June 2010: news

Dear Friend

Further down this posting you will find the news for the Scottish Episcopal Church for June 2010.

It is likely to bea busy month as General Synod falls at the end of next week in Edinburgh. If you are at the synod, do come and say hello and let me know what you think about this form of communication. If you are not going to be there and want to find out what the synod is up to, you will find some suggestions on how to follow what’s happening at the synod below.
If you would like something to be included in the next inspires online please contact Lorna Finlay (press@scotland.anglican.org) before the 25th day of the month. (ie 25 June 2010 this time)

KELVIN HOLDSWORTH

Editor & Convener of the Information and Communication Board

Episcopal Election – Argyll & The Isles

The Electoral Synod met on 13 May 2010 and adjourned after discussion. The result of this is that the right of election will lapse to the Episcopal Synod, as provided in Canon 4 of the Church’s Code of Canons.

General Synod 2010

This year’s General Synod will take place from 10-12 June at Palmerston Place Church, Edinburgh. The Synod agenda and papers have been sent to Synod members and are now available on the SEC website http://www.scotland.anglican.org/index.php/news/entry/general_synod_2010/

Comprehensive coverage of General Synod will again be available online during Synod – this year, in addition to the daily text and audio updates, it is hoped that there will be a live audio stream and static web cam (which will be updated each minute). The Scottish Episcopal Church now has its own twitter feed (www.twitter.com/secsynod) and its own hashtag – #pisky. (If you search the twitter system for posts containing #pisky you will find tweets from Scottish Episcopal twitterers).

Visitors can also watch Synod proceedings from the public gallery at Palmerston Place.

Audio interviews with the Primus and with the Convener of the Standing Committee will be available online later this week and next week.

Synod Summary will again be produced after Synod and will be sent out in the clergy mailing scheduled for mid-July.

Primus responds to Synthetic Biology headlines

In responding to headlines about recent advances in synthetic biology the Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church says “The creation of a Synthetic Cell marks a significant step forward in scientific research. It promises an enticing range of possible outcomes: new bio-fuels, clean water, new ways of cleaning up pollution, new vaccines and drugs, new sources of food. For our overcrowded planet, such possibilities are a tempting prospect. It is all too easy either to over-hype the possibilities or to reach for doom-laden language about scientists ‘playing God’.

“Yet this new discovery raises difficulties and dilemmas which are all too familiar in the important dialogue which must continue to develop between science and ethics. Those who wish to raise ethical and other questions have difficulty grasping the complexity of the science. Those who lack expert scientific knowledge find it difficult to arrive at a measured understanding of both the possibilities and the dangers of what is on offer. The scientists, on the other hand, are at risk of being intoxicated by their achievements and are less willing to engage whole-heartedly in moral and ethical questioning. In the mix also are the funders who have commercial and other interests in what has been discovered.

“What is needed now is a period in which, as the research develops, it is possible to take a measured view both of the possible applications and their benefits for human society and of the potential dangers. Only as a result of that dialogue will the true and long term benefits for humanity become evident and be developed in such a way as to ensure the maximum benefit for the whole of humanity while avoiding the dangers.”

Transfer of St Serf’s care home

The sale of St Serf’s care home has now been completed. The new owners Fergus and Jenny Thain (St Serf’s Care Home Limited, a subsidiary company of Acre Care Homes Limited) have now taken over the management and operation of St Serf’s.

A small reception to mark the transfer, principally to thank the House Committee members and staff, will be held in the home on 4th June.

Around the Province

Blood and violence just before a Rectory Garden Party in Portobello – Ruth Innes
Into the Woods – Bishop David on his recent Episcopal training sessions in the USA
A new grandchild and a new poem for Christine McIntosh
Sermon for Affirmation Scotland in General Assembly Week from Kelvin Holdsworth
Now welcoming comments – Anne Tomlinson uses a blog in her role as Ministry Development Officer for Glasgow and Galloway
Campaigning on behalf of an Eritrean asylum seeker – Dave McCarthy
Seeing Angels – Rosemary Hannah
Radio Scotland Thought for the Day 1 June 2010 – Rob Warren
Having a mobile Quiet Day – John Penman

Tripartite Faith and Order Consultation

At a recent meeting of the Faith & Order Board it agreed a Scottish Episcopal Church delegation comprising of the Rt Rev Brian Smith, Dr Chris Brittain, the Rev Dr Harriet Harris, Mrs Norma Higgott and the Rev Professor David Jasper will be available attend the first meeting of theTripartite talks between the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Church of Scotland and the Church of England (once approval and formal invitation is received from the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland). This meeting will take place at Wyedale North Yorkshire from the 9th-11th November 2010.

The Church of Scotland recently issued a press release regarding tripartite talks as part of the Ecumenical Relations report to the General Assembly http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news/nrga090410.htm

Archbishop of York and General Secretary of the World Council of Churches both preaching at St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh on Sunday 6 June

As part of the Edinburgh 2010 celebrations BBC Radio 4 will broadcast a live service from St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh on Sunday 6 June at 0810. The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev John Sentamu will be preaching. The Rev Dr Olav Fyske Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, will be preaching at the 10.30 service at the Cathedral on Sunday 6th June

Around the Dioceses

Glasgow and Galloway – report and picture of National Readers’ Conference
Edinburgh – dates for three ordinations
Moray, Ross and Caithness – dedication of the new diocesan centre
Argyll and The Isles – Wedding Flowers and Art – Ballachulish – 14-19 June
St Andrews, Dunked and Dunblane – The Rev Dom Ind installed as a Canon
Brechin – Diocesan bulletin (including details of a men’s spirituality event at the Bield)
Aberdeen and Orkney – Forthcoming events on website

Edinburgh 2010 Conference

Alongside the main conference there are a number of “2010.local” events, including a Ceilidh, taking place in Edinburgh to which everyone is welcome; details are available on the Edinburgh 2010 website. www.edinburgh2010.org.

The closing celebration of the conference will be available online from 3.00-5.30pm on Sunday 6th June.

InterFaith event - Friday 4th June

at St Peter’s Church, Lutton Place, Newington

Mission to Muslims, or Mission with Muslims? The pre Edinburgh consultation in Bangalore in summer 2009, posed this challenging question, as it reflected on the theme of Christian mission in a multi faith world. This question would never have been put in 1910, nor was there the same consciousness of the centrality of engagement with Islam globally and locally as is found in 2010. This event gives opportunity to look at questions of mission and conversion, and working together for the common good, with the aid of case studies from St Philip’s Leicester; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Scotland itself. Delegates and others will be encouraged to reflect on their own context, in the light of contributions from leading Christians and Muslims from these places.

Mothers’ Union

The MU in Scotland have parenting facilitators available. For more details and a picture of them working with a congregation in Glasgow, see http://www.muscotland.org.uk/glasgow_e.htm

Provincial Youth Network

Details and application forms for this year’s Glen Youth Weeks are available on the Scottish Episcopal Church’s website.

The Churches’ Pavilion at the Royal Highland Show (24th-27th June)

This has been a year when rural issues have loomed large in the vision of our Church. The Rural Commission ran a series of three conferences as part of its deliberations which lead to its conclusions going to this year’s General Synod. The Commission identified that although there would be a number of serious issues to be faced by rural communities in the coming years there was much that our rural churches could contribute to the whole Church and to the nation. Potential contributions range from a major contribution to mitigating the impact of climate change through novel means of working together with secular and faith organisations through to the role of the rural setting as an expression of spiritual values. In addition churches have continued to be active in the Governments Food and Drink Leadership Forum. These issues will be significant in this year’s presentations in the Churches Pavilion at the 2010 Royal Highland Show. The Pavilion is one of the clearest statements of ecumenism in action and will be staffed by a team representing most of the seven churches who are now active partners in the Scottish Churches Rural Group. It is a place where Church and rural issues can be discussed and it provides quality free tea and coffee!

The Rev Professor David Atkinson

Visions for the Future

International Theological Summer School – Scottish Churches House

Seminar Days Saturday July 3 & Thursday July 8

Celebrating and building on that inspiration of 1910, Scottish Churches House’s second International Theological Summer School is based on the theme Visions for the Future. (See May edition of Inspires.)

We now have 22 participants signed up – from quite disparate countries – Inda, Pakistan, Greece, Cuba, USA, Belarusse, Brazil, Czech Republic, etc.

This is a reminder of our invitation to folk from local churches to join us for either (or both) of the two Seminar Days.

The first Seminar Day, Saturday 3 July, will focus on a paper written by Elizabeth Templeton, exploring how theological reflection informs engagement with the world. It finishes after dinner and three speakers on their Visions for the Future – the Primus, Bishop David Chillingworth; the C of S Moderator, Rev John Christie; and Archbishop Mario Conti.

The second Seminar Day, Thursday 8 July, will be a time for us all to wrestle with how we make our own visions for the future real. Given the many challenges, how do we identify creative, innovative ways ahead?

If you would like to join us either on one, or both of these days at Scottish Churches House in Dunblane, please contact me before June 16. Each day will begin at 9.30 / 10.00am, and will include morning coffee, lunch and dinner. The cost is £25.00 – bursaries may be available.

Booking & further information: elaine.ging@gmail.com or 01821 650482

Mrs Elaine Cameron

Theological Summer School Planning Group

World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel 29 May – 4 June 2010

Joint action for just peace convened by the World Council of Churches

The World Council of Churches is inviting member churches and related organizations to join a week of advocacy and action for a just peace in Palestine and Israel. Those who share the hope of justice are invited to take peaceful actions, together, to create a common international public witness.

During the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel, from 29 May to 4 June 2010, churches in different countries send a clear signal to policy-makers, interested publics and their own parishes about the urgent need for a peace settlement that secures the legitimate rights and future of both peoples. Participants are requested to plan their activities around these points:

1. Pray with churches living under occupation, using a special prayer from Jerusalem.
2. Educate about actions that make for peace and about facts on the ground that do not, especially, settlements in occupied territory.
3. Advocate with political leaders using ecumenical policies that promote peace with justice.

The week calls participants to seek justice for Palestinians so that both Israelis and Palestinians can finally live in peace. It is now more than 60 years since the partition of Palestine hardened into a permanent nightmare for Palestinians. It’s more than 40 years since the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza overwhelmed the peaceful vision of one land, two peoples.

Yet the dream of one nation cannot be fulfilled at the expense of another

The action week’s message is that now:

It’s time for Palestinians and Israelis to share a just peace.
It’s time for freedom from occupation.
It’s time for equal rights.
It’s time for the healing of wounded souls.

Vacancies listed on the SEC website include:

Colophon

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