3. What are you most looking forward to?

It’s a while off yet, but I’m looking forward to getting stuck into the opportunities for preaching and evangelism. I’m looking forward to meeting the Cathedral church family, getting to know them, the challenges they face and the opportunities they have in living for Jesus. I’m looking forward to meeting those already engaged in gospel work in the city and seeing how we can support one another in advancing the interests of the Lord in ”˜that great city’.

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The Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, the Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), on Wednesday called on Nigerians and the incoming administration led Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to focus on peace and the unity of the country. Okoh told newsmen in Abuja no development could be achieved in any society without peace and unity. He said the current problem of insurgency, regional and ethnic suspicion in the country was a threat to peace and unity. “Peace is a major capital needed to develop the country and there must be a deliberate policy by the incoming administration to reassure Nigerians of peace and unity….

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Two “priceless” medieval painted panels, the stone effigy of a knight in chainmail and a plaque marking the spot where a 12th-century Bishop of Hereford’s heart was buried are among dozens of historic artefacts recovered by police investigating thefts from isolated country churches.

The brightly painted 15th-century panels were hacked from a rood screen at Holy Trinity Church in Torbryan, Devon, in 2013. The paintings of St Victor of Marseilles and St Margaret are rare survivors of the puritanical zeal of the Reformation when many religious artifacts were destroyed.

The panels were recovered from a London collector who had bought them along with about 40 other objects stolen from country churches, which police are now trying to return to their rightful owners.

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A new chapter of the Revd Canon Dr Alyson Barnett-Cowan’s lifelong ecumenical engagement has begun with her installation as the new president of the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) on 14 May.

The current Interim Secretary General of the Anglican Communion and its former Director for Unity, Faith and Order, she was unanimously elected to a three-year term as CCC president by the council’s Governing Board. She succeeds Lt. Col. Jim Champ of the Salvation Army.

A priest of the Anglican Church of Canada, for which she served several years as ecumenical officer, Canon Dr Barnett-Cowan had previously served a term as one of CCC’s vice-presidents. She brings with her a wealth of ecumenical experience, having been engaged with various inter-church dialogues and councils of churches at the local, regional, and international level.

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The Bishop of London has launched the Diocese of London’s week of prayer, in the Chapel of St Michael and George, within St Paul’s Cathedral. The prayer room has been set up in association with 24-7 Prayer and will enable London churches to engage in a week of continual prayer.

The Chapel will have various prayer stations this year which reflect a theme of journeys. The first is a rolling visual presentation of the Lord’s Prayer, after which visitors will journey through a series of banners ”“ allowing them to reflect on their faith and pray. As they leave the Chapel, people will be invited to add a small pebble to a jar as they thank God for those who inspired them in their life’s journey and also take a small jenga brick away with them to remind them to pray for those they meet in their daily journeys.

People will also be invited to join in the Diocese of London’s Pray for Seven initiative, which invites each person to pray for seven people and enables them to share the story of their faith.

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The Bishop of Salisbury will bless 42 young yew trees on Wednesday at the cathedral.

The Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam ”” the Church of England’s lead bishop for the environment ”” will hold the service as part of a campaign to celebrate the heritage of the nation’s ancient yew trees.

The trees represent the 42 dioceses of the Church of England.

The Conservation Foundation’s ‘We Love Yew’ campaign is being launched to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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Congregations in Yorkshire and the Humber region have the most entertaining services, with 80 per cent able to recall laughing at a clerical quip ”“ just ahead of London, where 77 per cent had heard a decent joke in church. London also has some of the fastest growing churches in Britain.

In the East of England barely half (53 per cent) could do so. The news will be a disappointment to one East Anglian cleric, the Bishop of Norwich, who said recently that the Church should provide an alternative voice to Russell Brand.

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The Anglican church here will not allow same-sex marriages to take place on its pre­mises, said newly installed Anglican bishop Melter Jiki (pic).

The 50-year-old bishop, who is the first native Kadazan chosen to lead the 90,000-strong Anglican community in the state, said this when asked about the church’s policies and what to expect during his tenure.

“We are totally against the so-called same-sex marriage. We will not allow it in the church,” said the father of four who was installed as the sixth Anglican bishop in Sabah on Tuesday

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The Church of England is launching a new national resource to help churches get people talking about death and dying.

GraveTalk, provides resources for a café space in which churches provide a relaxed environment for people to explore questions about death and dying, funerals and loss. It is being launched during Dying Awareness week (May 17-23), run by the Dying Matters coalition, and made up of more than 30,000 members including the Church of England.

GraveTalk, is being launched nationally at a giant café in Portsmouth Cathedral between 2pm and 9pm, tomorrow, May 19. The resources include a pack of 52 questions about life, death, society, funerals, and grief to help people start, and has been piloted in more than 100 parishes, is available at a dedicated website www.gravetalk.org

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The Church of England has achieved growth on its investments far above inflation, meaning it has enough funds to finance ambitious plans for expansion by paying for dozens and possibly hundreds more clergy across the nation.

The profits in 2014 mean that the Church Commissioners have more than made up the disastrous losses of the late 1980s and 1990s and that here is enough cash to pay for the growth vision of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

The portfolio is now worth a record £6.7 billion, meaning plans approved by the General Synod to release an extra £100 million to pay for more clergy can be easily afforded.

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Speaking at the third synod of the Zaria Diocese of the Anglican Communion in Kaduna State on Sunday, Reverend Asaju urged General Buhari to ensure he prosecutes all corrupt government officials irrespective of their background, and also ensure he revives the nation’s refineries and as well address the problem of unemployment.

The cleric also urged the governors-elect and other elected political office holders across the states to imbibe the tenets of integrity, openness, transparency and prudence in the discharge of their duties.

The 2015 edition of the annual event, which commenced on May 14, has as its theme; ”˜Walking in the Light of God’.

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South of the border, the Church of England already allows clerics to form civil partnerships as long as they claim to be celibate. But the Church of Scotland’s approach does not require celibacy.

The Very Rev David Arnott, who coordinates the General Assembly’s business, said that although the Presbyterian structure of the Church of Scotland is different from that of Anglican churches, he hoped the plan could offer a “template” for the Church of England to consider.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme: “We are not going to change people’s minds, we have to come to a way of living together with our differences and living with our diversity and I hope that we’re able to do that.”

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On 22 May 2015 Ireland will go to the polls to vote on a constitutional amendment put forward by the Fine Gael-Labour government that would mandate the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The Roman Catholic Bishops of Ireland have urged the defeat of the bill, but two former Archbishops of Dublin and two current Church of Ireland bishops have said they will vote “yes”.

The Most Rev. John Neill, the archbishop of Dublin from 2002 to 2011, told The Irish Times “we now recognise that there are many different types of unions and I don’t see why they cannot have the protection and status of marriage”. “The understanding of marriage in the church has evolved, putting partnership first before procreation”, in which context “there is less of a problem about same-sex marriage”. The Most Rev. Walton Empey, archbishop from 1996 to 2002 said “I certainly have no hesitation in calling for a Yes vote.”

The Bishop of Cork, the Rt. Rev. Paul Colton told the BBC last year he supported the introduction of gay marriage, while the Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory, the Rt. Rev. Michael Burrows last month told a conference at Trinity College, Dublin that gay rights was the “great justice issue of our time just as the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of women were in the past.”

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The Prime Minister, fresh from his election victory, has been warned not to listen to “harsh, strident voices”, but to lighten burdens and “build one nation”.

Last Friday, David Cameron celebrated the “sweetest victory of all”, defying the polls by securing an outright majority in a General Election that had been widely predicted to be inconclusive.

The Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Steven Croft, in a blog post written at the start of this week, counsels him to “reach out to the whole nation, to connect with the disaffected, to listen to the people and to be their servant”.

The Bishop warns: “There will be those who see the Conservative majority as a mandate to fulfil and go beyond the manifesto commitments, blind to the risk of increasing the burdens of those who already bear the heavy load (of sickness, disability or the struggle to find sustainable employment).”

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An update from the Archbishop of Canterbury ”“ Chair of the Commission

You will be aware that the Crown Nominations Commission met on the 11th and 12th May to consider the nomination of the next Bishop of Oxford and to meet with possible candidates.

I am writing to advise that the Commission has been unable to discern the candidate whom God is calling at this stage to be the next Bishop of Oxford. Under the election rules under which we operate, no candidate received the required number of votes for nomination.

The Crown Nominations Commission already has a number of meetings in place for the rest of this year. The Oxford CNC will reconvene on the 4th February 2016…

Read it all and the BBC has an article here

I am publishing this paper on the further research we plan to do around the Resourcing Ministerial Education (RME) workstream on the day it has been considered by the Ministry Council, which since the RME Task Group finished its work and disbanded just before the February Synod, now holds the responsibility for progressing the task. The paper was shared privately for consultation with a number of stakeholders, including TEI Principals. Somehow or other, a copy has found its way to the press. I guess this is part of the price of consulting .

The paper sets out a significant programme of research over a long period. It recognises that the issues raised by RME are profound and need long term and deep enquiry into the effect of ministerial education in terms of mission and ministry in practice. The Ministry Council has today expressed its commitment to this for a number of reasons.

The first is that, as the RME report acknowledged, the research done within the six or so months available to us in the first stage of the task is initial research and reveals a great deal of scope for further work.

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The leader of the Church of Ireland has said “we may as well close the doors now” if it cannot solve the problem of falling attendances.

Archbishop Richard Clarke made the comments after it was revealed in a survey that only 15% of Irish Anglicans attend services on Sundays.

This represents just 58,000 out of a total of 378,000 who claim affiliation to the church.

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As of today the situation in Aden is that all the windows of Christ Church, its associated clinic, and the guesthouse have been blown out as a result of blast waves from sustained shelling on the mountain that dominates our compound in Tawahi. But we are told that all our staff are safe so far, and for that we thank God. The general state of Aden is terrible: lack of fuel means lack of electricity, and telecommunications and even basic movement around the large city have become hugely difficult. Food is limited, and money to buy it even more so.

Read it all and there is more about Christ Church and its currently suspended ministry here

As one of 40 primates of the 80 million member worldwide Anglican Communion, Bishop Zavala will be in South Carolina specifically to encourage and support fellow Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, and the clergy and lay people of the Diocese of South Carolina.

“We’re grateful for the strong support we’ve received from Anglicans around the world and are especially thankful for this time we’ll have with Bishop Zavala,” said the Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, XIV Bishop of South Carolina. “The Global South Primates have assured us of their prayers and their stand with us.”

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Cynics would argue that the ecumenical blabfest is mere window dressing. One critic likened it to those endless rounds of détente during the Soviet era in which both sides shook hands and smiled for the cameras, but were really waiting to see which side would cave first.

Pope Francis thinks otherwise. While recognizing the “grave obstacles to unity” erected by the Anglicans, in his opening remarks he told the delegates not to give up hope.

“The cause of unity is not an optional undertaking and the differences which divide us must not be seen as inevitable ”¦. Despite difficulties, we must not lose heart, but we must trust even more in the power of the Holy Spirit, who can heal and reconcile us, and accomplish what humanly does not seem possible.”

Not only does unity seem impossible at this point, but movements within global Anglicanism itself are moving towards schism instead of unity. Earlier this month, the leaders of an organization named GAFCON met in London. GAFCON stands for Global Anglican Future Conference. Spearheaded by African Anglican bishops, GAFCON now includes representatives from North America, Australia, and South America.

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And now we gather again, 70 years on, thankful for victory over the greatest darkness of the twentieth century, perhaps of all history. Our gratitude is not simply for victory-in-Europe, but also reconciliation-in-Europe that followed, neither obviously nor automatically. Peace is more than the end of war: reconciliation dismantles the hostilities which previously separated and alienated us from one another and from God.

In November 1940 Coventry was terribly bombed. The fires lit the skies for miles, so many people died and were wounded, and amongst much else, the Cathedral burned. Yet from the next day the Provost of Coventry, the Very Reverend Richard Howard, set a course towards reconciliation and the dismantling of hostility.

Six weeks later, on Christmas Day 1940, he gave a sermon on the BBC, in which he said: “we want to tell the world… that with Christ born again in our hearts today, we are trying, hard as it may be, to banish all thoughts of revenge… We are going to try to make a kinder, simpler – a more Christ-child-like sort of world in the days beyond this strife.”

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The Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh, has described the late chief Imam of the national mosque, Ustaz Musa Muhammad, as a pleasant and good natured cleric who lived a life of service to humanity and made an indelible impact on all who interacted with him.

The late Chief Imam, according to him, was a friendly person, bridge builder across religious barriers and a pleasant personality. He said the Chief Imam’s death has further confirmed the transient nature of life.

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Hundreds of Zanu PF youths yesterday defied a High Court order and beseiged the Anglican Church land in Chitungwiza where they maintained the disputed property should be parcelled out to them.
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The High Court last week granted the Anglican Church an order to remove the youths from their land. Recently, nearly 1,000 youths disrupted a church service at St Mary’s Parish and held hostage the congregants..
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spokesperson of the Anglican Bishop in the Diocese of Harare, Precious Shumba, called on Zanu PF leaders to call their youths to order.
Recently, the church appealed to Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo to intervene.

“We condemn the lawlessness that is being promoted by these desperate people hiding behind Zanu PF,” Shumba said. “The Anglican Church has a right to its property and we hope the authorities will respect the order granted. Lawlessness destroys the nation’s hope of economic and social recovery. The leadership of Zanu PF is not above the laws of this country and they must be held accountable. We expect the police to decisively deal with this matter and remove all illegal occupants from our land.”

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Our love affair with the people of these enchanting islands of Tasmania is undiminished.
May 7, 2015

Today, I have communicated the following to the Diocese of Tasmania. I ask for your prayers for our Anglican Family of Tasmania as we bring a season of leadership to a close and toward a new season.

Pastoral Letter from Bishop John

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Following much prayer and consultation with family, senior colleagues and close friends, I believe God is leading me to draw my ministry as the 11th Bishop of Tasmania to a close mid-September.

Obviously, this has not been an easy decision, nor has it come lightly. But life brings the unexpected and so it is that we believe God has led us to a new season to be with our sons and families in Melbourne.

More work needs to be done before finalising any formal announcement, but I anticipate laying up the Bishop of Tasmania’s pastoral staff at our Cathedral Church on Saturday 12th September 2015.

Over the coming months I will continue to fulfil my ministry, including my forthcoming seminars, ”˜Christian Voices in Public Places’ in Devonport, Bellerive, Burnie and Launceston.

In the week prior to the laying up of the Bishop’s pastoral staff, Gayelene and I will attend farewell functions in the North West and Launceston. The Southern Farewell will be at the Cathedral Service with the laying up the pastoral staff, followed by tea and buns (and possibly curried egg sandwiches J)!

On 25th July, St James’ day, I will have served 15 years as your Bishop ”“ an amazing privilege. Gayelene and I (and our farmyard!) have been warmly embraced. Thank you.

Our love affair with the people of these enchanting islands of Tasmania is undiminished.

May the Lord of History guide, guard and bless all of us over these coming months, and the Holy Spirit move with power in building a healthy church transforming life.

Yours sincerely in Christ’s service
Shalom

John Harrower
Bishop of Tasmania

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The Executive Committee of the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) warmly welcome the appointment of Rod Thomas as the new Bishop of Maidstone and look forward to the new opportunities his role may create as we seek to work together to promote the gospel through local Anglican churches.

Prebendary Rod Thomas has served on the Executive Committee of AMiE since 2012. He was a delegate at the Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON) in 2013 at which the Primates of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans recognized the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) as an expression of authentic Anglicanism both for those within and outside the Church of England.

AMiE General Secretary, Canon Andy Lines said,
“We are delighted by the appointment of Prebendary Rod Thomas as the new Bishop of Maidstone. The appointment opens the door to a new era of co-operation between AMiE and the Church of England.”

Chairman of AMiE, Rev Justin Mote said,
“AMiE exists to promote gospel growth by supporting Anglican churches and individuals both within and outside present Church of England structures. No one is more committed to that task than Rod Thomas. We are excited by the possibilities offered by his appointment and look forward to AMiE churches benefitting from his Episcopal ministry in the future.”

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The Dean Emeritus of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Adebola Ademowo, has urged Nigerians to turn to God in prayers for peace and tranquility in the country.

Ademowo made the call at a news conference to herald the 3rd session of the 32nd Synod of the Diocese of Lagos, Anglican Communion.

“There is an urgent need for all to go back to God, the author of peace in prayers.

“With the goings-on in our world today, false doctrines, false teachings abound everywhere; the synod wants to enjoin members to go back to the basics.

“We should confess our sins, repent and pray to God to return our nation back to the era of peace and progress,’’ he said.

Ademowo said that the theme of the synod was: `The Authority of the Scriptures’.

According to him, no prophesy ever comes by the impulse to men but that it comes to men moved by the Holy Spirit.

“The word of God is inspired and it speaks to every situation.

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Last week, the trustees of the Anglican Alliance visited the diocese and visited the Menara Centre for Special Needs and Ain Shams Community Centre – the mission of Anglican Alliance is to build a world free of poverty and injustice. They also had several important meetings with Bishop Mouneer, Dr. Maged, the director of Episcocare, and Dean Samy of St. Mark’s Pro Cathedral to encourage the community development work of the Diocese.

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Reform is delighted that their Chairman, Rev’d Preb Rod Thomas, has been appointed to the revived See of Maidstone. Rod has served as a senior officer of Reform for nearly two decades. In that time he has been unswerving in his commitment to the principles set out in the Reform Covenant. But for Rod’s passionate advocacy of conservative evangelical Anglicanism the Church of England would have been much impoverished.
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Director of Reform, Susie Leafe said, “The members of Reform are all too aware that this is an immense undertaking and we will be in prayer for Rod as he seeks to establish the necessary working arrangements to allow conservative evangelicals to flourish throughout the country.”

Read it all and the official announcement is here and the blurb from the Church of England is here and Lambeth Palace here

KOTTAYAM: The Bishop at CMS Anglican Church allegedly prevented the devotees from entering the church by locking the main entrance, following which a section of the faithful offered prayers on the sides of the MC Road.

The protesters had earlier submitted a memorandum against the Bishop Stephen J Vattappara who is also the vicar of the Anglican Church, alleged that the priest closed the doors of the church at around 9.30 in the morning when they came to offer prayers. They said the bishop had ousted some of the committee members who wanted the financial records of the church publicised last month. He then posted new committee members without conducting any election for the same, they alleged, adding that the priest was receiving funds even from foreign countries, but was not ready to show the accounts to the diocese. Instead, he was acting vengefully against those raising questions against him, they said.

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