News Brief
Episcopal News Service. January 25, 1979 [79019]
Fire destroyed a two-story frame building that was part of the Episcopal Church's national conference center here. The building, known as the Annex, contained guest facilities and an apartment for a couple on the permanent staff of the center. That couple lost all their possessions in the fire which broke out shortly after midnight Jan. 24. No-one was hurt in the blaze and it is not expected that any scheduled conference events will be disrupted. The Annex stood a few hundred yards from the imposing main residence, Seabury House, which lends its name to the entire center. Seabury House itself was not threatened.
The newly-elected suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Mashonaland, one of two Anglican dioceses in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) has issued a plea for national harmony and reconciliation. The Rev. Ralph Hatendi, who will be consecrated suffragan bishop of Penhalonga on Feb. 3 commented in an interview with a Rhodesian diocesan newspaper: "My consuming priority is peace and justice. If the Church has anything to offer in these dark hours, I think we should get on our knees and pray and we should discuss how to bring about peace and justice in this country."
An American Anglican Seminar will be held in Rome on March 10 thru 30, according to The Rev. Canon Clement Welsh, warden of the College of Preachers at Washington Cathedral. Organized by the college and sponsored by Presiding Bishop John M. Allin, the seminar is being conducted jointly with the Anglican Centre in Rome, the Rev. Dr. Harry Smythe, director, and the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity. Thirteen persons will attend in addition to the college staff. They include: the Rev. Myron B. Bloy Jr., the Rev. James E. Carroll, the Rev. Donald W. Gross, the Rev. William B. Lawson, the Rev. Charles Long, the Rev. Durston R. McDonald, the Rev. Henry A. Male Jr., the Rev. Richard Cornish Martin, Professor Marianne H. Micks, the Rev. Robert P. Patterson, the Rt. Rev. Elliott L. Sorge, Professor Frederica H. Thompsett and the Very Rev. Edwin G. Wappler, The conference is funded by a grant from the Episcopal Church Foundation.
Miss Alice Gregg, PhD, a retired missionary, died Dec. 30, at the Carolina Nursing Center, here where she has been a permanent patient for many years. Dr. Gregg was appointed a teacher-evangelist to Anking, China, in 1916. She remained active in Anking and Shanghai until her return to the U. S. in 1950; for a number of years, she served as Supervisor of Schools in the Diocese. During her furloughs she pursued graduate study at Teachers College, in New York City, and in 1946, received a PhD degree.
The Rev. Canon Michael Hamilton of the Washington Cathedral chaired a session on "Political and Ethical Implications of the Disposal of High Level Radioactive Wastes" at a Nuclear Regulatory Commission Conference in Denver in December. Canon Hamilton, who came to the cathedral in 1964, has long been involved in the consideration of ethical issues of many of today's problems. He edited a book on nuclear weapons policy, "To Avoid Catastrophe," published in 1977. In addition to his work on nuclear issues, Canon Hamilton has also been appointed to the National Institue of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke Clinical Subpanel at the National Institute of Health.