News for Week Ending 8/19/2013

Ugandan primate: return Anglicanism to biblical faith

Church of Uganda Archbishop Stanley Ntagali held a press conference August 13, 2013, and asserted that Anglicanism needs to be “brought back to its Biblical and evangelistic faith.” The chaos in the Communion caused by the consecration of Gene Robinson “shows no sign of improving,” the primate said. He condemned gay clergy as unbiblical. Ntagali compared GAFCON to the East African Revival in importance. The second GAFCON gathering will be held in Nairobi October 21–26.

The GAFCON Web site has a story about Ntagali’s remarks here. News reports can be found here and here.

Church in Wales to vote on female bishops

Episcopal News Service reported August 15, 2013, that the Governing Body of the Church in Wales will vote on whether the church will allow for women priests to become bishops. The Governing Boding meets next month in Lampeter. The bill to allow for women bishops has been offered by six diocesan bishops.

ELCA elects first woman presiding bishop

On August 14, 2014, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran church in the U.S., elected the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton as its first female presiding bishop. The election was held in Pittsburgh at the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Eaton defeated the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, who was seeking a third six-year term. Eaton, from the Northeastern Ohio Synod, is married to the Rev. Conrad Selnick, an Episcopal priest who has been a consultant for several searches in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

The ELCA news release on the election is here. Stories on the election have been published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Episcopal News Service, and The Huffington Post, the latter of which includes a video interview with the presiding-bishop-elect. A Time interview of Eaton can be found here.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori addressed the Churchwide Assembly August 15. Her remarks can be found here.

Dartmouth withdraws appointment of ACC chair

According to Episcopal News Service, Dartmouth College, of Hanover, New Hampshire, has withdrawn the appointment of former Southern Malawi Bishop James Tengatenga. Tengatenga, who is also chair of the Anglican Consultative Council and of the Standing Committee, was scheduled to become the Virginia Rice Kelsey Dean of the William Jewett Tucker Foundation at Dartmouth College. The withdrawal came after questions were raised about statements the bishop made after Gene Robinson was elected as Bishop of New Hampshire. The action was taken despite Tengatenga’s present support for marriage equality and statements of support from Bishop Ian Douglas and Bishop Michael Ingham.

ENS reports on San Joaquin churches

Pittsburgh Update has been reporting on properties being returned to the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin. The human drama taking place in the diocese has been obscured by the legal events, however. Episcopal News Service has now run a story, “Inclusion, diversity mark homecomings for San Joaquin churches,” which clarifies what has happened to which properties and how those events have affected the people of the diocese. You can read that story here.