wfn.org | [ACNS] Anglican News Digest 26 Nov 2004

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

The following (11 items) is a compilation of the ACNS Digest articles
posted during this week, including reports from West Africa, Uganda, the
US, Canada, Tanzania, Scotland, England, Nazareth, Ireland, and the
Anglican Communion Office. The ACNS Digest and its archive can be found
here:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm

(238) 26-November-2004 - Anglican key texts available on web site - ACO

Theological Education for the Anglican Communion (TEAC)

A booklist of key texts on Anglicanism, which has been put together by
members of TEAC, is now available on the TEAC web site (which can be
accessed by clicking on the button marked 'Theological Education in the
left column of the Anglican Communion homepage or by clicking the link
below). The compilation of the booklist was coordinated on behalf of
TEAC by Dr John Corrie, currently Development Officer of the Centre for
Anglican Communion Studies in Birmingham, England.

TEAC has been tasked to work with others to help improve the culture of
teaching and learning throughout the Anglican Communion (see the 'aim'
of TEAC given on its web site). Over the next year TEAC is intended to
develop its web site to provide further resources for those engaged as
teachers or learners in a wide variety of theological education. For
further information please contact the Coordinator of TEAC, Mrs Clare
Amos on clare.amos@anglicancommunion.org

TEAC:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/teac/index.cfm

(237) 26-November-2004 - Gambia receives British pilgrims - West Africa

The Anglican Diocese of Gambia last week received 30 British pilgrims
from the Diocese of Chichester in the Church of England. The Bishop of
Gambia, the Rt Revd Dr Solomon Tilewa Johnson (of the Church of the
Province of West Africa), thanked the visitors for coming, saying, "I
pray that your mission in The Gambia will be fruitful and will open up a
new visit that will link the people of Chichester Diocese and the
Diocese of the Gambia to bring about true and meaningful Christian
fellowship in our drive to proclaim the good news."

The visitors were led by the Rt Revd Lindsay Urwin, the Bishop of
Horsham. The delegation was shown the work of missionary schools in the
Greater Banjul Area, said the Gambia's Observer newspaper, and are due
to preach in various Anglican parishes nationwide until 30 November.

www.observer.gm

http://www.gambiadiocese.com/

(236) 25-November-2004 - Northern Diocese Celebrates 100 Years of
Christianity - Uganda

Northern Diocese Celebrates 100 Years of Christianity

 >From New Vision newspaper (Kampala)

Dennis Ojwee
Kampala

Celebrations to mark 100 years of Christianity in Acholi have started.
Believers walked from the Northern Diocese through Gulu streets to Keyo
Hill on Saturday.

The Bishop of the Northern Uganda Diocese, the Rt Revd Nelson
Onono-Onweng, led a procession of believers to open the week-long
activities, while the Christ Church Choir coloured the occasion.

Acholi religious leaders are expected to participate in the activities.

The grand celebrations will be at Keyo Hill in Lamogi sub-county, Kilak
county in Gulu district on Sunday.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/

(235) 25-November-2004 - The Presiding Bishop's Christmas Message - USA

 >From the Episcopal New Service

The sober joy of Christmas

Though we are now exchanging our "Merry Christmas" greetings, and carols
fill the air telling us "tis the season to be jolly," Christmas provides
something far greater than merriment, joviality, or an easy joy.
Christmas points the way to something sober and enduring. To celebrate
Christmas is not simply to recall a past event in a stable which we see
sweetly depicted on Christmas cards. To celebrate Christmas is to open
ourselves to what is happening within us: in virtue of our baptism,
Jesus continues to be born and grow to maturity in us. Our participation
in the Incarnation, therefore, is a profound and all-demanding fact of
life to be patiently and courageously lived by each one of us in the
varying, and sometimes difficult, circumstances of our lives.

This should not surprise us. After all, the birth itself did not take
place under easy circumstances, but in an uncertain season. The first
Christmas was not at all what Mary might have hoped for. She found
herself far from home, bereft of the human supports that would have been
hers in Nazareth. And yet, she heard the angels' song pierce the night.
In the midst of it all something broke loose that transformed the moment
into an occasion for sober and enduring joy. With Jesus' birth the
boundless love and all-embracing compassion of God became real,
immediate and concrete as a human life.

Love is, therefore, the heart of the Incarnation. Through God's
insistent and enduring love the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Love alone gave Jesus the ability to hope all things and to endure all
things, even the pain of the Cross. And, through the love of God poured
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, the Incarnation continues to unfold
in and through our lives. In us the Word who is Jesus becomes flesh and
blood. This is the root and ground of our joy. This is the sober and
enduring truth of Christmas.

As we once again celebrate our Savior's birth may we be bearers of this
Christmas truth and embodied signs of God's love to our anxious and
divided world. And let us give thanks that Christ, the sun of
righteousness, continues to pierce the darkness and bring healing in his
wings.

The Most Revd Frank T Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate
Episcopal Church, USA

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ens/

(234) 25-November-2004 - Diocese and parishes to mark World AIDS Day -
Canada

BY DIANA MAVUNDUSE

NOVEMBER 24, 2004

The Anglican Church of Canada will join the world in commemorating World
AIDS Day on Dec 1.

World AIDS Day is a time to reflect on the fight against AIDS and raise
awareness about the pandemic. First declared by the World Health
Organization in 1988, this day celebrates progress made in the battle
against the disease and brings into focus the challenges that remain.

According to UN statistics, AIDS has killed more than 20 million people
since the first cases were diagnosed in 1981, including 2.9 million in
2003 alone. It is estimated that 37.8 million people were infected with
HIV at the end of 2003. Sub-Saharan Africa is the worst hit region, with
70 per cent of all people living with HIV.

More here:

http://generalsynod.anglican.ca/stories/news.php?newsItem=2004-11-24_pwr
dfvigil.news

(233) 22-November-2004 - Tanzanian Bishops meet at Mtumba - Tanzania

Anglican Church of Tanzania news

Our bishops met at Mtumba Rural Women's Training Centre for three days.
For two days they met as the House of Bishops and on the third day they
were joined by other members of the Provincial Standing Committee.
During the meetings the bishops and other delegates approved changes to
the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Tanzania and gave their
approval to the plans to start an Anglican University in Tanzania.

The meeting was also timely for discussion of the Windsor Report on the
Anglican Communion.

An innovative feature of this meeting was the use of Information
Technology for presentations and preparation of reports.

For more, including documentation for this meeting, click here:

http://www.anglican.or.tz/news.htm

(232) 22-November-2004 - Sermon for the anniversary of Seabury
consecration - Scotland

The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Most Revd Bruce
Cameron, preached in Connecticut at Christ Church Cathedral for the
anniversary of the consecration of Samuel Seabury. The sermon can be
read here and followed from the link below:

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL, HARTFORD

14 November, 2004.

It has been a great delight for Elaine and me to be back here in
Connecticut - and to spend some time with you, and share something of
both congregational and Diocesan life. I bring warm greetings to you
from the Scottish Episcopal Church - and in particular from the Diocese
of Aberdeen and Orkney. The historical event of 220 years ago which we
remember today, is for many of us, more than simply an accident of
another generation, but one that binds us in a relationship of both
friendship and challenge for present and future generations. That event
was the consecration of Samuel Seabury on 14th November 1784 in a small
private chapel in what is now a back street of Aberdeen, by three
Scottish bishops. Those bishops, in the eyes of their ecclesiastical and
political masters, were of questionable authority. Yet this event has
become a significant moment in the life of our two churches, and in the
understanding of the worldwide Anglican Communion which now binds us
with some 70 million Christians throughout the world.

Continued here:

http://www.scotland.anglican.org/news_headlines_29.html

(231) 22-November-2004 - Muslims and Christians to debate 'war on
terror' - England

Muslims and Christians will meet to debate the 'war on terror' at a
ground-breaking meeting aimed at building bridges between the two
communities 26 November in Leeds. Taking part in 'Trust or Terror',
being held at the Building Blocks Centre in Beeston, will be two leading
religious leaders, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, and the Chair of the
Leeds Muslim Forum.

The bridge-building meeting has been organised by the recently formed
'Interfaith Task Group' of the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds. The Rt Revd
John Packer and Dr Hassan Alkatib, Chair of Leeds Muslim Forum, will
each give a keynote address on the subject of trust and terror, which
will then be debated in small mixed groups of Muslims and Christians.

Convenor of the Ripon and Leeds 'Interfaith Task Group', the Revd Canon
Charles Dobbin, Rector of Moor Allerton, said the aim of the debate was
to foster better understanding between Christians and Muslims in Leeds.
"This dialogue is aimed at opening up important issues, encouraging
people from both communities to listen to one another and to gain vital
understanding of different perspectives. It is envisaged as the
beginning of a process of dialogue between Muslims and Christians and we
hope that it will help build bridges of understanding between our
communities as we learn from one another".

Each of the two main speakers has been asked to offer five points for
discussion and debate from their own perspective on the 'war on terror'.
Organisers say they are hoping that many people, not only from both
Muslim and Christian communities, but also those of other religious
faiths will take part in the evening.

ENDS

www.riponleeds.anglican.org

(230) 22-November-2004 - Vicar of Nazareth meets with Walsingham -
Middle East

 >From the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

Christian pilgrims should return to the Holy Land to support the mission
of Palestinian Christians to their own young people - the Revd Samuel
Barthoum, Vicar of Christ Church, Nazareth told over 35 Walsingham
pilgrims from the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Nazareth
this weekend.

It was a unique meeting. The Revd Philip North, the Administrator of the
Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham (known as England's Nazareth)
celebrated Mass in the Anglican Church, just a few hundred yards from
the historic place of the Annunciation.

Father Barthoum joined the congregation for a Mass for peace.
Afterwards, he urged more British pilgrims to come to Nazareth to
support his mission to encourage young people not to emigrate but to
stay in the town where Jesus spent most of his life in the Holy Land.
"For the future of the Church in this Holy Land, we need them to stay.
Come and pray with us and support us," he told the pilgrims who are on
an 8-day pilgrimage.

During the week they also visited Bethlehem, Jericho, Jerusalem and the
whole Galilee Region. The group experienced no problems in visiting all
of the places on their programme.

A highlight of the pilgrimage was a celebration of the Mass at the Mount
of Beatitudes when Father North led the Walsingham pilgrims in prayers
for peace.

The Holy Land Pilgrimage brings a year of "Magnificat" at the Shrine to
an end before Advent begins.

During 2004 the image of Our Lady has visited a wide range of secular
places including a prison, an army barracks, an airport and shopping
centre

James Pieslak at the Shrine Media Office on
01274 599622
pr33rpm@aol.com
www.walsingham.org.uk

(229) 22-November-2004 - Bishops agree on 'shared' ministry - Canada

 >From the Anglican Journal of the Anglican Church of Canada

SOLANGE DE SANTIS
STAFF WRITER

Nov. 17, 2004 - Saskatoon

Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada, at their regular fall meeting,
cited a new spirit of reconciliation and co-operation among themselves
and approved a plan that allows bishops to cross diocesan boundaries
when parishes do not agree with the issue of same-sex blessings.

"The house of bishops is saying to the Canadian church, 'We did
something and we agreed.' And that is wonderful news," said the Most
Revd Andrew Hutchison, Primate of the Canadian church and chair of the
meeting.

A number of bishops commented on the change in the group, mentioning the
release of the Windsor Report on unity in the Anglican Communion as a
factor and complimenting the warm leadership of Archbishop Hutchison,
chairing his first bishops' meeting as primate since his election last
May. "There's a different feeling at this meeting," said Bishop George
Bruce of Ontario.

The question of 'alternate episcopal oversight', now called 'shared
episcopal ministry,' had sharply divided the bishops at their spring
meeting in Regina, where they were unable to reach a decision. This
time, the gathering of 38 bishops, held 1-4 Nov, accepted a revised
version of the plan rejected in the spring.

The major points:

* The metropolitans, or archbishops, of the Canadian church's four
provinces may draw up a list of current and retired bishops, from
various theological perspectives, who are willing to participate in
shared episcopal ministry. Bishops from outside Canada may be included,
but they must abide by these terms. A bishop chosen from the list by the
parish and diocesan bishop would be designated as episcopal assistant to
the metropolitan.

* If a diocese agrees to permit the blessing of same-sex relationships,
the synod should allow for a conscience clause and should consider
shared episcopal ministry. The costs of a visiting bishop would be borne
by the inviting diocese and parish.

* The dissenting parish and rector should first meet with their bishop
in a spirit of reconciliation. A parish may elect to have a visiting
bishop with a two-thirds majority vote at a meeting of full members of
the parish who have the right to be present and to vote at its annual
meeting.

* The parish retains its voice and vote at synod and must maintain its
current and future financial commitments to the diocese.

* The decision will be reviewed at least every three years.

* The visiting bishop will not have jurisdiction in the diocese but
would be part of the process on appointments, episcopal visits,
confirmations, pastoral care of clergy, advice on potential ordinands,
and may participate in ordinations.

* If the parish is in the diocese of the metropolitan, the senior bishop
by date of consecration would fulfill the role given to the
metropolitan.

* The arrangement is always to be understood as temporary. Changes in
parish or diocesan leadership are appropriate times for renewed efforts
toward the ultimate goal of full restoration of the relationship between
the parish and the bishop.

Two bishops voted against the document, for different reasons. The Rt
Revd Larry Robertson, the suffragan (assistant) bishop of the Arctic,
told Anglican Journal he believes the document "assumes and promotes"
the blessing of same-sex unions and "I can't accept it." The Rt Revd
David Ashdown, the bishop of Keewatin, said he was still uncomfortable
with the concept of crossing diocesan lines.

Other bishops who voted for the agreement said it was clear, assumed
maturity and generosity on all sides, referred to all theological points
of view and was an excellent complement to the Windsor Report.

The bishops voted unanimously to recognize the Windsor Report as an
important document, commend it to the Canadian church for study and urge
Canadian Anglicans to respond to it.

However, while the group generally welcomed the report, written by a
panel appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan
Williams, it also came in for sharp criticism. The bishops discussed it
in small groups. Bishop George Elliott of Toronto said his group felt
the document had a "tone of colonialism that was difficult to stomach"
and contained "little acknowledgement of the gay and lesbian people in
our church." Bishop Terrence Buckle of the Yukon said his group felt the
tone was "a mother speaking to her children," but that the report raised
good questions about boundaries and how Anglicans can talk about the
contentious question of homosexuality.

The Most Revd David Crawley, the Archbishop of Kootenay, wondered if
there was "any possibility of editing this thing?" One part, in
particular, he felt was "quite frightful," a paragraph asking dioceses
to consider, when they elect bishops, whether the bishop would be
acceptable to the rest of the Communion. "There are at least six people
in this room right now who are not. Three have been divorced and
remarried and three are women," he said, referring to Anglican provinces
that do not recognize the remarriage of divorced persons nor women
bishops.

The concept of a binding Anglican covenant and a document of shared
principles also caused concern, given the Anglican tradition that
national churches are independent entities loosely bound by ties to the
Church of England. "Any discussion around a covenant needs a whole lot
of work," said Bishop James Cowan of British Columbia.
Archbishop Hutchison said he would attend a meeting of the church's
primates in February "equipped with the voice of my church" and had
already told the Archbishop of Canterbury that "any move in the
direction of central authority or an attempt to limit our independence
is likely to be very strongly resisted in Canada."

Archbishop Hutchison's relationship with his fellow bishops has not been
uniformly smooth. Reflecting upon his time in office, just five months
since his election in June, he noted that a private letter he had sent
his colleagues was leaked to a conservative Web site and that he "hit
the ceiling" when he saw it. "It was a personal letter to you, with
information about my family life and my cell phone number. The bishop
who leaked that letter has not owned up to it. I have asked for an
apology and it has not been forthcoming. We have to do something about
the quality of our life as a house," he said.
The spirit of reconciliation at this bishops' meeting was further
advanced as both Bishop Michael Ingham of New Westminster, whose diocese
has voted to accept the blessing of gay unions, and conservative bishop
the Rt Revd William Anderson of Caledonia agreed to sit on the group's
agenda committee.

In addition, Bishop Ingham told the Journal that he would lift an order
of inhibition against Bishop Buckle when Bishop Buckle became acting
metropolitan (senior bishop) of the ecclesiastical province of British
Columbia and the Yukon on 1 Dec upon the retirement of Archbishop
Crawley. "I need to know he will respect my diocese. The church is
looking for important signs of reconciliation. At this meeting, it feels
like the corner has been turned. This period has called us back to our
roots and people are seeing that relationships are more important that
issues," he said. Bishop Ingham inhibited, or barred, Bishop Buckle from
performing priestly functions in New Westminster after he accepted an
offer to minister to a group of conservative parishes.

Bishop Buckle, meanwhile, announced that he had agreed to be chaplain to
a newly-formed group called Zacchaeus, based in Vancouver, made up of
people with a homosexual orientation who are either celibate by choice
or who have experienced a reorientation to heterosexuality because of
their Christian faith. Bishop Ingham agreed that it was important all
voices be heard.

In other business, the bishops urged that work be continued on finding
ways to compensate the Canadian church's native clergy who currently
serve without pay. As reported earlier in the November Journal, an
impasse had developed over the issue of how many dioceses might
participate in a plan to compensate clergy.

The bishops also expressed concern that an appeal letter for a capital
campaign from the Sisters of St John the Divine was going out to all
their parishes, when dioceses have policies that prohibit mass
fundraising mailings from church entities without diocesan approval.
They were even more concerned that the letter was signed by the former
primate, the Most Revd Michael Peers. Bishop Bruce Stavert of Quebec,
chair of the campaign committee, promised to relay the message to the
sisterhood.

Archbishop Hutchison also announced he had named Bishop Peter Coffin of
Ottawa to succeed him as Bishop Ordinary to the Canadian Forces and has
named retired Archbishop Terence Finlay to the new, voluntary, position
of the primate's special representative for native residential schools.

The next meeting of the house of bishops, scheduled for 25 April -1 May,
2005 in Windsor, Ont, will include approximately 40 bishops from the
Episcopal Church in the United States. The prelates are scheduled to
discuss the state of religion in Canada and the US, led by Walter
Brueggeman, author and retired professor from Columbia Theological
Seminary in Decatur, Ga. Archbishop Rowan, is scheduled to attend, as is
the American Presiding Bishop (primate), the Most Revd Frank Griswold.

November 17, 2004

(228) 22-November-2004 - Bishop appeals on behalf of the poor - Ireland

The Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick, the Rt Revd Michael Mayes,
today suggested that the Irish government had nothing to be proud about
following its decision to abandon its pledge to devote 0.7% of GNP by
2007 to help the poor.

Bishop Mayes, who is chairman of the Church of Ireland World Development
Bishops' Appeal Advisory Committee, said: "I have just returned from
Cambodia where I visited a number of aid projects supported by Bishops'
Appeal, Christian Aid and other aid agencies. Some are supported by
donations from the Irish government itself.

"As well as seeing something of the poverty, squalor, corruption and
disease that are the lot of many thousands of people, one learned about
such things as the buying and selling of children on the cheap labour
market, and even worse, the child sex tourist industry in which Phnom
Penh is allegedly a world leader. This is not a reflection on moral
bankruptcy so much as the desperate measures to which so many are
reduced simply in order to survive. Similar stories can be repeated all
over the world.

"It is against that kind of background that the government's abandonment
of its pledge to devote 0.7% of GNP to aid by 2007 is to be judged, and
the outburst of self-congratulation on being 'well ahead of the EU
average of 0.35%' can be seen for what it is. It is also a profound
discouragement to the many individuals and voluntary organisations in
this country whose personal and corporate giving is already far above
even the pledged target that the government has repeatedly set itself.

"The collective memory of widespread disease and famine is still fresh
in the Irish mind, which puts us in a unique position to feel for those
who are in similar circumstances today. It would be a travesty if
today's unprecedented prosperity should erase that memory, thereby
preventing us from doing so much less than we have promised."

ENDS

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