7, 2013 September 7, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of Pakistan.Tags: Alexander Malik, Syria
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Dr Alexander John Malik
The former Bishop in Lahore, the Rt. Rev. Alexander Malik has urged the United States, France and Britain not to use its military might to strike Syria.
Speaking to journalists on 7 September 2013, Dr. Malik said a Western attack on the Assad regime in retaliation for its alleged use of chemical weapons against the rebels would make a terrible situation worse.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Anglican Archbishop kidnapped in Nigeria: Anglican Ink, September 7, 2013 September 7, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of Nigeria, Crime.Tags: Ignatius Kattey
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The Most Rev Ignatius Kattey
The Archbishop of the Province of the Niger Delta, the Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey, Bishop of Niger Delta North, has been kidnapped.
On the evening of 6 Sept 2013 at approximately 10:30 pm while driving to Port Harcourt, the archbishop and his wife were stopped by gunmen in Eleme. A Rivers State police spokesman told the News Agency of Nigeria the kidnappers abandoned the car and Mrs. Kattey and fled into the bush with the archbishop. No demand for ransom has yet been received.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Robert Farrar Capon dead at 88: Anglican Ink, September 6. 2013 September 6, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Marriage, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Robert Farrar Capon
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The Rev. Robert Farrar Capon, noted pastoral theologian and food writer has died. Fr. Capon’s granddaughter Maggie Oliver announced via twitter that the 88 year old priest had died yesterday. The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island confirmed to Anglican Ink Fr. Capon had died at 3:00 pm on 5 September 2013.
Author of twenty books, Fr. Capon came to national attention with his first book on marriage and Christian sexual ethics, Bed and Board, published in 1965 while he served as rector of Christ Church in Port Jefferson, Long Island. In 1977 he retired from parish ministry to devote himself to writing. At his death he lived onto Shelter Island, NY with his wife, Valerie.
Among his books were a trilogy on the Parables: The Parables of Grace, The Parables of the Kingdom, and The Parables of Judgment; The Mystery of Christ, Between Noon and Three, and Genesis: The Movie.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Courting controversy in Canada: Anglican Ink, September 2, 2013 September 2, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Ink.Tags: Diocese of Niagara
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St John’s Anglican Church in Niagara Falls, Ontario – a parish of the Diocese of Niagara – has joined an Australian and a New Zealand parish in a competition for the most outré Anglican billboard.
Like St Matthews in the City in Auckland, New Zealand, the progressive Anglican church has sought to spark conversation about Christian doctrine through juvenile signs that court controversy.
Read it all at Anglican Ink.
Trademark violation lawsuit against Mark Lawrence dismissed August 23, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Property Litigation, South Carolina, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Charles vonRosenberg, Mark Lawrence
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A federal court has dismissed the trademark lawsuit brought by the Rt. Rev. Charles vonRosenberg against the Rt Rev. Mark Lawrence, ruling the dispute over who may call himself bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina is a matter to be decided by the state court.
On 23 August 2013 Senior U.S. District Court Judge Weston C. Houck held “[t]he sum of all disputes and conflicts arising in the wake of the Diocese’s estrangement from [the national Episcopal Church] are more appropriately before, and will more comprehensively be resolved, in South Carolina state court.”
In a statement released after the decision as handed down, Bishop vonRosenberg said he was “disappointed at the recent legal developments,” but added “we recognized that our journey involves many, many more steps than only this one.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Chaos in Egypt: Anglican Ink, August 22, 2013 August 22, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Coptic Orthodox, Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & the Middle East.Tags: Egypt, Mouneer Anis, Tawadros II
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The political chaos in Egypt can only be resolved by Egyptians, the country’s Council of Churches has declared, warning foreign governments and jihadists to keep out of Egypt.
The Council, led by Pope Tawadros II, “affirmed the right of its citizens to defend themselves against terrorism.” It follows a weekend of anti-Christian violence and arson by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who have destroyed over four dozen Christian churches and schools this week.
The 17 Aug 2013 statement from the pan-Christian council, which represents the Coptic, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Anglican and reformed churches comes in the wake of reports that Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis had been detained by police after Muslim Brotherhood demonstrations were dispersed.
The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Most Rev. Mouneer Anis, Bishop of Egypt, on 14 Aug 2013 released a statement reporting St. Saviour’s Anglican Church in Suez was “under heavy attack from those who support former President Mursi.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Muslim Brotherhood mob lays seige to Anglican church in Port Suez: Anglican Ink, August 14, 2013 August 14, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & the Middle East.Tags: Egypt, Mouneer Anis, Muhammad Mursi, Muslim Brotherhood
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The Bishop of Egypt, Dr. Mouneer Anis writes:
“14 August 2013
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
As I write these words, our St. Saviour’s Anglican Church in Suez is under heavy attack from those who support former President Mursi. They are throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the church and have destroyed the car of Rev. Ehab Ayoub, the priest-in-charge of St. Saviour’s Church. I am also aware that there are attacks on other Orthodox churches in Menyia and Suhag in Upper Egypt(see attached photo), as well as a Catholic church in Suez. Some police stations are also under attack in different parts of Egypt. Please pray and ask others to pray for this inflammable situation in Egypt.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Glenn Davies elected Archbishop of Sydney: Anglican Ink, August 6, 2013 August 6, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Ink.Tags: Diocese of Sydney, Glenn Davies
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The Diocese of Sydney Synod has elected the Rt. Rev. Glenn Davies as its 12th archbishop in succession to the Most Rev Peter Jensen.
On 6 Aug 2013 the 800 members of synod chose Dr. Davies, the Bishop of North Sydney, to be the archbishop of Australia’s largest diocese, besting Canon Rick Smith, (49) rector of Naremburn-Cammeray Anglican Church.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Bishops downplay Palestinian terrorism in Middle East Statement: Anglican Ink, August 1, 2013 August 1, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of England, Israel, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: Declan Lang, Michael Langrish
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The Bishop of Exeter and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Clifton met last week with Israel’s Ambassador to the UK to share the churches’ concern over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
In a statement released on 25 July 2013 that downplayed Israeli security concerns in the face of Palestinian terror attacks, the Rt. Rev Michael Langrish, the Church of England’s lead bishop on the Middle East Peace Process and the Rt Rev Declan Lang, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales department for international affairs, said in their meeting with Ambassador Daniel Taub they “discussed the grave problems confronting the peoples of the Holy Land, including the rise of extremism, settlement building and the impact of the separation barrier on communities.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Appeals Court returns Recife church property to diocese: Anglican Ink, July 31, 2013 July 31, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, Anglican Ink, Property Litigation.Tags: Diocese of Recife, Miguel Uchoa, Sebastião Armando
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The Pernambuco Court of Appeal (Tribunal de Justiça do Estado de Pernambuco) has stayed a lower court decision giving ownership of church properties in the state to the minority faction loyal to the national Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (IEAB). The effect of last week’s decision is to return custody of the church properties to the Diocese of Recife and its bishop, the Rt. Rev. Miguel Uchôa, while the court conducts a de novo review of the dispute.
On 31 July 2013 Bishop Uchôa told Anglican Ink the diocese was ready to turn over the properties to the IEAB but on “the 21st the state high court judged our appeal and gave us a positive answer. The state high court judges will now review the case. It means that they accepted [the case for study] and said ‘no’ to the first judge who had given the [properties] to the IEAB.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Recife loses court battle over church property to the IEAB: Anglican Ink, July 21, 2013 July 21, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, Anglican Ink, Property Litigation.Tags: Diocese of Recife, Miguel Uchoa
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The Bishop of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Miguel Uchôa has convened an extraordinary meeting of the diocesan synod for 20 July 2013 to discuss a civil court ruling handed down this week that awarded the diocese’s property to a faction aligned with the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (IEAB).
“I have called an extraordinary synod for this Saturday to have a united voice from the Diocese with the presence of our lawyers ,” Bishop Uchôa told Anglican Ink.
In 2005 the Bishop of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti was deposed for incivility by his fellow bishops following several years of doctrinal disputes between the Evangelical bishop and the liberal majority in the Province. After he was removed from office, the province then defrocked 32 Recife clergy without trial for backing their bishop. Approximately 90 percent of the lay members of the diocese followed Bishop Cavalcanti and are presently under the metropolitan oversight of the primates Anglican Church of North America and the Province of the Southern Cone.
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No decision today from Texas Supreme Court on Fort Worth case: Anglican Ink, June 28, 2013 June 28, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Fort Worth, Property Litigation, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Jack Iker
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The Texas Supreme Court did not hand down its expected decision in the Diocese of Fort Worth case today, leaving the breakaway diocese under the leadership of the Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker and the loyalist faction led by provisional bishop the Rt. Rev Rayford High on tenterhooks until September.
In a statement released on 28 June 2013, Bishop Iker said, “Today the Texas Supreme Court did not announce a decision in our direct appeal, and since decisions are not issued in July or early August, we do not anticipate a ruling until the end of August at the earliest. We continue to wait patiently upon the Lord, prayerfully trusting in His loving care and protection.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
New York court rejects TEC attempt to grab dissident’s attorneys fees: Anglican Ink, June 26, 2013 June 27, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Diocese of Long Island, Mark Jakubic, St James Church Elmhurst
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A New York court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Diocese of Long Island against the attorneys of a breakaway congregation, holding that even though the diocese prevailed in its lawsuit against the parish, it was not entitled to a refund of fees paid by the parish to their attorneys.
On 24 June 2013 Judge Vito Destefano of the Nassau County division of the New York Supreme Court dismissed the claim of the Diocese of Long Island and St James Church Elmhurst that attorneys Mark Jakubic (the son in law o Archbishop Robert Duncan) and Meyer Silber pay to the diocese over $200,000 they received in legal fees they received while representing the breakaway congregation.
Conservative Anglicans have charged the Episcopal Church with mounting a scorched-earth campaign, seeking to intimidate parishes who were thinking of leaving the church with lawsuits and personal liabilities for breakaway vestry members — as well as discouraging attorneys from taking the cases.
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Conscience Clause deleted by the Reformed Church of America: Anglican Ink, June 21, 2013 June 21, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Women Priests.Tags: Reformed Church of America
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Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan
The General Synod of the Reformed Church of America (RCA) has removed the “conscience clause” from its the Book of Church Order (BCO), ending the right of its clergy to object to the ordination of women.
At the 2012 meeting by a vote of 143 to 69, the delegates voted to remove the conscience clause. Two thirds of the classes or jurisdictions of the presbyterian organized denomination were required to endorse the vote for it to take effect and over the past year 31 classes voted in favor of removing the clause and 14 voted to keep it. On 20 June 2013 General Synod ratified the vote.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
CAPA treasurer murdered: Anglican Ink, June 19, 2013 June 20, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Kenya, Anglican Ink, Crime.Tags: Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa, Grace Wambua
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The treasurer of CAPA — the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa — was murdered last week at her home outside of Nairobi.
The CAPA website reports that on 8 June 2013, Grace Wambua (51) was hacked to death by a farmhand at her Kinaanie farm in Machakos. Local press reports state Ms. Wambua was slashed across her neck and her hands nearly severed as she sought to ward off the blows.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Episcopal priest ambushed in Colombia: Anglican Ink, June 19, 2013 June 20, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Colombia, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Augusto Germán, Francisco Duque
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An Episcopal priest who shot and killed last week in Colombia, reports Bishop Francisco Duque. Fr. Augusto Germán and his attorney were pulled over by a man dressed as a motorcycle policeman in the early morning hours of 11 June 2013. Two waiting gunmen robbed them of $105,000 and then executed them.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Archbishop of Canterbury to make a flying visit to Rome: Anglican Ink, June 6, 2013 June 6, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: Justin Welby, Pope Francis
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The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will hold his first meeting with Pope Francis on 14 June 2013 at the Vatican. The Archbishop’s official diary states he “will be travelling to Rome, accompanied by Mrs Welby, for a personal and fraternal visit to Pope Francis on 14 June. … A more extended visit, for Archbishop Justin to engage with various other Vatican officials, will happen later in the year.”
On Tuesday Msgr. Mark Langham told Vatican Radio this would be “important” but “informal, brief courtesy visit” to Pope Francis.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Diocese of Long Island signs consent decree with the EEOC to settle sexual harassment lawsuit: Anglican Ink, May 30, 2013 May 30, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Diocese of Long Island, EEOC, Grace Church Whitestone NY, sexual harassment
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A Long Island Episcopal church has settled a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). On 22 May 2013 attorneys for the EEOC announced that Grace Episcopal Church in Whitestone New York will pay $192,500 to settle the lawsuit brought by a former church secretary and a sexton.
In addition to the damages to be paid to the two women, Grace Church and the Diocese of Long Island agreed to abide by a the three-year consent decree that prohibits the parish and diocese from engaging in sex harassment or retaliation. The diocese further agreed to distribute to all churches within the diocese with copies of revised policies on sexual harassment and employee/employer rights and duties under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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Political test for new bishops proposed: Anglican Ink, May 28, 2013. May 29, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Anglican Communion Institute, Ephraim Radner, House of Bishops Committee on Pastoral Development, James Waggoner Jr, Philip Turner
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New bishops in the Episcopal Church should be vetted for their political orthodoxy, a paper released by the House of Bishops’ Standing Committee on Pastoral Development has proposed. The call for conformity came in a 29 April 2013 letter released under the signature of the Rt. Rev. James Waggoner, Jr., Bishop of Spokane and was sent to the church’s bishops and standing committees.
However some of the questions were “so egregious” and so “thin in its substance as to be silly”. Dr. Ephraim Radner of the Anglican Communion Institute told Anglican Ink.
In his covering letter Bishop Waggoner wrote the committee had noticed “two extremes” in recent years of “intense scrutiny” and “uninformed consent” in the consent process for newly elected bishops. The ten questions offered by the committee were designed “to be an additional resource in your decision-making process.”
While the first seven questions elicited little comment, the final three appeared to inject the divisive politics of recent years into a process already regulated by canon law, critics have charged. The asked:
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Episcopal applause for gay boy scout vote: Anglican Ink, May 27, 2013 May 28, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Fort Worth, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Boy Scouts of America, Rayford High
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The Provisional Bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt. Rev. Rayford High has applauded last week’s vote by the Boy Scouts of America National Council to open its ranks to boys who say they are homosexual, and has urged as a matter of justice the Scouts to lift their ban on gay scoutmasters.
“I am gratified to hear of the decision of the Boy Scouts of America to end its policy of forbidding participation by openly gay youths. I agree with Wayne Brock, the chief executive officer of the Boy Scouts, that the decision was ‘compassionate, caring, and kind’,” Bishop High said.
After prolonged and contentious debate on 23 May 2013, the 1400 delegates to the BSA’s national council meeting in Grapevine, Texas voted by a margin of 61 per cent to 39 per cent to rescind its ban and allow a local option on gay scouts – but voted to retain its ban on gay scout masters and adult volunteers. The policy change takes effect on Jan. 1.
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Just say “no” to euthanasia: Anglican Ink, May 22, 2013 May 22, 2013
Posted by geoconger in 73rd General Convention, Anglican Ink, The Episcopal Church, Vermont.Tags: euthanasia, Thomas Ely
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Vermont has become the fourth American state to legalize euthanasia after Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law the “End of Life Choices” Act which permits physicians to administer a fatal overdose to terminally ill patients who wish to commit suicide.
On 20 May 2013 Gov. Peter Shumlin signed the bill into law after it was approved by the state legislature: 75 to 65 in the House and 17 to 13 in the Senate.
“This bill does not compel anyone to do anything that they don’t choose in sound mind to do. All it does is give those who are facing terminal illness, are facing excruciating pain, a choice in a very carefully regulated way,” the governor said after he signed the bill.
Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said this was “a tragic moment for Vermont. It is also a sign of an alarming trend nationwide. In the three states where physician-assisted suicide is now legal, doctors are called upon to destroy life, rather than to save life and provide much-needed comfort in times of pain and distress.”
He urged “all people of good will to fight the future passage of such laws.”
The Episcopal Bishop of Vermont the Rt. Rev. Thomas Ely told Anglican Ink the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society hosted a series of forums on physician-assisted suicide. It issued a statement in 2003 when the issue was first brought to the legislature and again in 2011, giving a “clean statement of our position.”
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Diversity, not Jesus, saves says Presiding Bishop: Anglican Ink, May 20, 2013 May 20, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Atonement, diversity, Katharine Jefferts Schori, soteriology
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The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has denounced the Apostle Paul as mean-spirited and bigoted for having released a slave girl from demonic bondage as reported in Acts 16:16-34 .
In her sermon delivered at All Saints Church in Curaçao in the diocese of Venezuela, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori condemned those who did not share her views as enemies of the Holy Spirit.
The presiding bishop opened her remarks with an observation on the Dutch slave past. “The history of this place tells some tragic stories about the inability of some to see the beauty in other skin colors or the treasure of cultures they didn’t value or understand,” she said.
She continued stating: “Human beings have a long history of discounting and devaluing difference, finding it offensive or even evil. That kind of blindness is what leads to oppression, slavery, and often, war. Yet there remains a holier impulse in human life toward freedom, dignity, and the full flourishing of those who have been kept apart or on the margins of human communities.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Los Angeles wins summary judgment in Newport Beach property case: Anglican Ink, May 2, 2013 May 3, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Los Angeles, Property Litigation.Tags: St James Newport Beach
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The Bishop of Los Angeles had no authority to give the parish of St James in Newport Beach a written waiver exempting the congregation’s property from the reach of the Episcopal Church’s Dennis Canon, an Orange County Superior Court Judge has held.
In a ruling for summary judgment handed down on 1 May 2013 Judge Kim Dunning ordered the parish to hand its multi-million dollar properties over to the Diocese of Los Angeles.
The decision was unexpected, Daniel Lula – an attorney for the parish — told Anglican Ink, as the matter had been set down for trial later this month. In an email to his congregation, the Rev Richard Crocker said: “We have received notice this morning from our attorneys that the court has handed down a significantly negative ruling in our court case. This of course changes the landscape of next week’s trial,” he noted, inviting the parish to a meeting with Mr. Lula “to offer explanation of what we know about the ruling at this point.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Conger 
