News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. December 19, 2002 [2002-283-1]
Agreement allows church to serve society, Canadian primate says
(ACC) An agreement between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Canadian government over liability for Indian residential schools will allow the church to continue to serve society and to forge new bonds with native people, the Anglican primate said.
In a letter to church members posted on the Anglican Church of Canada's Web site, Archbishop Michael Peers said he is "profoundly encouraged" by the way Canadian Anglicans and Anglican dioceses have responded to the agreement.
Under the terms of the agreement, all 30 Anglican dioceses must ratify and agree to contribute $25 million to a settlement fund over a five-year period. The agreement effectively ends the Anglican Church's involvement in costly litigation that was threatening the future of its national organization.
From 1820 to 1969, the Anglican Church of Canada was involved in residential schools. In 1911, the first contracts were signed between the Government of Canada and a number of dioceses. In 1921, the Missionary Society of the Church in Canada began to assume those contracts. "In the words of the Bishop of Keewatin, a person with experience of the schools decades ago and a partner in dialogue with many former students, this was not a good system with a few bad people in it, but a deeply flawed system with many good people in it," Peers wrote. "In 1969 we abandoned participation in the schools, and began to forge a new relationship with aboriginal Canadians that would be rooted in justice, solidarity, and mutuality.
"More than twenty years later, former students of the schools began to come forward, alleging abuse at the hands of those in authority in the schools. Those allegations have prompted our church to come to terms with two painful realities. First, our partnership with the government in seeking the assimilation of aboriginal Canadians was itself a profound error. Second, some within the schools used their power to take advantage of the vulnerability of children," the primate wrote.
In November, the Anglican Church of Canada and the government of Canada reached agreement on a settlement of validated claims of sexual and physical abuse in schools administered by the Anglican Church. "We are asking each diocese to consider the proposed agreement, and to make a financial commitment to the settlement fund," Peers said. Several dioceses have already ratified the agreement, and at least four dioceses that have ratified the agreement had no formal relationship with any of the schools, and therefore no legal liability. "That we recognize both a common 'moral liability' and a common vocation to ministry and mission in our society, whether or not we are directly and legally affected by the schools issue, is surely one of the strengths of this Anglican Church of Canada," said Peers.
"This settlement is not about 'getting out of' anything," the letter emphasized. "It is instead a way of getting more deeply into the healing and reconciliation by which we can both strengthen our own common life and extend that life into mission in our society."
Lilly Endowment awards $1.6 million grant to Chicago
(ENS) Congregations and clergy in the Diocese of Chicago will be the beneficiaries of a $1.6 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. for a pioneering clergy mentoring program. The grant, the largest the endowment has made in its Transition-into-Ministry Program, initiated in 1999, will fund the five-year "Making Excellent Disciples" pilot project being developed by the diocese's Department of Congregational Development and Deployment.
The pilot project, the first of its kind in the Episcopal Church, aims to create and sustain pastoral excellence among new clergy and to recognize and revitalize excellence among established and effective clergy through a comprehensive training and mentoring program. Recently ordained clergy will spend their first two years of ordained ministry in a "mentoring congregation," stable congregations led by exemplary pastors. Then they will be placed in "mustard seed congregations," missions or parishes of fewer than 150 active members with a strong sense of mission and the potential for growth.
"This program will allow us to take enthusiastic, promising ordinands and place them in some of our strongest mentoring congregations so they are better prepared for everyday realities as new ministry leaders," said Bishop William Persell, Chicago's diocesan bishop, in his grant application letter.
In 2003 five congregations will be chosen as mentoring congregations with an additional five chosen in 2004. For the initial five-year pilot phase, 25 new clergy will be mentored by 10 seasoned and successful pastors. They will spend their first two years as curates (a newly ordained assistant priest) in the mentoring congregations and then be assigned to serve in one of the 15 mustard seed congregations for at least three years.
"This is a terrific grant to receive and promises to assist not only newly ordained clergy in Chicago in their further formation but also to have learnings for us all," said the Rev. Melford E. Holland Jr., coordinator of the Presiding Bishop's Office for Ministry Development." It connects in spirit with our Fresh Start program which seeks to provide resources for clergy, congregational leaders, and dioceses in the first two years of their new ministry together." The Diocese of Chicago is also a participant in Fresh Start.
Seminary hosts missionary training for first time
(ETSS) "People always ask me: 'Is the Episcopal Church still sending missionaries to foreign countries?'" says the Rev. Jane Crosby Butterfield, mission personnel office director of the Episcopal Church. As an indication that the church is still strongly committed to sending missionaries, she points to a two-week orientation program for 22 candiates on the campus of the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest in mid-January.
This marks the first time Butterfield will stage training sessions for Episcopalians only. Prior to this, orientation programs have drawn missionary trainees from many Protestant denominations and the sessions have been more ecumenically based. "We hope to make missionaries more visible in the Episcopal Church," Butterfield said. "We need to have more focus for training in the worldwide Anglican Communion." Butterfield opened an extension office of the Mission Personnel Office of the Episcopal Church's Anglican and Global Relations office last summer on the Seminary of the Southwest campus when spouse, the Very Rev. Titus Presler, became dean and president of the seminary in June.
Titled "Cross Cultural Orientation for Mission Personnel--Ministry in the Dimension of Difference," the January 18-31 session will bring missionary candidates to the Austin campus from throughout the country. The orientation program includes seminar discussions ranging from cross-cultural dynamics and mission identity to building Christian community from diversity and worship and spiritual formation for mission. Bible studies focusing on mission themes will be mixed with field trips in the Austin and San Antonio areas. Staff teachers will be coming from countries throughout the world, as well as the Episcopal Church Center. Presler and the Rev. Paul Barton, assistant professor of Hispanic studies at the seminary, will assist in the training.
Mission destinations include Zambia, the north of Ireland, Kenya, Honduras, Jerusalem, Venezuela and Gambia. About one-third of the missionary candidates are members of the Young Adult Service Corps. Persons planning to become Volunteers for mission and appointed missionaries round out the orientation group. Missionaries serve for a renewable term of one to three years. Their work is funded by the missionary programs of the Episcopal Church Center and supporting dioceses and home parishes.
Former seminary dean named interim dean in Paris
(ETSS) The Very Rev. Durstan McDonald will be an American in Paris throughout much of 2003.
McDonald, dean emeritus of the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest, will be interim dean and rector of the American Cathedral in Paris from January through at least September, 2003. As interim dean, he will be the acting priest in charge of the parish, carrying out regular liturgical and administrative duties of the dean with the support of the cathedral's clergy, wardens and vestry.
For more than a century, the cathedral of Paris--formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity--has been a center of worship for English-speakers abroad. Located near the Seine in the heart of Paris, it draws visitors from throughout the world. Permanent parishioners number about 400.
McDonald's tenure at the cathedral is expected to last until a search committee finds a new dean to succeed the Very Rev. Ernie Hunt retired in late 2002. During Hunt's leadership, the cathedral expanded its outreach from the local and national community to other nations in West and Central Europe.
Don't scapegoat gay clergy, Charleston tells O'Reilly
(ENS) Bishop Steven Charleston, president and dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a guest on the Fox News program "The O'Reilly Factor" on December 17.
The segment related to a recent Boston Globe editorial written by Bishops M. Thomas Shaw and Bud Cederholm of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts challenging a recent Vatican statement implying a link between pedophilia and homosexuality.
"The real problem we're facing in the church is abuse, and the second big problem we're facing in the church is how the church hierarchy deals with the cases of abuse," Charleston told host Bill O'Reilly.
"It is a very, very big problem for gay people to combat that kind of stereotyping and prejudice, and it's a big problem for heterosexual people as well," Charleston said. "What we want are for gay people and heterosexual leadership to come together united to make sure that we simply don't tolerate this kind of abuse in the life of any church, and this is not just an issue for the Roman Catholic Church."
In a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe, Charleston wrote, "The church cannot make homosexuals the scapegoats for its own failures, especially failures at the highest levels of its own administration. Rather, it should acknowledge that gay and lesbian persons always have, and always will, provide outstanding clergy and lay leadership for the Christian faith."
Episcopalians join commission commemorating historic Brown decision
(ENS) Two Episcopalians from parishes in the Diocese of Kansas are among those appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on a new commission charged with designing ways to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka that effectively struck down school segregation in America.
Deborah Dandridge, a member of St. David's in Topeka and Jesse Milan of St. Martin's in Edwardsville, are two of the 21 members on the nationwide panel.
The group will design public education activities to mark the anniversary on May 17, 2004 of the court's decision that struck down the "separate but equal" policy in the United States. The commission was created by an act of Congress and was signed into law by President Bush in September 2001.
Dandridge, who is an archivist and researcher at the University of Kansas, was selected for membership by Topeka's Brown Foundation. Milan, who is president of the Kansas Chapter of the NAACP, was selected by Bush as one of the representatives of the state of Kansas.
Dandridge said, "To me this commission represents one of the important ways our nation will be honoring a Supreme Court decision that revolutionized race relations and sparked hope for others around the world to work for social change without violence or war." Milan, who has been active in civil rights issues for decades, said, "This is one of the points in my life where I can do what I always have tried to do--make life better for people in the future."
Dandridge said one of the goals of the commission is to work with textbook companies to expand the information on the Brown case presented to schoolchildren. Milan agreed that information is critical to people's understanding of the case and its ramifications for American society. But he wants to push the commission to go further. "The group must address the greater question of equal protection under the 14th amendment," he said. "We have to look to the future and think about the kind of America we want."
Milan also said he hopes this new role will provide him the opportunity to visit with church groups about how they can participate in this commemoration and develop ways to discuss issues of race in their congregations. "It is a gift from God to have two Episcopalians on this commission," he said. "This really is a teaching moment."
Central New York bishop opposed Vietnam war, supported women's ordination
(ENS) The Rt. Rev. Ned Cole, retired bishop of the Diocese of Central New York, died December 16, 2002, at the age of 85 in Syracuse, New York. He became the seventh bishop of the diocese in 1969 and served until 1983. As bishop, Cole served the diocese during a tumultuous time for both the Episcopal Church and the country. He took stands on controversial issues including opposition to the Vietnam War, ministering to those who moved to Canada to resist the draft, opposition to the death penalty, and support for the ordination of women.
Cole was known as a champion of the underdog and acted as both a spiritual and civic force in the community. He served as a member of the General Board of the National Council of Churches; as a member of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church representing Province II; and as a member of the Episcopal delegation to the Consultation on Church Union. He was also active in the New York State Council of Churches; the Human Rights Commission of Syracuse and Onondaga County, the Food Bank of Central New York, the Urban League of Onondaga County and the Syracuse Division of the New York State Commission on Human Rights.
Cole was born and raised in California, Missouri, graduated from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, and attended law school at the University of Missouri in Columbia. He was secretary to the Secretary of the State of Missouri from 1940-1942, and in the Air Transport Command of the Army Air Forces, from 1942-1945. He graduated from the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and ordained deacon and priest by Bishop William Scarlett of Missouri. He served parishes in Columbia and Jefferson City, Missouri, and in 1956 was elected dean of Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis.