World Church-In Brief
Diocesan Press Service. November 7, 1966 [48-6]
Prayers for peace were part of the worship services of many churches during the month of October. Responding to an appeal from Pope Paul VI, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York asked for special prayers to be offered Oct. 23, the eve of United Nations Day. The Australian Council of Churches recommended to its member churches that prayers be offered during October for "the people of Vietnam, for the ending of the conflict and the achievement of peace. " The Methodist;, Baptist and Congregational Churches in Britain were, likewise, asked to pray for peace.
Revised services in modern English have been approved for experimental use by the General Synod of the Church of England in Australia. Included in the service is a new, and controversial version of the Lord's Prayer.
Two Anglican liturgical scholars attended a Roman Catholic Liturgical meeting in Rome Oct. 5 - 14. At the invitation of the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, the Archbishop of Canterbury appointed the Rev. Canon Ronald C.D.Jasper, chairman of the Church of England Liturgical Commission, and the Rev. Dr. Massey H. Shepherd, of Berkeley Divinity School and a member of the Standing Liturgical Commission of the Episcopal Church as observers at the Plenary Session of the Consilium Liturgicum.
The Rt. Rev. Stephen Tomusange was enthroned in October as Bishop of West Buganda, Church of the Province of Uganda and Rwanda and Burundi. The enthronement had been postponed when some members of the diocese filed an injunction to stop the proceedings. The injunction was denied and the presence of all the clergy of the Diocese at the enthronement gave evidence that the division in this area has come to an end.
Methodist pastors in Chile have called for autonomy. After a study of church structures needed in a society experiencing rapid social change, 40 Methodist pastors in Chile have decided to petition the next General Conference, to be held in the United States in 1968, for complete autonomy. The recommendations of the conference will also go to officials of the Chilean Methodist Church for study.
Progress being made by Baptists in the area of Christian unity was cited at the annual Southern Baptist Convention's Communications Conference in Nashville, Tenn. Dr. C. Emmanuel Carlson, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, stated that a thaw has come, particularly in relations between Baptists and Roman Catholics. He also expressed the view that disunity is primarily rooted in history, culture and traditions, rather than on doctrinal differences. "We sometimes talk as if we are dealing with pure gospel" he stated, "but I have yet to find any religious movement that doesn't have the soil of its own environment in the boat with it."
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Honolulu, was the scene, Oct. 7 - 8, of a conference designed to examine the challenges presented to the church in metropolitan Honolulu and the ways in which the church is meeting them at present. The Rev. George Lee, formerly with the Executive Council's Joint Urban Program, has been appointed a missionary to the District of Honolulu with responsibilities for urban mission strategy, and it is hoped that Honolulu will become a focal point for planning such strategy throughout the Pacific area.
The Rt. Rev. William Davidson, Bishop of Western Kansas, was a featured speaker at the National (Roman) Catholic Rural Life Conference on Oct. 16 in Manhattan, Kansas.
The church in the Southern Sudan has largely been forced into hiding or exile since the upheaval of last year. As the Rt. Rev. Oliver Allison, Bishop in the Sudan has stated, "The Church in the Sudan has accepted its temporary role, partly in exile, partly in hiding in the African bush, and partly in some of the towns where there is a measure of security. Nowhere are the people of the Sudan without fear." Since last July no confirmations have taken place throughout the whole of the South, as the two Assistant Bishops were forced to flee and are in exile. They, along with a number of Sudanese clergy are serving among the more than 100, 000 refugees, most of whom are now in Uganda. The Archbishop of Central Africa and Bishop of Zambia, in response to this exodus, has called for an offering throughout the Province Nov. 20 to help meet the needs of Sudanese ordinands in exile.
A Time for Burning, produced by Lutheran Film Associates, has recently been shown on stations affiliated with NET. The picture, which vividly portrays what happens in Augustana Lutheran Church, Omaha, Neb., when its young pastor attempts to begin interracial dialogues. It is 58 minutes long and can be rented from Contemporary Films, Inc. in New York City, Evanston, Ill., or San Francisco.