News for Week Ending 6/4/2012

Standing Committee meets in London

The Standing Committee, which comprises elected members of the Primates’ Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), met for three days in London, May 30–June 1, 2012. The Standing Committee includes two members of The Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Bishop of Connecticut Ian Douglas. Anglican Communion News Service, in three stories, reported on the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday sessions. According to Anglicans Online, “there is absolutely nothing that you need to know in any of those reports, and you probably don’t even need to know of their existence.” In the Wednesday story, it was noted that a report was received on the progress of the Anglican Covenant, but no mention was made of the rejection of the Covenant by the Church of England. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) The same story also included this: “There was general agreement that no timeframe should yet be introduced for the process of adoption of the Covenant by Provinces. The Standing Committee will return to this question following ACC-15.” The 15th meeting of the AAC is scheduled to take place in Auckland, New Zealand, October 27–November 7, 2012

The opinion of Anglicans Online notwithstanding, the Wednesday story contained this curious piece of news: “The committee also noted that the President, Chair, and Vice-Chair all hold their offices other than as representatives of their Provinces.” Presumably, this is primarily aimed at keeping the Archbishop of Canterbury as president of the Standing Committee even though the Church of England has rejected the Covenant.

Canadians have questions about Covenant

According to Anglican Journal, members of the Anglican Church of Canada’s Council of General Synod (CoGS) have questions about the consequences of adopting or not adopting the proposed Anglican Covenant. The Covenant was a subject of discussion at the May 24–27, 2012, CoGS meeting. Churches have been asked to report on progress toward adoption of the Covenant at ACC-15 (see story above).

Settlement reached in Niagara cases

Anglican Journal reported June 4, 2012, that the Anglican Diocese of Niagara of the Anglican Church of Canada has reached a negotiated settlement with three congregations that left the diocese in 2008 and joined the Anglican Network in Canada, part of the Anglican Church in North America. The buildings have been returned to the diocese. Other details can be found in the Anglican Journal story and in a May 31 press release from the diocese.

Annotated Episcopal Church budget released

Responding to widespread complaints about the budget the upcoming General Convention will be asked to approve, The Episcopal Church released an annotated version of the budget June 1, 2012. It is likely that the budget will be a significant source of conflict in July, and it is clear that the annotations are unlikely to reduce the conflict. Jim Naughton, writing for The Lead, has linked to enlightening commentaries on the budget and budgetary process. Naughton says, in part, “The core of the documents released on Friday (Pages 4-20) sometimes read less like a comprehensive, evenhanded overview of the budgeting process than an attempt by one side in what I think was a principled dispute to assign blame for the woe that has befallen us in this process to the other.”

Falls Church files appeal

As expected—see Pittsburgh Update story here—The Falls Church Anglican has filed an appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court of the lower-court decision awarding parish property to the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. The June 1, 2012, press release from The Falls Church Anglican is here. The diocesan Web site links to the petition for appeal and to a brief supporting the appeal filed by the Virginia attorney general.

Former Pittsburgh priest elected bishop in Rhode Island

The Very Rev. Nicholas Knisely, who once served as rector of St. Barnabas, Brackenridge, was elected on the first ballot to be the next Bishop of Rhode Island June 2, 2012. The announcement was made on the Web site of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island.