New Zealand Bishop's Election Blocked
Episcopal News Service. March 27, 1986 [86066]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (D.S., March 27) -- The standing committees of seven of the eight dioceses in the Church of the Province of New Zealand -- including the Diocese of Wellington -- have failed to ratify the episcopal election by the synod of that diocese of Quaker and Anglican clergyman the Rev. Canon Paul Oestreicher, who had been nominated with an 85 percent majority. (Eds.: see D.S. 86044)
Oestreicher, 54, who currently lives in England, is a naturalized citizen of New Zealand and is of German Jewish background. He is known for his involvement in the anti-nuclear movement in Britain, where he has served as vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
The Diocese of Wellington is having trouble naming a successor to retired Bishop Edward Norman. In November, the diocesan synod chose a conservative theologian, who refused the nomination. A second synod in February chose Oestreicher. A third synod will now be held, probably in mid-April, and Oestreicher has agreed to allow his name to be resubmitted.
The Wellington standing committee which voted against Oestreicher is made up of about 30 of the 250 general synod members who nominated him. Standing committee members have refused to comment on the vote. It is said that the percentage of support for Oestreicher among the clergy and laity in general has remained the same as when he was nominated.
While the nominating synod knew that Oestreicher was a Quaker, that seems to have been a stumbling block for some of the bishops and standing committees. The decision to take dual membership was made by the Canon after the General Synod of the Church of England voted down a covenant scheme under which Anglican and other Protestant denominations would have moved closer towards unity. Oestreicher described his action as "my way of contributing to church unity. It is an ecumenical gesture." He added that "if the churches cannot break the barriers, it is up to their members to show that you can be a good, faithful Christian and belong to more than one part of Christ's body."