Global South primates meet in China
Eleven Global South Anglican primates met in China last month. (Although there is considerable overlap, this group is distinct from the GAFCON Primates Council.) They issued a communiqué, which can be read on the
Global South Anglican Web site.
Church Times and
The Church of England Newspaper carried stories about the event.
In their communiqué, the primates lament the fact that “many Anglican churches in the west [are] yielding to secular pressure to allow unacceptable practices in the name of human rights and equality.” They go on to call the Instruments of Unity of the Anglican Community “dysfunctional” and to support, at least mildly, the
Anglican Covenant understood in light of the
Preamble adopted by the Province of South East Asia. (See Pittsburgh Update story
here.)
Anti-gay law proposed in Nigeria
Box Turtle Bulletin
reported September 29, 2011, that a bill has been proposed in Nigeria titled “An Act To Prohibit Marriage Between Persons Of Same Gender, Solemnization Of Same And For Other Matters Related Therewith.” Homosexual acts are already illegal in Nigeria, but this bill would deny any recognition of same-sex marriage and, among other things, penalize “[a]ny persons or group of persons that witnesses, abet and aids the solemnization of a same gender marriage contract.” (The entire act can be read on Box Turtle Bulletin. A better PDF version of it than has been provided by Box Turtle Bulletin can be found
here.)
The primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Rev. Nicholas D. Okoh, recently took the opportunity to denounce homosexuality at a wedding. According to
Joy Online, Okoh described gay marriage as a “great evil.” He went on to say, “What is being known now as gay and
homosexuality is contrary to God’s plan for human sexuality and
procreation. It is against the will of God, and nobody should encourage
it, and those who do will earn for themselves the damnation of the
Almighty.”
Connecticut Supreme Court rules for diocese in Bishop Seabury case
On September 30, 2011, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued two opinions in the long-running litigation involving the
Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut and the
Bishop Seabury Church of Groton. The church is one of six that attempted to leave the diocese and The Episcopal Church over the consecration of Gene Robinson, taking parish property with them. A lower court had ruled that the property was properly controlled by the diocese by virtue of the Dennis Canon, but the congregation had not surrendered the property and appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court. (See Pittsburgh Update story
here.) Additional details can be read in the October 3
story from Episcopal News Service.
S.C. disputes Executive Council position
Bishop of South Carolina Mark Lawrence and Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina Standing Committee president, the Rev. Paul C. Fuener, have written to the Rev. Canon Dr. Gregory Staub, Executive Council secretary, to dispute the finding that recent changes to the diocesan constitution are null and void. (See Pittsburgh Update story
here.) The correspondence, dated September 28, 2011, can be read
here. Lawrence and Fuener argue, among other things, that, as a founding diocese of The Episcopal Church, South Carolina is not bound by the church’s constitutions and canons.
Tensions remain high between Pa. diocese and Rosemont
The headline on our recent
story about Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, Pennsylvania, was apparently premature. According to
David Virtue, Rodney Michel, assisting bishop in the
Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania has written to the senior warden of the parish, David W. Rawson, to insist that deposed priest David Moyer vacate the rectory immediately, that the parish not make significant expenditures without approval, and that the parish provide accounting of how it has spent its funds in the past decade.
Note that the former URL for Church of the Good Shepherd now points to a Web site for a new ministry of David Moyer.