Dean of Westminster Abbey in U.S. for fundraising visits; Scottish Episcopalians discuss same-sex unions ; David Cameron rejects gay marriage criticism ; Video – ‘Voters angry over gay marriage’ – Philip Hammond
Dean of Westminster Abbey in U.S. for fundraising visits
The Very Rev. John Hall, dean of London’s Westminster Abbey, is visiting the U.S. on what he calls a “friend-raising” tour to garner donations for the upkeep of the historic church.
Dean Hall, who officiated at the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton two years ago, talked with the Huffington Post about the spiritual significance of the abbey, one of Britain’s premier tourist attractions. He also talked about the Episcopal Church and its role within the Anglican Communion:
For me, the experience of preaching on a couple of occasions at St. Thomas in New York and St. James in Chicago this week showed me a tradition of worship with which I am extremely familiar. You simply feel that we are one.
We live in a complex and difficult world and we engage with the world as we see and we want to share the gospel with the world in which we are. That may lead us to take different views about some marginal issues from Anglicans in other parts of the world. But on the core issues of belief in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and God’s revelation of himself in Jesus Christ, we are the same.
I am glad that we wrestle publicly with issues, and I’m glad that with that we have this community that keeps us together. I long for the unity and reconciliation of all Christians so we can give a more powerful, united message to the world of God’s love in Christ. I certainly don’t want to see the Anglican Communion broken up. Nobody does.
In other news of sacred spaces in England, Canterbury Cathedral will not be closing its doors, despite press reports to the contrary. From Religion News Service:
The BBC reported on Sunday (May 12) that Canterbury Cathedral would soon close to visitors after it missed out on a 10.6 million pound ($16.2 million) request to the Heritage Lottery Fund for structural repairs. That report was dismissed on Monday as “greatly exaggerated” by cathedral spokesman Christopher Robinson.
“The Germans didn’t force us to close Canterbury Cathedral during the Second World War,” he said in an interview. “So there’s no chance it will be closed to visitors because we need to carry out some urgent repairs.”
Scottish Episcopalians discuss same-sex unions
The College of Bishops the Scottish Episcopal Church is working to establish a process by which the whole church will be able to engage in discussion about same-sex unions in that church.
The Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow writes in his blog, What’s in Kelvin’s Head?:
The short version is that the College of Bishops has invited the Mission and Ministry Board to establish a design group to create a process by which the whole church will be able to engage in discussion. The remit for the design process is this:
To design a process to enable consideration within the Scottish Episcopal Church of matters concerning same sex relationships; such a process to enable exploration and discussion in a range of contexts and in an ‘unpressured’ atmosphere to allow time to be taken for careful and thoughtful consideration of the matters in question.
The Design Group is asked to seek the advice and engagement of the Continuing Indaba initiative of the Anglican Communion in designing a process for the Scottish Episcopal Church and also to consider the possible involvement of one or more partner dioceses or provinces within the Anglican Communion in any such process.
The Design Group is asked to report to the Mission and Ministry Board following the conclusion of the process
The Bishop of Brechin, the Rt Rev Nigel Peyton has agreed to act as convener of the group. He, the Primus, along with two Episcopalians who have experience of organising Provincial Conferences (the Rev Dr Anne Tomlinson and Elspeth Davey) met with the Rev Canon Dr Phil Groves of the Anglican Communion Office recently and they came up with the following principles to be offered to the design group.
David Cameron rejects gay marriage criticism
By Rowena Mason, Telegraph – Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, said that Gay marriage laws have created a “real sense of anger in England” ahead of a parliamentary debate on the proposals next week.
He told BBC1’s Question Time: “There was no huge demand for this and we didn’t need to spend a lot of parliamentary time and upset vast numbers of people in order to do this.
” I have just never felt that this is what we should be focusing on. This change does redefine marriage. For millions and millions of people who are married, the meaning of marriage changes.
“There is a real sense of anger among many people who are married that any government thinks it has the ability to change the definition of an institution like marriage.”
However, a spokesman for David Cameron rejected the claim that too much time had been spent on the issue.
He said: “The Prime Minister thinks that the right process is being followed. The government has set out the legislative programme and it is the right one.
“The Prime Minister’s position is that he is a big believer in marriage, that’s why he thinks gay people should be able to get married too.”
On Thursday, David Cameron appeared ready to appease some of the 134 Conservative MPs who voted against his proposals last time by promising to look at extending civil partnerships to all couples in future.
More at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10064084/David-Cameron-rejects-gay-marriage-criticism.html
‘Voters angry over gay marriage’ – Philip Hammond
U Tube interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=57VQzUB-Njk