"First published in 2002 by SCM Press. This paperback edition published in 2003". -- verso of t.-p.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
"The purpose of this book is twofold. It provides brief portraits of forty-eight bishops who were in office from about the time of the 1832 Reform Bill, when the Church of England as well as the nation as a whole entered a period of continuous change, until the final years of the twentieth century." -- Intro., p. [1].
Beeson "ends by asking why such able and interesting bishops are now in short supply and wonders whether the hectically busy managerial role assumed by the bishops of the new millennium represents a betrayal of the Episcopal office and a consequent weakening of the Church's witness in an incredibly secularized society. Looking not far ahead, the likely impact of women bishops is also discussed". -- back cover.
Contents: Acknowledgements / TB -- Introduction -- The aristocrats and the courtiers -- The scholars -- The statesmen -- The prophets -- The pastors -- The controversialists -- The headmasters -- The church reformers -- The social reformers -- The missionaries -- The evangelists -- The odd men out -- The pioneers : looking ahead -- Bibliography -- Index.
OTCH Note: The bishops described are in order of discussion: Edward Stuart Talbot, William Cecil, Charles Sumner, Cosmo Gordon Lang, Robin Woods, Connop Thirlwall, Joseph Barber Lightfoot, Mandell Creighton, Kenneth Kirk, Ian Ramsey, Archibald Campbell Tait, Randall Davidson, William Temple, George Bell, John Percival, Edward Lee Hicks, John A.T. Robinson, E.R. (Ted) Wickham, Edward King, William Walsham How, Edward Woods, Launcelot Fleming, Herbert Hensley Henson, Ernest William Barnes, Frederick Temple, George Ridding, Neville Gorton, Geoffrey Fisher, Edward Stanley, Charles James Blomfield, Samuel Wilberforce, Leslie Hunter, James Fraser, Brooke Foss Westcott, Charles Gore, George Augustus Selwyn, John William Colenso, Charles Mackenzie, Frank Weston, Joost de Blank, Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram, Walter Carey, Christopher Chavasse, Cuthbert Bardsley, Henry Phillpotts, T.B. Strong, Mervyn Stockwood and Douglas Feaver.
"Something is eluding us in the fight against AIDS. When travelling through southern and eastern Africa it is impossible to dodge the dour reality of how AIDS is annihilating the community life of village and neighbourhoods, once the cornerstone and strength of the African way of life". Young men and women who are exposed to the facts about HIV and AIDS from skilled educators are still becoming infected. The author visited and spoke with community workers in South Africa. She also visited SALAMA a PWRDF partner in Nampula, Mozambique, with very explicit education and awareness programs. "Program Coordinator Yolanda Napoleao was quite candid in saying information and knowledge is not enough, Stopping AIDS is about a personal journey that includes changing behaviour. Educators find it hard to know what triggers the change". In Nairobi, Kenya, the author visited Crisis Pregnancy Ministries of Kenya (CPMK), a small faith-based NGO which emphasizes abstinence. "Secular NGOs and governments are doing a great job as they focus on the technical aspects of the problem: treatment, use of condoms, protected sex, rights of women to negotiate safe sex, etc. But as many educators assert, it is behavioural change, specifically young men's behaviour, that will ultimately have a greater impact in the battle against AIDS. CPMK puts the onus on teens to change their behaviour. And an answer to what is eluding us in the fight against AIDS among youth might just be there. Given all the information and options, young teens might be better equipped to choose a life path that leads to change because they respect life and know that AIDS kills".
"This article is the first in a series". The author is "Development Program Coordinator: Africa, Primate's World Relief and Development Fund. She recently returned from a PWRDF partners visit to South Africa, Kenya and Mozambique."