News Brief
Episcopal News Service. August 3, 1978 [78219]
Two Episcopal Church institutions have received large grants from the Kresge Foundation of Troy, Mich. for construction projects. St. Paul's College, Lawrenceville, Va. received $75,000 to complete renovation of the college's St. Paul's Memorial Chapel. The funds will be used for the redecoration and air-conditioning of the 74-year-old building. The private black college is a member of the Association of Episcopal Colleges. The Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia received a $150,000 challenge grant toward a proposed library addition. The grant, which stipulates that the total cost be raised by mid-November, brings the school's resources for the addition up to $618,647 -- half the goal of $1,135,000.
The Very Rev. Manuel Chavez, Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Havana, Cuba, arrived here with his wife and two children after waiting for 15 years for their exit visa. If permission to leave Cuba had not been granted at this time, Dean Chavez's son, Angel Manuel, would have had to wait 20 years more, since in October he will be 15 and will be of military age and would not be permitted to leave the country. The Chavezes will be waiting here for the necessary papers to enter the United States as political refugees.
Integrity, the organization of gay and lesbian Episcopalians and their friends, will hold its Fourth National Convention August 17-20. The Twin Cities chapter of Integrity is coordinating and hosting the event to be headquartered at Gethsemane Episcopal Church here. The theme for this year's gathering is "A Community of Prophets: Moving from Vision to Task." Keynote addresses will be given by: The Rev. Ellen Barrett of Oakland, California, PhD candidate in Sociology of Religion and Ethics, and the first open lesbian ordained to the priesthood; The Rev. James B. Nelson, author and Professor of Christian Ethics at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities; and Barbara Gittings of Philadelphia, lesbian _ activist of 20 years, lecturer and strategist, and Coordinator of Task Force on Gay Liberation of the American Library Association.
The Diocesan Convention of El Salvador has passed a resolution requesting the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, to "appoint a bishop for a transitional period of five years," for that jurisdiction. The bishop would be chosen from among retired bishops with the advice of the Standing Committee of the diocese. It is hoped that at the end of that time the diocese will have developed sufficiently as to be able to choose its own bishop. El Salvador is the smallest diocese in the whole Anglican Communion. The Bishop of Nicaragua, the Rt. Rev. G. Edward Haynsworth is currently bishop-in-charge.
A gift of $100,000 has been received by the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest from the Nell A. Sutton Trust, through Roy C. Lytle of Oklahoma City, Trustee. The Seminary of the Southwest was one of three Texas institutions that received contributions, according to Lytle. When asked why the Seminary was selected, Lytle said, "It was recommended to me by the Episcopal Bishop of Oklahoma, the Rt. Rev. Gerald N. McAllister, who is the former rector of St. David's Episcopal Church in San Antonio, and a member of the Seminary's Advisory Board." In accepting the gift, the Very Rev. Gordon T. Charlton, Jr., Dean of the Seminary, said that the money would be used as the first major gift toward endowment of a new $600,000 Faculty Chair.
An annual scholarship called the Stephen Bayne Scholarship has been established by St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, to any suitable candidate from any part of the Anglican Communion who wishes to explore the relationship between the contemporary Church and the world. The scholarship honors the memory of the Rt. Rev. Bishop Stephen Fielding Bayne, noted theologian and missionary strategist who died in 1974. Further information can be obtained by writing to Mrs. E.W. Chaplin, Secretary, Scholarship Committee, 74 Hoodcote Gardens, Winchmore Hill, London, N21, 2NE, England.
The Rt. Rev. William A. Franklin, former Bishop of Colombia, has been officially appointed Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Peterborough in the Province of Canterbury. Bishop Franklin, a native of England, resigned his see in Colombia last March for reasons of "mission strategy". In his new post he will be in charge of the confirmations in half of the diocese and will pastorally assist the clergy throughout the diocese.