|
RETIREMENT. You will know that I will be retiring as
Bishop of Beverley on 30th
September 2012 after which Betty
and I will be residing in Worksop.
The next bulletin will enable me to say something more about this
from a personal perspective and also to give some guidance as to how
matters should best be handled during any period of interregnum. The Archbishop of York is happy for me to
share with you his intention to secure the appointment of my successor as
soon as possible. To this end
appropriate consultations will soon be under way. A name cannot be formally submitted to
Her Majesty until the See becomes formally vacant but if all goes smoothly
there might well be a new Bishop of Beverley in place by the end of this
year. The Archbishop specifically
asks that you might support him and all involved in the process of
discerning whom God is calling to be the next Bishop of Beverley with
generous prayer. The Archbishop also
asks for such prayer as he works to obtain a secure and theologically
coherent place for us within the Church of England should the measure for
admitting women to the episcopate gain the necessary majorities. As the Archbishop continues to observe,
such a settlement will be necessary for the well being of the whole of our
Church and not just for those who hold to our position within it. I plan to undertake no public
engagements, other than those to which I am already committed, after the
July meeting of General Synod.
THE BISHOP OF BEVERLEY’S PROVINCIAL FESTIVAL. The flyer for this will come with a late
Spring Bulletin. The festival will
be at York Minster, starting at noon
on Saturday 15th September and will provide a good context in
which to take leave of one another.
I hope you will book the date now.
Quite apart from marking my retirement, which in many ways is
incidental to the occasion, it will also be an opportunity to worship
together and to offer and receive mutual encouragement, knowing by then the
outcome of the July General Synod’s deliberations on admitting women to the
episcopate.
WHERE ARE WE
NOW? This February’s General Synod takes on a
particular significance for the ongoing debate as to whether or not to
admit women to the episcopate. Two
items on the agenda have long been expected. The Synod has to take note of where the
legislation has now arrived following the results of the voting in each of
the dioceses. There is the need,
furthermore, for the Synod to have first sight of what a code of practice
might look like, were the proposed legislation on women in the episcopate
eventually to become law. We have
long been promised what would be a robust code of practice to safeguard the
consciences of those who stand in our tradition. Saving the fact that receiving episcopal
ministry by delegation from a bishop who acts under a diocesan bishop,
whose authority to delegate we are unable to accept in the first place, can
hardly be said to safeguard our consciences, the first draft of proposals
can hardly be said to be robust.
Although the final content of the code cannot, by law, be agreed
until after the final content of the legislation is known, it does not seem
unreasonable to have expected some indication of what safeguards would be
included in that code. By contrast
we are offered a code that might or might not guarantee named Sees (like
Beverley, Ebsfleet or Richborough) where the occupant would always be
someone of the ‘traditionalist’ viewpoint and who had been episcopally
ordained in a manner that made him acceptable to those to whom he was
expected to minister. Likewise,
while the code, following the legislation, allows for a PCC to request a
male priest the code may or may not eventually include a requirement that he
be a male priest ordained in such a manner as to make his ministry
acceptable to those who were expected to receive it. Such things are still to be decided, we
are told, only when the legislation has been enacted and its precise shape
finally known. At present it can
only be acknowledged, that the arguments as to what should or should not be
included in a code of practice on such essential issues as these are still
unresolved. Even the House of
Bishops, which will ultimately be responsible for producing the code, does not
feel able to give a clear indication at this stage as to where its mind
lies in regard to such important issues.
A preface to the proposed code, written by the Archbishops and
endorsed by the House of Bishops, encouragingly says that the House is
determined to maintain a number of bishops acceptable to those opposed to
women in the episcopate. Yet, as
long as this matter, together with many others, remains un-codified, it is
hard to see in what way if any these aspirations might become a reality. It is against such a vague background
that General Synod could be invited to vote in July for the admission of
women to the episcopate. Those who continue to claim that the legislation
is more than generous to those with conscientiously-held objections to what
is proposed must surely think again.
What
really adds to the significance of the February meeting of the Synod is the
debate to take place resulting from the following on motions that were
passed in a number of diocesan synods following the reference of the
legislation to them. A number has
asked for the General Synod to invite the House of Bishops to amend the
legislation so as to reinstate something similar to the Archbishops’
amendment that was so narrowly and tragically defeated in July 2010. This amendment sought to secure a way in
which bishops appointed to minister to ‘traditionalists’ might share
jurisdiction with (local) diocesan bishops.
While not perfect, such a move would probably be a bearable anomaly
for many of us, who have become used increasingly to living with such
bearable anomalies within Anglicanism, as we seek to hold together in what
is still officially deemed to be a period of open reception. Were a move to reinstate such an
amendment to succeed and then to be supported by a robust code of practice
that would enable such an arrangement to flourish then we might well have
found a way out of the present impasse.
Such ‘co-jurisdiction’ could well be exercised within The Society
that we are eagerly forming. There
have been so many dashed hopes in the past and, of course, this could so
easily prove to be yet one more.
There is, though, more optimism around than many of us have
encountered since 2010 and we must not give up on our quest to secure
proper provision even at such a late stage in the legislative process. We must support the General Synod
intensely with our prayers and, also, the House of Bishops meeting in May,
which will have to make hard decisions as to whether or not to allow the
legislation to go forward in an amended state.
LENT. Ash Wednesday is on 22nd February. Some of you, once again, may like share
with me in my Lenten reading. This
year I will be using the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book, Love Unknown, by Ruth
Burrows. Now aged eighty-nine, Ruth
Burrows is a Carmelite nun from whose writings on prayer many of us have
already benefited across the years.
Another promising find is Prayers from the Confessions. This book, edited by John Rotelle,
extracts the large number of great prayers from S Augustine’s Confessions
and so should be a great stimulus to daily Lenten devotion. I have only been able to track down an
American edition of the book (ISBN 1-56548-188-7) but trust that bookshops
will be able to order it in time for Lenten reading. Father Edward Dowler,
who gave last year’s annual lecture, is the author of Theological Ethics
which is very readable and provides valuable material for those who
like to include a thoughtful theological work as part of their Lenten
discipline. Cardinal
Schönborn’s The Joy of
Being a Priest consists of retreat addresses to priests and is a great
aid in reflecting on how to live the priestly life. Pope Benedict XVI’s
Jesus of Nazareth Part Two is as knowledgeable, informative and
stimulating as the first volume.
Somewhat demanding but well worth reading is Father
Robin Ward’s
On Christian Priesthood, again, perhaps, for those who seek to do
some serious theological reflection during Lent.
Those
who have not yet planned either their own or their parish’s Lenten savings
might well heed the appeal of the Additional Curates Society which gives
immense financial help in the constant struggle to finance priests for our
Church as well as promoting vocational work. Further information and resources can be
obtained from Father Darren
Smith at fr.smith@additionalcurates.co.uk
or telephone 0121 382 5533.
CHRISM MASSES. For those who do not enjoy local
provision within their own dioceses there will be the usual three Chrism
Masses this year:
Wednesday
28th March, noon,
at S. Oswald Hartlepool;
Tuesday
3rd April, 11.30 am
(note the change of time), at Manchester Cathedral;
Wednesday
4th April, noon,
at Goldthorpe.
At
Hartlepool and Goldthorpe a light lunch is generously provided
afterwards. (It is always welcome
for those parishes to receive contributions towards the cost.) At Manchester coffee is provided and
those attending may wish to bring sandwiches. Please be sure to return the relevant flyer. As this will be my final celebration of
the Chrism Mass as the Provincial Episcopal Visitor it will be a great joy
if as many of us as possible can be present to renew our ordination vows
surrounded by large numbers of our people.
IN MEMORIAM. Since the previous publication of this
bulletin we have learned of the deaths of the following recipients: Brian Dunn
(Blackburn), Norman
Clayton (York),
Edward Underhill (Carlisle), Richard Mashedar
(Blackburn), Vernon Clarke (Carlisle) and David Quance
(Manchester). We praise God for the
faithful ministries of these priests as we entrust them to His mercy and
safekeeping.
† Martyn Beverley
January 2011
Home Page | Welcome | Resources | Parishes | News | Links | Contact
|
