Episcopal Press and News
News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. March 21, 1985 [85066]
(DPS, March 21) -- The Rev. Herbert O'Driscoll will be the speaker on NBC-RADIO Network, "National Radio Pulpit" Sundays, April 14 through June 30 (check local stations for broadcast time). His theme will be "Portrait of a Woman", and the 12 sermons will be available, starting June 1, in audio cassette album (six cassettes, 12 sermons). To purchase them: order Album A-25, $34.50; payment must accompany order to: NCC Cassettes, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115.
(DPS, March 21) -- The Rev. Claude L. Pickens, Jr., for 25 years a missionary in China, died at his home here on Jan. 25. He was 84. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Pickens received his B.D. from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1926 and an M.A. from Columbia University in 1945. He served the Diocese of Hankow and was canon of St. Paul's Cathedral there from 1939 to 1950. An authority on Islam in China, he twice journeyed to remote areas of northeast Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and northwest China to conduct surveys of Moslems there. After leaving China, Pickens worked for the National Council of Churches and later for the then National Council of the Episcopal Church, where he served in the Overseas Department until retirement in 1968. In 1964, he was awarded an S.T.D. from the General Theological Seminary for work with overseas students in the U.S. He is survived by his wife, four children, 13 grandchildren, and five greatgrandchildren.
(DPS, March 21) -- Dr. J. Reilly Lewis has been appointed music director of the Cathedral Choral Society at the Washington Cathedral. He succeeds founding director Dr. Paul Callaway, who retired in 1984. Lewis, a Washington native and former member of the Cathedral Boys' Choir, was chosen from a nation-wide field of more than 60 applicants. He will begin as conductor with the 1985-86 season. Lewis has a degree from Oberlin College in organ and conducting and master's and doctoral degrees from the Julliard School of Music. A Fulbright scholar, he studied organ in Germany, specializing in music of Bach, and he is founder/music director of the Washington Bach Consort, only American group invited to perform at Leipzig's International Bach Festival marking the 300th anniversary of the composer's birth.
(DPS, March 21) -- The Church of England's House of Bishops is recommending to the General Synod that clergy be allowed to decide for themselves whether to marry divorced people in church and also that a rule against public services of prayer and dedication for divorcees married in secular ceremonies be withdrawn. Currently, Church law forbids remarriage within the Church during the lifetime of the former spouse. Two attempts to implement a General Synod resolution which would permit remarriages in some circumstances have failed due to lack of support among clergy and dioceses. The new recommendation emerged from a meeting here at which the bishops agreed on three major points: many Church members favor second marriages "in some cases"; clergy who believe this are already free under English law to conduct such marriages; the ultimate decision, therefore, must rest with the clergyman, who should, nevertheless, consult his bishop.
(DPS, March 21) -- This time there was room at the inn -- an Upper Room, no less. The Rev. Tom Harris, vicar of St. Peter and St. Paul Church, Barnby Dun, near here, found himself with a confirmation/refresher class of 30 people. There was no room for that number at the vicarage, but he was able to rent an upstairs room at a local inn for the weekly class. The inn's name? "The Star".
(DPS, March 21) -- Archbishop Timothy Olufosoye of the Anglican Church of the Province of Nigeria said recently that after 21 churches were destroyed by arson in the mostly Moslem area of northern Nigeria, authorities there are denying construction permits to many. "We have tried to convince the authorities to let us rebuild on the same premises," Olufosoye said, "but their argument is that tension would rise if the churches are too close [to mosques]. But our argument is that we have had churches standing in these places for years." The Nairobi-based Africa Church Information Service says "the arson is believed to be part of the on-going Islamization process launched by a number of Arab countries in black Africa."
(DPS, March 21) -- Three Conservative members of Britain's Parliament have signed a report on their recent visit here which has sparked much debate. Among charges made in the report are that Anglican leaders here encourage violence and are biased in favor of SWAPO, principal armed opposition to South Africa's occupation of Namibia. The group had met with Bishop James Kauluma, Dean David Bruno, and Secretary Matt Esau of the Anglican diocese, as well as Heinz Henning, Roman Catholic vicar general. According to the report, Anglicans are biased, "particularly when compared with the Roman Catholic Church." This drew a sharp response from Henning, who said, "I protest against their efforts to separate the churches of Namibia," adding that his viewpoint is "exactly the same as the Anglican Church." Anglican officials here countercharged that group leader Nicholas Winterton had shown "an extremely aggressive manner, which seriously lessened the value of what might otherwise have been a useful exchange...It was quickly apparent to us that... his mind was already made up."
(DPS, March 21) -- The Diocese of Portsmouth has given up all administrative meetings for Lent, from boards and synods to parish councils, to create "a pool of stillness in our life together," according to Provost David Stancliffe. Prayer, study and reflection are the priorities. The Cathedral Chapter set an example the first full week of Lent by gathering each morning for a Eucharist and address followed by a period of silence and a shared meal. Deaneries arranged parish and deanery retreats and programs of prayer and teaching. Stancliffe said, "It will be interesting, afterwards, to discover if people have felt a refreshment so that they will want to do this again. We hope that it will take away from the clergy the feeling that they must get the organizing done or things will grind to a stop... It will mean a change in priorities most of us are not used to experiencing. We might find the space long and empty -- and that will be interesting, too; because many people (and I am one of them) really want to fill up the time to avoid having to come face to face with the silence."