Church News in Brief
Diocesan Press Service. May 29, 1970 [87-12]
The dates of December 3 to 5, 1970, have been set for a Primary Convention which will act upon the formation of a new Diocese of the Episcopal Church to be composed of parts of the Dioceses of Alabama and Florida. The plan is subject to approval by the Church's General Convention in October.
The Missionary District of South Dakota has elected the Very Rev. Walter J. Jones, dean of Calvary Cathedral, Sioux Falls, to head the District. He will succeed the Rt. Rev. Lyman C. Ogilby.
The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has received a majority of consents from the Bishops of the Church to the resignation of the Rt. Rev. Arnold M. Lewis, Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces. The resignation will be effective December 31, 1970.
Trinity Parish, New York City, has announced the appointment of the Rt. Rev. Stephen Bayne as Assistant to the Rector, a position provided for in the Charter and Ordinances of Trinity Parish.
Miss Elizabeth Woodward Graves, who served the Episcopal Church as a missionary in China from 1916 to 1937, died at Fair Haven, Vt., after a long illness. She returned to the United States in 1940.
Price Waterhouse and Company, New York auditing firm, has completed a review of grant procedures of the General Convention Special Program of the Episcopal Church. The review found "no deviation from the procedures outlined by the General Convention. "
The Rt. Rev. George E. Rath, Suffragan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, has been elected Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese. He will succeed the Rt. Rev. Leland Stark as Bishop of the Diocese when Bishop Stark retires in 1973.
Edward B. Fiske, religion editor of the New York Times, has been awarded the William E. Leidt prize for the "best religious writing in the secular press." The award is given annually by the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church.
The Rev. Robert D. North, an Episcopalian, was defeated in his bid to become mayor of St. Paul. He received 39,495 votes to 44,267 for his successful opponent, Charles McCarty.
Seabury Press, official publishers of the Episcopal Church, has been announced as one of the winners of the Catholic book award for 1969, sponsored by the Catholic Book Club of America.
The Rt. Rev. Robert Rae Spears, Jr., Suffragan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri, has accepted his election as Bishop of Rochester. He will succeed the Rt. Rev. George W. Barrett, who resigned January 1, 1970.
The Rev. Richard Linn Rising, staff associate of the American Association of Theological Schools in Dayton, Ohio, and formerly dean of Seminario Episcopal del Caribe in Puerto Rico, has been appointed associate director of the Board for Theological Education of the Episcopal Church.
The congregation of St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church has voted to turn over its $300, 000 property to the community, title to be in a new corporation made up of church representatives and other community groups. The church will hold less than 50 percent control and will lease space for worship.
Bishop James E. Walsh, M. M., the only foreign Roman Catholic missionary still in China, celebrated his 79th birthday on April 30 in a Communist cell. He would be 87 years old at the time of his release if he serves a full 20-year sentence.
"Campaign GM", an effort with some Church backing, lost its first round at the annual stockholders meeting of the world's largest corporation, but succeeded in dominating much of the discussion. The campaign backed two specific proposals before the stockholders. One would have set up a shareholders' committee to check on GM efforts to make a safer non-polluting automobile. A second measure would have placed three directors representing "public interest" on the GM board. Both proposals were defeated.
Dr. Robert L. Fredrikson, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Sioux Falls, S.D., was named president of the 1,500,000 member American Baptist Convention at its annual meeting. He succeeds Dr. Thomas Kilgore, Jr., a black civil rights leader and pastor of Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
For the first time in this century the Roman Catholic population of the United States has decreased -- by some 1, 149 in a year -- as of January 1st. There are now 47,872,000 Catholics in the United States, and they make up 23.5 percent of the population.
The validity of faith healing and speaking in tongues (glossolalia) has been recognized in a study document received by the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church. Speaking in tongues was said in the report to have a Biblical basis as a sign of persons having been "baptized by the Holy Spirit. "
The Census Bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce has apologized to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) for a reference in census instructions implying that Mormons still practice polygamy.
Reduction of the charge for use of marijuana from a felony to a misdemeanor has been endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church. A report from a special committee on drug use asked a "moratorium" on criminal penalties for marijuana.
The Minneapolis City Council has passed the collection plate to the city's churches and other owners of tax-exempt property for donations in lieu of taxes to cover the cost of city services. Letters mailed to holders of tax-exempt property asked contributions of one-half of one per cent of the market value.
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia will relocate its campus on the site of the Episcopal Philadelphia Divinity School. The move is expected to lead to the development of a cluster of seminaries related to the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University.
The United Methodist Church has voted $23 million over two years as its response to appeals from Black Methodists for Church Renewal.
Patriarch Alexei of Moscow and All Russia died in Moscow April 17 at the age of 92. Metropolitan Pimen of Krutitsky and Kolomna was named acting head of the Russian Church.
The Rt. Rev. James Chang Ling Wong, Bishop of Taiwan, died from a heart attack on March 28. An Anglican Bishop for the past ten years, Bishop Wong had served in Borneo and Taiwan. He is survived by a wife and four children.
The Anglican synod of Zambia has voted to divide the present Diocese of Zambia and to create a separate Province of Zambia. At present Zambia is part of the Province of Central Africa.