The Bishop of London, the Rt. Rev. David Hope, has announced what is called `The London Plan' in response to the Church of England's Ordination of Women to the Priesthood Measure. The Plan asks the Metropolitan (in this case the Archbishop of Canterbury) to designate a bishop (commissary) to ordain women in an area where the bishop will not do the same. The area bishop still maintains pastoral oversight as far as possible.
"Three suffragan bishops, two in Canterbury province and one in York, will be appointed to serve as Provincial Episcopal Visitors (PEV) to minister to people, both evangelical and catholic, in the Church of England, who do not accept the Synod's decision to ordain women as priests. Called "An Act of Synod" the plan was presented to the November Synod of the Church of England by the House of Bishops who agreed as a body to implement its goals. The plan is based on a plan initiated by the Bishop of London, Dr. David Hope, conceived shortly after the vote for women priests in 1992."
"Where is authority located in the Church of England ? Who decides how to react when tradition is challenged ? .... [The author] attempts to restate the theological and practical role of bishops, in relation to the clergy, laity, synods and councils, the Free Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. Until their position as leaders is clarified, the voice of the bishops in the common search for unity will be unconvincing, and the Anglican Church will be in danger of losing its identity". -- back cover.
Contents: Preface -- Introduction: Decision-making in a Divided Church -- The Bishops, Scripture and Tradition -- The Bishop's Counsel -- The Bishop's Council -- The Bishops and Ecumenism I: The Non-episcopal Churches -- The Bishops and Ecumenism II: The Roman Catholic Church -- Excursus I: The Origins of the Episcopate -- Excursus II: Episcopal Authority and the Ordination of Women -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
Colophon: Printed in Great Britain by Hollen Street Press Ltd, Slough.
Author is a Church of England priest, former member of the Church of England Doctrine Commission and consultant to the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission.
"Unlike other human groups which define themselves by a model of kinship, members of the Church belong by virtue of adoption by a God who is free and unconstrained. The authors finds tribalism at work in the Church, a kind of 'old boy's network' which forms its tight-knit boundaries, not by flamboyant and obvious bigotry, but by a coolly argued defence of things as they are. In fact, this is disguised nepotism, a refusal to accept the Church as the adopted people of a generous God, and regarding it instead as a privileged tribe. This book shows in quite practical ways how these hidden assumptions can operate and is a prophetic call to a riskier version of broken boundaries and open acceptance". -- back cover.
Contents: Preface dated Southfields, London, Pentecost 1990 / Peter Selby -- Longing and Belonging -- An Ethnic Church ? -- A New People -- Children of Promise -- The Male Tribe -- Love Unmentioned -- The Elders of the Tribe -- The Power of Longing -- Belonging in God.
Author is the bishop of Kingston, a suffragan of the diocese of Durham.
That this National Executive Council express its dismay over the unauthorized involvement of the Bishop of London [Graham Leonard] in a parish which is not in communion with the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. and outside his jurisdiction and convey its support to the Church of England House of Bishops and to the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. regarding their stands on this jurisdictional matter. CARRIED #63-11-86
"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.
"The revival of Religious communities among Anglicans from the 1840s onwards was a process fraught with controversies. Bishops were placed from the beginning at the heart of these conflicts and so their actions are an integral part of the history of Anglican Religious Life. Yet they are often viewed as simply reactive, grudgingly coming to accept the revival and doing little to encourage seriously its energies and achievements. The bishops are portrayed by some historical narratives as the great obstacle with which heroic Religious battled for acceptance. After all, it was nearly a hundred years before communities in the Church of England gained official recognition in 1935 with the creation of the Advisory Council. However, the evolving relationship of communities and bishops was much more complex and nuanced. Nothing illustrates this more than the debates at the Lambeth Conferences of 1897 and 1908, which reveal and appreciation and support for Religious Life among bishops far more understanding and concerned than many contemporary Religious might have believed. To understand the episcopal-Religious relationship among Anglicans, it would seem worth reconsidering these forgotten debates" (p. 41).
"An occasional paper of the House of Bishops of the Church of England".
"Published for the Council for Christian Unity by Church House Publishing". -- verso of t.-p.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-54).
"During the past ten years, the House of Bishops of the Church of England has been aware of the need to strengthen the theological foundations of its work. Following debate in the General Synod on the report `Episcopal Ministry', the House requested the Faith and Order Advisory Group of the Council for Christian Unity to work on the theology and practice of episcopal collegiality. What does it mean for bishops to work together as one body ? How does this help to ensure that the Church is maintained in that unity in the truth for which Christ prayed ? What theological principles undergird episcopal collegiality ? How does this reflect and enhance the ministry and mission of the whole priestly body of the Church ? .... We commend [this paper] for study and reflection by bishops, members of the General Synod and all with a concern for leadership in the Church of Christ". -- Foreword.
Contents: Foreword / Archbishops of Canterbury and York -- Introduction -- The Church as Koinonia -- How is the Koinonia of the Church Sustained for Service and Mission ? -- Collegiality in the Context of Conciliarity and Primacy -- The Ministry of Oversight : Issues of Power and Authority -- Collegiality Today in the Service of Koinonia -- Summary and Conclusion -- References.
"The Church of England is a unique institution. It is the only church in the world to have its bishops appointed by the prime minister so they can set in parliament. .... Deeply conservative by instinct, the Church of England has nevertheless taken the radical and momentous decision to ordain women to the priesthood. Schism stares the Church in the face; and for the first time in its history it is also confronting a potentially disastrous financial crisis. To investigate the turbulence Michael De-la-Noy has visited parish churches, retreat houses, theological colleges, humble rectories and Lambeth Palace. He has talked to nuns, to lay readers, to hospital chaplains and team rectors. The Church failings are here writ large ...But it is in the faith and courage, moral and physical of its individual members that its virtues are to be found. The is a personal and human account of the oldest institution in England -- the Ecclesia Anglicana of Magna Carta." -- front dust jacket blurb.
Contents: An Introduction dated The Feast Day of the Martyrs of the Serapeum [17 March], 1993 / Michael De-la-Noy -- Roughly Knowing What to Do -- By Law Established -- The Making of a Bishop -- Money Matters -- Training for the Next Century -- Head-Hunting for Patrons -- The Lambeth Way -- Bars and Bombs -- The Religious in Retreat -- Dr Who ? -- Sidetracked by Sex -- The Women's Vote -- An Epilogue -- Notes -- Index.
"The Church of England 'as by law established' has a long history, yet faces, like any other religious body, present-day problems of personnel, finance and organization. This book is intended to be a guide, simple and untechnical and broad in treatment, yet definite and informative, to the workings of the Church as an institution .... The book expresses no party viewpoint and is written not merely for clergy and office-holders in the Church but also to provide clear information for the laity on matters often found obscure". -- front dust jacket blurb.
Contents: Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Part I: The Church and Its Members -- The Establishment of the Church -- The Territorial Organization of the Church -- Bishops and Their Officers -- The Parochial Clergy -- The Laity -- Men for the Ministry -- Part II: Church Finance and Government -- How the Clergy are Paid -- Diocesan Administration -- Parochial Church Councils -- The Central Government of the Church of England -- The Ecclesiastical Courts -- Canon Law -- Part III: The Church at Work -- The Church and Education -- The Anglican Communion -- The Church of England: Its Objectives and Mission -- Appendix One: Short Glossary -- Appendix Two: A Short List of Books -- Index.