Week Ending 10/08/2018

Layman to Lead Nashotah 

An Episcopal layman already on the faculty at Nashotah House has been chosen as its new provost and president.  He will be the first lay person to head the seminary. He has been serving as interim Dean, and was instituted as Provost in May.  Now the trustees have voted him as president.  The trustees are working on a restructuring of the seminary. Garwood Anderson has an evangelical background according to his Nashotah House faculty profile,  but attends a nearby Epuscopal parish.The seminary is also creating a new position of Chief Advancement Officer.  That position will work on relations with alumni and other clergy and fundraising.

Romanians Defeat Measure to Write Definition of Marriage into Constitution

The Gay and Lesbian community in Romania defeated an attempt by conservatives to add to the Romanian constitution a clause defining marriage as between one man and one woman.  To defeat the measure they organized a boycott of the referendum.  Fewer than 21% of the voters went to the polls, and thus the measure did not reach the  support necessary for passage.

Deepening Ties with Lutherans

The annual meeting between the Evangelical Lutheran Churches in the US and Canada and the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada is looking at ways the full communion agreements between the churches can be deepened.  They are discussing a number options including drafting a standard liturgy for shared chrysm masses, something Pittsburgher have been doing for a decade.

Ongoing Story Updates

Heather Cook Tries Another Route to Reduce Sentence

The former Maryland suffrgan bishop, Heather Cook, who killed a bicyclist in a hit and run accident while driving drunk, is trying another legal route to get out of prison early. Cook failed to have her sentence changed to work release in July.  Now she is trying to reduce her sentence by 2 years by asking that her sentences run concurrently rather than sequentially. The family of the man who was killed have opposed all reductions.  The Episcopal Cafe story has information on the steps she has taken in rehabilitation.

Nigerian Bishops Vote Not to Go to Lambeth

The bishops of the Anglican Curch of Nigeria have voted unanimously to stay home from Lambeth 2020 unless the Archbishop of Canterbury only issues invitations to provinces that meet GAFCON. requirements.  The GAFCON leadership had issued a statement in June saying that those provinces who had begun blessing same sex marriage should be excluded, and be replaced by the bishops from the irregular entities recognized by GAFCON (such as ACNA).  The Nigerians said their absence would demonstrate how broken the Anglican Communion had become.