News Brief
Episcopal News Service. June 1, 1978 [78165]
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Virginia shared the spotlight in the colorful rededication of the royal chapel at ancient Leeds Castle. Archbishop Donald Coggan blessed the chapel and consecrated the altar. Although unused for centuries the chapel has come back into use recently as Leeds Castle itself is used for medical seminars. Bishop David Rose of Virginia reminded the congregation of the purposes of the Charitable Foundation established by Lady Baillie, whose mother was a member of the Whitney family in the U. S. Lady Baillie bought the castle in 1926 and bequeathed it to the Leeds Castle Foundation for the nation in 1974. It was her wish that the castle should become a meeting and discussion place for the world's leading physicians and that it should also be a center for the arts. St. Luke is the patron saint of both physicians and artists. Bishop Rose then prayed that Lady Baillie's "vision may be truly blessed" and added special intercessions for the work of the Foundation in Medical Research and the Arts.
Miss Gertrude Sumners, retired missionary, died at her home here on May 19. Miss Sumners, born Dec. 9, 1900, was appointed to Japan in 1931. She was a teacher at St. Agnes School, Kyoto, until 1942 when circumstances forced her return to the U. S. She returned to Japan in 1953, and continued her teaching until retirement in 1969. She made her home after retirement in Texas, where her family has long been located. Two of her brothers became priests of the Church and carried out their ministry in Texas. Funeral services were in Cuero, Texas, which is the family home.
A special service for peace and justice in memory of Premier Aldo Moro of Italy was held at Washington Cathedral, May 14. The Ambassador of Italy, His Excellency Paola Cedronio, led a large delegation from the Diplomatic Corps, including ambassadors from fifty-two countries. Bishop John T. Walker preached; his introductory remarks were translated into Italian for the benefit of many Italian-Americans and other Italian-speaking worshiper in the congregation. Speaking of the feast of Pentecost, Bishop Walker said: "While I intend even now to address the meaning of the Pentecost, I also want to suggest that in every joyous celebration we remember the fragility of our lives on earth and the rather constant brooding presence of evil that brings about such tragic events as the murder of Aldo Moro and causes terror to strike at the heart of every human community."
The Bishop of Ballarat (Australia), the Rt. Rev. John Hazlewood, will visit the New York metropolitan area the last week in June as the guest of the Evangelical and Catholic Mission. Bishop Hazlewood will preach at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Manhattan on Sunday, June 25th, at High Mass at 11:00 a. m. That afternoon, the Bishop will preach at a special 4:00 p. m. Evensong at St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue. Later that week, Bishop Hazlewood will be the celebrant and preacher at a Solemn Eucharist at Zion Church, Douglaston, Long Island. Finally, Bishop Hazlewood will visit St. Paul's Church-on-the-Green in Norwalk, CT., the following day. He will be the celebrant and preacher at a Solemn High Mass of St. Peter and St. Paul at 8:00 p. m.
A special ceremony recognizing the Rev. Robert C. S. Powell as an honorary Canon of the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. James in Lesotho, South Africa, took place May 21 at the Church of the Intercession here. Father Powell, rector of St. Simon's Episcopal Church in New Rochelle, was appointed Canon by the then Bishop of Lesotho, the Rt. Rev. Desmond Tutu at a meeting of the All Africa Conference of Churches last February in Togo, West Africa. Fr. Powell, who serves as Director of the Africa office of the National Council of Churches, has a seven year history of work with the Church in Africa. Bishop Tutu called the appointment a mark of appreciation for Fr. Powell's "love and commitment to the progress of Africa."
An interfaith "Service of Remembrance" of the Holocaust which took six million Jewish lives was conducted at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, May 30. The Very Rev. James Parks Morton, Dean of the Cathedral, said that hundreds of New Yorkers of all faiths participated in the proceedings which included formal dedication and installation of a memorial to those slaughtered by the Nazis. According to Dean Morton, the memorial -- a bronze life-sized sculpture by Elliot Offner of a prone skeletal figure of a death camp inmate agonizingly reaching skyward -- is believed to be the first Holocaust memorial to be installed in a Christian House of worship. Dean Morton went on to say that it will be prominently displayed in the crossing under the dome of the Cathedral, the seat of the New York Episcopal Diocese, as "a reminder to congregants and thousands of visitors from every part of the world, of the tragic consequence of religious and racial bigotry."
The 156th Commencement of the General Theological Seminary was held on May 24, 1978 in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, since 1888 the site of the Seminary's Commencements. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the Rt. Rev. Frederick B. Wolf, Bishop of Maine, presided at the Exercises at which the Sub-Dean of the Seminary, the Rev. Dr. James A. Carpenter, conferred the Master of Divinity degree on 42 seniors and, for the first time, the Master of Arts degree on two students. Receiving honorary degrees were: The Very Rev. Charles Henry Buck, Jr., Ph. D., Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral Church, Boston, Mass.; the Rev. Sr. Rachel Elizabeth Hosmer, O.S.H., lecturer in Ascetical Theology at the General Theological Seminary; the Rev. Frank Eiji Sugeno, Professor of Church History at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest; and the Rt. Rev. Desmond Tutu, General Secretary of the South Africa Council of Churches.
The board of directors of CODEL, a consortium of 41 Roman Catholic, Episcopal and Protestant mission agencies cooperating in overseas development, adopted a three-year action plan for the organization at their annual meeting here. A projected three-year budget of $6,640,000 was approved, of which $4,761,400 will go to project costs, $1,362,125 for planning and evaluation, and $516,810 for administration. A project analyst and promotions person will be added to the headquarters staff, and special emphasis will be given to recruitment of field personnel. An evaluation of the agency indicated that the "grassroots constituency" of CODEL needs more information about the work of the organization. CODEL currently has more than 30,000 persons at work in over 80 developing countries. The Rev. Boyd Lowry, executive director, told the agency's board that "CODEL seeks to work in the world among the poorest of the poor through self-help development activities that obtain fulfillment of such basic needs as good health, adequate food, shelter, and employment."