News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. March 3, 1983 [83045]
(DPS, Mar. 3) -- The Great Vigil of Easter, a video-tape program produced by the Episcopal Church Center, will be transmitted for cable television viewing on Easter Day from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. The program features Connecticut Bishop Arthur Walmsley celebrating the Great Vigil and first mass of Easter with the rector and congregation of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Stamford, Conn. Episcopalians interested in having the program available in their area should contact a local cable system at once and request that the program be picked up from the satellite (SATCOM 3-R, Transponder #22) and telecast directly at the 1 p.m. (EST) time or recorded for later airing.
(DPS, Mar. 3) -- The Leadership Academy for New Directions will hold its ninth annual class at St. John's military school here from May 30 through June 10. Archdeacon Ben E. Helmer of Western Kansas will be dean for the session assisted by Archdeacon Frank Cahoon of Kansas, Bishop William Cox, assistant bishop of Oklahoma, and the Rev. Richard Gary, national mission officer at the Episcopal Church Center. The academy provides training in regional strategies and leadership development as well as an opportunity for participants to pursue an individual project. Applications and information are available from Helmer at P.O. Box 577, McPherson, KS 67460.
(DPS, Mar. 3) -- The famed Evergreen Church Music Conference is offering ten matching grant scholarships for the first time this year for the annual week-long conferences that begin July 4 and 11. The $100 scholarship must be matched by a gift from a sponsor -- vestry, group or unrelated individual -- and the sum of $200 thus raised will cover all but $20 of the participants' on-site expenses. Each session will include worship, service playing, repertoire, choral techniques, anthems, hymnody and liturgical music along with sightseeing and tours. Interested applicants should write to the Conference at Box 366, Evergreen, CO 80439.
(DPS, Mar. 3) -- The Order of St. Helena will sponsor a summer Seminar on Christian Life and Practice at its convent here from June 24-July 3. The seminary will focus on silence, journal writing and a two-day conducted retreat that are expected to provide an opportunity to reflect on religious practice and expectations in daily life. The seminar is open to 12 men or women at a suggested fee of $200. Those interested should write to the Convent of St. Helena, Box 426, Vails Gate, NY 12584.
(DPS, Mar. 3) -- This year's edition of the Episcopal Series on The Protestant Hour will feature excerpts from C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity read by actor Michael York and readings from the Bible by Alexander Scourby. Interested Episcopalians are urged to contact local stations to urge them to air the series as part of their public service programming. The programs are aired on the Armed Services network, but all others must obtain the tapes from the Episcopal Radio-Television Foundation and negotiate with their local station.
(DPS, Mar. 3) -- Presiding Bishop John M. Allin, Colorado Bishop William C. Frey and Florida Bishop Frank S. Cerveny will be featured speakers -- along with entertainer Ann B. Davis -- at the annual meeting of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer here. The April 28-30 event is the 25th international prayer conference that the group has sponsored and includes 25 workshops covering many aspects of the prayer life. Some worship and activities of the conference will be coordinated with an overlapping conference taking place near the Denver Cathedral, called "To Make Peace" and organizers of both are hopeful that the cross-over will be beneficial to both ministries.
(DPS, Mar. 3) -- The Anglican archbishop of York, the Most Rev. Stuart Y. Blanch, second-ranking prelate in the Church of England after the archbishop of Canterbury, has announced that he will retire in August. He has just turned 65 and has been archbishop for the northern province since 1975. Blanch announced his retirement first at Nottingham in central England and then in London, where he told a press conference he preferred to retire while he was still fit and able to do the job. The names of two possible successors are already being speculated upon. One is Bishop John Habgood of Durham and the other is Bishop David Sheppard of Liverpool, where Blanch himself served as bishop until his appointment to York. Branch, who served as a Royal Air Force navigator during World War II, agreed that as archbishop of York he was less in the limelight than Runcie. But he felt he had enough to do looking after the northern province and promoting ecumenism. He added that he also helped the archbishop of Canterbury by taking some of the load off his shoulders in relating to the worldwide Anglican communion. In this context, he has visited the United States, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. He has also been to Israel, which was of special interest to him both as a scholar and writer.
(DPS, Mar. 3) -- 1983 marks the 150th year since the beginning of the Oxford Movement, and an American Oxford Sesquicentennial Committee has been formed to promote the observance of this anniversary and to disseminate information within the Episcopal Church. The president of the committee is the Rt. Rev. Stanley Atkins, retired bishop of Eau Claire, with the Rev. Frank M. McClain of Christ Church, Winnetka, Ill., the Rev. Julien Gunn of St. George's, Nashville, Tennessee, the Rev. H. Boone Porter, of The Living Church, as vice president, secretary, and additional member of the executive committee, respectively. A number of other clergy and lay persons throughout the United States belong to the American Committee. The Oxford Movement began on 14 July, 1833, in Oxford, when the Rev. John Keble preached a widely publicized sermon on national apostasy. It was followed by many developments in the Church of England, the Episcopal Church, and elsewhere. This movement is generally credited with reviving commitment to the catholic aspects of Anglicanism. A statement issued by the American committee goes on to comment, "While affirming the catholic heritage of the Anglican Communion which Keble, Pusey, and others reemphasized, it is to be recognized today that all schools of thought within our beloved Church have been beneficially and constructively influenced by this unique movement.... The American Committee respectfully calls upon fellow church members in every diocese to observe this anniversary in appropriate ways." The committee anticipates collecting information about anniversary observances, throughout the country and providing such information for publication.