The Archive

Author: Jim Naughton

The mad Christians in the attic

July 10, 2008 1 Comment

Like Mr Rochester’s first wife, the misogyny and homophobia of the Church of England’s factions keep leaping out of the attic to scare off decent folk, writes Stephen Bates. Desperate in its search for relevance, the Established Church could not have chosen two issues more likely to make it appear institutionally decrepit among those it wishes to proselytise than its perceived discrimination against women and gay people.

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General Seminary unveils financial plan

July 10, 2008 No Comments

The immediate future of General Seminary is not imperiled. Decisive action, however, is not simply called for but demanded. At our May board meeting, the trustees of GTS committed to a three-year plan to address the challenges the Seminary now faces.

– Dean Ward B. Ewing

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Mwamba dismisses doomsayers

July 10, 2008 No Comments

The simple reality is that the majority of African Anglicans, about 37 million of them, are frankly not bothered with the debate on sexuality. A bishop from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, told me that the people in his diocese were not in the least interested in the issue. This is just the tip of the iceberg because in my own Province the debate on sexuality is also not an issue.

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Is globalization driving schism?

July 10, 2008 2 Comments

There is something to this argument, but in what sense are parishes who put themselves under a foreign bishop seeking to escape any episcopal oversight while remaining nominally Anglican; and when African archbishops spout 19th century theology in speeches written for them by American conservatives, is that an example of globalization enabled or globalization coopted?

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Live from Lambeth! Well, not quite yet

July 10, 2008 No Comments

Beginning sometime in the next few days, the Café’s editor Jim Naughton will be reporting from England on the Lambeth Conference and related events. You can expect dispatches daily–at least. Meanwhile the Café’s other news bloggers will continue to round up and synthesize coverage of the events shaping the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

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Episcopal seminaries grapple with new realities — II

July 10, 2008 No Comments

For both theological and practical reasons, the Episcopal Church is moving toward a “nonprofessional” ministry of part-time or unpaid clergy. And an increasing amount of pastoral, spiritual, and educational work is being carried out by lay volunteers. By some estimates, between 60,000 and 100,000 lay people have been trained in Bible, church history and theology in an intensive four-year program called Education for Ministry.

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Awake or asleep

July 10, 2008 No Comments

The ancient monastic practice of rising sometime between midnight and two in the morning to pray sanctifies the night hours. To me the idea of nuns and monks rising from their beds in the middle of the night and shuffling down a darkened hall in pairs by candlelight, half asleep, to sing and pray in a cold chapel is both appalling and comforting.

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