Eurobishop

In a joyous celebration on Sunday 25 April, over 90 persons gathered for the inauguration of the Church of the Resurrection, Pera, in Istanbul. This church formed from the growing together of two Turkish speaking congregations, one already part of the diocese in Europe, and another coming from an independent protestant tradition. Following a period of several months of mutual discernment the Church of the Resurrection held their first Annual General Meeting on Sunday 18th April and a Church Council and churchwardens elected. The Revd Engin Yildirim, already a priest of this diocese, is now the priest-in-charge of the Church of the Resurrection, Pera. Turkish-speaking Christians are a small minority in the country and many groups have tended to split apart from one another. The union of two congregations is therefore significant and marks a maturing in the life of the indigenous Turkish Church. The Anglican Church offers a place where Turkish Christians can find a home that is rooted ...

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...

On Friday 23 April, St George's Day, the first Anglican service in Puerto de Mogán, Gran Canaria was held. For some time now, the priest-in-charge, Fr Peter Ford OGS, who is based at Holy Trinity Las Palmas over an hour away, has been planning to open a worship centre in this southern town on the island where many British come on holiday. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Gran Canaria has kindly offered the use of the Church of San Fernando (above) for our eucharists. The first celebration got off to an encouraging start with a congregation of 14. Plans are to have a service every Friday at noon, with time for fellowship at a lunch following. We wish the parish of Gran Canaria every blessing on this new outreach venture. The parish website is here . In addition, Fr Ford has a blog entitled News from Paradise .

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...

It is not often that a bishop gets to induct one of his former teachers into a parish. Last Saturday afternoon, in the presence of ecumenical guests and visiting clergy, I licensed the Revd Canon Harold Nahabedian to be priest-in-charge of St Alban's Strasbourg. He is pictured above taking the oaths on the bible held by the Revd Christine Bloomfield, the Assistant Curate at St Alban's. Other ministers in the parish include reader David Cowley. Bishop Venuste Mutiganda originally from Rwanda and Deacon Sangi Mansita from Angola have permission to officiate (both are pictured below). I first knew Fr Harold 32 years ago when he was chaplain at Trinity College Toronto where I was a student of divinity. I owe much of my own formation as a priest to his support and direction, particularly in the area of liturgics. Fr Harold comes to us after his retirement as rector of St Mary Magdalene's Church in Toronto, a multicultural parish with an outstanding liturgical and musica...

At the French Archdeaconry Synod last week, the Revd Tony Jewiss was licensed as assistant priest (NSM) in the chaplaincy of Midi Pyrénées & Aude. Fr Jewiss should feel at home in our international diocese, as he was born in England, grew up in New Zealand, and has served as a priest in the dioceses of Los Angeles and Long Island in the USA. He has been a bishop's chaplain, and has also worked in the central office of the Episcopal Church in New York. At the same service Bishop Geoffrey licensed the Revd June Hutchinson as assistant priest in the parish, signifying that she has successfully completed her years of post ordination training and now moves on from being an assistant curate. The parish of Midi Pyrénées & Aude covers an area twice the size of Wales and has 6 congregations. At the time of writing I am happy to be able to say that a new chaplain has been chosen and is presently in the final stages of appointment. There will be an a...

The Anglican congregation in Gozo is one of the newer congregations of the diocese and has just celebrated 5 years of formal organisation, although Anglican services have been held in Gozo since the mid 1970s. Dedicated to "Our Lady the Blessed Virgin Mary and St George the Martyr", it is one of 3 congregations of the Anglican Church in Malta and Gozo, served by the Chancellor of St Paul's Pro-Cathedral in Valletta, Canon Simon Godfrey and the chaplain of Holy Trinity Sliema, the Revd Jeff Williams, and Mr David Felgate, licensed reader in the parish. On Wednesday 14th April, I presided at the anniversary eucharist wich was held in the magnificent St George's Roman Catholic Basilica in Victoria (see photo below). Three of the clergy of the Basilica, including Archpriest Mgr Pawlu Cardona (who read the Gospel), were present, a sign of the warm ecumenical relations between Anglicans and  Roman Catholics on the island. Warm congratulations to the congregation of Ou...