If the analysis above is accepted then the situation seems to be as follows. Those clergy who marry someone of the same sex believe they should live in accordance with canon C26 and that they are doing so and that their problem is simply with canon B30. However, the general category of “according to the doctrine of Christ” in C26 has within the canons one very clear specification ”“ the definition of marriage in B30. This is the canon that, in a form of conscientious ecclesial disobedience, they are not only questioning and asking the church to reconsider but actively contradicting by their actions. I think this raises three key questions.

First, can the clergy concerned (and those supportive of them) recognise that given this situation they have a responsibility to seek an urgent change to canon B30?

A clergyperson’s decision to enter a same-sex marriage is, in effect, a demand that canon B30 be amended. The logic of their actions, whether consciously or not, is that they are attempting to bring about a change in that canon’s definition of marriage. At its weakest this would involve removing the claim of dominical authority for the definition of marriage (arguably allowing those who disregard it to put themselves on the same footing as those who disregard other canons). More likely it would entail a new definition or a removal of any definition of marriage.

What is interesting, and of concern, is that despite this being the logical implication of the actions there has, as far as I am aware, been no serious attempt to change the canon by due process and very little sustained theological critique or development of an alternative wording.

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On a recent visit to the CMS offices. Stephen Lubari, education programme manager of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan (ECSSS), had a simple message from the world’s newest nation:

“Pray for peace, reconciliation and healing in South Sudan. Pray for those in the internally displaced people (IDP) camps and for those involved in the peace process ”“ including the church which is working with the government and outside agencies to achieve this.”

The most pressing need for the IDPs, according to Stephen, is making sure that enough emergency relief reaches them in the shape of food, water and shelter ”“ especially as April and May is when the rains start. The United Nations humanitarian coordination agency, UNOCHA, said in a situation report on 25 April that as many as 4.9 million people need humanitarian assistance.

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Nearly 2.5 million children are living in families struggling with “problem debt”, according to a report.

The Children’s Society and StepChange debt charity say many families are in an “extremely precarious” position and taking out loans to pay for the basics.

The stress of keeping up with repayments leads to arguments, emotional distress for children and even bullying, the charities say.

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The 2014 General Synod of the Church of Ireland opened in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, at 10.00 am today (Thursday May 8) with an act of worship led by the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, the Most Revd Pat Storey. During the worship she prayed for the release of the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls.

In his presidential address the Most Revd Dr Richard Clarke, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland focused on ”˜Freely you have received, freely give’ (Matthew Chapter 10 v.8), speaking of the ”˜Church as an organism that is characterised by its giving nature; its people who are characterised by being giving people’. Archbishop Clarke will also stress that ”˜All life is a gift of God; it is never a commodity’. He said: ”˜”¦one of the aspects of modern culture I most fear is that we have turned all human life into a commodity. The very beginnings of life and the end of life on earth are gift, never to be treated as anything less.’

The Archbishop asked questions about society’s priorities ”“ in relation in particular to poverty and foodbanks and in funding for hospice provision ”“ and also encouraged people to consider fostering children in need and urge church members to consider being blood donors and to sign up for organ transplant at death, ”˜as an opportunity for giving to others’, and as promoted by the Flesh and Blood ”“ ”˜FAB’ ”“ campaign.

Check out all the links there and you can find the speeches here.

Bishop Lawrence welcomed Bishop Ferran Glenfield, of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardaugh (Ireland) to the Diocese of South Carolina recently. Bishop Glenfield has been visiting with The Cross, Bluffton, in their continuing ministry partnership. Bishop Glenfield succeeds Bishop Ken Clarke, who is now Director of SAMS Ireland. From left to right, Bishop Mark Lawrence, the Very Rev. Chuck Owens and Bishop Glenfield.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town today called for “all of Africa, and especially South Africa” to rise up and demand the release of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted from their school three weeks ago.

The Anglican archbishop was preaching at the 150th anniversary celebrations of St John’s Church, Bellville in Cape Town.

During his sermon, he called on the congregation to “voice your outrage at the killings in northern Nigeria, and at the recent abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls there.”

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When someone asked the Rev. Canon Andrew White why members are so happy at St. George’s Church in war-torn Baghdad, the response came from Lina, whom White considers his adopted Iraqi daughter: “When you’ve lost everything, Jesus is all you have left.”

The question was not a theoretical one for Canon White (more popularly known as the “Vicar of Baghdad”), his loved ones, or his parishioners. St. George’s Church is a cathedral that has suffered the loss of 1,276 congregants during the last decade. And yet he declares with joy and a tinge of wonder in his voice, “I have one of the most wonderful congregations you can imagine.”

Visiting Washington, D.C., to receive the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview’s William Wilberforce Award, White spoke on “Reconciliation and Peacemaking in the World, Church, and the Anglican Communion” at Truro Anglican Church on May 1. He is the author of several books, including Father, Forgive: Reflections on Peacemaking (Monarch, 2013).

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Bishop Paul was introduced to the city at St Andrews Clubmoor where he toured the Foodbank meeting staff, clients and local clergy. He continues his day by travelling to Wigan, receiving Communion at Wigan Parish Church before visiting the Deanery High School for a question and answer session with a group of pupils. The Bishop then returns to Liverpool to meet diocesan staff at St James House before visiting Liverpool Cathedral. He concludes his day by attending Evening Prayer at the cathedral.

Bishop Paul said “This is a great city and a great region with great people. It deserves a great church. I’m beginning to learn just how much the people of our Diocese, alongside our friends and colleagues from other Christian traditions, contribute to this fantastic community. It’s a huge privilege to be invited to come among them, to learn from them, and to work with the team here to give some guidance and leadership for the future. No new bishop should stand alone, and I’m very grateful for the quality of the leaders of the Diocese. Bishop Richard and Archdeacons Ricky and Peter, supported by many others, are sustaining and carrying forward the vision of the Diocese in a way that’s very impressive. I support that vision for growth and I’m looking forward to carrying it forward.

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A large congregation gathered in St Eunan’s Cathedral in Raphoe on Saturday 3 May for the installation of the new Dean, Canon Arthur Barrett.

Dean Barrett was joined by his wife Brigid, his family and many friends. As well as many from the diocese of Derry and Raphoe there was a strong representation from his former parish of Rossory. People had also travelled from as far afield as Dublin for the Service.

The preacher at the Service was Archbishop David Chillingworth, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Following the installation there were refreshments and speeches of welcome in the modern parish hall.

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A commission is to look at the relationship between the Anglican Church in the Channel Islands and the Diocese of Winchester after they split, the Archbishop of Canterbury says.

The islands split from the Diocese of Winchester in January after a dispute over how abuse complaints were handled.

The Diocese of Canterbury currently has oversight of the islands.

The Archbishop, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, said the special commission would start work soon.

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Singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, who had flown in from the US especially for the funeral, played an acoustic version of his 1970 hit Wild World.

Family friend Otis Irwin addressed the guests before the second hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.

Renowned photographer Don McCullin, a close friend of Mr Shand’s, read a tribute while Ben Elliot read an extract from Mr Shand’s book Travels on My Elephant.

A choir sang Somewhere from Westside Story before Ayesha Shand made her own tribute.

The final hymn was The Lord of the Dance and the guests exited the church to The Elephant Song from Disney film The Jungle Book.

Read it all from the Telegraph.

In a progress report to the Council of General Synod (CoGS) on the early work of the Commission on the Marriage Canon, chair Canon Robert Falby, noted that there had been “some controversy” over the membership of the committee after it was announced in early 2014.

Critics have said that the commission does not have a balance of members who are both for and against the resolution passed at General Synod 2013, which asked CoGS to prepare and present a motion to change the church’s Canon 21 on marriage “to allow the marriage of same-sex couples in the same way as opposite-sex couples” prior to the next General Synod in 2016.

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Amassed on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral, they stood smiling and waving in glorious sunshine, as friends, husbands, children and grandchildren strained to spot their own in the Class of 1994.

The twentieth anniversary of the first priesting of women in the Church of England on Saturday was, the Archbishop of Canterbury confirmed, “party time”. Around 700 of those ordained in 1994 attended the service at St Paul’s, with many arriving after taking part in a walk of witness from Westminster Abbey.

For fifteen minutes, as they processed into the Cathedral through the West doors, the congregation applauded.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury’s view that the UK is “a deeply Christian country” is a “self-serving claim” and his church is “banging the religious drum” , according to a secular campaign group.

The comments come after the Most Rev Justin Welby defended faith schools, pointing out they are often in the poorest parts of the country.

But the National Secular Society (NSS) said Church of England schools “prioritise evangelisation over serving the population who are steadily abandoning his pews”.

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Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has defended faith schools, saying they provide education for some of the poorest children in the UK.

Archbishop Welby acknowledged the potential danger of fundamentalists attempting to take control of schools.

However, in a BBC interview he said Church of England schools continued to “love and serve”, as they “have done for hundreds of years”

The archbishop repeated his view that the UK is “a deeply Christian country”.

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There are at least 20 different recognizable types of “Fresh Expressions of Church (fxC): Messy Church, child-focused church, and Café Church are the most common types. Most of these church gatherings are made up of an average of about 44 people.

The typical team size sent to begin these fxCs is 3-12 people. They occur in all kinds of social contexts, are begun by all traditions in the Church of England. They meet in all manner of venues and across a wide variety of days” (6).

Here are some of the key stats reported by the organization who conducted the study, the C Church of England’s Church Army’s Research Unit:

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At its spring meeting, the House of Bishops departed from its usual agenda, packed with briefings and program updates, to days spent on a retreat that combined eucharists, Bible studies, moments of reflection, quiet walks and group conversations.

“Bishops are always encouraging clergy, ”˜Take your retreat.’ Every once in a while when it comes to that counsel, we need to lead by example,” said Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, in an interview. “The time has come for us to follow our Lord’s advice to ”˜come apart and rest a while.’ ”

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Unexpectedly, and unforgettably, the Pope took the Metropolitan and myself, alone, down to the tomb of St Paul which is in the centre of the basilica. He held us by the elbows as he beckoned us to approach the grave, and then he indicated that we should bow, which we did for some minutes, the three of us, in that sacred space. Then we continued with Vespers.

At the end he took the two of us with him again and we greeted all the other Church representatives. After we had recessed together he embraced and kissed the two of us with a holy kiss. These actions of his were said to be unprecedented in recent memory in that liturgy and left a deep impression on the two of us. Surely these dramatic demonstrations of unexpected love are at the heart of the quest for unity.

Read it all (from March but still of interest).

“My own view is that what is needed in the Church at present is gracious restraint. We need a cool and calm period in which to explore the issues. To those among clergy and ordinands contemplating entering a same-sex marriage I would say, “Might you hold back while the Church reflects?” Gracious restraint. To those who might make a complaint against a priest who, despite that, does enter such a marriage I would say, “Might you hold back while the Church reflects?” Gracious restraint. To those who contemplate leaving the Church of England because of its perceived position I would say, “Might you hold back while the Church reflects?” Gracious restraint. To those who condemn the Church of England from other parts of the Anglican Communion I would say, “Might you hold back while the Church of England reflects?” Gracious restraint to give us space.

“The next steps for the Church of England are to have facilitated conversations at a national and diocesan level. This should involve profound reflection on the interpretation and application of Scripture. The outcomes that are hoped for, certainly what I will pray for are of two sorts.

“One sort is that we seek to listen together with sufficient commitment that we lift the issue out of its present situation where people of entrenched views fail to hear one another or respect one another’s integrity. We need to listen very carefully to the beliefs and opinions that come out of a profound change of attitudes in our society to gender, sexuality and marriage. We need to listen very carefully to the experience of gay and lesbian people, both those who are celibate and those who are in sexual relationships, including gay and lesbian clergy. We need to listen, in some cases, to their pain, and we need also to listen to their sense of joy, love and blessing in a faithful partnership. We need to listen very carefully to what the world and medicine and science can tell us about homosexuality. We need to listen very carefully to those who believe we are sitting light to the teaching of Jesus and the authority of the scriptures. We need to listen to one another and we need to listen to what the Spirit may be saying to the churches. And each and every one of us needs to participate in that listening with a humility that recognises that we have things to learn and may be some opinions to revise and that the Church’s teaching in this area of life may need to be expressed in a new language. I say “may”, for we must also allow for the possibility that what emerges, at the end of profound reflection, is a clear restatement of a traditional view.

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Downing Street has announced today four new Suffragan bishops in the Dioceses of York and Chelmsford. John Thomson (Selby), Paul Ferguson (Whitby), Roger Morris (Colchester), and Peter Hill (Barking), have been confirmed to become Suffragan bishops after their nomination was approved by the Queen.

Please follow the links provided to read more.

Anglican leaders are hailing the report Nudging Anglican Parishes to Prevent Violence Against Women, saying it points to a paradigm shift in the way Anglican communities assist in tackling family violence now and in the future.

In Australia, one in three women has experienced violence and one woman dies each week as a result of violence in the home. Most of their tormentors are not strangers lurking on busy streets, but their friends, acquaintances, husbands, brothers and fathers. The rest of the data on violence against women is equally disturbing.

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Praying that God should stop Nigeria’s looming descent into the abyss of insecurity, unemployment, high crime rate, [Adebola ] Ademowo, who is also the Bishop of the Diocese of Lagos, called on Nigerian youth to shun violence.

According to him, “the youth cannot gain anything by indulging in violence and they must behave themselves and channel their energies in the proper direction.

“In our own diocese, we have been taking care of the youths. We have youth empowerment programmes and what we have done so far is to give them financial assistance – some received above N1 million, some N1 million and the rest got less than that.

“It is to encourage them to be gainfully employed and start their own small-scale businesses, because we can’t all be going for white collar jobs, they are not available anyway.”

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Church of England officials are facing humiliation after controversial plans to stop a bishop living in the medieval palace occupied by his predecessors for centuries were overturned.

The Rt Rev Peter Hancock, who will be formally enthroned as the 79th Bishop of Bath and Wells next month, had been told he would not live in the 13th Century palace because it was not “conducive to ministry” and a more normal family home would be found.

The medieval complex doubles as diocesan headquarters and a tourist attraction and the Church Commissioners, the Church of England’s property and financial arm, argued that it lacked privacy for the bishop and his family.

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The Church Commissioners for England and the Diocese of Bath and Wells have today issued a joint statement following the publication of the decision of the committee of the Archbishops’ Council.

“We thank the Archbishops’ Council for their consideration of the objections made by the Diocese to the Church Commissioners decision to house the next Bishop of Bath and Wells outside of the Palace.

“We appreciate the thoroughness of the Council’s consideration and the swiftness with which the decision has been reached.

“This outcome enables all concerned to look to the future, to celebrate the arrival of the new Bishop and to welcome Bishop Peter and his wife Jane when they arrive in June.”

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For the early church, Jerusalem was a place of opposition and persecution. Galilee was where Jesus had preached his reckless and extravagant morality, a scandal to insurers and a stumbling block to estate agents:

”˜forgive your enemies’,
”˜give away your cloak as well as your coat’,
”˜turn the other cheek’,
”˜love those who insult you’,
”˜walk the extra mile’ and ”˜take no thought for tomorrow’.
Perhaps Galilee was a place where the hungry were fed, immigrants were welcomed, the sick were visited and the poor were protected from the violence of the rich.

Mark is saying to us, his audience, that if we are looking for the Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, this is the Galilee to which we must direct our lives. Or to put it another way, if we are looking for this kind of society, Daniel is right. The God in whom he put his hope has provided a way of salvation, but we cannot bypass the tomb in which the mangled corpse of Jesus was laid. There will be a crucifixion before there is a resurrection.

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The General Synod stipulated that the preparation of this motion should include a process of broad consultation. To facilitate this, a Commission on the Marriage Canon was formed. An important part of its mandate includes inviting submissions on the proposed change to Canon XXI (“On Marriage in the Church”).

Input from members of the Anglican Church of Canada is vital as the church enters this time of discernment. Commission chair, Canon Robert Falby, encourages broad participation in this process. “Commission members are aware of the strong feelings that many Anglicans have on the issues which it is looking at and we hope that we will receive input which reflects that spectrum.”

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Holy Trinity Cathedral is a monument to New Westminster’s past.

But to restore it to its former glory may require a modern solution.

The Anglican/Episcopalian church sits regally perched above Downtown at the top of Church Street.

It’s tucked away, surrounded by the police station, a nightclub, the Columbia SkyTrain station and high rises.

And now the congregation is hoping the city will be open to the idea of a plan that would put a residential tower on the site, and help them fix their church.

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