Ten years of the Anglican-Methodist Covenant; Firing missiles at Syria is ‘not the answer’, says bishop; Moderator blows trumpet for ‘monstrous regiment of women’
Ten years of the Anglican-Methodist Covenant
The Church of England issued this press release: Church of England and the Methodist Church moving closer to unity
* 10 years since signing of historic Covenant
The Joint Implementation Commission (JIC) of the Church of England and Methodist Church in Britain has called for “Church leaders and decision-making bodies to make the Covenant a priority in order to bring our Churches closer together in mission and holiness.”
In a major Report published this week the JIC calls on both Churches to consider the impact that the 10-year-old Anglican Methodist Covenant has made on their relationship; to rejoice in the progress that has been made; and to face together the challenges of mission.
The Report, entitled “The Challenge of the Covenant: Uniting in Mission and Holiness”, provides numerous examples of where the Churches have worked well together over the past 10 years, including areas of education, ethical investment, mission, theological education, safeguarding and Fresh Expressions. There are now 533 local ecumenical partnerships between Anglicans and Methodists across the country. However, the Report also identifies a number of continuing challenges, such as the need for further collaboration, consultation and decision making at both national and local levels…
…The JIC Report: “The Challenge of the Covenant: Uniting in Mission and Holiness” , the Quick Guide and a Draft Report to the Methodist Conference and the General Synod in 2014 will be available for download from 6th September at: http://www.anglican-methodist.org.uk/
The Methodist Church has this page about the Anglican Methodist Covenant.
…Full information about Covenant, including its Affirmations and Commitments, and how it is worked out locally can be found at www.anglican-methodist.org.uk. Please note this website is now rather dated and there are plans to create a new website for the Anglican Methodist Covenant.
Firing missiles at Syria is ‘not the answer’, says bishop
The Bishop of Hereford, the Right Reverend Anthony Priddis, has said Parliament was right to be cautious about sanctioning a military strike on Syria.
The bishop said he was “deeply appalled and shocked” by the deaths caused by the chemical attack as well as the suspected use of napalm.
However, he suggested the proposed military action fell short of the “just war” requirements that it be the last resort and carried out by a legal authority, as well as being likely to achieve its aims.
“It is hard to see military intervention at this stage as a ‘last resort’ in Syria, when we still do not have the UN inspectors’ report, nor UN support – though that might never come given Russia and China’s power of veto,” he said.
“With so many areas of the Middle East inter-twined, military intervention would carry the huge risk of escalating and having unforeseen consequences. Action in one country is always likely to affect others, and lead to yet more persecution of Christians and other minorities, among other things.”
Bishop Priddis said it was the job of the United Nations to make clear that individuals who initiate or carry out chemical attacks will be brought to trial in an international court and that any regime sanctioning such attacks “can expect concerted action against it”.
“Diplomatic pressure and world outrage may not yet be very effective, but we must continue to encourage our politicians and others to exert all the pressure that they can to assist the suffering Syrians. Firing cruise missiles is not at present the answer, and is not likely ever to be,” he said.
Leaders from the United Reformed Church, the Methodist Church in Britain and the Baptist Union of Great Britain have also welcomed the vote against UK involvement in a military strike.
“We are thankful that our MPs carefully considered the difficult matter of military intervention in Syria – and decided to reject it,” they said in a joint statement.
“Our prayers now are that all diplomatic means are used to bring government and opposition leaders to the negotiating table and that divided parties are encouraged to seek a future they can inhabit together.
“We also urge that priority is given to a quick and effective humanitarian response to the thousands of Syrian people affected by the violence.”
The Reverend David Grosch-Miller, moderator-elect of General Assembly of the United Reformed Church has written a special prayer for the Syria situation:
Gracious God look with compassion upon your people. Where anger and fear encourage violence give courage to those who long for peace When the pressure is to act give the wisdom to do the right thing When hope is silent give voice to the promise of new beginnings
Gracious God grant to us and all people the desire for wholeness and healing that will not be satisfied until justice becomes the foundation for all human relationships. Give us the courage to go on speaking for the oppressed and working for the fulfilment of your purposes. Amen.
Moderator blows trumpet for ‘monstrous regiment of women’
What would John Knox think if he knew women hold a number of prominent positions within in the Church of Scotland? “Not very impressed,” is the view of the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Right Reverend Lorna Hood.
In an interview which appears on the BBC History website today, Mrs Hood acknowledges the important legacy of the man widely thought of as a founding father of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland and of The Church of Scotland. But Mrs Hood – only the third woman to become Moderator of the General Assembly of The Church of Scotland in over 400 years – questions his views of women.
In 1558 Knox decried what he called a “monstrous regiment of women” when he published ‘The first blast of the trumpet against the monstrous regiment of women’ in Geneva. Arguing that it was wrong for a woman to rule over a country, his treatise was directed principally against England’s Queen Mary but it did not endear Knox to Mary’s sister and successor, Elizabeth I.
When Knox sought to return to Scotland from Geneva, his journey was delayed as Elizabeth refused him passport through England.
Mrs Hoods says of Knox: “I think he was hugely important to The Church of Scotland; in fact there are those who would say that he was the founder of The Church of Scotland but not in fact of Presbyterianism which was developed by Andrew Melville some years after the death of John Knox, with the Second Book of Discipline.
“As we go into the Assembly Hall each year at the General Assembly there’s a huge statue of Knox so you can’t fail to see him on the way past and realise how important he is within the church.”
Despite the debt of gratitude the Church owes him and for all he did in the cause of Protestantism in Scotland his thoughts against women jar with Mrs Hood.
When Mrs Hood and her chaplain, Rev Eleanor MacMahon, walked past Knox’s statue on their way into the Assembly Hall for the General Assembly, she joked: “He’ll be birling.”
Since the days of Knox the Church and society have moved away from his views that a woman leader is subversive and repugnant to nature. The Church of Scotland has seen women ordained since the 1960s. Rev Catherine McConnachie was ordained by the Presbytery of Aberdeen in 1969. However it was the Rev Dr Mary Levison –or Lusk as she was then- who was responsible more than any other for persuading The Church of Scotland that women should be ordained to the ministry.