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The House of Bishops of the Church of England today concluded its consideration of the draft legislation to enable women to be consecrated as bishops. It agreed that the legislation should be returned to the General Synod for final approval.

The Diocese of Lexington has announced five nominees in the search for its seventh bishop.

Reporting by Sue Careless and commentary by Jeff Boldt

“We invited Barbara to tap into our inner poet and claim a creative expression of our faith,” said Bishop Laura J. Ahrens.

“I’ve wanted for a very long time to say something to you,” Charles Colson said to Lanny Davis. “I am sorry, may God forgive me.”

From the Church of England Evangelical Council: “The Church of England’s teaching about marriage and sexual relationships other than marriage currently faces a number of challenges.”

Courts in California, Virginia rule in favor of Episcopal dioceses.

The General Theological Seminary is partnering with GreenFaith, a leading interfaith environmental coalition, and the Green Seminary Initiative to create a new environmental certification program specifically designed for seminaries and theological schools.

Responses from Connecticut, New Hampshire, and North Carolina.

The sixth bishop of Eau Claire, Wis., will lead the flock of Christ half time, may hold another part-time job — and will want this work enough to offer a voluntary “Here am I.”

Luke Broadwater and David Greisman report for The Baltimore Sun:

Ft. Worth leaders are “exploring an appropriate response to such a shameful action by these members of the House of Bishops.”

Bishop J. Jon Bruno writes: “I want you folks to be as positive as you can be, and I need your prayers and support at this time.”

“We thank God for the discovery of one another in contending for a common cause.”

Bishop C. Andrew Doyle writes: “How do people with differing views on sexuality and blessing of same-gender relationships stay together for the sake of the Gospel? How is it that we are able to remain one church?”

Seven bishops and the Dallas-based Anglican Communion Institute filed a brief with the Texas Supreme Court Monday regarding The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth v The Episcopal Church.

By John Martin
Is the Church of England an island of or an island off Anglicanism?

“We asked ourselves, How can we create a safe place for theological minorities? That question cuts in both directions.” — Bishop Edward Little II

“I think we need to reaffirm our strong commitment to each other through the saving power of Christ revealed in the Gospels.” — Gregory Cameron, Bishop of St Asaph.

Under terms of the settlement, the Diocese has given Truro Anglican a rent-free lease of the church buildings at 10520 Main Street in Fairfax, as well as two rectories, until June 30, 2013.

“May Sudan and South Sudan come to a settlement which will bring lasting peace with justice to both nations and all who live within their borders.”

Three member bishops of Communion Partners have submitted a General Convention resolution that affirms the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant.

The Living Church is pleased to announce the third annual Student Essays in Christian Wisdom competition.

The Diocese of Texas has announced two nominees as it seeks a new bishop suffragan: the Rev. Beth Fain, rector of St. Mary’s Church, Cypress, and the Rev. Jeff Fisher, rector of St. Alban’s Church, Waco.

By Douglas LeBlanc
The Rev. Roger A. Ferlo compares his new calling as the first president of two federated Episcopal seminaries to helping an internet startup firm. Ferlo will become president of Bexley Hall and Seabury-Western seminaries July 1.

By Douglas LeBlanc
Even as the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant approached its rejection by a majority of dioceses in the Church of England, three Episcopal Church bishops are sponsoring a resolution that supports a continuing Covenant discussion.

The Rt. Rev. Francis Lyons, Bishop of Bolivia for 11 years, has accepted an invitation to become assistant bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba writes: “None of us, as individuals or churches, can see ourselves as self-determining.”

The proposed Anglican Communion Covenant has failed to achieve support from a majority of dioceses in the Church of England, but the communion’s Secretary General has said the global discussion will continue.

Theology professor Joel Scandrett will be interim director of the Robert E. Webber Center for an Ancient Evangelical Future as it moves to Trinity School for Ministry.

By John Martin
“The truth is that a billion people are going hungry today when there is no need for it,” says Sally Keeble, director of the Anglican Alliance and a former U.K. government minister.

“I favor extending the blessings of the Church equally to all the members of the Church. My position departs from the tradition of the Church, and there are many who hold differing faithful and conscientious positions.”

By John Martin
The appointment of Rowan Williams is a coup for Cambridge University, as he is expected to attract a long queue of doctoral theology students from across the world.

“It has been an immense privilege to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury over the past decade, and moving on has not been an easy decision.”

By Douglas LeBlanc
The Diocese of New Hampshire, which elected the first bishop of the Episcopal Church who spoke openly of his same-sex partnership, has nominated another openly gay man to become the diocese’s 10th bishop.

Bishop, educator and ecumenist Arthur A. Vogel died March 6 in Kansas City. He was 88. A native of Milwaukee, Vogel was a graduate of Nashotah House Theological Seminary and the University of Chicago and earned a Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1952.

The Diocese of Rhode Island has announced nominees from five states in the search for its 13th bishop. One challenge the new bishop will face is a cathedral in limbo.

By Ron Csillag
Like many Christian missionaries who ventured into Canada’s far North, John Sperry packed his Bible, a prayer book, warm clothes, and basic dental tools. Saving souls was one thing; pulling teeth required pliers.

The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) of the Episcopal Church has forwarded to the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies excerpts from its report, “I Will Bless You, and You Will Be a Blessing”: Resources for Blessing Same-Gender Relationships.

Charlie Patton reports for the Jacksonville Times-Union:

"[O]ne of the greatest misunderstandings around concerning the Covenant is that it’s some sort of centralising proposal creating an absolute authority which has the right to punish people for stepping out of line. I have to say I think this is completely misleading and false."

By Peggy Eastman
All Saints Church in Chevy Chase, Md., will host a free healing and prayer retreat for combat veterans and their spouses April 10-12. The April retreat, called WHI Washington, is a project of the national Welcome Home Initiative (WHI) and is open to high-ranking officers who have seen combat.

A nominee by petition, the Rev. Scott T. Quinn, has joined the final slate as the Diocese of Pittsburgh seeks its eighth bishop. Quinn, 57, rector of Church of the Nativity, Crofton, served as canon to the ordinary while the Rt. Rev. Robert Johnson was provisional bishop. Quinn is a 1982 graduate of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry.

By Gary G. Yerkey
The team charged with overseeing construction of a new Episcopal cathedral in Haiti is expected to decide within the next few weeks on the architectural firm that will design and coordinate the construction of the new facility.

The Rt. Rev. Edward Robinson de Barros Cavalcanti and his wife, Miriam Cotias Cavalcanti Nunes Machado, were murdered in their home in Olinda, Brazil, late Sunday. The bishop was 68 and his wife was 64.

Members of the Anglican Communion with Internet access can now watch three videos produced by the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order (IASCUFO) in which its members speak about the Covenant.

The Washington premiere of Love Free or Die, director Macky Alston’s documentary about the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, prompted a frequently political post-film discussion this week. Gillian Laub photo courtesy of Reveal Productions.

By John Martin
In the matter of deciding whether women should be appointed as bishops, the Church of England is engaged in a process with all the hallmarks of a Phony War.

While counter-protesters sought to undermine our stand for life, they could not squelch the energy and enthusiasm expressed by our under-30 compatriots, who now represent the largest contingency of pro-life activists.

Who says gay marriage is not big in Utah? At the Sundance Film Festival, one of the higher-profile documentaries proved to be Love Free or Die.

Whatever else may be said of the Diocese of Western Michigan’s Cathedral of Christ the King, it embodied the spirit of the late 1960s.

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of Washington has announced a new diocesan initiative called People of the Way, which will draw from Brian McLaren’s Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices.

Reverse Engineering the Crystal Cathedral

About 260 people gathered at the seventh annual Mere Anglicanism conference in Charleston, South Carolina, Jan. 19-21 to hear bishops and deans from across the world speak about their confidence in "The Once and Future Church."

The rector of All Saints Church in Pasadena, California, has endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment that reverses the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in 2010 on political donations by corporations.

Covenant, founded in August 2007 as a weblog community of “evangelical and catholic” Christians, begins a new life today.

The Rev. Jeffrey Steenson, newly appointed ordinary of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, will receive members of Mount Calvary Church, Baltimore, on Sunday morning.

No clergy within the Diocese of Pittsburgh appear on the slate as the diocese seeks its eighth bishop. The diocese announced four nominees Jan. 15.

If the Ordinariate in the United States is a Vatican effort to poach disgruntled Anglicans, Sunday-golfing ex-Anglicans or never-were Anglicans, its newly appointed leader has not received that memo.

The CANA Congregations suggest that a ruling for the denomination would be to defer to the hierarchy 'with a vengeance.' This Court disagrees. … [W]hile the CANA Congregations had an absolute right to depart from TEC and the Diocese, they had no right to take these seven Episcopal churches with them.

Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda has announced he will retire in mid-2012, six months before the end of his 10-year term.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba writes: “It concerns me greatly that, from what I read online and elsewhere, and from the responses I received to the article I wrote for The Living Church last year, too much of the debate around the Covenant seems to have lost sight of our true context.”

The Rt. Rev. Clarence C. Pope, second Bishop of Fort Worth, died late Jan. 8 in Baton Rouge. His death prompted sympathetic notes from the Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker, Pope’s successor in Fort Worth, and the Diocese of Louisiana.

In a 26-minute interview with the Rev. Todd Wilken, the presiding bishop addressed questions of pantheism and panentheism; the identity of Jesus Christ; the Episcopal Church’s decision to consecrate bishops in same-sex relationships; the Anglican Church in North America; the emergent church; and the Atonement, among other topics.

From NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams: “Elmer Mejia became a Navy diver and medic, and in his early 20s volunteered to work at a clinic where he was exposed to the plight of the lobster divers for the first time. It was run by an Episcopal priest from Wyoming, Gus Sabrador, who became Mejia’s mentor and asked his American congregation to help Mejia go to medical school.”

Because he is married, the 59-year-old Father Steenson will not be ordained a bishop and will not be able to ordain priests.

The Rt. Rev. David Colin Jones is not surprised by the Sudanese church’s renewed statement regarding the Episcopal Church and same-sex couples.

The Living Church is pleased to announce improvements to livingchurch.org that offer a more rewarding experience for members and new visitors. Over the next few weeks you will notice changes: larger images, an easier-to-read design, and a crisp, clean look.

In a BBC interview that went to air after his death Dec. 15, Christopher Hitchens said he had no fear of dying. “I won’t know what’s going on.” What if there was a state of consciousness of this life? “I will be surprised, but I like surprises.”

Bishop Mark Sisk writes: “While many tactics of the Occupy movement have proven effective and creative, I feel it necessary now to reiterate our Church-wide commitment to non-violence.”

The Rev. Canon Christoph Keller III remembers his father, the Rt. Rev. Christoph Keller, Jr., in a video by General Theological Seminary.

Members of the Diocese of South Carolina’s standing committee write that “out of the great depths of our love and concern for our people, we will continue to assert the autonomy that is historically and constitutionally ours.”

“We are holding them all close in prayer, both those who are leaving to become part of the Ordinariate and those of our sisters and brothers at St. Timothy’s from whom we have been separated for nearly three years. We want to assure them they are welcome in The Episcopal Church and in this diocese.”

“Sadly, this prevents a pastoral solution to a sensitive issue of spiritual discernment,” says Bishop Jack L. Iker. “We are grateful to Bishop Keith Ackerman for his willingness to provide Sunday services at St. Timothy’s beginning on the first Sunday after Christmas Day.”

From the Diocese of South Carolina

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“Since we [bishops of Province IV] have had no direct communication from you regarding these reported actions, we determined that it is our duty as bishops of this province to address these concerns in direct communication with you, as Jesus exhorts his followers in Matthew’s Gospel (18:15-20), and in accord with our ordination vows regarding the unity and governance of the church.”

By Francis Omondi

Archbishop Rowan Williams writes: “The question remains: if the moratoria are ignored and the Covenant suspected, what are the means by which we maintain some theological coherence as a Communion and some personal respect and understanding as a fellowship of people seeking to serve Christ?”

The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson Jr., president of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, writes: “Applied strictly to the information under study, none of these three provisions was deemed applicable by a majority of the Board.”

In early 2008 Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori visited the Diocese of South Carolina. One segment of her visit was “Charity and Clarity,” a gathering with diocesan clergy at St. Andrew’s Church, Mt. Pleasant.

Council urges General Convention not to adopt the proposed Anglican Covenant.

Executive Council “expresses thanksgiving for those who worked at producing the Anglican Covenant” and adds that the Episcopal Church is “unable to adopt the Anglican Covenant in its present form.”

The Diocese of Upper South Carolina approved a resolution Oct. 22 asking Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Bishop Mark J.

It is only a few miles from the modest hamlet of Bladensburg, Maryland, to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. But when the multicultural former Episcopal congregation of St. Luke’s, Bladensburg, arrived at that towering edifice Oct.

Bishop Dorsey Henderson sent this message to members of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops on Oct. 17, and released a copy to The Living Church. Jack W.

Bishop Dorsey Henderson sent this message to members of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops on Oct. 14, and released a copy to The Living Church.

Church Attorney Josephine H. Hicks performs legal work for the Episcopal Church’s Disciplinary Board for Bishops but is not a member of it, the Rt. Rev. Dorsey Henderson said in an interview with The Living Church.

From the Diocese of South Carolina:

Ahead of meeting the South African prime minister John Vorster in 1970, Archbishop Michael Ramsey frowned repeatedly into a mirror.

Bishop Dorsey Henderson’s statement, published Oct. 12 by The Living Church, has prompted a response by the Anglican Communion Institute. An excerpt:

In response to questions from The Living Church and others, the Rt. Rev. Dorsey Henderson, president of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, provided this explanation regarding accusations brought to the board against the Rt. Rev.

The Rt. Rev. Mark J.

In 1996 the Court for the Trial of a Bishop gathered at the Cathedral of St. John in Wilmington, Del., to hear the doctrinal case involving Bishop Walter C. Righter.

The correspondence published by the Diocese of South Carolina:

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has restricted the ministry of the Rt. Rev. Vincent W. Warner amid allegations of recurrent marital infidelity. Warner was Bishop of Olympia from 1990 to 2007.

Catholic Voices
By Michael Nai Chiu Poon

The Bishop of Los Angeles and other clergy have condemned the conviction of 11 Muslim students who repeatedly heckled a speech by Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States. The students were convicted on misdemeanor charges in Orange County Superior Court.

Anglican Communion News Service reports that the Rt. Rev. Bolly Lapok, Bishop of Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, has been elected fourth archbishop of the Province of South East Asia.

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Adapted from Anglican Communion News Service:

From the Episcopal Church’s NewsLine:
A Pastoral Teaching from the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church
Quito, Ecuador
September 2011

As the Diocese of Central Florida searches for its fourth bishop, seven nominees reflect its primarily evangelical identity.

From The Associated Press:
A delegation of U.S. Christian and Muslim leaders returned from Iran Monday disappointed they could not immediately secure the release of two Americans jailed as spies for more than two years, but optimistic their release was imminent.

The Rt. Rev. Walter Cameron Righter fought in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, but among Episcopalians he may be best known for his sojourn with the Court for the Trial of a Bishop.

News Analysis

Members of the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s Search/Nominating Committee write that they will receive names until September 30, and add:

By Catherine Kohn
In some of the darkest moments of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center ten years ago, Nathan Brockman saw Christian hope embodied at the parish of Trinity Wall Street.

News Updates

Home »
News Updates »
2011 »
September

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Catholic Voices
The Authority of General Convention: A Conversation
Introduction by Daniel H. Martins, convener

Catholic Voices
The Authority of General Convention: A Conversation
Part 2
By Ephraim Radner

Catholic Voices
The Authority of General Convention: A Conversation
Part 2
By R. William Franklin

Catholic Voices
The Authority of General Convention: A Conversation
By R. William Franklin

The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, 25th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, in an interview with Duke Divinity School’s Faith & Leadership:

From a statement posted on Patrick Marker’s Deception in Conception weblog:

“The psychological evaluation had determined that I had a proclivity to reoffend with minors. Abbot [Charles] Wright called Conception Abbey’s Abbot Gregory Polan with this information,” Bede Parry writes. “Abbot Polan would later share the information with Robert Stoeckig from the Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas, Episcopal Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the human resources department at Mercy Ambulance in Las Vegas.”

The Rt. Rev. Russell E. Jacobus writes: “I have made the decision that it would be imprudent to try to bring the two dioceses together at this time with this uncertainty and division, and have determined to withhold my approval of the junctioning.”

When the Rt. Rev. W. Andrew Waldo planned a trip to New York to hear his son play lead cello in a concert, he also made an appointment to visit Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori at the Episcopal Church Center.

St. Paul’s Cathedral stands as an iconic symbol of continuity amidst London’s ever-changing skyline. It has witnessed three centuries of social change, including two World Wars, which it survived unscathed. Not since Adolf Hitler’s blitz in 1942 has St. Paul’s been forced to close its doors.

From the Episcopal Church’s Office of Public Affairs:
A Pastoral Letter on Israeli-Palestinian Peace
 On the holy mountain stands the city he has founded;