Week Ending 9/10/18

English Survey Shows Drop in Church of England Membership

Results of the latest British Social Attitudes Survey shows a substantial drop in the number of people in Britian identifying as members of the Church of England.  The Presbyterian Church of Scotland also showed a large drop.  What was most worrying was that 70% of  18-24 year olds in England, Wales and Scotland said they had "no religion" and only 2% identified with the Church of England.  The number of Britons of any age identifying as members of the Church of England was 14%.  In 2002 it was 35%.  The summary of the results by the center conducting the survey is here.  The Guardian carried a story on the results of the survey.

Episcopal Church Moves Forward for New Lakota Prayer Book

General Convention 2018 heard complaints from a number of groups about the lack of good full translations of the Book of Common Prayer 1979 into the other languages used by congregations within the The Episcopal Church.  The Lakota peoples have been working with a partial translation at their parishes on various reservations in Minnesota and the Dakotas.  The United Thank Offering has granted funds for a full translation.  It is an important commitment to preserving Lakota culture and making the church accessible to those for whom Lakota remains the first language.

Colorado Drops One of Three Candidates for Bishop

The search for a new bishop in Colorado had resulted in three final candidates after a fourth dropped out to participate in another episcopal election. Now one of the three is no longer a candidate given that there have been complaints lodged against him in his home diocese.  The Colorado standing committee decided to remove Canon Michael Pipkin of Minnesota from the search because of the seriousness of the charges and that it would not be possible to resolve these questions before the date of the election.  The election will thus go forward with two candidates, both women, the Rev. Kimberly Lucas and the Rev. Canon Ruth Woodliff-Stanley.  Those in Pittsburgh will remember Woodliff-Stanley as one of the candidates in the Pittsburgh episcopal election in 2012.  The Living Church carried a story that included the statement by the Bishop of Minnesota on the Pipkin charges.  Bishop Prior noted that Minnesota was just beginning and investigation and that no charges had been proved at this time.

South Sudan Church Youth Leader Killed

The energetic and young national coordinator for all youth programs in the Episcopal Church of South Sudan has been killed in an ambush attack on a car in which he was riding. He was heading to Yei to deliver reports to the offices of the NGO he also worked for.  The driver escaped by  leaping from the car, but Joseph Kiri was killed instantly.  There have been other gunman attacks on vehicles identified as NGO cars. 

Updates on Ongoing Stories

Presiding Bishop Curry Returning to Full Schedule 

Presiding Bishop Curry released a video on his Facebook page announcing that he was back on the job following recuperation from cancer surgery.  That same day the city of Atlanta honored Curry by declaring September 6 "Michael Curry Day", and giving his Atlanta's highest honor, the Phoenix Award. . 

Albany Still Waiting for Bishop Love to Outline Response to Resolution B012

The Diocese of Albany clergy held a meeting on September 6 with Bishop Love to discuss General Convention Resolution B012 which requires all bishops to provide a way for same sex couples to be married locally.  The Bishop however is still not ready to make any announcement on how that resolution will be implemented in Albany, or if he will try to resist it in some way.  Love has been a vocal opponent of the resolution.  It appears that nothing will be forthcoming from Bishop Love until much closer to the required date the resolution takes effect in early December.

More on the Controversy Over the Election of a New Haitian Bishop

The Update recently carried a commentary by Mark Harris on the contested bishop's election in Haiti.  The Living Church has now published an article covering the controversy and a rebuttal of Harris by a Long Island priest from Haiti. The Episcopal Cafe reprinted the full rebuttal to Harris by the Rev. Pierre-Andre H. Duvert.,  The rebuttal gives the flavor of the conflict as seen by those who are contesting the election.  Harris quickly offered a response.  It appears there will be more to come. 

South Carolina Judge Sets October Date for Arguments

The various motions filed by Episcopalians in South Carolina and the schismatic group in the local South Carolina court charged with implementing the state Supreme Court church property decision will be heard at court sessions set in late October.  Deadlines for any additional filings were set for late September and early October. Since the motions filed by the Episcopalians are proposed steps for moving forward with property recovery and the ones by the schismatics are attempts to rehear the whole case, the ruling on these motions will be a good indicator on how rapidly Episcopalians might begin getting access to endowments, the church camp, and parish properties.Update carried a story in August that noted the Court would set hearings in October, but now more specific deadlines have been issued.

Chile Passes Another Step in Provincial Approval Process

The executive council of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) has now approved recognizing Chile as a new province in the Anglican Communion.  The ACC will consider adding Chile as a separate voting member at their Hong Kong meeting this spring, assuming that two-thirds of the primates have provided their approval.  A quarter have already done so. The ACC will also consider this spring a new, simplified process for adding members to the Communion given that the number of such requests has been on the increase.  The update has carried previous stories on steps in Chile's approval process.  The most recent is here.