Church News Briefs
Diocesan Press Service. November 23, 1970 [91-12]
Dr. William P. Thompson, stated clerk of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., was elected president of the new World Alliance of Reformed Churches (Presbyterian and Congregational) at a General Assembly held at Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Thompson, a 52-year-old layman, has been prominent in ecumenical activities.
A national survey of 500 registered nurses shows that about 75 percent of them oppose the idea of "abortion on demand," but 93 percent feel abortion should be permitted in certain cases, notably rape.
Miss Hilda Van Deerlin, a retired missionary of the Episcopal Church, died recently in Honolulu. She was 100 years old. Miss Van Deerlin was appointed a missionary in 1902 after having served in Hawaii since 1898. She retired in 1943.
The Rt. Rev. George Purnell Gunn, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia, has announced that he will retire January 6, 1971, the 23rd anniversary of his consecration. He will be succeeded by the Coadjutor Bishop of the diocese, the Rt. Rev. David S. Rose.
A former Jesuit priest-educator, the Rev. Joseph Doty, has been received into the priesthood of the Episcopal Church by the Rt. Rev. William F. Creighton, Bishop of Washington.
The Rt. Rev. Lauriston L. Scaife, retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, died at his home in Buffalo, N.Y., on September 19.
Canon Kenneth John Woollcombe, onetime professor of theology at the General Theological Seminary in New York City, has been named the new Bishop of Oxford, one of the largest of the Church of England's 43 dioceses. He is 46 and has been principal of the Edinburgh Theological College.
John Cardinal Wright, former Bishop of Pittsburgh who heads the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy, takes a dim view of clergy seeking political office, he told a news conference in St. Paul, Minn. "Churchmen do not make good statesmen, " he said.
Two bishops of the Episcopal Church have announced their intentions to retire. The Rt. Rev. Hamilton H. Kellogg, Bishop of Minnesota, will retire December 31 and will be succeeded by the Rt. Rev. Philip F. McNairy, Bishop Coadjutor. The Rt. Rev. Albert A. Chambers, Bishop of Springfield, plans to retire in two years.
The Very Rev. David P. Collins, dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Ga., has declined election as Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri.
The American Lutheran Church has voted to ordain women into the ministry and to permit children to receive Holy Communion before they are Confirmed. The action was taken at a recent meeting in San Antonio, Tex.
Anglican Archbishop Robert Selby Taylor of Capetown has charged that the "church is being persecuted" by the South African government. He made the charge in an announcement that three Anglican priests have been forced to leave the country.
The United Church of Christ's Board for Homeland Ministries has announced plans for the creation of a new kind of law school, "devoted especially to the problems of the poor. " The school will train blacks and other minority group members as lawyers, committed to the defence of the rights of their people.
Two deans of the Anglican Church of Canada have been named as new bishops in elections held in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan. The Very Rev. Douglas Ford, rector of St. John's Cathedral in Saskatoon was elected eighth bishop of his diocese. The Very Rev. Hedley V.R. Short, dean of Saskatchewan, was chosen to head that diocese.
Miss Mildred B. Hayes, retired missionary, died October 21 at Hendersonville, N. C. She was appointed missionary in 1921 and served in the Missionary District of Puerto Rico until her retirement in 1950.
The Most Rev. Norman A. Lesser, 68, Archbishop of Wellington and Primate of New Zealand, has announced that he will retire January 21, 1971.
The Rev. Ernest W. Mandeville, a writer and Episcopal priest, died recently in San Diego, Calif., of a heart attack at the age of 74. Before entering the priesthood he was a Secret Service agent and editor of a newspaper.
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S. Catholic Conference have announced an expected deficit of $2 million for 1970.
The number of Lutheran Church in America missionaries probably will decline from 325 in 1969 to 250 in 1972, according to the denomination's beard of world missions. The reduction was reported to be due to lower income.
A special committee of the Lutheran Church in America has been appointed to study the possible adoption of the title of "bishop" for presidents of the denomination's 33 synods.
Declining income and growing inflation have forced the United Presbyterian commission on ecumenical mission and relations to cut its budget by more than three quarters of a million dollars for work in 1971.
Reconciliation, the urban emergency fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has allocated a grant of $20,000 to the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO).
The Church of England's Children's Society will close 17 of its 95 homes within two years, according to the Bishop of London. He said there was less need for the homes because of "greater use of 'the pill' and more abortions. "