Week Ending 01/11/16

Primates Meeting Underway

As the meeting of the Anglican Communion primates neared, various groups tried to influence the meeting with advance statements.  More than 100 senior Church of England leaders, including a number of bishops, sent an open letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York asking that the Anglican Communion acknowledge that they had caused great hurt to LGBTQ people and repent of those actions.  Signatures continue to be added to the list. Countering that, Archbishop Stanley Ntagali of Uganda, sent a pastoral letter to his parishes demanding that "godly order" be restored to the Anglican Communion by ending all ordination of LGBTQ people, and disciplining the Episcopal Church.  Apparently trying to put his own interpretation on the signs that some of the primates attending the meeting were not open to dialogue, the Archbishop of Canterbury stated in an interview that schism would be a failure, not a disaster. The meeting has its own web site which seems designed to be a public relations vehicle for the communion.

Sexual Abuse Investigation at St. George's 

For the second time in less than twelve months, a prestigious private Episcopal school is in the news for sexual offenses committed at the school.  The first case, at St. Paul's in New Hampshire, resulted in a trial and conviction of a young man who sexually assaulted another student. (See Update story here.)  Now St. George's School in Rhode Island is faced with a case that has expanded to include more than 40 students who were assaulted by several staff members.  The school dismissed some of the staff, but did not report the assaults until a student filed a lawsuit. The abuse incidents span more than 30 years, and several headmasters failed to of report incidents to the police as required by law.   Now there are issues about the independence of the investigator the school has brought in to explore the situation.   

San Diego Diocese Selling North County Churches

North San Diego County included several congregations that either left the Episcopal Church and tried to take their property with them, or left the property behind in a hands of a remnant of the parish.  The diocese recovered the properties through legal action, but has decided that at least one of the restarted parishes has not been able to grow enough to be self-sustaining after 6 years of trying. Thus the congregation of St. Anne's in Oceanside has held its last service in their building, and the diocese has listed it for sale.  Part of the 127 year old parish may continue sans building as a non-traditional worship group.  All Saints Church in Vista, the town next to Oceanside, is a candidate for a similar fate, but the diocese is still studying the situation.  All Saints has been rebuilding since its rector left the Episcopal Church along with a good part of the congregation and formed a competing congregation.  The San Diego Union-Tribune covered the sale.