Anglican Communion News Service

A weekly roundup of Anglican Communion news plus opinion, reviews, photos, profiles and other things of interest from across the Anglican/Episcopal world.

This edition includes...

• This week's Anglican Communion news
• Anglican Life - Making youth proud to be Anglican
• Anglican Life - Ugandan faith leaders urge transparency after oil discovery
• Anglican Life - Anglicans take part in Mexican G20 talks
• Anglican Life - Don’t apologise for the ‘Christian’ in Christian Aid, says Bishop
• Anglican Life - Canada asks: 'What makes a competent priest?'
• Anglican Life - Happy Sunday for Indonesian congregation
• Digital Communion - Mobile money maker
• Digital Communion - Virtually speaking about Skype ministry
• Bookshelf - Archbishop's book review in Prospect magazine
• The coming week's Anglican Cycle of Prayer.

ANGLICAN NEWS

• Ecumenical - Communiqué from the meeting of ARCIC III in Hong Kong
• Global - Anglican Communion Family Network targets birth registration, invites input
• Brazil - Primate invites the Anglican Communion to commit to Rio+20
• England - Re-Imagining the Church of England: Social Action and Civic Role
• USA - Church leaders forgive, offer funeral services for homeless shooter of priest and assistant
• England/Uganda - Uganda Fire visits Bristol Diocese at Pentecost
• Wales/England - Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan elected to the Crown Nominations Commission
• England - Occupy Faith members announce a new pilgrimage to Canterbury
• South Africa - Southern Africa: 'Winds of Change' upliftment initiative
• Global - Ecumenical panel kicks off UN forum on indigenous issues
• Global - RIO+20
• Kenya - Appreciating History
• New Zealand - Dramatic chapel for Holy Trinity
• England - Statement on the report by the Joint Committee on the Government's Draft House of Lords Reform Bill
• England/Zimbabwe - Dean of Norwich Graham Smith brings message of hope to the persecuted in Zimbabwe
• England - How Malvern is linked to remote Ascension Island
• Scotland - Churches in education link-up
• USA - Update: Third victim in Maryland church shooting dies
• Australia - Adelaide Archbishop welcomes plan to house asylum seekers in Australian homes
• Nigeria - Anglican Primate Dedicates Bishop's Court
• Wales - Ministry and Calling Sunday - May 20: Churches pray for next generation of leaders
• Sri Lanka - 'Wherever he is, he will always be my Archbishop': Bp Emeritus Duleep de Chickera
• Wales - Archbishop of Wales tests JCB on Welsh steeplechase
• USA - Two fatalities in Maryland church shooting; co-rector wounded

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ANGLICAN LIFE

Making youth proud to be Anglican

From Anglican Taonga

Phil Trotter – under whose leadership Anglican youth ministry in Christchurch has thrived – has now been recruited to lead youth work throughout the New Zealand dioceses.

Phil, who has served in fulltime youth ministry for 27 years, has been named as the new Youth Advisor for the New Zealand Dioceses, succeeding the Rev John Hebenton.

Archbishop David Moxon, who chairs the Tikanga Pakeha Board of Oversight for the Anglican Youth Network, said today that he is “delighted” to announce that Phil has agreed to take up the challenge.

Phil is presently the Youth Advisor in the Diocese of Christchurch – where more than 30 youth groups are now flourishing.

Phil has also put his shoulder behind various support ministries in Christchurch – including setting up and running a youth group with the Child, Youth & Family Service, through to the ground-breaking Society of Salt & Light, which now attracts more than 300 young adults.

“One of the things that amazes me most,” says Phil, “is how God has made ‘being Anglican’ a matter of real pride among young people in our diocese.

“They’re rediscovering the depths and strength of having Anglican faith,” he says, “and their satisfaction about that is showing up in all sorts of ways.

“For instance: young people down here are posting Anglican Pride on their Facebook status, and a number of key youth leaders from outside the Anglican Church have joined us.”

Archbishop David says the Tikanga Pakeha Board of Oversight believes that work among young people throughout the New Zealand dioceses “will be greatly enhanced by Phil’s vocation, energy and experience”.

“Phil knows and loves this church,” he says. “And he’s proved himself in many different situations amongst us over the years.

“We pray for Phil as he prepares to begin this challenging and exciting task.”

Phil will start his new national task on June 25, and he’ll be formally commissioned at the Inter-Diocesan Conference in Nadi in July.

Prayers will also be shared at ‘Invigorate’, the Tikanga Pakeha National Youth Forum held in early July, at which the Professional Anglican Diocesan Youth Staff (PADYS) will also be present.

Phil’s new employer will be the Inter-driving Diocesan Conference Coordinating Group (IDCCG) and he’ll report directly to the Board of Oversight for ministry under 40s. His new job is a three quarter-stipend one, and Phil will also be able to dial up some extra support from an events manager.

Phil and his wife Carol have four children – and he has asked for the prayers of Anglicans throughout the province that he will serve God faithfully and bear ‘fruit that will last’ in his new role.

He will continue to be based in Christchurch.

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Ugandan faith leaders urge transparency after oil discovery

By Fredrick Nzwili, ENInews

(ENInews)--In Uganda, faith leaders are joining citizens in demanding openness in the handling of recently-discovered crude oil, which is inspiring hope for a better future for the East African country.

The faith leaders, who are uniting under the Inter-religious Council of Uganda, are warning that the laws governing the sector are too weak to guarantee transparency and accountability.

With the government announcing that the oil is potentially worth US$13 billion, the council's chair, Roman Catholic Archbishop John Baptist Odama, said the group wanted a quick review of the laws governing the sector, in order to reflect the interest of citizens.

The country is currently reviewing the sector's main law -- the Petroleum Exploration Development and Production Bill 2012. But the leaders are warning the flaws of the first one were carried over into the proposed new one -- the Petroleum Refining, Gas Processing and Conversion, Transport and Storage Bill 2012.

On May 9, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, the Adventist Uganda Union and the Uganda Muslim Supreme groups presented a memorandum detailing their concerns to legislators in Parliament.

During the meeting, Odama urged a range of measures to assure the citizens of openness including regular updates. He also called for clear guidelines for adequate compensation for those displaced during exploration and extraction of the oil. Companies exploring for the oil must also implement appropriate remedies environmental pollution, according to Odama.

The group also wants protection and adequate remuneration for workers employed in the sector, when the country starts commercial extraction in 2017.

The oil was discovered in the Albertine basin along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006. Two ministers are facing investigations for allegedly receiving bribes to fix licensing deals.

Anglicans take part in Mexican G20 talks

By Anglican Alliance staff

Anglicans in Mexico will have a voice in the agenda of the G20 meeting of the world’s richest nations which takes place in June in Mexico City.

The secretary General of the Anglican Church of Mexico, the Revd Canon Habacuc Ramos-Huerta will attend one of the preparatory meetings for the June Summit in Mexico, and Anglicans will also be present in other preparatory meetings in the United States and Spain.

And the Anglican Alliance will also be following up the G20 discussions on disaster risk management which will be looking at ways to develop more effective national strategies for preparation for natural disasters, and mitigation of their impact. Food security, which is on the Mexican agenda, is also a priority issue for the Alliance.

An Anglican paper on sustainable development has also been posted on the official website of the G20 Mexico. It was written by Revd Canon Dr. Jeff Golliher, who based at the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations.

The G20 is the international forum that gathers the world’s biggest economies, with 19 individual countries and the European Union. This year Mexico holds the annual Presidency of the G20 and the summit will take place on the 18th and 19th of June in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. Although, the G20 has always focussed on economic issues, it has developed a wider agenda, and the priorities for Mexico’s presidency are:

• Economic stabilisation and structural reforms as foundations for growth and employment.
• Strengthening the financial system and fostering financial inclusion to promote economic growth.
• Improving the international financial architecture.
• Enhancing food security and addressing commodity price volatility.
• Promoting sustainable development, green growth and the fight against climate change.

Within this last priority, Mexico has included “Disaster Risk Management” as a topic for discussion. This is a significant opportunity to keep pressing for more efforts to respond adequately to the increasing frequency of disasters and to work towards more efficient disaster risk reduction strategies.

The Anglican Alliance is coordinating the Anglican participation in the events for civil society organisations arranged by the Mexican government, and will closely follow developments on disaster risk management and food security.

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Don’t apologise for the ‘Christian’ in Christian Aid, says Bishop

By the Church in Wales

The charity Christian Aid shows God’s love in action across the world, and churches should be proud to support it – says the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon.

Bishop John Davies is urging all churches in Wales to make an extra effort to highlight the work of the charity during Christian Aid week which starts this Sunday (May 13). 

Bishop John, who is chair of the Christian Aid Wales Committee and a member of the Board of Trustees of Christian Aid, said, “Almost everyone will find a little red Christian Aid envelope pushed through their door this week and will perhaps hunt around for a bit of loose change to put in it. Hopefully, many will contribute more generously! We rely on our volunteer parishioners to do that groundwork, year on year, and they do it because they recognise that Christian Aid Week is incredibly valuable as an act of witness and engagement at local level. It goes to the heart of our faith, and puts the charity’s work into the public eye.

“But, vital though Christian Aid Week is in raising the profile, Christian Aid itself is about a great deal more than the annual street collection and support events. It is an international charity which works in scores of places across the world, often in partnership with other organisations. It not only provides direct help to those in need but it also campaigns vigorously against poverty, tax avoidance, and injustice and on environmental issues. It speaks with a strong and respected voice on behalf of the poor and marginalised, and has an honoured place at the table where issues of poverty and injustice are addressed.

“As such, Christian Aid demonstrates practical loyalty to Christ and the Gospel message. So don’t apologise for the ‘Christian’ in Christian Aid - it’s Christian witness at its practical best.”

Last month the Governing Body of the Church in Wales voted to support the continuing work of Christian Aid. The charity’s director Loretta Minghella was invited to the meeting to talk about its work. She also commended the work of the Church in Wales in Gaza through funding of the Mobile Dental Clinic:  “This is the love of Jesus Christ in action — we are proud to be part of it.” 

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What makes a competent priest?

By Ali Symons, Anglican Church of Canada

A new document proposes a set of skills and gifts common to Anglican ministers across Canada.

Some Anglican priests are preaching dynamos. Others are wise historians or gracious pastors. But what basic competencies should be present across all their ministries?

For the past three years, a commission has dug into this question and now they are inviting input on their draft proposal, "Competencies for Ordination to the Priesthood."

"This document is a celebration of the good things that are happening in church and a description of them," said the Rev. Canon Dr. Todd Townshend, chair of the Primate's Commission on Theological Education. "It also has an aspirational aspect. We aspire to do these things."'

The competencies range from the basic "has read the Bible" to "engages in pastoral leadership." The sections cover personal and spiritual formation, Anglican heritage and identity, cultural context, leadership capacity, and skills for teaching and learning.

Many points reflect a major culture change in the church-from maintaining institutions to participating in the mission of God. For example, one competency calls for priests to "[assess] strategies for active justice-seeking mission."

The eventual goal (after full consultation) is for the Anglican Church of Canada to adopt these competencies and commend them to those who develop leaders, especially theological institutions.

This is not a to-do list, said Mr. Townshend. The document is a description of what a person would need to gain in order to fulfill their vocation. Many of these skills develop over one's career.

Though just a slim four pages, these competencies are a big first in the Anglican Church of Canada. Previously, the only theological education standards were found in a House of Bishops document from 1986 called "Ordination Pre-requisites."

Over the past decade, Anglican leaders have explored the need for more coordinated standards. Currently, Anglican clergy are trained in some 12 schools across Canada from the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax to the Arthur Turner Training School in Pangnirtung, NU. No common document guides their formation.

In developing these competencies, General Synod has consulted widely. The 2010 National Gathering on Theological Education was the biggest event to gather input from bishops, priests, educators, and students.

General Synod 2010 asked the Primate's Commission on Theological Education to refine this and other work into competencies. Now the commission is at its final stages of consultation and will hear from provincial synods, the Council of General Synod, and other Canadian Anglicans before bringing the competencies to General Synod 2013.

"This document is important because it shows a common understanding," said Mr. Townshend. "We want to have something so that we can all say, that's a good list, we can fairly expect that, we should support that, and we should get behind making it possible."

So whether you're a priest, parishioner, bishop, or educator, you are invited to read the document and reflect on these questions:

1. What benefits might you see from working with a document like this for if you are a bishop, parish member, student, diocesan candidacy panel, training centre or seminary?

2. Who else might find benefit from the existence of a document like this in the church?

3. What gaps do you see that could be attended to in either an amended document like this or other exercise undertaken in the church?

All responses must be emailed to the Rev. Canon Dr. Todd Townshend by Sept. 30, 2012.

Other members of the Primate's Commission on Theological Education include the Rev. Canon Eric Beresford, Bishop John Chapman, the Rev. Dr. Mark Harris (ELCIC partner), and the Rev. Dr. Paula Sampson.

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Happy Sunday for Indonesian congregation

By Muriel Porter in The Melbourne Anglican

The traditional Indonesian Christian Sunday greeting "Happy Sunday!" became the Greeting of Peace at St John's Camberwell at the sung Eucharist on 15 April, when 33 adult members of the parish's independent Indonesian congregation were formally received as members of the Anglican Church by Archbishop Freier,

The co-ordinator of Multicultural Ministry in the Diocese of Melbourne, the Revd Alan Nichols, the vice-consul general of Indonesia, Mrs Dewi Kuntarti, the Federal Member for Kooyong, Mr Josh Frydenberg, and representatives of other Camberwell churches joined in celebrations.

After the service, the vicar of St John's, Archdeacon Alison Taylor, said that the Anglican Church might have had its origins in England "but it has now grown and spread around the world". The Indonesian congregation was joining a diverse family, adding another strand to its diversity and richness.

Mr Luck Kalonta, the elder of the Indonesian congregation, thanked the people of St John's and the Archbishop for their support. "You have given us not only hope, but a place - a palace! - for our worship," he said.

For the past four years the congregation, originally from the Dutch Reformed Church in Indonesia, has been worshipping on Sunday afternoons at St John's. They were welcomed to the parish in April 2008 by the former Vicar, Bishop Gerald Beaumont, and have grown closer to the St John's congregation since then, sharing times of worship, and social events that have often included an abundance of Indonesian food. Once they decided to become Anglicans, the parish clergy led them through a program of preparation.

They will continue to worship separately in their own language on Sunday afternoons, but they will join in all parish activities and in joint worship services from time to time.

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DIGITAL COMMUNION

Mobile money maker

As finances get tighter and tighter how do you persuade people to give to church work? The Melanesian Mission have turned to giving via mobile phone :

From The Melanesian Mission/Province of Melanesia website:

We've just started Text Giving! Your support will help the Church of Melanesia fund its literacy, youth, gender empowerment and mission work in the remote islands of the South Pacific. Text MMUK11 £5 to 70070 to donate to the Melanesian Mission and make a difference today.

The Melanesian Mission is an Anglican mission agency that provides support to the Church of Melanesia through prayer, people and financial grants.The Melanesian Mission plays a key role developing partnerships between those from the Church of Melanesia and the church in the UK. To find out more about Melanesian Personnel working in the UK and opportunities to serve the Church of Melanesia click here.

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Virtual seminar about virtual spiritual direction

On Monday, June 11, at 1 p.m. (New York Time/ET) GTS Digital Formation will host its next hour-long webinar, in partnership with the seminary's Center for Christian Spirituality, on the topic of Skype and Spiritual Direction. This free webinar, with guest presenter Lindsay Boyer, will explore the use of the video conferencing tool Skype for spiritual direction and pastoral ministry.

Boyer, who earned her S.T.M. in Spiritual Direction from GTS in 2003, is a spiritual director in New York City who uses Skype for spiritual direction with groups. Originally not one to embrace technology, Boyer was at first reluctant to embrace Skype in her ministry. To her surprise, she has found that Skype can enhance intentionality in her sessions: The use of video chat requires her directees to focus in a new way. Furthermore, "digital technology adds intentionality to silence," she believes. "It helps to make silence not just an absence of noise." Skype also provides accessibility and flexibility for her directees who no longer have to travel to participate in spiritual direction.

In the webinar, Boyer will share the process of how she learned to use technology skillfully in her practice and will address both benefits and disadvantages in using new media for a ministry influenced by ancient spiritual practices. The webinar will also explore other digital tools, in addition to Skype, for long distance ministry and communication.

During the webinar, participants will be invited to ask questions by tweeting and through the Webinars chat feature. The webinar will address questions during the final 15 minutes of the session.

Order tickets via Eventbrite: http://dfskypesd-efbevent.eventbrite.com/  

The goal of GTS Digital Formation is to help clergy and lay leaders throughout The Episcopal Church to appreciate the importance of understanding the use and effects of social media for ministry, as well as its theological foundations and implications. For more information about GTS Digital Formation go to: www.gts.edu/digitalformation.

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BOOKSHELF

Archbishop's book review in Prospect magazine

In an article for Prospect magazine, Archbishop Williams reviews two recent and thought-provoking books that engage with the continuing debate on ethics, economic life and the shape of society.

What Money Can’t Buy by Michael Sandel (Allen Lane, £20, 26th April)

How Much is Enough? by Robert Skidelsky & Edward Skidelsky (Allen Lane, £20, 19th June)

Should people be paid for donating blood? In the United States, there is a mixed economy of free donation and the sale of blood through commercial blood banks. Predictably, most of the blood that is dealt with on a commercial basis comes from the very poor, including the homeless and the unemployed. The system entails a large-scale redistribution of blood from the poor to the rich.

This is only one of the examples cited by Michael Sandel, the political philosopher and former Reith Lecturer, in his survey of the rapidly growing commercialisation of social transactions, but it is symbolically a pretty powerful one. We hear of international markets in organs for transplant and are, on the whole, queasy about it; but here is a routine instance of life, quite literally, being transferred from the poor to the rich on a recognised legal basis. The force of Sandel’s book is in his insistence that we think hard about why exactly we might see this as wrong; we are urged to move beyond the “yuck factor” and to consider whether there is anything that is intrinsically not capable of being treated as a commodity, and if so why.

The examples related show that in practice there is virtually nothing that has not somewhere or other (usually but not exclusively in the USA) been packaged as a commodity and subjected to “market” principles. Sandel lists a variety of schemes—some of which, thank God, never got beyond the drawing-board, some of which have become relatively uncontroversial—for marketing people’s time, health, legal liabilities and lifespan. From the almost innocuous practice of paying someone else to stand in a theatre queue for you, through the nakedly rapacious business in employers taking out high-level insurance policies on their employees’ lives so that they enjoy a “return” on their death far in excess of what the bereaved family might expect, to the ghoulish trade in purchasing life insurance policies for the terminally ill (and waiting impatiently for them to die, hoping there will not be some medical breakthrough that secures a few more years for them)—this is a world that at first reading seems completely surreal. Yet it is manifestly a projection of a philosophy that has already taken over vast tracts of our social life in the “developed” world.

... Read the complete article at the Prospect website.

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Friday 11-May-2012
Psalm: 106:13-23 Num. 14:36-45
Central Zambia - (Central Africa) The Rt Revd Derek Gary Kamukwamba

Saturday 12-May-2012
Psalm: 106:24-33 Num. 20:1-13
Central Zimbabwe - (Central Africa) The Rt Revd Ishmael Mukuwanda

Sunday 13-May-2012 Easter 6
Psalm: 106:40-48 Num. 14:13-19
PRAY for The Church of the Province of Melanesia The Most Revd David Vunagi Archbishop of Melanesia and Bishop of Central Melanesia

Monday 14-May-2012
Psalm: 18:20-24 Rev. 12:1-6
Chandigarh - (North India) The Rt Revd Joel Mal

Tuesday 15-May-2012
Psalm: 18:25-36 Rev. 12:7-12
Chelmsford - (Canterbury, England) The Rt Revd Stephen Geoffrey Cottrell
Chelmsford - Barking - (Canterbury, England) The Rt Revd David Hawkins
Chelmsford - Bradwell - (Canterbury, England) The Rt Revd John Wraw
Chelmsford - Colchester - (Canterbury, England) The Rt Revd Christopher Heudebouurck Morgan

Wednesday 16-May-2012
Psalm: 89:1-8 Num. 21:4-8
Chennai (Form. Madras) - (South India) The Rt Revd Dr Vedanayagam Devasahayam
Coimbatore - (South India) The Rt Revd Manickam Dorai

Thursday 17-May-2012 Ascension Day
Psalm: 8 Ezek. 1:4-5,26-28
Sheffield - (York, England) The Rt Revd Steven Croft
Sheffield - Doncaster - (York, England) Vacant

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Disclaimer: The Weekly Review is a summary of news, information and resources gathered from around the Anglican Communion over the past week. The views expressed in Weekly Review do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Anglican Communion Office.

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