Week Ending 10/12/20

Chicago Diocese Bishop Nominations Break New Ground

The Diocese of Chicago is on track to have a different look after its election of a new bishop.  The nominating committee has put forward four candidates.  All four are people of color,  two are women, and one of those is is from the LGBTQ community.  The names of the four nominees and their statements are 

available here. 

Updates on Continuing Stories

Reaction to Title IV Panel Panel's Decision on Bishop Love

Last week, Update carried the news that the Title IV Hearing Panel had decided that Bishop William Love had violated his vows by refusing to abide by Resolution B012 of General Convention 2018.  The resultion required every diocese to have a means by which same sex couples could make use of the authorized trial liturgies for marriage.  Responses to that decision have now started to come in.  The Alabany Standing Committee has issued a statement that while offering support to Bishop Love also is clear that the diocese should look to the things that unite its members across differences.  Bishop Love was a member of the conservative group of bishops know as the Communion Partners. The group opposes same sex marriage.  Eight bishops from seven dioceses signed the statement.  Two of the bishops serve dioceses outside the U.S. (Honduras the the Dominican Republic), Both the diocesan and assistant bishops of Dallas signed.   Another signer, Bishop Martins of Springfield is on leave with a retirement beginning in a few months.   Their call focused on moving forward to a more secure process for allowing those who do not accept same sex marriage to continue to flourish within the church.   The Living Church summarizes their statement here, and the full statement is here.

 

Church Reveals Racist Origins of Grant

For over a century a trust has been offering scholarship grants to those nominated by the bishops of dioceses in seven southeastern states.  The trust provided the money to the Treasurer of the Episcopal Church who then informed the bishops and dispersed the funds.  The trust was created in 1919 by the will of the wife of a descendant of the Corbin family, once among Virginia's wealthiest and most powerful colonial families.  The grant was restricted to those men or women who were white and preferably Episcopalian.  By the 1990s some bishops were refusing to nominate anyone because of the race requirement.  In 2004 the objections of Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina found sympathetic support from the new Treasurer of the Episcopal Church, and the Treasurer got a legal opinion saying that the trust's racist requirement was invalid.  The Church is revealing the history of the trust as part of its work on racial reconciliation. Update has been following such disclosures by parishes, schools, dioceses and the Episcopal Church.  The most recent post is here. 

Church of England Struggles With Past Failures to Create a Safe Church

The Church of England has been struggling with its past history of being more intent on maintaining its reputation than in providing discipline for clergy who sexually preyed on youth and members of their congregation.  The process by which such claims will be handled has been revised, and a task force was appointed to look at past actions and recommend changes in policies and procedures.  The task force's report was issued last week and its findings were not pretty.  As might be expected, the responses to that report have been numerous. Archbishop Welby has issued a personal statement.  The web site for Thinking Anglicans has a good compilation both on the report itself and the responses.  Update has published previous notices of parts of this ongoing controversy.  

 Seniors Are All Home Again in Florida Church Apartments

In August, Update published several stories about senior citizens who had been displaced for several months from a church owned apartment building in the Diocese of Southeastern Florida.  Some were able to return to their homes at the end of August, and the last returned home last week, although there is still some minor work being done.  Originally the group was frustrated because the building had been poorly run before an electrical fire made the building uninhabitable.  The apartments sat on prime realestate and the seniors were worried that the diocese might decide to redevelop or sell the site to cash in on its value.  The diocese was paying for alternate housing in hotels for most of the residents.