News Brief
Episcopal News Service. March 11, 1977 [77088]
The Office of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church has announced that the new Constitution and Canons 1976 is now available. The standard price is $6.00 per copy, but until May 1, 1977, diocesan offices may obtain the book for $4. 80 a copy. All orders should be placed with the Seabury Press, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y., 10017.
Preparations are well underway for the 1978 Lambeth Conference -- a gathering of bishops from throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion. Approximately 400 diocesan bishops with other bishops and consultants will gather from July 22-Aug. 13 at the University of Kent near Canterbury at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury to examine questions of the church and ministry in the modern world. Although having no legislative role, Lambeth Conferences -- which are held about every ten years -- have always had a marked influence on the course of the Anglican Communion. A volume of preparatory material has been promised for distribution by the end of this year and Anglican officials have said there will be press facilities at the conference. Information may be obtained from Mr. John Miles, Church Information Office, Church House, Dean's Yard, Westminster, London, S.W. 1, England.
Superiors of Anglican orders in the United States will gather in late April for a four-day conference at St. Mary's Convent in Peekskill, N. Y. The Most Rev. Edward W. Scott, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, will lead a day of informal dialogue and a full-day retreat with the superiors. In addition, the Rt. Rev. Dom Benedict Reid, OSB, father abbot of the Order of St. Benedict and Mother Annys, CSJB, representing the Superior of the Order of the Holy Cross, said that about 95 per cent of the superiors have already said they will attend the April 24-28 conference.
Flooded by requests from priests who can't find work, the Episcopal Bishop of North Carolina, the Rt. Rev. Thomas Fraser, has decided to continue a moratorium on ordinations in the diocese. Citing figures that indicate some 6,000 priests have either no or only part time church work, Bishop Fraser said he did not know when the supply and demand would begin to balance and added: "I don't see it any time soon. We're just constantly beseiged by people looking for work. " The moratorium means also that no women would be ordained priest in the diocese and Bishop Fraser said of that: "I suppose it will happen, but there's no one on the horizon."
Church leaders who wish to obtain permission to excerpt sections of the Proposed Book of Common Prayer for limited parish use are reminded by the Custodian of the Standard Book that copyright protection requires they clear such requests with him. Inquiries should be directed to the Rev. Canon Charles M. Guilbert, 125 Cambon Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132.
The Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, is scheduled to be a guest on the TODAY SHOW on the NBC-Television Network on Good Friday, April 8. Other participants on the show -- on which they will discuss the significance of Good Friday and Easter -- will be Archbishop Iakovos of the Greek Archdiocese of North and South America and Archbishop Peter Gerety of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. (This segment is scheduled for showing between 8:30 and 9:00 a. m., New York time; check your local NBC-TV affiliate for specific time in your area.)