News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. August 9, 1984 [84167]
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- Alan Sanborn, who for the past two and a half years has served here at the Episcopal Church Center as staff to the National Committee on Indian work, will be leaving Aug. 15 to attend seminary. To honor his work with the Committee, they awarded him a certificate, signed by the Rt. Rev. William C. Wantland, Bishop of Eau Claire and chairman of the N.C.I.W.; the Rev. Canon Edward Geyer, Executive for National Mission in Church and Society; and Owanah Anderson, field worker for the N.C.I.W. The scroll reads: "National Committee on Indian Work to all whom these presentments shall come, greetings: Know ye that this commendation is presented to Alan Sanborn in grateful recognition of outstanding contributions of time, effort, and ability through service to the National Committee on Indian Work of the Episcopal Church."
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- The Very Rev. Harvey H. Guthrie, Professor of Old Testament and Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School here, has submitted his resignation as of June 30, 1985. He has held the position since the school's inception in 1974. The resignation was given at the May 23 meeting of the board of trustees of the seminary. In a letter to the seminary community dated the next day, Guthrie explained his feeling: "As we move into the celebration of the school's tenth anniversary and look to the future while giving thanks for the past, I have increasingly come to the conviction that it is the right time." The Episcopal Divinity School was formed by the merger of the Episcopal Theological Seminary, located here, and the Philadelphia Divinity School. Guthrie had been dean of the former institution for five years prior to the merger. A native of California, he received his theological degrees from the General Seminary in New York and served on the faculty there before joining the faculty of the Episcopal Theological Seminary in 1958.
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- The General Synod of the Church of England, meeting here, has provisionally approved regulations which would allow divorced people to remarry within the Church, perhaps as early as the fall of 1985. Debate over the new regulations lasted over five hours and opposition still exists. A minority group of bishops favored a service of prayer to be used after all civil marriages. As proposed, the remarriage regulations would require applicants to consult their parish priest, who would then refer the case to his diocesan bishop. For complex cases, there would be an advisory panel. General guidelines to be used would cover such things as seriousness of intent, provision for children from a previous marriage, and whether the partner was at fault in the breakdown of the previous marriage. A draft proposal is being sent to the 44 dioceses for their reflection and reaction. It will then be re-presented at next year's Synod.
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- A group of Episcopalians from the United States is planning a pilgrimage here in September. The impetus behind this event is the 200th anniversary of the consecration of Samuel Seabury, of Connecticut, as the first American bishop. After the break with the English Church caused by the American revolution, the fledgling Episcopal Church was left without a bishop. Seabury was chosen to fill that office, but there was no one in the U.S. to consecrate him. He travelled to England in hope of receiving consecration there, but that proved to be impossible, as the Church of England's service of consecration required the candidate to swear loyalty to the King. His quest eventually ended here, where he was consecrated by bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- The Ven. David Nkwe, Archdeacon of Johannesburg West and Rector of St. Paul's Jabavu, Soweto, spoke about his native South Africa during a recent visit to St. John's Anglican Church here. Calling himself a "prisoner of hope," he declared that Christianity forbids despair. He stated "I believe as a Christian that God is in control of the situation in South Africa, and that perhaps we, as human beings, have not exhausted all the options available," but added "Time is fast running out for those of us who wished to be classed as moderates." When asked what practical assistance other Christians could offer, Nkwe pointed out that when majority rule becomes a reality, lack of education will be a serious problem. He said it would be helpful if churches were to endow scholarships in African centers of learning and offer aid to African students wishing to study in other countries.
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- The Society for the Increase of the Ministry recently announced grants of $6,000 each made to two seminarians for internships during the 1984-85 academic year. The grants were made possible by an award of $12,000 from the Episcopal Church Foundation. Recipient Laura P. Biddle will minister to women in the Framingham Correctional Institution in Massachusetts and help establish support groups to aid them in re-entering society. Stephen S. Kirk will use his grant to attend Codrington College, an Anglican seminary in Barbados, and to work at St. Lucy's Parish there in order to increase his understanding of the West Indian culture from which many of his future parishioners will come. Both Biddle and Kirk have completed two years of theological education and expect to return for a final year following their internships. In addition to these awards, the Society, founded in 1857, has also given scholarships totalling $70,000 to 125 other students at the ten accredited Episcopal seminaries.
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- Participants at the Working Class Ministry Conference sponsored by the Appalachian People's Service Organization in March had requested a newsletter on that subject. The first issue has now appeared and is available from the Rev. Ward Ewing, P. O. Box 58536, Louisville, KY 40258. It contains ideas on ministry in working class congregations, an item on programs being developed and/or used by working class congregations, and a theological reflection by Ewing, who is rector of St. Peter's in the Valley, Louisville, and chairs the working class ministries ad hoc steering committee.
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- The Advisory Council for the Church's Ministry, which is the organization in charge of recruitment for the Church of England, has announced that it will seek to bring more blacks into the ordained ministry. This is part of an effort to reverse a decline in the number of candidates for holy orders. In a move recently approved by the House of Bishops, each of the country's 43 dioceses is being asked to look for potential black candidates. Plans are also underway for a fall conference on black vocations to be co-sponsored by the Advisory Council and an inter-church group, the Association of Black Clergy; this will be the second such gathering.
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- Dr. James H. Evans, Jr., has been named the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Professor at Colgate Rochester Divinity School/Bexley Hall/Crozer Theological Seminary here, a multidenominational seminary which maintains official relationships with the American Baptist Churches, U.S.A., and the Episcopal Church. Evans has been a member of the faculty of the Divinity School since 1979 as associate professor of theology and black church studies. He has also served as acting director of the program of black church studies. Evans, a member of the American Baptist Churches, U.S.A., has a Master of Divinity degree from Yale University Divinity School and both a masters and a doctoral degree from Union Theological Seminary. He has also won a number of scholarly awards and is the author of several books and articles.
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- Kiran Daniel, an Episcopalian who is a citizen of India, recently joined the staff of the National Council of Churches here as director for the committee on christian literature for women and children. The program is a part of Intermedia, for which Daniel will also serve as director of print media, and comes under the N.C.C.'s division of Overseas Ministries. Daniel, 50, has wide experience both geographically and as an editor, writer, and public speaker. She is married to an Episcopal priest and they have two children.
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- The Rev. Richard K. Fenn, a graduate of the Episcopal Theological School and Princeton Theological Seminary, has been appointed Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Christianity and Society at Princeton Seminary, effective July 1, 1985. He is presently professor of sociology at the University of Maine. Prior to embarking on an academic career, he served as curate for the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour in Akron, Oh., diocesan assistant in the Diocese of Nagpur in India, vicar of Epiphany Church, Royersford, Pa., and priest-in-charge of St. Philip's Church, Radnor, Pa.
(DPS, Aug. 9) -- An apprenticeship for bishops has been suggested by the Australian Anglican ministry and training board. The Most Rev. Peter F. Carnley, Archbishop of Perth, Metropolitan of the Province of West Australia, who chairs the committee, said that new bishops are left to "sink or swim" with "no resources" to prepare themselves for their job. Under the proposal, a new bishop would live with another bishop for a month before assuming his post.