Eurobishop

Canon  Malcolm Bradshaw, Mrs Christine Saccali While EU leaders struggle to find ways forward through the current crises in the Eurozone, the news from the ground, from our congregations in Greece, reveals feelings of fear and anger among the people.  This week two members from Greece on the Bishop’s Council, the Revd Canon Malcolm Bradshaw, in charge of the Greater Athens Chaplaincy and Mrs Christine Saccali, a Reader licensed to that chaplaincy gave reports on the situation in their country. According to Fr Malcolm, the overall level of social deprivation in Athens is growing rapidly. The austerity programme imposed consists of some very severe measures, and these have been implemented so rapidly that there has been no time for the general population to adjust their household budgets and lifestyles. Ironically, it is the very narrow band of people in Greece who actually pay income tax, such as civil servants, who are finding the measures very burdensome. With the cu...

Today our Bishop's Council acted upon the Article 8 reference from General Synod, on the matter of women bishops and voted in favour of the motion: " this Council approves the proposal embodied in the draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure and in draft Amending Canon No. 30".    This is the text of what I said at the Bishop's Council Meeting: "The presentation of the Revd Anders Bergquist clearly set before us that what we must decide upon is not whether or not women can be or should be bishops of the Church of England. That moment has passed. In deciding that in principle this is a right development, the Church of England still recognises that this is a decision that, like all major developments in the Church of God , must be subject to and tested within a process of reception, a process which naturally must include the whole of the Church. The Church has made a decision about what it believes to be right about women ...

It is not often that I get a chance to accompany clergy from other parts of the Church of England on an educational excursion into our own Diocese in Europe. But from 16-21 October I was invited to support the "Soul in Europe" event for clergy, organised by the Diocese of Bath and Wells. "Soul in Europe" is an educational conference which meets every couple of years in various European settings to explore issues related to faith, culture and the state. This year's conference met in Istanbul. The theme was "East Meets West: Social and Religious Identity in an Expanding Europe". 19 priests from the Dioceses of Bath and Wells, Chichester, Salisbury and Guildford took part. It was a packed and stimulating programme which began, appropriately, with an audience and discussions with His All Holiness Bartholomew II, the Ecumenical Patriarch and His Eminence Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Proussa. Other highlights of the week included: Meetings at the Arme...

Ecumenical Guests with Fr Engin Yildirim (2nd from right) The Church of the Resurrection, the Turkish-speaking congregation in Istanbul, headed by the priest-in-charge the Revd Engin Yildirim, continues to explore ways to deepen its spiritual and communal life. It is a challenge to nurture the faith of members in a country where there are few resources and opportunities available for Christians. One new activity is a group which meets weekly to reflect on the Gospel and sermon from the previous Sunday, to explore ways of applying the liturgical Gospel in daily life. It seems that there is some acting talent in the congregation as well, so from time to time a drama group prepares a short play based on the scriptures of the day, as part of the Sunday liturgy. Fr Engin is also seeking to find ways to provide for some celebration of the daily office (morning and evening prayer) during the week, at times that will be suitable for his busy church members. And .... the parish has formed...

Postulants at the Diocesan Office From 11 - 14 October the annual Diocesan Vocations Conference was held at St Columba's House in Woking, England. This year 15 postulants for Holy Orders from across the diocese gathered for these intensive days of discernment led by the Director of Ordinands (DDO), the Revd William Gulliford. Fr Gulliford was assisted by the members of the Diocesan Ministry Team and Assistant Directors of Ordinands, the Canons Malcolm Bradshaw and Michael Bullock and the Revd Barbara Moss.  The postulants, men and  women, came from the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, France, Italy and Austria. The journey to Holy Orders is a lengthy one, and requires patience on the part of those testing their vocation. In  the Diocese in Europe postulants first attend an Enquirers' Conference then have interviews with the DDO and sometimes one of his assistants. After completion of various pieces of written work, they attend our Vocations Seminar at ...

October's book recommendations are here. As always these are based on thorough reviews made by Dr Martin Davie, the theological advisor to the Church of England's bishops. I hope that not only our clergy and lay ministers but also members of our congregations will find these to be useful and enticing abstracts of  recently published works of interest to Anglicans.  This month's selection includes 8 volumes spanning works on liturgy and music, discipleship, missiology and ecclesiology, ecumenical themes, Sydney Anglicanism, and spirituality.  Bonne lecture! Click on the  read more  link for the reviews.

Photo courtesy of Fr Peter Ford The Revd Peter Ford OGS, the Priest-in-Charge of Gran Canaria, has written with the news that the Canary Island Government has spent €91,000 to restoration of the historic British Cemetery in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The cemetery dates back to 1835 and predates our Church building. It is considered to be an important historic site on the island, bearing witness to the importance of Las Palmas as a busy port on the shipping lanes between the UK and Africa. Holy Trinity Church itself was not founded until 1887. It was originally a parish in the Diocese of Sierra Leone, but we are very happy that it is now a vital part of the Diocese in Europe! The website of Holy Trinity is here .

An Anglican charity has announced a prize of £1,000 for the best 5000-word answer to ‘Why I am an Anglican and believe I shall remain so’. St Boniface Trust is running the competition which is open to both lay people and clergy of all ages. In a statement a spokesperson for the Trust said, “The Trust feels that more attention needs to be paid to the understanding of Anglicanism as a distinctive witness in a time when its self understanding is at a low ebb.There is a degree of urgency and to further this understanding it is offering a prize of £1,000 which will go to the writer of an essay of about 5,000 words on the subject ‘Why I am an Anglican and believe I shall remain so’.Essay submissions by lay people and clergy of all ages must be received by 1 January 2012 and entries will be judged by 2 senior clergy. The result will be announced next Easter and the winning essay placed on our website together with other significant contributions.” The St Boniface Tru...

The Revd Paul Needle The Diocesan Communications Officer, the Revd Paul Needle, led a workshop for the members of the Nordic / Baltic deanery which met in  Kungälv, near Gothenburg, Sweden from 30 September to 2 October. Clergy and laity from congregations in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Latvia were present to hear Fr Needle present guidelines for good communications in church magazines, websites, blogs and to lay out some principles to bear in mind when facing the media.  The Deanery Synod voted to send a note to Bishop's Council urging it to heed the mind of the diocese expressed in Diocesan Synod concerning the issue of ordination of women bishops. (The Diocesan Synod voted to accept the proposals of the General Synod, but due to our Diocesan Constitution, it is our Bishop's Council, a much smaller body than Synod, that makes the final decision on such matters).   During evening prayer on 30 September, Archdeacon Jonathan LLoyd presented the...

The Chaplain of St Andrew's Zurich, the Revd Canon John Newsome, reported on a celebration of Harvest Festival last Sunday 2nd October. Over 200 people attended the service when the congregation also said good-bye to the Revd Dan and Teresa Morrow. Fr Dan has been the Assistant Chaplain for the past three years and came to Zurich from the Diocese of Los Angeles. During his time in St Andrew's he won the hearts of many with his radiant smile and warm-hearted nature. His ministry was especially appreciated by  the children and teachers of Junior Church and by the youth of the  parish. (Fr Dan built up the youth group from the beginning). He also has primary pastoral care of three daughter communities. Dan was also an enthusiastic and valued participant in the Diocesan Post Ordination Training Programme, run by the Director of Training, the Revd Ulla Monberg. Dan and Teresa's stay in Switzerland was somewhat frustrated by problems with the Swiss immigration and labour a...

The Revd Amos Manga  and Archdeacon Jonathan LLoyd  The clergy of the Nordic / Baltic deanery met outside Gothenburg, Sweden on 28 - 30 September. Priests from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Finland were present and among the topics discussed was  the  implications for our Diocese of the  Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure 2009,  which came into force in the Church of England on 31 January 2011.   For the sake of our licensed clergy beyond the Nordic/Baltic Deanery, here is a summary of those implications:  The Measure gives clarity to the rights, responsibilities and accountabilities of the clergy, who are not  employees  but  office holders.  It brings the status of the clergy onto a more equal basis known as  common tenure.  Previously, in England there was a range of "employment status" depending, for example, on whether a priest had the freehold or was on a fixed t...

One of the most frequent pastoral issues I face as a bishop is clergy stress. It may not be widely recognised that the ordained ministry is among the most stressful of occupations. Nevertheless it is true. Priests and deacons are highly dedicated individuals who invest much of themselves in their vocation. This alone has the potential of increasing levels of stress and burnout. They are also working with people and are constantly required to motivate and inspire a volunteer community which adds additional emotional demands. Some of the key contributing factors to clergy stress include: Too many competing demands on time and energy Unrealistic expectations:  perfection and omnicompetence!  Conflict about the nature of their calling. In the 21st century religion is increasingly consumer-driven, and churchgoers often want clergy to soothe and entertain them rather than challenge and guide them as  spiritual leaders and pastors. Unclear boundaries. A combin...