Bish Tom's address
He is to be speaking at the 150 years of UCMA/USPG. Following Livingstone story; he spoke on the slave trade. Preaching wasn't enough for Livingstone, it need economic change. Travelling up the Zambezi he started a mission station, with malaria and warring tribes. He was followed by Mackenzie and his group, most who died. It was vision vs. reality. Yet slavery was eventually abolished, and mission to the African continent continued. Reality is messy. The Lambeth Conference and the Covenant is on its way, if it can be agreed on. A declaration of assent would be, for him, preferable to a who's in/out statement. Consultation continues.
The gap between vision and reality this diocese is the business of today. Racist political parties, Zimbabwe, clergy housing & budgets.
Questions
Fair-trade diocese? 50% of churches have signed up so far.
Imbalance in traditionalist clergy in senior posts? Bish. of Fulham is member of senior staff.
B2CS? Returns are coming in.
Anglo-Indians guidance in surveys? Follow the census to avoid self classification.
General Synod
Perhaps it was a little light, to clear the decks for debates on Women Bishops.
Deanery Synod Elections
Currently there is an under representative of team ministries. Change of distribution table lets PCCs of team ministries to make their own choices to get fairer representation.
Should this apply to large churches? Perhaps an issue for the next review; should there be representation, rather than voting blocks; if its for a voice, should there be equal representation regardless of size. Is there an opt out to remain the same? Yes. Does there need to be a maximum term of service?
- Motion carried
Far Right Political Parties and Elections
Terry D. opened the discussion. Particularly pertinent for the 2008 transferable vote system. Last local elections showed the activity of such parties across our diocese. Have produced a very good briefing for our clergy and churches on the incompatibility of Christian teachings and parties advocating racist policies.
In (my) summary the motion was to
- Ensure respect in local dialogue as the churches contribution
- Emphasis equality and justice for all peoples
- Exclude, or simply not invite, parties advocating racist policies from hustings in church buildings
- Prevent posting of such parties material on church noticeboards
- Cooperate with all other groups working towards these same goals.
- To remind churches of the value of voting. (carried)
- To talk about people rather than citizens. (carried)
- To remove all from (5) all other groups. (carried)
- To remove points 3 & 4 to allow democracy to be heard. (failed on 3 &4)
Is excluding people for church buildings legal?
We need to support other faith groups by passing this motion.
The churches need to talk about the positive of parties as well as the negative of others.
Where do we go after the elections? It may need to be updated as time go by.
We need to reach out to these parties, as something is broken in their lives. Is it right to exclude them from hustings?
Votes matter more now that there is no longer a first past the post system.
We must be aware of far-right members of our own congregation and preach against racist groups using the term Christian in their name.
- Motion carried
Zimbabwe
Bishop Nick presented a position paper. Because of the fluid nature of the Zimbabwe situation, it was stressed that any paper was provisional.
The economy is broken and politics are shaky. Inflation is at c.8000%, shops are empty, fuel is in short supply and power cuts are the norm and people are starving.
The church has been accused of being silent but it is in some turmoil in Zimbabwe. It has been disabled by the pro-Mugabe Bishop Kunonga (Harare) and the presence of a state run media. The Bishops of Harare and Manicaland have withdrawn from the Province of Central Africa; & have therefore ceased to be Bishops. Governmental bodies have been reluctant to work through the Anglican church there because of this weakness. This is now changing thanks to Christian Aid and Tearfund, though they themselves acknowledge compromise by spys.
Advice needs to be taken from those on the ground. The church should pronounce, but we need to encourage and protect our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe.
We must pressurise the Government to resource agencies working in Zimbabwe. We must not confuse a lack of grandstanding with inactivity.
A motion to ask General Synod to be brought up to date, to clarify the role of the Anglican churches in Zimbabwe & to identify practical measures was passed unanimously.
Lent Appeal Presentations
3C project in Jamaica (Christian Aid)
Heaven's Nest Cape Town
St David's Hospital Zimbabwe (USPG)
Redthread Christian Youth Work
Budget
Presented by Ven. Christine
Needs an increase of 4% in giving. SORP 2005 changes to give a fuller presentation of charity funds were explained. Budget was approved.
Parsonage Replacement (PRP)
Working party report - The PRP needs speeding up because of the drain on finances of the repair of large parsonages.
Large houses have been taking up a large share of the budget. Maintenance costs are high, related to scale of houses; intricacy of building details; condition of services below ground; boundary walls in conservation areas; listed buildings; changes in building regs; cost of works in London; need to improve standards and security; and finally taxation.
PRP since 1985 has been slow, averaging at 2.4 a year. New parsonages are now built to a high quality in this diocese, considering future heritage and reduce future maintenance costs. There are ecological benefits which bring financial support to the clergy in reducing energy costs.
Families also benefit from manageable furnishing costs; parishes get an attraction for future clergy, and demonstrates an ecological commitment. The Diocese benefit by lowering the repair budget.
Opportunities arise at the end of buildings life spans or where the lands are contiguous. Costs are born by the Diocesan Parsonage Replacement Fund. It will only happen if the incumbent and parish are willing, options will be discussed and concerns met. Conversions are looked at, though it is a tricky process.
As a tension between vision and reality, the report was noted.
Synod ended in prayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment