Eurobishop

Fr Tuomas Mäkipää The Revd Tuomas Mäkipää is Chaplain of St Nicholas's Helsinki, Area Dean for Finland, a member of General Synod and Chair of the House of Clergy of this Diocese in Europe. Yesterday the General Synod motion to take note of the House of Bishops' Report on "Marriage and Same Sex Relationships After the Shared Conversations" was lost in the House of Clergy, and therefore the motion fell. Fr Tuomas has written this helpful explanatory note below to the clergy of the diocese, and asks that it be shared with the members of their congregations. __________________________________________________________ Dear fellow Clergy I believe I do not need to explain in detail the very mixed response to the House of Bishops' Report MARRIAGE AND SAME SEX RELATIONSHIPS AFTER THE SHARED CONVERSATIONS. 'Taking note' is a synodical procedure which is a way to introduce documents to the Synod thus allowing them to be used as a source, or basis, fo...

Photo: Leah Gordon Us On Wednesday morning Us (formerly USPG) held a fringe meeting for the General Synod delegates, over breakfast. It was a time to present something of the reality of the refugee situation in the Diocese in Europe and the response that Us is assisting us to make. Our own Fr Malcolm Bradshaw, Senior Chaplain in Athens, was on hand and gave an passionate and moving account of the experience of the refugees in Greece. It is an excellent summary of this complex situation. A video of his presentation is here . According to Us, there was standing room only at the event and all those present will now spread the word even wider of our Diocese's engagement with this issue.   Posted with Blogsy

 Photo by Geoff Crawford My good friend and ecumenical colleague, His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK addressed the Church of England's General Synod yesterday on the complex refugee crisis, underlining the perspectives from Christians in the Middle East. His Grace is the Moderator of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), of which I am a trustee. He was one of the Church leaders who was with me on a CTBI visit to the Greek-FYRO Macedonian border in September, which was the first official visit of any sort to the region from the UK to learn first hand about what is the greatest crisis in Europe since WWII.   Speaking of the crisis as an opportunity for Christians and the Church to act, Bishop Angaelos said:   “We are a united Body of Christ, there is no Church of the East and Church of the West; it is one Body and it suffers equally, and so we need to approach this matter collaboratively. These are...

The results of the elections to General Synod from this diocese are in! The three clergy members are: the Revd Tuomas Mäkipää (St Nicholas, Helsinki), the Revd Canon Debbie Flach (Christ Church, Lille), and the Revd Canon Giles Williams (Holy Trinity, Cannes). The three lay members are: Mrs Madeleine Holmes (Aquitaine), Mr David Coulston (Puerto Pollensa, Mallorca), and Mr Tjeerd Bijl (St John and St Philip's, the Hague). Congratulations to those elected. They will be in our prayers as they prepare to take up their responsibilities in November. The General Synod Hansard transcribers will also need to dust of their umlauts for one of our clergy members!

The deadline for nominations for those who wish to stand for election to General Synod is fast approaching. Nominations will close at at 16.00 hours, London time, on Friday 28 August. So you're thinking of standing for Synod there are just two weeks to act! In clear recognition of our growing diocese, in addition to the Diocesan Bishop we are now entitled to 3 lay delegates and 3 clergy delegates to General Synod. This is an increase of 1 in each of these houses. Any serving clergy or retired clergy with permission to officiate and any communicant lay person who is on a church electoral roll and is 18 or above can stand. There is no need for lay candidates to be on a church council, deanery/archdeaconry or diocesan synod. The General Synod is the legislative body for the Church of England. Past members from our Diocese in Europe have found this to be both a rewarding and important role, so if you are eligible, do give this prayerful consideration! Details of how to to go...

Präses Dr. Irmgard Schwaetzer was the special guest at the recent sessions of the General Synod in York. The Präses chairs the synod of the Evangelical Church of Germany, the EKD, and is the highest ranking lay person in that Church. Prior to her Church career, Dr Schwaetzer was a distinguished German politician and cabinet member, and was largely responsible for overseeing the move of the capital from Bonn to Berlin after reunification. In her address to the synod, she spoke about the alarming results of survey in Germany where it seemed that the Church is losing touch with young people, and where the number of those openly rejecting the Church appears to be rising. On the other hand, people apparently hold the local parish clergy in high esteem (not the bishops!) and there is an interest in liturgy and "well-designed" worship. The Church of England and the EKD have an agreement for eucharistic hospitality and cooperation, called the Meissen Agreement. The Nikaean C...

Readers from the Diocese in Europe with Bishop Robert Patterson Jan Waterschoot, a Reader in Eindhoven, Netherlands, was one of five Readers who attended a recent "national" gathering for Readers held from 4 - 6 April. Jan has written the report below: About a hundred and fifty Readers met in the first weekend of April in Milton Keynes for the bi-annual Reader's Conference, including the Annual General Meeting of the Central Readers' Council (CRC). At the Annual Meeting our Diocese was represented by Angela Mirani (Italy) who also is a member of the Executive of the CRC, and Jan Waterschoot (Netherlands). For the rest of the Conference they were joined by Linda Brooke (France), Brenda Juntunen (France) and Linda Cade (Majorca). Calling this meeting a 'national' Readers Conference was about the only time during the weekend that it could have looked as if Readers from outside England were not part of it all. Time and time again it was made clear that Wal...

Today I think I witnessed the Church's decision-making at its best.  The General Synod (which I am attending during the episcopal interregnum) overwhelmingly gave welcome to a package of proposals which charts the way forward to permit the consecration of women as bishops. This is the first stage towards a process. Final approval will be at a later stage.   The remarkable thing was to witness members of the Synod from every theological stripe in the Church of England give support to the package of proposals. There were 33 speeches, and all but two were largely positive towards the package. Yes, there were wise words of caution, and a reminder that we should not be complacent as we move forward as there will be hard work involved in the next stages. In particular there was a warning not to tinker with the careful and delicate balance that has been sought in the proposals.    5 guiding principles, which must be held together as they create the balance ...

Following on the failure of the proposed legislation to enable the consecration of women as bishops to gain necessary approval in the final consideration vote in the General Synod, Bishop Geoffrey and I have sent the following letter to the women clergy of our diocese:  21 November 2012 To the women clergy of the Diocese in Europe     Dear Sisters As a result of the vote in the General Synod yesterday, there is deep sadness and disappointment felt by so many in our Church, and bewilderment in the world we are called to serve. For both of us, yesterday’s pattern of voting raises questions about the processes of the General Synod in considering this kind of legislation. We know from the results of the diocesan synods across the Church, including our own, that the Church of England does want women bishops. The size of the majority which voted in favour of the legislation at the General Synod yesterday confirmed this. However, as we know, the hurdle to attain 2/3 of the votes...

A vacancy in our delegates to General Synod was created by the resignation of the Revd Canon Ian Hutchinson-Cervantes, who is leaving St George's Madrid in September, to take up a new post in Chichester diocese. The Presiding Officer for elections in the diocese, Mr Aiden Hargreaves-Smith, has confirmed that the  vacancy been filled by the Revd Canon Dr Gary Wilton (pictured above). Canon Wilton is the Archbishop of Canterbury's Representative to the EU, and is an assistant priest at Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral in Brussels. He joins the remaining 3 delegates, the Revd Canon Debbie Flach, Canon Ann Turner, and Mrs Madeleine Holmes. We thank Canon Hutchinson-Cervantes for serving the diocese in this way for the last year and a half, and pray for Canon Wilton as he takes up this representative role.

There was very good news for this Diocese in Europe from the July sessions of General Synod: The draft Diocese in Europe Measure was given final approval. This measure gives power to the Church Commissioners and the Archbishops' Council to make financial provision for our Diocese. Additionally, it brings our diocese into line with the other 43, in that items referred to it by the General Synod are now to be dealt with by our Diocesan Synod, rather than by Bishop's Council and Standing Committee. The text of the measure is here .

Today, Monday 9 July, was to have been the day when the General Synod would take the final vote on the draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure . Members of this diocese will recall that our own Diocesan Synod and Bishop's Council gave approval to the Measure in the form it was referred to dioceses 18 months ago. (42 of the 44 dioceses gave their approval). The House of Bishops has the power to amend the draft Measure, and indeed, did make 2 amendments. One of them, to clause 5, proved to be controversial.  The clause 5 amendment was intended to ensure that when a parochial church council requests under the Measure that the Diocesan Bishop provide a male bishop to minister to them, that the exercise of ministry by a bishop so delegated be consistent with the theological convictions of those opposed to the consecration or ordination of women which prompted the Letter of Request in the first place. Thus the clause 5 amendment sought to address the fact...

I have already reported that at the recent February group of sessions of the General Synod, first consideration was given to our Diocese in Europe Measure, the primary purpose of which is to allow the Church Commissioners and the Archbishops’ Council to apply funds for the development of the mission of our diocese. The draft Measure now goes to a Revision Committee. But the General Synod acted on some other important matters too:  Women in the Episcopate An illustrative draft Code of Practice was presented; the Synod took note of a report from the Business Committee on the outcome of the reference to the dioceses; and the Synod debated a diocesan synod motion from Manchester (also passed by several other dioceses) and a substantial amendment to that motion from the diocese of Southwark. The result was an  acceptance of the Southwark amendment (itself in a slightly amended form), so that the motion as passed called on the House of Bishops ‘in the exercise of its...

This morning, the General Synod passed, by overwhelming majority, the first reading of the draft Diocese in Europe Measure. There was clearly strong support for this legislation which will help to bring this diocese into line with the other 43 in the Church of England with regard to being eligible to receive funds from the Church Commissioners. A key part of the proposed measure reads: That the Church Commissioners may, from time to time, pay, out of their general fund, such sums as they think fit for the purpose of the development of the mission of the Diocese in Europe.   A revision committee will now prepare the measure for final approval at another session of the Synod.  Members of the diocese will know what good news this is, and we thank all who have supported the measure to this stage.

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.

The Diocese in Europe is one of the best kept secrets in the Church of England. The Diocesan Communications Officer, the Revd Canon Paul Needle, seeks every opportunity to put that right! Last Wednesday 9 February, during the sessions of General Synod at Church House in Westminster, he organised a reception for Synod delegates, inviting them for a light lunch and some refreshment, to meet diocesan personnel, view a presentation on the work of the diocese and receive some literature about our work, including the 2011 Yearbook. The event was well attended - higher numbers than a similar reception 3 years go. On hand to welcome about 50 guests were both bishops and their staff, members of the diocesan staff and three of our own General Synod Reps, Canons Ann Turner, Debbie Flach and Ian Hutchinson-Cervantes, pictured above. People came with a wide range of questions, about jobs in the diocese, about our locations, even about our views on women clergy! Slowly but surely we are recl...

The votes for members of General Synod from this Diocese in Europe have been counted and the result verified by the Diocesan Registrar. The results are as follows: For the House of Laity our members are: Canon Ann Turner (Antwerp), Mrs Madeleine Holmes (Aquitaine) For the House of Clergy our members are: The Revd Canon Ian Hutchinson Cervantes (Madrid), the Revd Canon Debbie Flach (Lille)

Photo credit: Mzzur/catholicchurch.org.uk The deadline for nominations for those who wish to stand for election to General Synod is approaching. Nominations will close at at 12 noon, London time, on Friday 3 September . So you're thinking of standing for Synod there are under two weeks to act! Besides the Diocesan Bishop, the Diocese in Europe has 2 lay delegates and 2 clergy delegates to General Synod. Details of how to to go about standing for election and what to expect once you are elected can be found on the Church of England website here . If there is anything else you would like to know as you make up your mind do not hesitate to contact Mr Adrian Mumford , the Diocesan Secretary.

I have already posted an article about the Church of England General Synod's recent work on women bishops. The meeting in York from 9 to 13 July did cover some other matters as well! Here is a short digest: Clergy Terms of Service As part of new legislation introducing "common tenure" for clergy in 2011, provisions for maternity, paternity, and adoption leave were made. The new common tenure legislation will only be applied by analogy in the Diocese in Europe as the employment status of our clergy is different from England and varies in almost every country we serve. Liturgical business Final approval was given to an Additional Weekday Lectionary. This provides "stand alone" Bible readings that are especially suitable in length and content for services at which occasional worshippers are present – for example, choral evensong in cathedrals. Five new commemorations were added to the Common Worship Calendar: 18 January - Amy Carmichael, Founder of the Do...

Image by scottgunn via Flickr After close to 12 hours of debate, on Monday, the draft measure to permit the ordination of women as bishops was approved by the General Synod. It was passed by a sizable majority: 373 in favour; 14 against, 17 abstentions. Earlier in the debate an amendment put forward by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York which would have strengthened provision for those who cannot in conscience accept the ministry of a woman bishop was narrowly defeated, by 5 votes in the house of clergy. Archbishop Rowan remarked that the voting shows the synod is committed to seeing women as bishops while it is also profoundly committed to a "maximum generosity" towards those who cannot in conscience accept this development. The decision taken on Monday leads to the next step in the process: the draft measure is now to be sent to dioceses for discussion and approval by diocesan synods. The Archbishop of Canterbury remarked that this next s...