Eurobishop

The norms, canons, measures and customs of the Church of England can be mystifying to Anglicans from other Provinces. The mystery is further complicated in this particular C of E Diocese which covers 42 countries outside England, necessitating some unique practices and procedures. As a Diocese we welcome and indeed we are blessed with many clergy who come from Provinces other than the Church of England. Experience has shown that it is worthwhile gathering newly appointed clergy from other parts of the Communion to share some orientation material and to provide a forum for questions and answers pertaining to the norms of the C of E and the Diocese in Europe. On 20 and 21 June, six such priests joined the Diocesan Secretary Mr Adrian Mumford, the Archdeacon of Gibraltar, Geoff Johnston and myself for a 24 hour orientation session held at St Columba's House in Woking. The clergy are serving parishes in Versailles, Gothenburg, Fontainebleau, Freiburg, Marseilles and Berne. Wha...

150 years ago on Ascension Day at Lambeth Palace, 3 archbishops and 17 bishops (from Southern Africa, West Africa, England, Ireland, Wales and the Isle of Man) met to re-establish the ministry of Reader, These early Readers (all men in those days) worked on the boundaries between church and world as as a kid of lay order, extending the work of the traditional parochial system, as teachers of the faith and preachers. That ministry continues to flourish today, with over 10,000 serving the Church of England today. To mark that great event in the life of the Church, Readers from all over the Churches of England and Wales came to All Souls, Langham Place in London last Thursday, Ascension Day, to celebrate in a festive Eucharist of Thanksgiving. 7 Readers from the Diocese in Europe attended, from Finland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Greece. HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Patron of the Central Readers' Council, was in attendance. The Archbishop of York presided an...

I spent yesterday with the 100 or so other bishops of the Church of England and with the 8 women who are the regional representatives to the House of Bishops, discussing the content of the Report of the House of Bishops Working Group on Human Sexuality, known as the Pilling Report, after Sir Joseph Pilling who chaired the working group. It was a challenging day as we sought to share perspectives on the Report. It is clear that discernment in the midst of such potentially divisive issues is necessarily a lengthy process.  The Church holds many dimensions of the matter of human sexuality in balance, even perhaps in tension. This is not an easy position for the Church to be in. Neither is such a complex set of  theological, missiological and pastoral challenges something which the world's media easily understands. For me, these are some of the questions we face, and about which I hope the people of God in this diocese might have opportunity for some honest, respectful an...

On 1 March, the Archbishop of York is hosting an event for anyone aged 18 to 30 who is wondering about ordained ministry in the Church of England. The event is organised by Cranmer Hall in Durham, in conjunction with the Directors of Ordinands of York, Durham and Newcastle. It is open to people of any diocese in the Church of England.  It is organised by a team from Cranmer Hall in conjunction with the DDOs of York, Durham and Newcastle, but is open to people of any diocese.   If you are interested or know someone who might be interested, more information and guidelines about how to register can be found  on-line  at   www.stepforwardanglican.org.uk.   .

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Justin Welby, has offered his warmest welcome to Pope Francis on his election. The Archbishop's full statement reads: “We wish Pope Francis every blessing in the enormous responsibilities that he has assumed on behalf of Roman Catholics around the world. His election is also of great significance to Christians everywhere, not least among Anglicans. We have long since recognized—and often reaffirmed—that our churches hold a special place for one another. I look forward to meeting Pope Francis, and to walking and working together to build on the consistent legacy of our predecessors. May the love of Christ unite us, and intensify our service in a genuine and fruitful ecumenism that can be a blessing for the Body of Christ throughout the world. Pope Francis is well known as a compassionate pastor of real stature who has served the poor in Latin America, and whose simplicity and holiness of life is remarkable. He is an evange...

On Thursday 7 March over 80 personal assistants and secretaries of bishops of the Church of England gathered at Lambeth Palace for a development day. I was invited, along with one of my brother bishops, Alan Winton of Thetford, to be a speaker and a participant in what was termed a "grill-a-bishop" session. Someone did a calculation: in the Great Hall at Lambeth Palace there was a total of 439 years of experience in being an assistant to a bishop. Not surprising that the discussion and questions were lively and stimulating. The collective wisdom of these servants of the Church was only matched by their enormous patience in working for very difficult people. The grilling was not too hot! We were joined by Mr Ben Yallop who is the Private Secretary to the President of the Queen's Bench Division. There were remarkable parallels between his job of supporting one of the most senior judges in England and Wales and that of a bishop's assistant or secretary. And not...

On Wednesday of this week, the House of Bishops, by an overwhelming majority, agreed the text of the clause in the legislation on women bishops which they were asked to reconsider by the General Synod in July. The text will now be presented for final approval by the General Synod in November.  The House of Bishops made clear its desire for the draft legislation to be passed into law. Speaking  on behalf of the House at the conclusion of their meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams said: “Since women were first made priests in the Church of England in 1994, their ministry has hugely enriched both church and society. It has become increasingly clear to most of us that barring women from becoming bishops is an anomaly that should be removed, for the good of the Church’s mission and service.  In July this year, the General Synod asked the House of Bishops to reconsider an alteration it had made to the proposed legislation on this subject. The Bis...

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...

On 11 - 13 February 12 persons from across the diocese gathered for an Enquirers' Conference in London, organised by the Diocesan Director of Ordinands, the Revd William Gulliford (above left). The weekend was designed to provide an exposure to the reality of ordained ministry in the Church of England and included presentations on aspects of the journey of discernment, selection, training and deployment as priests and deacons. The participants also visited local parish communities in London to observe the life of the congregations and their mission.  The participants, 6 men and 6 women, came from 12 different congregations from across the diocese in Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Finland and France. 7 were from non-English backgrounds with no experience of the Church of England in its homeland. Deacon Frances Hiller assisted Fr Gulliford in leading the weekend, along with a former ordinand of our diocese, the Revd Tasha Critchlow (originally from St Petersburg,...

Here is a potted summary of what happened at the recent sessions of General Synod held at Church House, Westminster from 7 - 9 February. As usual, not all discussions and decisions are immediately relevant to this particular Church of England Diocese in Europe, but you cannot say you I don't keep you informed about what your Church is up to! However, of particular ecumenical interest is the discussion on the ARCIC document Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ. It is a slightly longer than normal post, so remember to follow the read more link.

How is the draft legislation concerning women bishops to be dealt with in our diocese? Article 8 of the Constitution of the General Synod provides that certain kinds of legislation may not receive the final approval of the General Synod unless they have first been approved by the majority of diocesan synods. The draft legislation to permit the consecration of women bishops falls into this category. Due to a quirk of our diocesan constitution (which was put in place before we had a diocesan synod), it is to our Bishop's Council that Article 8 business must be referred. In October the Bishop's Council looked at this matter. It took account of the fact that we now have a diocesan synod, so it makes sense for this wider body to have an opportunity to give the proposed legislation full consideration. T he Bishop's Council thus noted the Article 8 referral and then resolved: (a) to remit discussion of the matter to the next meeting of the Diocesan Synod; (b) to request th...

Image via CrunchBase Those who know me, know that I am a bit of a gadget lover so I was pleased to discover (as will other iPhone users in the diocese) that the Church of England has developed a new "app" in partnership with the Diocese of Guildford. It enables individual dioceses to put their news into the hands of iPhone and iPad users, and gives access to resources such as an online version of Common Worship: Daily Prayer . The Diocese in Europe is not yet one of the participating dioceses, but I hope that we might in the future. The app can be downloaded here .

Back in July 2008, some 1300 clergy wrote to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to express their concerns about the the consecration of women as bishops. They said that in light of a lack of provision for those who cannot accept this development "We will inevitably be asking whether we can, in conscience, continue to minister as bishops, priests and deacons in the Church of England which has been our home". The text of that 2008 letter is here . Now two years later proposed legislation to permit women bishops has been forwarded from General Synod to the dioceses for consideration. In a letter dated 27 July 2010, 15 bishops, including our Diocesan Bishop Geoffrey, have written to those clergy who signed the 2008 letter. The bishops have stated that they want the letter shared with all who may be interested to know of it, which I imagine will be many in our diocese. I post the text of the letter below. Just press the read more link.

Each year the Anglican and Old Catholic Bishops in Europe meet for consultation, prayer and fellowship. From 17 to 18 June we gathered at Propstei Wislikofen , a historic former monastery north of Zurich. A photo of the beautiful chapel is above. As well as sharing information about news and developments in each jurisdiction, there was much discussion about the implications of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Pentecost Letter and the response by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church, both dealing with the present divisions within the Anglican Communion. The decision by the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, subsequent to the Archbishop of Canterbury's letter, to ask the Revd Carola Von Wrangel from the Episcopal Church to step down from membership on the Anglican-Old Catholic Coordinating Council was received with sadness by the bishops. We noted that the Coordinating Council is not strictly speaking an ecumenical dialogue, but an in...

The most recent statistics for ministry in the Church of England are those for the end of 2008. They point to a healthy situation with regards to vocations and ministry in our Church. For instance, there were about 12,000 licensed clergy and almost 8,000 readers and Church Army officers. In addition there were almost 1,600 chaplains to prisons, hospitals, the armed forces and in education, and around 7,120 retired clergy and readers with permission to officiate. In 2008 the Church of England recommended 490 persons for ordination training. 574 (274 women and 300 men) were ordained in 2008, the highest number since the year 2000. (In the entire Roman Catholic Church in Belgium, there were 6 ordinations in the same year). The generally healthy state extends to our ow n Diocese in Europe where we have 152 licensed priests and deacons and 98 active readers who serve our 270 congregations. 28 of the clergy are women. We are supporting 39 men and wome...

The Church of England has prepared prayers for the upcoming World Cup tournament in South Africa! They were written by the Bishop of Croydon in association with the Revd Peter Moger , the National Worship Development Officer, and are for personal use or for use during church services. I am pleased to see that they are sufficiently neutral in wording to be able to be used in this diocese in Europe, since, alongside England, the following European countries will be competing: Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. There are three prayers, including one "for those who are not particularly interested in the World Cup", which is no-one in our diocese, of course! Lord of all the nations, who played the cosmos into being, guide, guard and protect all who work or play in the World Cup. May all find in this competition a source of celebration, an experience of common humanity and a growing attitud...

The Bishop of Durham, Dr N. Tom Wright, has announced that he will resign from the See of Durham on 31 August this year. He will be returning to academic life as he takes up the position of Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Bishop Tom Wright is well known for his theological writing, both academic and popular. He is considered to be one of the world's foremost New Testament scholars. As I travel around the diocese I note that almost all our clergy and readers are familiar with and use Bishop Tom's work, particularly his biblical commentaries, including the popular For Everyone series. He admits that the decision to return to academic life was the hardest decision of his life. It will however allow him to concentrate on his research, teaching, writing and broadcasting. The bench of bishops in England will miss Bishop Tom. The Archbishop of Canterbury said that Bishop Tom, "has given generously of hi...

This is part 3 of a series of some answers I gave to questions from leaders of a free evangelical congregation in Europe who were interested bringing their people into the Anglican Church. They asked about the wearing of robes. They had seen somewhere that "the minister served in a man's suit" and wanted to know about what was required in the Anglican tradition. It is a question that arises from time to time, and not only among new Anglicans. This is part of my answer.... The matter of vestments or robes is a simple one. The norm in the Church of England is that for the public, statutory services of the Church the customary robes are worn by the clergy and readers (licensed lay ministers). The robes are intended to emphasise the office or role of the leaders in worship. They de-emphasise the personality or the personal wardrobe taste (which after all can be good or bad) of the person leading worship. The robe of the secular business world (for men, the suit) is no...

Photo credit: Mzzur/catholicchurch.org.uk The Church of England launched a campaign today to encourage "people with a very big heart" to stand for election.to the General Synod. The present Synod will be dissolved at the end of the July 2010 group of sessions in York and a new Synod will be elected for a five-year term in September/October and inaugurated in November.  There are 378 lay and clergy members, plus the house of bishops. The Diocese in Europe has two clergy and two lay members as well as Bishop Geoffrey. Our present members are the Revd Canon Debbie Flach, the Very Revd Jonathan Boardman, (Lay) Canon Ann Turner and Mr Roger Fry.  Resources have been produced, under the slogan "Be Part of the Big Picture", for those who may be interested in standing for election. Included is a five-minute video filmed at General Synod in February 2010, featuring contributions from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Business Committee chair Preb Kay G...