CHICAGO DEFIES PRIMATES

(Staff) A lesbian priest, the Very Rev. Tracey Lind, is one of five nominees for bishop of the Diocese of Chicago. The Diocese is thus challenging the General Convention 2006 B033 resolution that “a candidate for Episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent.”

In 2005 the Primates of the Anglican Communion asked the Episcopal Church to effect a moratorium on the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate who is living in a same-gender union until some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges.

“Chicago’s action is simply flying in the face of the desire of the Anglican Communion, said Springfield Bishop Peter Beckwith. “It’s a slap in the face.”

The election takes place Nov. 10. Before an American bishop can be consecrated, the election must be ratified by a majority of representatives from other US dioceses.

Rowan Williams will be meeting with the American House of Bishops Sept. 20-25 in New Orleans to discuss demands that they pledge to withhold consent for another openly gay bishop until the Communion reaches a consensus on the issue. If the American bishops don’t comply by Sept. 30, the 77-million-member Communion could break apart.

In July Protestant churches were dismayed at a Vatican document approved by the Pope that declared they were “not churches in the proper sense of the word” but merely “ecclesial communities.”

The 16-page document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict XVI once led, described Eastern Orthodox churches as true churches, but suffering from a “wound” because they do not recognize the primacy of the Pope.

But the text said the “wound is still more profound” in Protestant denominations. It said it was “difficult to see how the title of Church could possibly be attributed to them, given that they do not accept the theological notion of the Church in the Catholic sense and that they lack elements considered essential to the Catholic Church.” The document said the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) recognized “many elements of sanctification and truth” in other  Christian denominations, but held that only the Roman Catholic Church was fully Christ’s Church.

The text restated a controversial pronouncement called Dominus Iesus which was issued by the current Pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Rome says it will continue to engage in ecumenical dialogue but the latest pronouncement is expected to dampen considerably relations with other denominations.

BILLY GRAHAM’S WIFE DEAD

Ruth Bell Graham, the wife of the world’s foremost Christian evangelist, Billy Graham, died on June 14. Ruth Graham was born in

Quingjang, China to Presbyterian medical missionaries. Her father served as a surgeon in China for 25 years. Ruth was home- schooled by her mother. At 21 she moved to the United States to attend Wheaton College, an evangelical university near Chicago, where she met her future husband. They were married in 1943. Billy traveled so much around the world with various crusades that he credits her with raising their children. She once quipped that she never considered divorce but murder had crossed her mind. While her husband gave moral and spiritual advice to several American presidents, Ruth made sure he stayed out of politics. When someone suggested her husband run for president, she replied “I don’t think the country’s ready for a divorced president.”

Ruth authored or co-authored 14 books, advised her husband on his sermons and was actively involved in the Ruth and Billy Graham Children’s Health Center in Asheville, North Carolina. Billy, 88, who is in declining health, said, “I will miss her terribly and look forward even more to the day I can join her in heaven.” She was 87.

NIGERIA: CHURCHES MAY REUNITE

A century after separation, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and the African Church are holding talks aimed at uniting both bodies. The discussion was initiated by the Anglican Primate, the Most Rev. Peter Akinola, in agreement with the Primate of the African Church, the Most Rev. Abraham Onanuga. The African Church left the Anglican Church in 1901. The two churches differ on marriage, burial of the dead, ministerial hierarchy and the authority of the clergy.

Eight delegates from each church--including bishops, clergy and laity--met formally on Aug. 29 in Ibadan for dialogue on issues relating to the reunification. ‘’They considered a document entitled Anglican-African Conversations, which was jointly agreed to by leaders of both churches,’’ said Anglican spokesperson Ven Sola Igbari.

RWANDA: 3 NEW US BISHOPS

The House of Bishops of the Province of L’Eglise Episcopal au Rwanda (PEER) elected three American priests as bishops and appointed them to serve in PEER’s missionary jurisdiction in North America. The decision was made in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, on Sept. 4. Acknowledging the significant growth of the missionary outreach initiated by PEER in the USA, the House of Bishops considered nominations for additional missionary bishops to further the work of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA). The bishops-elect are the Rev. Terrell Glenn, the Rev. Philip Jones and the Rev. John Miller. They will be consecrated on Jan. 26 in Dallas, Texas and although serving in the United States will be answerable to the Anglican Church in Rwanda under Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini.