News for Week Ending 10/1/2012

UAE ordains woman priest

Jo Henderson, 49, became the first Anglican priest to be ordained in the United Arab Emirates on September 28, 2012. Henderson, from Surrey, England, has lived abroad with her civil engineer husband for nearly two decades. The Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf received permission only last year from the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East to ordain women. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) The story was reported by Abu Dhabi’s The National on September 29.

N.B.The news story on which the above report was based was in error. Henderson was ordained a deacon, not a priest. See the Pittsburgh Update story here concerning Henderson’s ordination to the priesthood.

Selection process for next Archbishop of Canterbury appears stalled

The Crown Nominations Commission, the 16-member body tasked with selecting a replacement for Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury, issued a cryptic press release September 28, 2012, after what was supposed to be its final meeting. The declaration that “the work of the Commission continues” was interpreted as indicating that the Commission had been unable to select a candidate and alternate candidate. (Eleven votes were need to select each candidate.) Thinking Anglicans offers links to commentary following the press release here, here, and here. Ruth Gledhill of The Times reported October 1 that the Commission has, in fact, selected Justin Welby, a former oil company executive and now Bishop of Durham, as its first choice but has been unable to select an alternate candidate.

BBC Radio 4 offers an audio profile of Justin Welby, the apparent next Archbishop of Canterbury, here. Rowan William leaves his post at the end of the year.

Va. Supreme Court to hear Falls Church plea

According to a September 25, 2012, letter from Henry D.W. Burt, Secretary and Chief of Staff for the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, the Virginia Supreme Court will hear arguments from attorneys for The Falls Church on October 16 asking the court to hear an appeal from the lower court decision awarding the parish property to the diocese. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.)

As we noted earlier, the breakaway group in Fort Worth is going before the Texas Supreme Court on October 16 as well.