News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. September 4, 2002 [2002-201-1]
Anglican Creation Summit precedes Earth Summit
(ENS/ACNS) Over 80 delegates joined together August 19-22 at the Good Shepherd Retreat Center, a few miles north of Johannesburg, for the Anglican Congress on the Stewardship of Creation, in which representatives from around the Anglican Communion debated the issue of sustainable development in the context of faith.
The congress was organized by the Communion's UN observer, Archdeacon Taimalelagi Fagamalama Tuatagaloa-Matalavea, who presented a statement prepared at the Congress by delegates for world leaders at the Earth Summit, held August 26-September 4.
The meeting began with an heart-stirring explanation of some of Africa's own environmental concerns. Anthony Turton, head of the African Water Issues Research Unit at the University of Pretoria, intrigued many delegates by explaining that in South Africa the government can be sued if people are damaged by the environment, and the ecosystem has its own legal rights. In many countries of Africa, environmental issues are complex, involving lifestyles and social issues. On more than one occasion delegates were told how increased wealth throughout the world was putting even greater demands on water supplies, and the expense of supplying water to golf courses being developed in desert areas were contrasted to the needs of many poor families around the world.
Denise Ackermann, visiting theology professor at the University of Stellenbosch, introduced a wide range of issues concerning the AIDS epidemic, currently responsible for cutting a deadly swath through Africa's 20 to 40 year olds. Ackermann explained that the married woman is at greatest risk, and that for her often the 'virus of denial' is the greatest enemy, for "who wants to add stigma to an already appalling situation?"
The Rev. Eric Beresford of the Anglican Church of Canada, co-ordinator of the Anglican Environmental Network, raised the issues of patenting and genetically modified (GM) crops, questioning how putting food production in the hands of a few transnational biotechnology companies could improve distribution--possibly the greatest problem in feeding the world.
Canberra bishop George Browning apologized for Australians who produce the highest amounts of carbon dioxide in the world--37 tons per person per year--despite warnings that their country could be 40-60 percent drier as a result of climate change and has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Browning emphasized, both in his talk and later in a sermon, that environmental work was "core Kingdom business," every bit as much as evangelizing.
Bishop John Oliver of Hereford said his aim was to convert the congress to support the idea of "contraction and convergence," an interim policy framework for implementing emission reduction through emissions trading. He emphasized the need for action now, as insurers calculate that by 2065 the cost of environmental damage will exceed the world's GDP.
Rosina Wiltshire of the UN Development Program pointed out that 80 percent of all food production in Africa is undertaken by women, but development agencies tend to assume that men will do the work. She challenged the Anglican Communion to bring a new understanding to people's vision of wealth. "I have seen a lot of progress, but I have not seen it happen fast enough," she said. "Still millions of children are dying; there is still a deepening gap between rich and poor. Let us come back to ethics and spirituality."
Bishop Geoff Davies of South Africa explained how well his country knows that when people exercise 'dominion' for their own benefit without caring for others, the consequences are disastrous and justice is forsaken. "Our mandate for 'dominion' is not just to care for fellow human beings but for all creation," he said. "Unrestricted capitalism panders to our base instincts of selfish acquisitiveness and greed--and that is why it is an issue that involves us as people of faith."
African Anglicans commit to 'generation without AIDS'
(ENS/ACNS) Recommitting themselves to the vision "of a generation without AIDS," the AIDS Board of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) met August 19-22 to follow up on last year's first All Africa Anglican Conference on HIV/AIDS in Boksburg, South Africa.
"Our Church is a community of compassion and love," the board said in a statement issued a the conclusion of the meeting. "At a time when the African continent is being devastated by the HIV/AIDS Pandemic, where some 30 million have already been infected, our Anglican Communion has stated: 'AIDS is not a punishment from God.'"
Board members called upon the developed world to "free us from the life-threatening burden of international debt," which in sub-Saharan Africa alone could release more than $10 billion toward alleviating the pain and suffering of HIV/AIDS. They asked the governments of Africa to collaborate in making the eradication of HIV/AIDS a top priority.
They also affirmed a "six-fold call to responsibility" for all African Anglican churches, including leadership, care, prevention, counseling, pastoral care, and death and dying. The board also committed to teaching children and their parents "life-preserving skills to inhibit the virus that causes AIDS," beginning well before the onset of sexual activity. The skills include abstinence before marriage, fidelity and faithfulness within marriage, delaying sexual activity, and the correct use of condoms. "The morality of condoms is about preserving life. To sentence a person to death because of an error of judgment about sexual activity is not the way to save lives," tey said in a statement.
Former Bethlehem staff member found guilty
(ENS) A seven-member Ecclesiastical Trial Court of the Diocese of Bethlehem announced August 22 that the Rev. Dane C. Bragg, who served on diocesan staff as missioner for youth and social ministries from January 1999 to October 2001, was guilty of four charges of immorality and 21 charges of conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy.
Charges of alleged inappropriate conversations, emotional attachment, and actions (not including sexual contact) on the part of Bragg with young people in his pastoral care were listed in a presentment returned in late February 2002 by unanimous vote of the diocesan standing committee.
The court has still to hand down a sentence.
"Attorneys of considerable experience and reputation determined that the complaints did not come under any criminal statute," said the Rev. Bill Lewellis, diocesan communication minister. "Additionally, the complainants were referred to separate psychotherapists to be sure they did not need to be subjected to the legal system. The psychotherapists, mandated reporters, did not believe any of the events were reportable offenses."
Advised that the complaints did not amount to a criminal offense, Bishop Paul Marshall determined that they would, if true, constitute grounds for charges according to church canons. After consulting with the diocesan chancellor, the archdeacon and the president of the standing committee, Marshall terminated Bragg as a member of diocesan staff on the basis of his admissions in the presence of a witness. Bragg was given a termination package that included salary until the end of 2001 as well as health insurance and help with his mortgage to June 2002. Marshall also suspended Bragg from exercising priestly ministry and representing himself as a priest.
Ancient chapel launches e-prayer service
(SEC.com) One of Scotland's oldest churches jumped into the 21st century by launching an online prayer service. Rosslyn Chapel, based just outside Edinburgh, has become Scotland's first church to take e-prayer requests over the internet. Scores of people from as far afield as the US and the West Indies have already logged on to leave messages on the virtual prayer board during its trial run. The service is available through the Scottish Episcopal Church's website at www.scottishepiscopal.com or at www.scotland.anglican.org.
At noon every weekday, the prayer requests are printed and offered to God in the chapel by a member of the congregation. The online service is a virtual extension of a physical prayer book kept at the back of the historic church. Hundreds of people visit Rosslyn Chapel every week and write their prayer requests into the book.
"These e-prayers are allowing us to build a long-distance worshipping community," said the Rev. Michael Fass, priest-in-charge of Rosslyn Chapel. "They are connecting people to the church that wouldn't be connected in any other way. We live increasingly disconnected lives. If this is a way that we can connect people to a church, then that must be a good idea. Whether people are in the church or thousands of miles away down the other end of a phone line, our ministry is to offer up their prayers to God." Fass that people were particularly attracted by the anonymity of the service.
Prayer has always been central to Rosslyn Chapel since it was founded in around 1446 as the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew. Its founder, Sir William St. Clair, set up a team of priests to pray for himself, his family and his comrades in arms. Rosslyn Chapel has also often been associated with mystery. The chapel has become the focus of countless myths, legends, and conspiracy theories, involving everyone from the Knights Templar to the Freemasons.
Keynoter wants 'baptismal charter' for Episcopal singles
(ENS) The keynote speaker at the 12th annual Solo Flight Conference at Kanuga Conference Center in North Carolina--the only national gathering for single adults in the Episcopal Church--called for a Baptismal Charter for Single Adults.
Speaking on the theme of "Flying Solo and Soaring to Wider Perspectives," Professor Joe Burnett of St. Luke's School of Theology at University of the South in Sewanee called the church to recognize the changing patterns of family life that are now a norm in American culture. He pointed to studies by sociologist Stephanie Coontz on "The Way We Never Were" and "The Way We Really Are."
Among the points included in his proposed charter, Burnett included asserted that single adults are baptized children of God who are "entitled to be members of single households with full and equal voice in the church" and also entitled to "worship of integrity in language, practice and focus" and able to "bear appropriate witness" to their experiences.
In his closing session, Burnett called the community to recognize that they were not without power, experience, knowledge, identity, purpose and direction--and he reminded participants that they were "indelibly graced by baptism" which confers dignity and worth. "You are teachers--and a teacher effects eternity," he said, challenging them to return home to be teachers who express the wider perspective of their lives.
Participants celebrated a Liturgy of Healing and Wholeness and Blessing of Singularity as the central liturgical affirmation of the weekend. They also discussed resolution A037 from the 2000 General Convention that sought funding to implement national leadership training for ministry with single adults. The resolution, originating in the Standing Commission on Domestic Mission and Evangelism, recognized the singles population as the fastest-growing and most unchurched element in the population of the nation.
Trinity sponsors new spiritual formation conferences
(ENS) Following a highly successful pilot conference, a Spiritual Formation Summit held at Kanuga Conference Center in North Carolina last spring, Trinity Parish of New York has announced that it will sponsored two further conferences. The program, a new mission outreach of Trinity, aims to introduce lay and ordained church leaders to the latest and most effective methods for empowering the spiritual development of individuals and congregations.
Keynoters at next April's conference at Camp Allen in Texas will include several who participated in the pilot conference--Phyllis Tickle, contributing editor in religion for Publishers Weekly; Dean Alan Jones of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco; the Rev. Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk and leader of the Centering Prayer Movement; and Joan Borysenko, a former Harvard medical scientist and psychologist who describes herself as "minister to the church of the dropout."
Among the keynoters at May's conference at Kanuga will be author Sam Keen. Others have not yet been announced.
The week-long conferences are structured around daily addresses and a wide variety of workshops designed to enable participants to design their own unique curriculum to support their specific ministry interests.
For further information check Trinity's website at www.trinitywallstreet.org/spiritualformation.