“The Anglican Church’s highest court has cleared the way for women bishops – but the Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, will carry on the fight against them. The Appellate Tribunal, by a 4-3 majority, found there is no constitutional barrier to women becoming bishops in the Australian church. The decision could lead one day to a woman leading the Australian church.”
The meeting in Pittsburgh of a group of bishops which follows hard on the heels of the House of Bishops’ meeting in New Orleans has issued a statement and a report of some of the principles they have adopted.
The Episcopal News Service has report of the words of the Archbishop of the Province of Mexico, who is taking part in a meeting at Manchester Cathedral beginning tomorrow. The Archbishop reports in particular of his take on the atmosphere at the most recent Primates meeting earlier this year.
Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh (PEP) asks whether or not the statements made at the House of Bishops’ meeting make adequate provision for people such as themselves: progressive believers who are being marginalized in Anglican Communion Network dioceses
Lord Jesus, in a dark hour you spoke of the gift of peace;
we beg that gift for ourselves,
that we may have the inner serenity that cannot be taken from us.
Then we may be messengers of your peace to a strife-torn world.
Give peace in our time, Lord.
Help us to live in peace.
The Bishops declared: We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no male or female, no slave or free. This is a ringing declaration of justice, but what does it actually mean in our dioceses or parishes? But what good news does this statement proclaim to faithful glbt persons in the pews or at the altars of our churches every Sunday, in parishes here, in Britain, in Malawi, in Pakistan, and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion?
As the bishops are returning to their dioceses after meeting in New Orleans, many of them are writing letters about what transpired during the meeting and what the next steps might be. We’ve collected a number here and will be updating this post as more of their letters become available throughout the day. In addition, we have a statement by the Archbishop of Australia.