So now that we’ve seen a number of Bishops’ responses and many reactions around the blogosphere, House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson encourages all Episcopalians to engage in “careful reading, reflection and discussion,” and to study the document carefully, then engage their Bishops in conversation. And to pray for all.
There’s a fine line between being political and working with government to achieve social aims, but the newly installed archbishop of Hong Kong is determined to not cross it. “Paul Kwong, 56, told parishioners that his church will not get involved in political movements, including the call for universal suffrage, but will continue to work with the government to better the lives of the people.”
Additional bishops’ reactions to the HoB response; the press starts to move out to a wider view of the situation; the Nigerians and their allies move the goal posts, and the Anglican Scotist argues against self-righteous rhetoric.
Sometimes in trying to figure out what one thinks, one comes across someone who has already thought it.
We’ve been visiting diocesan websites looking for letters from individual bishops. Many of them are underlining their contributions of time and resources to the dioceses of Louisiana and Mississippi, which has sadly seen very little air time in the mainstream press. Others are reaching out to help people understand the significance of the compromise, which winds up playing out in the media as we caved to the bullies to some and fell short of primatial demands to others.
For the true Episcopal news junkie, video on demand from the recently completed meeting of the House of Bishops. Watch the final news conference, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s message to the Church, a report on the bishops’ day of service and other news conferences.
And we are not surprised. He writes: While we await a meeting of all the Primates to receive and determine the adequacy of The Episcopal Church’s response it seems clear from first reading that what is offered is not a whole hearted embrace of traditional Christian teaching and in particular the teaching that is expressed in Lambeth Resolution 1.10. The unequivocal assurances that we sought have not been given…
Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, a member of the Primates’ Standing Committee, said the US church had “responded positively” to worldwide concerns it had been asked to address. “My initial reaction based both on my preliminary reading of the document and on my first-hand conversations with many of the bishops involved is that the house has responded positively.”
The formal response of the House of Bishops is now available, and it is the intention of the Joint Standing Committee to consult with one another in the preparation of a report to be submitted to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the end of the week offering an early response to the statement that the House of Bishops have developed.
The Right Reverend Thabo Cecil Makgoba (47) presently Bishop of Grahamstown has been elected as the next Archbishop of Cape Town. He was ordained in 1990 and has a masters degree in Applied and Educational Psychology from the University of the Witwatersrand. He is completing his doctoral studies at the University of Cape Town. He is currently on sabbatical and will be at Harvard University from the end of September 2007.