World Church- In Brief
Diocesan Press Service. February 3, 1967 [51-6]
The Archbishop of Canterbury will visit the United States next fall and will attend the Seattle General Convention.
The Anglo-American Conference, meeting in Brussels Dec. 14-16, made several suggestions which could result in greater coordination between the work of the American and English Anglican churches on the continent of Europe. They called for a counsel of representatives from each jurisdiction to consider the future of Anglicanism in Europe. Such a committee would report to the authorities of both jurisdictions.
Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey opened the Week of Prayer For Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25, at a special ceremony in which he received a copy of "Living Room Dialogues" from Msgr. William W. Baum, executive director, the Bishop's Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, and the Rev. William A. Norgren, executive director, Department of Faith and Order, N. C. C. Mr. Norgren is an Episcopalian.
Of governors serving this year, eight are Episcopalians. The denominational affiliations most named were Roman Catholic and Methodist, both with nine.
The Rev. John R. Wyatt, rector of Holy Trinity Church, Menlo Park, Calif., was elected Bishop of Spokane at a special convention held Jan. 6 and 7.
The annual meeting of the National Council of Churches' Division of Christian Education will be held Feb. 9-16 in Dallas, Tex. The prime concern of the more than 2,000 participants will be religious pluralism in a rapidly shrinking and changing world.
Official representatives of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches met together Jan. 9 to 13 at the Villa Cagnola near Milan. Among the group's recommendations was the formation of a special commission to study the theology of marriage and its application to mixed marriages. This was one of the issues singled out by the Archbishop of Canterbury as being particularly thorny. The commission was formed as a result of talks held last March between Pope Paul VI and the Archbishop.
The Rhodesian government has decided not to continue subsidizing church-operated elementary schools for African children. In addition, only local officials will have the right to erect new schools. Rhodesia's school system is based almost entirely on mission schools with 86% of the country's children enrolled in such institutions.
A shortage of about 3, 000 clergymen is projected for the Church of England by the end of 1968 according to the Church of England Year Book. A decline in active adult lay membership was also noted.
The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada has stressed that until union and full communion with other churches is attained Anglican clergy and laity should observe canonical laws and regulations. Deviations from church discipline and practice as a result of ecumenical enthusiasm were a real matter of concern.
The 1967 Churchmen's Washington Seminar was held Jan. 31 to Feb. 3. Speakers at the seminar, designed to give laymen and clergy a first-hand look at major issues of the day in the nation's capital, included Senator Eugene McCarthy (D-Minn); Julius Cahn, assistant to Vice-President Humphrey; and Ben Bagkikian, frequent contributor to the Saturday Evening Post and author of "In the Midst of Plenty - A New Report on the Poor in America."
The first joint Roman Catholic-Protestant consultation on youth work met recently in Washington, D. C. Among other recommendations of participants was the establishment of an interreligious task group "to pursue particular possibilities for joint study and action." The group was composed of representatives from the Youth Department of the U. S. Catholic Conference and the Youth Ministry Department, National Council of Churches.
The World Day of Prayer will be observed February 10. This year's service was written by Queen Salote of the Tonga Islands shortly before her death last year. It is in her country, closest to the international date line, that the recital of prayers of thanksgiving and intercession begins.