News for Week Ending 7/15/2013

UK marriage bill passes in Lords; returns to Commons

Thinking Anglicans reported that the marriage bill that will authorize same-sex marriage in the U.K., has passed the House of Lords on the third reading. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) Because of minor amendments made in the House of Lords, the bill will return to the House of Commons July 16 or 17, 2013. Further details were reported by The Telegraph.

Bishop Kemper School for Ministry Announced

At a time when Episcopal seminaries are under increasing financial pressures, four Midwestern bishops have announced the formation of the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry. The new school, which will be headquartered in Topeka, Kansas, will be supported by the dioceses of Kansas, Western Kansas, Nebraska, and West Missouri. Episcopal News Service carried the July 11, 2013, press release for the new school here.

Clergy restricted by South Carolina bishop

As reported last week—see Pittsburgh Update story here—Bishop Charles vonRosenberg sent notice that South Carolina clergy who left The Episcopal Church with deposed bishop Mark Lawrence are are being restricted for having abandoned The Episcopal Church. The notice, dated June 25, 2013, has now been made public. It contains 103 names, not the 105 names previously reported. Those persons whose names are on the restricted list are subject to being deposed after 60 days.

The list contains at least two familiar names, those of Kendall Harmon, the former canon theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina and frequent critic of The Episcopal Church, and Peter Moore, former dean of Trinity School for Ministry.

A list of clergy in good standing in the Episcopal Church in South Carolina can be found here.

Omaha church and diocese reach final settlement

Pittsburgh Update recently reported that St. Barnabas, Omaha, an Anglo-Catholic parish that voted to leave The Episcopal Church in 2007, agreed to purchase its property from the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska for an undisclosed sum. The Omaha World Herald reported July 6, 2013, that the parties have now settled. The church is expected eventually to join the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, which is part of the Roman Catholic Church.