Applications are now open for young Anglican leaders from the UK to take part in a unique workshop on conflict resolution in London this July.
History is set to be made in the Scottish Episcopal Church when the first female Dean will be appointed in May. The Bishop-Elect of Edinburgh, The Very Rev Dr John Armes intends to appoint The Rev Susan Macdonald as Dean of the Diocese of Edinburgh, following his consecration as Bishop on 12 May in St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. Susan Macdonald will be installed as Dean on Sunday 13 May, at a service in the Cathedral.
The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Very Rev Dr John Armes, Rector of St John’s Episcopal Church, Princes Street and Dean of Edinburgh met yesterday with members of Occupy Edinburgh in St Andrews Square.
The Diocesan Bishops of the Anglican Celtic Churches (Scotland, Ireland and Wales) together with their Primates will meet in Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland from Monday 26th to Thursday 29th September. The bishops of the celtic churches meet together every two years and each of the three provinces takes it in turns to host the meeting.
By Lorna Finley, The Scottish Episcopal Church
Local readings from the Bible and Koran give global message of solidarity and peace on 10th anniversary of ‘9/11’ terrorist attacks
A Priest and Imam will together read aloud scripture from the Bible and Koran on Sunday 11 September to mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.
The Venerable Dr Nigel Peyton was this evening elected as the new Bishop of Brechin. Nigel Peyton is currently Archdeacon of Newark, Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham. On hearing the news of his election he said “ I am honoured to have been elected and look forward to returning to serve in the diocese where my ministry began".
Scottish singers came together for a major benefit concert on Monday for the people of Christchurch, New Zealand, and raised over £3,000 (over 6,000 New Zealand dollars). (Listen to the concert here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12608694)
Representatives from Episcopal Churches across Scotland will gather in Edinburgh from 10-12 June for the annual meeting of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Throughout the three day gathering, matters ranging from social issues to church policy will be debated.
From 2-6 June, a broad partnership of Scottish churches is welcoming 300 delegates from over 60 countries for the Edinburgh 2010 conference.
On March 21st delegates from around Scotland will gather in Glasgow to exchange ideas on how to strengthen Companion Links with Dioceses overseas, building on relationships developed at the Lambeth Conference.
Before last year’s Lambeth Conference quite a number of overseas bishops and their spouses visited our dioceses in Scotland before travelling to Canterbury. Many were from our Companion Dioceses and this time shared was clearly appreciated by our visitors. Sharing in the life of other dioceses enabled many within our congregations to feel a closer link with our Companion Dioceses. But where did that lead us? The need to keep such conversations going has to be a high priority.
“World focus on the current economic situation threatens to overshadow the response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in DR Congo and elsewhere at a time when the message ‘Peace on Earth’ begins to take centre stage in our thoughts,” declares the Most Rev Dr Idris Jones, Bishop of Glasgow & Galloway and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
The Church in Society Committee welcomes Prime Minister Gordon Brown's call for a greater international effort to combat global poverty and his reminder to other world leaders of the promises made in 2000 when they committed themselves to the eight UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty by 2015. However, having just passed the halfway mark in terms of time, the Prime Minister notes they are "a million miles" from being met by 2015.
As a Christian community, we are committed to a Gospel message of care and support for the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. We believe that the quality of a society can be measured by the respect shown to its weakest members. As members of a global society, we have an obligation to do whatever is in our power to ensure that significant progress is made towards meeting the MDG's at least by 2015, and earlier if at all possible.
The Anglican Communion has made achievement of the goals a priority; member churches will work towards this through global partnerships and local action. The Scottish Episcopal Church has pledged to ensure that it plays its part in this important work.
Item from: The Scottish Episcopal Church
The Most Revd Dr Idris Jones, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and Bishop of Glasgow & Galloway today endorsed the following statement issued by the Scottish Inter Faith Council:
‘We, the under-noted religious leaders of Scotland, utterly condemn the recent attack on Glasgow airport and incidents in London, as we do all acts of terrorism and hope that the full force of the law will be brought to bear on those who perpetrate such violence against innocent people.
The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church was constituted during a Choral Eucharist Service in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral on 7 June, and concluded on Saturday 9 June.
In his Charge to General Synod, the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, The Most Revd Dr Idris Jones, challenged Synod members to commit themselves to be the Scottish Episcopal Church at its best and encouraged them to make their churches more inclusive.
The Very Revd Dr Robert (Bob) Gillies has been elected as the new Bishop for the Diocese of Aberdeen & Orkney. Bob Gillies is presently rector of St Andrew’s Church, St Andrews and Dean of that diocese. He has previously held appointments as chaplain to the University of Dundee, Curate to Christ Church, Morningside, Edinburgh and Curate to Christ Church, Falkirk. He was an honorary philosophy lecturer at Dundee from 1985-1994.
What Easter means for me is summed up in the words of St. Paul 'It is a fact; Christ is risen' ( 1 Cor 15 v 20 ).
We cannot know how it happened, and in a sense we do not need to know how it happened, just the plain fact that it did - and it will take more than a Hollywood sales pitch to cast any doubt about that in my mind! We do know the consequences of it happening, and we could turn to St. Paul once more to draw these consequences out. “Now it is no more me who lives, but Christ who lives in me” ; “ if we share with Christ in death we shall surely share in his resurrection” ; and most personally for St Paul “ who are you Lord ? - I am Jesus “ the question and the answer that turned Paul round in his own life of faith. We know also from the Gospel narratives that Jesus once risen was not immediately recognisable to his friends. Mary of Magdala in the garden ; the weary fishers on the shore ; the two disciples at Emmaus all needed some way in which they could recognise the risen Christ . It might be that in the record there is a message that just says nothing remains the same in our relationship with God and that and growth is inevitable as a result of the encounter with the risen Christ .
The following is a copy of a personal reflection by the Prumus on the recent meeting of Anglican Primates in Dar es Salaam, which he has sent to all clergy within the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Many people will have read with interest the Communiqué from the Primates’ meeting and drawn their own conclusions from it. A document like this is generated within a specific context and usually makes more sense to those who shared in the meeting than it does at first sight to those who read it afterwards.
At a meeting on the 31st July, the College of Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church expressed its deep concern at the continuing conflict in Israel, Lebanon and Gaza.
The College of Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church released a statement, yesterday, concerning future discussion of issues raised by the Windsor Report in the Province.
