Episcopal Press and News
News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. August 23, 2001 [2001-226]
Complaint filed against Grein in firing of New York vicar
(ENS) An ecclesiastical complaint has been filed against the retired bishop of New York, Richard Grein, alleging misconduct in connection with the firing of the Rev. Janet Kraft as vicar of Grace Church, New York and her replacement with the Rev. Anne Richards.
Richards is named in the complaint as "a close personal friend" of Grein and a former assistant in the bishop's office. Grein retired June 30, 2001.
Grein is charged with violating the canons of the Episcopal Church and the diocese; violation of his ordination vows; and with conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy, according to canons IV.1.1(e), (h), and (j). Signers of the complaint included three clergy and eight members of Grace Church.
Kraft has also filed a civil action in US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Grace Church. The five count complaint alleges breach of contract, wrongful discharge, wrongful denial of employment benefits and defamation. The suit also charges Grein, the Rev. David Rider, priest-in-charge at Grace, and Richards with a conspiracy to interfere with Kraft's employment contract and with defamation.
Amid fears for future, Jerusalem's churches embark on prayers for peace
(ENI) Churches in Jerusalem have embarked on a week of prayers dedicated to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that some observers fear may escalate into a new Middle East war. The decision was taken by the heads of the churches in Jerusalem, amid rising concern about the violence in the region.
The church services are running from August 15 to 28. Each evening a service is being held in a different church dedicated to prayers for ending the violence.
Warning that "hatred and a desire for revenge is rampant on both sides--Israeli and Palestinian," the church leaders issued an appeal to "all our people, throughout this land, to join us in intensifying our prayers for peace, with justice, and reconciliation."
The appeal quoted Jesus: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you ... Do not let your heart be troubled, or afraid"--an adaptation of John 14:27.
"We are greatly concerned at the deteriorating situation in the Occupied Territories of the Holy Land," the appeal said, citing many of the problems encountered by Palestinians in the region, including the blockades imposed by Israel against the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"Many families have been made homeless; the closures have turned towns and cities into detention camps; the number of unemployed has risen dramatically resulting in tens of thousands hungry for the daily bread; whilst our children are confronted daily with a picture of bloodshed, violence, assassinations and murder."
The church leaders also appealed to "brothers and sisters around the world--many of whom have already offered generous support --to link their prayers with ours at this special time".
Dean Michael Sellors of St. George's Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem told ENI he had attended the services in the city and judged them a great success. Describing one of the services, held August 16, he said: "The Syrian Orthodox Church [inside the old City] was absolutely full and [with] an atmosphere of peace and prayer."
The week of prayer was launched as Israeli military planners began predicting that the current conflict with the Palestinians might last for years and could escalate into a Middle East war. Nearly 700 people have been killed since the outbreak of the current violence last September.
Sudanese bishops advocate 'negotiated settlement, not war'
(ACIS) The Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches of Sudan have called for the government and rebel groups to approach a negotiated settled, rather than military means, as the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace.
According to a statement issued August 17 by the New Sudan Council of Churches, the bishops of both churches jointly appealed to the warring parties to address the root causes of the conflict, and put forward three proposals on Sudanese civil rights: affirmation of diversity in the national identity; power-sharing through a participatory system of government; and, wealth-sharing through an equitable distribution of national resources.
However, the bishops expressed their conviction that unity of the country, and a just and durable peace, could not be achieved under the Shar'ia [Islamic] law in view of the cultural and religious diversity of Sudan. They upheld the value of religious freedom, with equal protection for all religious groups and the separation of religion and state. If this could not be achieved, they said, then self-determination should be the alternative for southern Sudan and other marginalized areas.
The bishops called for the constructive engagement of all groups in society, and for assistance from donors and partners in the field of education. They also committed themselves to make human rights and the dignity of all people a pastoral priority in their churches.
The clerics' statement followed a joint meeting of the Roman Catholic and Episcopal Bishops of Sudan for the first time ever in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, from August 12-17, to address the theme 'Pastoral Leadership and United Action in a Crisis Situation.'
Canterbury setting for American woman's first Eucharist
(ACNS) At the "mother church" of the Anglican Communion on August 20, a newly-ordained American woman celebrated the Eucharist for the first time.
The Rev. Anita Braden, from the Diocese of Milwaukee, was invited to celebrate the Eucharist in the splendor and intimacy of Canterbury Cathedral's crypt. Braden was in Canterbury, along with an international group of seminarians and clergy from various provinces in the Anglican Communion, for a summer theology course.
Other parts of the Communion represented include Southern Africa, Nigeria, Sudan, and Jordan. The course offers opportunities for people of the Anglican Communion to study, worship and share community in Canterbury. One participant spoke of the course as a "mini-Lambeth Conference for clergy and seminarians."
Canterbury locals joined with the course participants in the liturgy, while Dean Robert Willis and Canon Roger Symon, course coordinator, assisted the new priest. Clouds of incense wafting through the crypt were accompanied by the sounds of songs in Tamil, Swahili, and Korean. The thurifer for the service was Deonna Neal, a student from General Seminary in New York, who preached at the principal service in the cathedral on Sunday, August 19.
At the peace Willis joined the new priest in lighting a candle placed within a metal framed map of Africa, decked with red ribbons, given to the cathedral by the archbishops of Africa who attended the All Africa Anglican AIDS Workshop recently held in South Africa.
Churches urged to promote a new model of development
(ENI) Churches are being urged to promote an alternative model of development based on the transformation of personal relationships rather than concentrating narrowly on the aim of economic growth. Such a model would include removing exploitative economic and gender relationships within a country, and honoring children and older people, as goals to stand alongside debt and trade issues.
The call is being made by Mark Oxbrow, a council member of the UK-based evangelical group Global Connections, in a contribution to Development Matters, a new book published by the Church of England. Oxbrow, who is the international mission director of the Church Mission Society, an Anglican agency, argues that the causes of poverty are relational, and that effort is wasted by addressing only the symptom and not the cause.
As examples of this new approach, Oxbrow points to the worldwide church-inspired Jubilee 2000 campaign for the cancellation of the unpayable debt of the world's poorest countries and the fair trade campaign encouraging Western consumers to buy goods for which the producers have received a fair return. The Jubilee 2000 campaign, he writes, is "an example of the growing significance of effective advocacy work in a world in which rapid communication and globalization force us to reinterpret the meaning of the word 'neighbor'."
About fair trade, he writes: "Through the work of Christian Aid small boys in India, who would never themselves have found a voice with which to speak in those European homes adorned with the carpets they have woven, are seen and heard."
Thirteen other specialists contributed to Development Matters, on subjects including the role of business in development, good governance and corruption, globalization and scripture, exclusion in an urbanizing world, and an interfaith response to poverty and development. Development Matters: Christian Perspectives on Globalization is edited by Charles Reed and published by Church House Publishing.
Cape Town cathedral memorializes struggle for liberation in stained glass
(ENS) At an hour-long service on August 26, with former Archbishops of Cape Town Desmond Tutu and Philip Russell presiding, St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town marks its centenary. The foundation stone of the present cathedral was laid on August 22, 1901.
The service will be held almost exactly 150 years after the consecration of the first cathedral on the site on August 28, 1851. Two 'Liberation' panels, designed and made by stained-glass artists Gabriel and Jacques Loire to complete the cathedral's stunning Great West Window, will be dedicated at the service--one of the first major public memorials in the country to South Africa's national liberation.
As well as the two former archbishops, the service will be conducted by Rowan Smith, dean of Cape Town and his predecessor, Colin Jones.
The service promises to be a 'rainbow' celebration of the new South Africa, featuring music from praise singers and drummers, the UCT Choir for Africa, the UCT Choir, the St. George's Singers, the cathedral choirs and the Cape Philharmonic, with lighting and video presentations coordinated by the producer, Jody Abrahams (star of Kat and the Kings and a former chorister of the cathedral).
Scholars discuss how to govern and grow churches at VTS conference
(ENS) Fifteen Latin American, Caribbean, and East African scholars met at Virginia Theological Seminary for four days in June to discuss a topic of persistent tension and promise: "Church Governance and Growth in a Variety of Cultures." Co-sponsored by the Anglican Consultative Council, the conference recognized at the outset that "bishops and dioceses work in radically different contexts . . . always in creative dialogue and tension with whatever culture they call their own."
Conference members explored the impact on church growth from sanctions against polygamy, and the impact on polygamous practices in various cultures from Christian teaching on marriage. They also dealt with the tension between episcopal leadership and synodical government. It was noted that in the Anglican Communion "bishops sometimes exercise power at the expense of councils." Conference participants urged Anglican churches not to despair over such tensions but instead to consider them creatively "as one more means of grace."
The conference made three proposals to churches in the Anglican Communion. First: "reflect on both the pitfalls and opportunities arising as the historic episcopate is locally adapted." They warned against the use of the office of bishop to secure the officeholder's family against poverty or his ethnic group or social class against threats to its well being.
In the second proposal, the conference urged that synods should revise constitutions and canons where necessary "with an eye to ensuring robust synodical governance," to allow the gifts of all to be used, "and so allow the church to grow."
Finally, the conference recommended to the Anglican Consultative Council that provinces pursue the possibility of selecting bishops by means other than competitive elections, and review locally adapted training for new bishops in the "administration of both financial and human resources."