Newsbriefs

Items of Interest from Around the Church and Around the World

Diocese of Fort Worth Boycotts Provincial Synod over Same-sex Blessings

(ENS) Bishop Jack Iker and the standing committee of the Diocese of Fort Worth refused to join other members of Province VII for their annual synod in October because of Kansas bishop William Smalley’s decision to authorize the blessing of relationships other than heterosexual marriage. Smalley is chair of Province VII, of which Fort Worth is a part.

“The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and I want to express our alarm and dismay over your decision to authorize the blessing of same sex unions and of other persons living in ‘committed relationships’ other than marriage,” Iker wrote in a letter dated August 19. “This decision repudiates the clear teaching of Holy Scripture, the witness of the Christian Tradition over the ages, and the mind of the Anglican Communion as expressed in the Lambeth Conference of 1998.

“Your decision is a serious departure from Christian faith and practice, which violates our communion as Christians. It is divisive and schismatic. By your action, you have seriously compromised our relationship with you, and we wish to go on record as repudiating this new policy. As a consequence of this, no representatives from this Diocese will be present for the
Province VII Synod, which you are to Chair in October.

“We call upon you to rescind this action in the interest of preserving the peace and unity of our Church,” the letter concluded.

ACC-12 Meeting Opens with Mourning for the Murder of Clergy Representative from the Congo

(ACNS) ACC-12, meeting in Hong Kong was launched with worship, feasting, and celebration in true Hong Kong style, but over all the variety of first day activities was a tinge of sorrow. With the Roll Call at the beginning of the first session, conducted by Secretary-General Canon John L. Peterson, the absence of representatives of the Anglican Church of the Congo was immediately noticed.

Canon Peterson then explained to the delegates that the Rev Basimaki Byabasaija, from the Diocese of Boga in the Congo, had been killed by belligerents while attempting to cross the border to travel to Hong Kong to represent his church at ACC-12. His fellow representative, lay representative Miss Joyce Muhindo Tsongo is assumed to be in hiding, though her whereabouts are unknown.

In a letter to Canon Peterson, the Archbishop of the Congo wrote “People are scattered all over the region seeking safety. Almost all the population from Boga, including myself, have fled and are currently in Ugandan territory.”

Canon Peterson arranged for a black stole to be draped over the banner from the Congo in the Opening Service for ACC-12 in the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist.

Responding to the Archbishop of the Congo’s request, Canon Peterson also said that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, the Archbishop of Hong Kong, the Most Rev Peter Kwong had decided to send the offering received at the Opening Service to the Archbishop. The funds will be applied to assist with the education of the Rev Basimaki Byabasaija’s son.

Washington Bishop and Accokeek Vestry Settle their Differences, Resume Normal Relationship

(ENS)The 18-month-long impasse between a vestry in Accokeek, Maryland and the Diocese of Washington over the election of a rector was broken August 29 with the issuance of a joint statement between the vestry and Bishop John Chane, naming the Rev. Stephen Arpee as the parish’s new rector. Arpee has served in recent months as priest-in-charge for the parish.

Agreement was reached between Chane and the vestry during a series of private conversations conducted since early June. The conversations involved Chane, diocesan chancellor Paul Cooney, senior warden Barbara Sturman and other members of the vestry. The agreement also binds the Accokeek vestry not to appeal to the Supreme Court a decision in the case of Dixon v. Edwards.

The Accokeek vestry has agreed that the parish will “resume its participation in both the legislative and pastoral life of the Diocese of Washington,” and Chane conducted a regular visitation to Christ Church on September 22. Chane was consecrated as the eighth Bishop of Washington in June. Dixon retired as bishop suffragan on August 31.

Emotional Ceremony Restores Russian Church Bells Destroyed by Communism

(ENI) In an emotional ceremony televised across Russia, two colossal bells were hoisted to the belfry of the Holy Trinity/St. Sergius Monastery outside of Moscow, the holiest site in the Russian Orthodox Church.

“In this we see historical justice,” said Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia after a September 4 prayer service, minutes before a huge crane lifted the first bell into the place occupied by its predecessor 72 years ago. Though originating in western Christianity, bells have been a powerful symbol for Russian believers. The Bolshevik destruction of church bells has remained one of the most symbolic acts of Soviet atheism for many church members—and the raising of new bells has emerged as an equally powerful symbol of spiritual revival.

The bells are the largest produced in Russia for 200 years—weighing 27 tons and 35.5 tons. They have been named Pervenets (Firstborn) and Blagovestnik (Evangelist). The church hopes to cast and raise the third bell, the 64-ton Tsar next year, if funds can be found.

Presiding Bishop Meets with White House Officials, Asks for Renewed Israel/Palestine Negotiations

(ENS)Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold joined Lutheran and Roman Catholic colleagues in a September 16 meeting with President Bush’s National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, urging the Bush administration to take new steps to end the suffering of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and to restart peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, participated in the meeting.

The three bishops represent churches that have significant relief and development programs in the Holy Land. They urged Rice to press for immediate and concrete measures to alleviate a grave and deteriorating humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza. They reiterated their long-standing condemnation of suicide bombings and all forms of violence against civilians on both sides of the conflict. They also welcomed the administration’s commitment to both a safe and secure Israel and a viable, independent Palestinian state, and urged the administration to take concrete steps to achieve these twin goals in the context of new peace negotiations.

While the original purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian situation, the church leaders also discussed Iraq, welcoming the president’s engagement of the international community while reiterating the serious moral concerns each had expressed in earlier statements on the use of military force to overthrow the Iraqi government.

Jungle Trek Leads Missionaries to Safety after Congo Massacre

(ENI) More than 700 people who fled to the jungle after a massacre at their medical compound in the northeast corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo have reached safety, mission sources in London have learned.

The party of doctors, nurses and patients from Nyankunde made a dramatic trek of about 170 kilometers through savannah and dense forest to reach the town of Oicha. Among the group is a 75-year-old Canadian missionary, Marianne Baisley, who was reported to have refused evacuation on a light plane that took other expatriates out of Nyankunde.

Survivors reported that at least 1,000 people died in eight days of inter-tribal strife. The turmoil was described in a refugee report from Oicha as “a long agony.”

Nyankunde is a major Christian center where at least eight mission bodies work. The hospital, orthopedic center, pharmacy, schools, churches and the Pan-African Institute of Community Health constituting the medical compound were ransacked.

Although the medical party has reached safety, two thousand people are understood to remain at Nyankunde where, according to one refugee, “nothing at all is left.”

There were conflicting reports about the fate of Salomon Isereve, principal chaplain at the Evangelical Medical Center (CME), who was reportedly tortured and burned alive. Another church worker, the Rev. Henri Basimake, HIV/Aids coordinator for the Anglican province of Congo, was shot dead after returning from a conference in Nairobi.