A review, entitled "100-year-old Shaw drama shows shades of Lambeth" of the George Bernard Shaw play "Getting Married". "I had no inkling taking my seat in The Royal George Theatre at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake [Ontario] that what I was really doing was attending a backgrounder on the Anglican Church's Lambeth Conference. But then again that simply reflects the enduring relevance of British dramatist and social critic, George Bernard Shaw. 'Getting Married' is a farce about the twists, turns and angst over the state of marriage in Edwardian England ...". "Of course, Edwardian England is not a complete parallel for today, and in a real way this is a play about feminism, not gay rights but there is a thoughtful reflection on the role of marriage in human fulfillment and the roles, for good and bad, in church and state arguing about what does and what does not work when it comes to saying a marriage is valid or not".
Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has announced that he will retire next year following General Synod and the election of a successor.
Archbishop Hutchison, who was elected Primate at the last General Synod in St. Catharines, Ont., in 2004 made the announcement at a meeting of the Canadian House of Bishops in Niagara Falls, Ont., after privately notifying the four Canadian Metropolitan Archbishops of his decision.
He reminded the bishops that he had said right after his election in June, 2004, that his would be a one-triennium primacy. (General Synod meets every three three years.) Since then, he said, there have been discussions about whether or not that term of office should be extended. But "despite a good deal of urging for me to do so, I believe the best answer is for me to stick to my original statement," he said.
Archbishop Hutchison, former Archbishop of Montreal and Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada, had been ready to retire at the time he was elected Primate.
He told the Niagara Falls gathering of bishops that his decision was based primarily on personal and family reasons.
The announcement means that the next General Synod, which convenes in Winnipeg next summer [19-25 June 2007], will elect a successor. The process for that election is that the House of Bishops submits a list of no more than five nominees to General Synod, where clergy and lay members elect a Primate.
Archbishop Hutchison noted that this timing will allow a new Primate time to prepare for the next meeting of the Lambeth Conference of all Anglican bishops in the world, which will be held in 2008.
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For more information, please contact: Vianney (Sam) Carriere, Director of Communications, 416-924-9199 ext. 306; scarriere@national.anglican.ca
Short article with photo showing "Bishop David Vunagi and the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon ... at the ACR [Anglican Centre in Rome] stall". "Amidst the bookstalls, displays of ecclesiastical finery and mission agencies, the Anglican Centre welcomed to its Lambeth stall many old friends and new inquirers. The sign 'You have a place in Rome' enticed not only Bishops and their spouses to pause, but also members of the general public who were for the first time able to attend". "Margie Richardson, William and Joanna Sanders and a team of willing volunteers greeted visitors over the first eleven days".
See also photo on p. [12] with caption: "The Very Reverend David Richardson and his wife Margie talking to the Very Reverend John Hall, Dean of Westminster at Buckingham Palace during the [2008] Lambeth Conference".
The debate as to whether or not the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church will be included in Lambeth 2008 continues. "Eight primates, bishops and lay people from across the Anglican Communion, who make up the Lambeth design group, were scheduled to meet with [Rowan Williams] Archbishop of Canterbury Dec. 6 [2005] to consider `radical changes to the conference, which could lower the chances of conflict', Church Times reported. Sue Parks, manager of the conference said Archbishop Williams is already on record as saying he wants a `Lambeth-lite' that would have fewer resolutions. The design group was also considering doing away with preliminary regional meetings."
Cover title: Christ and culture: communion after Lambeth.
"Edited by Martyn Percy, Mark Chapman, Ian Markham and Barney Hawkins".
"Series Editors: Martyn Percy and Ian Markham".
"First published in 2010 by the Canterbury Press Norwich ... First published in North America in 2010 by Morehouse Publishing ..". -- verso of t.-p.
Includes bibliographical references and name index.
"In this first volume in an important new series, leaders from around the Anglican Communion ... reflect on the ten main themes of the 2008 Lambeth Conference .... this volume also features study questions following each essay to help readers go deeper into issues vitally relevant to us all". -- back cover.
"The writers of these Lambeth Essays were invited to extend the work of the Lambeth Conference 2008: to take the themes of the Conference into every corner of the Anglican Communion and to make the themes accessible for grassroots conversation and reflection. So, we have theological reflections from a few of the Anglican scholars and leaders who attended the 2008 conference. .... The writers come from across the landscape of Anglicanism and from a wide spectrum of theological perspectives. We sought in our writers a cross-section and a culturally diverse swath of our Communion -- for we are many voices with many viewpoints. .... The study questions at the end of the book will help all who read this book to go deeper and to live with the themes of Lambeth 2008. The themes of Lambeth 2008 are our themes, and this book brings them to us". -- Editor's Preface.
Contents: Foreword to the series by the Archbishop of Canterbury dated Advent 2009 / Rowan Cantuar i.e. Williams -- About the Contributors -- Foreword / Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop, The Episcopal Church -- Editors' Preface dated Easter 2009 / Mark Chapman, Barney Hawkins, Ian Markham, Martyn Percy -- Introduction / Mark Chapman -- The Bishop and Anglican Identity: Signposts for Episcopal Character / Stephen Pickard -- Celebrating Common Ground: The Bishop and Anglican Identity / Clive Handford -- Proclaiming the Good News / James Tengatenga -- Transforming Society: The Bishop and Social Justice / Johannes T. Seoka -- The Bishop, Other Churches, and God's Mission 1 / Geoffrey Rowell -- The Bishop, Other Churches, and God's Mission 2 / John William Hind -- The Bishop, Other Churches, and God's Mission 3 / C. Christopher Epting -- Engaging with a Multi-Faith World 1 / Suheil S. Dawani -- Engaging with a Multi-Faith World 2 / Michael Jackson -- Engaging with a Multi-Faith World 3 / Saw John Wilme -- The Bishop and Living Under Scripture / N. Thomas Wright -- Equipping for God's Mission: The Missiological Vision of the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops / Ian T. Douglas -- After Lambeth: Where Next ? An Afterword / Martyn Percy -- Study Guide -- Index.
"Bishop James Cowan of the diocese of British Columbia has reversed a policy that prohibits clergy in same-gender relationships from serving in the diocese. As a result, he has been able to match up a parish looking for clergy, with 'a fine priest'. She had been on leave for eight years because she was in a same-gender relationship." At the 2008 Lambeth Conference there was a lot of discussion on the three moratoria called for in the Windsor Report: the blessing of same-sex unions; the ordination of clergy in same-gender relationships as bishops; and cross-border interventions in the affairs of other provinces. After much thought about the moratorium on the election of bishops in same-gender relationships, and after consultation with other bishops, Bishop Cowan decided that the "wording said to me [that] Lambeth is acknowledging that there are people in same-gender relationships who are priests who canonically would be eligible for election and consecration, 'The moratoria says we will not elect and consecrate', he said. 'But it [still] says that they are there'."
"My primary argument is contained in Part I of this book. These chapters originated as a series of lectures delivered at a conference in the Lifetime Education Centre at Virginia Theological Seminary in June 2006. The second part is based loosely on some previously published material, though it has been completely re-written and on a number of points I have changed my mind. In the last fifteen years Anglicans have embarked on a high-risk strategy of conflict avoidance and containment in the face of growing differences over the place of homosexuality in the public life of the church. These more precise issues are taken up in Part II, which includes a consideration of the recent Lambeth Conference". -- Intro., p. 8.
"Underlying the series of conflicts currently engrossing Anglican leaders around the world is a mismatch of communication arising from differences in these frameworks of plausibility. While the presenting issue this time concerns gender relationships there is also an underlying question about the significance and challenge of increasing diversity within the Anglican expressions of Christian faith. This plurality is seen by some as a threat to Anglican identity and witness. .... There are quite important issues at stake here as to how Christian churches are to understand who they are and how they can relate their present circumstances to their Christian heritage. But the fact remains that this is not a new question in Christian history, indeed there is a long tradition of Christians grappling with this issue (p. 2-3). .... This book explores a globalized tradition of Christianity that has grown out of a local form and it does so with the current diversity and conflicts among Anglicans in view. This means that we must look at the process by which local traditions developed and how these traditions have related to other sub traditions of the universal church. Along the way we will assess some specifics of the Anglican experience. .... It also entails showing how the imperial route to catholicity espoused by Pope Gregory VII and consolidated in later centuries took no firm root in Anglicanism. In the modern period it also shows how different political and social structures and understandings have produced different forms of secular society and different understandings of plurality and diversity. These differences have shaped the contemporary debate amongst Anglicans and contributed to the misunderstanding evident amongst Anglicans around the world (p. 8)". -- Intro.
Contents divided into two main parts: Part One: Conflict and Connection in the Church -- Part Two: Will the Current Anglican Experiment Go Anywhere ?
Contents: Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Conflict and Connection in Early Christianity -- Local Traditions and the Universal Church -- Catholicity Without Leviathan -- The Powers, Church, and Truth -- Introduction [to Part Two] -- Why the 'Virginia Report' is not Good Enough -- The Windsor Report: The Questions Less Asked -- Will the Windsor Process Lead to the Precipice ? -- Lambeth: A Conference Re-discovered ? -- Conflict, Catholicity, and Hope -- Bibliography.
Author is a priest in the Anglican Church of Australia and former provincial General Secretary (1994-2004).