Church News Briefs
Diocesan Press Service. May 10, 1974 [74147]
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Rev. Emerson Paul Haynes, rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Ft. Myers, Fla., since 1964, was elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Southwest Florida. His election came on the ninth ballot at the diocesan convention on April 27. A clergyman in the Evangelical United Brethren Church from 1937 until his ordination as an Episcopal priest in 1949, he has held church posts in Cincinnati and Portsmouth, Ohio, and Orlando, Fla. He has accepted his election, subject to the required canonical consents from diocesan bishops and standing committees.
NEW YORK, N. Y. -- The number of Americans claiming some religious affiliation is 62.4 percent, according to the 1974 YEARBOOK OF AMERICAN AND CANADIAN CHURCHES, which is compiled by the National Council of Churches. The yearbook, published May 13 by Abingdon Press, reports figures for calendar year 1972. A total of 131,424,564 members of churches and synagogues is reported, an increase of only 35,000 from the previous report, but at the same percent of the population reported for 1971. The yearbook reports, on the basis of Gallop Poll surveys, that 40 percent of the American people attend Sunday worship in a typical week, a drop from 49 percent in 1955. For the U.S., the publication reports 71,648,521 Protestants; 48,640,427 Roman Catholics; 6,115,000 Jews; and 3,739,620 members of Eastern Churches.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Rev. Dr. Earl H. Brill, assistant professor and chairman of American studies at American University since 1971, has been named Director of Studies at the College of Preachers and a canon of Washington Cathedral, effective July 1. The College of Preachers was established in 1929 to provide graduate- level, short-term study for priests of the Episcopal Church. Dr. Brill, a native of Abingdon, Pa., is the author of several books, including The Future of the American Past, to be published by Seabury Press in June, 1974.
NEW YORK, N. Y. -- According to a study just released, CHURCHES AND CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES: 1971, during the past 20 years the membership gain of the Episcopal Church was 19.2 percent. The largest membership gain was reported by the Church of God of Cleveland, Tenn., with 120.9 percent gain. The study was released by the National Council of Churches, the Glenmary Research Center (Roman Catholic), and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Copies of this comprehensive study of U.S. church membership in the past 20 years may be obtained for $15.00 from Glenmary Research Center, 4606 East West Highway, Washington, D. C. 20014, or from the NCC Office of Research, Evaluation and Planning, Room 834, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. 10027.
CAPETOWN, South Africa -- In late April Anglican Bishop Bill Bendyshe Burnett was elected Archbishop of Capetown and Metropolitan of the Church of the Province of South Africa. He will succeed Archbishop Robert Selby Taylor, 64, who retired in March. Bishop Burnett, 57, is the first South African-born clergyman to be elected to the post. The province covers all of the Republic of South Africa, the Diocese of Damaraland in South- West Africa (Namibia), the Diocese of Lebombo in Mozambique, Swaziland, and certain South Atlantic islands. Since his consecration to the episcopacy, he has served as Assistant Bishop of Johannesburg, Bishop of Bloemfontein, and Bishop of Grahamstown.
KAMPALA, Uganda -- Anglican Bishop Janani Jakaliya Luwum of Northern Uganda has been elected Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire. Elected on May 7, he will be the second black prelate to hold the post, succeeding Archbishop Erica Sahiti, 71, who is retiring. His enthronement will be June 9. Archbishop-elect Luwum was consecrated bishop by Archbishop Sabiti in 1969. He is a member of the Standing Committee of the World Council of Churches.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Dr. Marianne Micks, professor in the department of religion at The Western College, Oxford, Ohio, has been appointed to the newly created position of Professor of Biblical and Historical Theology at the Virginia Theological Seminary, effective in the fall of 1974: After serving as advisor to students at Smith College, she received her B. D. degree from Church Divinity School of the Pacific and her Ph.D. in religion from Yale University. Dr. Micks joined the faculty of The Western College in 1960 where she served successively as assistant professor, associate professor, professor and chairman of the department of religion, before returning to full- time teaching and scholarly work at the college.
SEWANEE, Tenn. -- The School of Theology at the University of the South and Vanderbilt Divinity School have announced an agreement to collaborate in joint programs of field work, research, faculty appointments, fund raising and degree programs. The Vanderbilt school was originally related to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, but became an independent, nondenominational school in 1914. With a faculty of 26 full-time teachers and a student body of about 250, Vanderbilt offers the master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. The School of Theology at Sewanee was formally organized as a seminary of the Episcopal Church as a unit of the University of the South in 1878. It has 10 full-time faculty members and two part-time teachers, with 60 to 70 students enrolled. Degrees offered by the school are the M.Div., M.T.S., L.Th., and S.T.M.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Dr. Gayraud S. Wilmore, Jr., 52, noted United Presbyterian minister and scholar, will become the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Professor of Black Church Studies and Director of the Black Church Studies Program at Colgate Rochester Divinity School/Bexley Hall/Crozer Theological Seminary, in Rochester, N.Y., on June 1. He will come to Rochester from Boston University School of Theology, where he has been Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Social Ethics.