16 June 2013: Retrospective on Church vs State in Zimbabwe
We weren't sure whether the battle in Zimbabwe between the Anglican church and the corrupt Mugabe government was over. Now there's a retrospective editorial in The Standard (Harare) wondering: 'But we should look at the Anglican saga in another way. Is it the miniature of the drama that is unfolding in our country?'

16 June 2013: Successful celebration in Zimbabwe
The Standard (Harare) tells us 'Over 20 000 jubilant members of the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) converged at the revered Bernard Mizeki shrine yesterday for the annual pilgrimage, five years after being denied access by the disgraced ex-Bishop Nolbert Kunonga.' Last week we reported that Anglicans in Zimbabwe were excited about being able to do this, so we are delighted to report this week that it went well.

15 June 2013: Farewell ceremony for retiring Archbishop of Sydney
The Australian Broadcasting Corportation tells us 'The retiring Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, has been farewelled at a ceremony at St Andrew's Cathedral.' We had never before realized that 'farewell' could be a verb

14 June 2013: Archbishop and Pope meet in Rome
The Anglican Communion News Service reports on the recent visit to Pope Francis by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin.

14 June 2013: End of the line for church ownership lawsuit in Virginia
The US Episcopal News Service reports 'In a one-sentence order issued June 14, the Virginia Supreme Court denied a request from The Falls Church Anglican to rehear its earlier decision reaffirming a circuit court ruling that returned The Falls Church property to loyal Episcopalians to use for the mission of the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church. According to the law in Virginia, that is the end of that dispute. The litigants will surely have other disputes. We are amused that the US Episcopal News Service linked their press release to Episcopal Café's PDF of the court order rather than getting their own copy.

13 June 2013: New website for Anglican Communion News Service
The Anglican Communion News Service reports that it has a new website. We have been assured that the Director of Communication there is quite able to read and has finished 6th Form in school, but evidently he was not aware that they have had a web site for a decade, because he wrote 'Until now we’ve been restricted to sending news stories to people’s email inboxes. Anglicans and Episcopalians around the world can visit the new site for, not just news, but also comment, feature stories, podcasts, videos and photos.'

10 June 2013: 2000 confirmations in South Sudan in 8 days
The Anglian Communion News Service tells the story of the Bishop of Wau, the Rt Revd Moses Deng Bol, confirming 2000 people in an 8-day trip around his diocese.

9 June 2013: Religious tension in Anambra over schools
The Guardian (Nigeria) reports 'Anambra State's continual hesitation to hand over Bishop Crowther Memorial Primary School to the Anglican Communion is raising friction between the church and its Catholic counterpart in the region.' The issue appears to involve up to 300 schools owned by other churches and communities.

8 June 2013: Dioceses of Chicago, Quincy unanimously agree to reunite
Episcopal News Service (ENS) reports members of the dioceses of Chicago and Quincy unanimously agreed June 8 to reunify, something that no other dioceses have done in the US Episcopal Church for 70 years. Both dioceses, meeting separately, approved the same reunification resolution.

7 June 2013: Diocese of Riverina synod unsuccessful in bishop election
The Irrigator (Leeton, New South Wales) reports on the recent synod for this Australian diocese that is numerically small and geographically vast. Part of the synod's business was to elect a bishop; there was a single nominee on the ballot — the necessary positive two-thirds votes in each order were not reached, and the election failed.

6 June 2013: First post-Kunonga celebration of Bernard Mizeki on track in Zimbabwe
After years of oppression by government thugs and fake bishops, pilgrims in Zimbabwe stand ready to return to the shrine of Bernard Mizeki to celebrate his life. The Anglican Communion News Service tells the story.

6 June 2013: Diocese of Christchurch to wait for High Court judgment
Newstalk ZB (New Zealand) reports 'The Anglican Church has decided to wait for the outcome of a High Court appeal before choosing what the new ChristChurch Cathedral will look like,' Details here. The Diocese of Christchurch maintains this page of information about cathedral construction and reconstruction.

3 June 2013: Status report: Church of England
As it has been for months, the Church of England is paralyzed in conflict over the issues of women bishops and same-sex marriage. When there's an actual result, we'll report it. If you want to follow the blow-by-blow combat, see Thinking Anglicans.

2 June 2013: C of E Bishops under pressure
The Telegraph (UK) reports bishops are facing intense pressure not to use their votes in the House of Lords to block the government's gay marriage bill. There is 'fear that a large bloc of clerics turning up to vote down the bill could rebound on the Church, reopening questions over the right of bishops to sit in the Lords and even raise the prospect of disestablishment'.

30 May 2013: NZ Cardboard cathedral update
The Press (NZ) has informed us that 'The $5.3 million temporary [Christchurch] Anglican cathedral is due to be completed by the end of June.' A goodly number of locals there in Christchurch are outraged that the Diocese of Christchurch spent insurance money to build a worship space instead of an urban edifice. The 'Transitional Cathedral' is slated for completion by midwinter (the end of June) but all construction projects are late, aren't they? We can't wait to find an excuse to travel to New Zealand to see it and worship there. The cathedral's website includes a link to a webcam that lets you follow the progress of the construction.

29 May 2013: Bermuda installs new bishop
Bernews.com reported on the consecration and installation of the Rt Revd Nicholas Dill as Bishop of Bermuda. The Bermuda Sun item from 31 May is here.

28 May 2013: Taizé 'Pilgrimage of trust'
Episcopal News Service (ENS) reported on the 'pilgrimage of trust on earth' in southwestern South Dakota. The Taizé brothers from France journeyed to Pine Ridge, for the pilgrimage which was the first on a reservation and the most remore of the locations that have been part of their pilgrimage.

27 May 2013: Bolivia consecrates bishop
The Straits Times (Singapore) reported on the consecration of the Rt Revd Raphael Samuel. Why would a paper in Singapore report on happenings in Bolivia? The new bishop is 'believed to be the first Singaporean to head a diocese outside of Singapore'.

27 May 2013: Early church and burials found at Lincoln Castle
Lincolnshire Today (Grimsby, Lincolnshire) reports 'Archaeologists digging under Lincoln Castle have found the remains of a previously unknown church that's at least 1,000 years old.' Do note that Lincoln Castle is not Lincoln Cathedral (though they are only 100 yards from one another). It would of course be less surprising to find an old church under a cathedral.

26 May 2013: Longest-serving vicar honoured
The BBC reported the longest-serving vicar in the Church of England, the Revd James Cocke, is to be honoured at a service in Oxfordshire. He has served over 50 years (56 years, to be exact) at All Saints Highfield in Headington, and been in ministry 60 years in total.

26 May 2013: Commentaries and analyses: CoE and women bishops legislation
Our friends at Thinking Anglicans have a good summary of the published reports and analyses on the latest proposals for legislation in the Church of England to allow female bishops. The 24 May issue of Church Times has two articles pertaining to this issue: 'House of Bishops sets out next steps on women in the episcopate' and 'House approves a new attempt at women bishops'.

25 May 2013: Sailing fleet blessed
The Whitsunday Times (Queensland) reports on the blessing of the sailing fleet off the point at Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday Islands. Those islands off the coast of Queensland, are in the Whitsunday Passage, so named in Captain Cook's journal because they were thought to have been discovered on Whitsunday whereas, because of an error in time-keeping, it was actually Whit-Monday.

23 May 2013: Challenging the church
The Otago Daily Times reported on the public lecture by Dr Jenny Te Paa Daniel entitled in part, 'Peacemaking or Mischief Making Discourses in the Public Square?' in which she points out that that although about half of the world's Anglicans are women, the disparity between men and women in leadership roles around the globe is 'hardly impressive..or acceptable.'

22 May 2013: Oklahoma: A global outpouring of support, and a long road to recovery
The Episcopal News Service (ENS) reported on the aftermath of the 20 May tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. The article includes links to Episcopal Relief and Development's resources for tornado relief and to the Diocese of Oklahoma's website.

20 May 2013: Three thousand attend installation of Tanzania's new Primate
The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) reported on the installation of the Most Revd Dr Jacob Erasto Chimeledya as the new Primate for the Church in Tanzania. The president of the country and the Archbishop of Canterbury were among the guests.

3 May 2013: New Marian windows at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey announced plans to unveil two new stained glass panels in the Lady Chapel built by Henry VII. The panels are being installed in time for the 60th anniversary of the Coronation of the Queen. You can learn more about the artists behind the windows in this article from the York Press also published in early May.

18 May 2013: Western Michigan elects ninth bishop
The Sentinal-Standard (Ionia, MI) reported on the outcome of the special electing convention for their next bishop. The Revd Whayne Hougland, currently rector of St Luke's Church in Salisbury, N.C. was elected as the ninth bishop of the diocese.

18 May 2013: Australian bishop resigns in wake of child sex abuse complaints
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the resignation of the Rt Revd Keith Slater as Bishop of Grafton over failure to deal with child sex abuse complaints. The Australian also has a report.

18 May 2013: Renovations complete on thousand-year-old Portsmouth Cathedral
The News (Portsmouth, UK) reports the successful completion of major renovations to the ancient Portsmouth Cathedral.

17 May 2013: Okoh on peace with Boko Haram
Channels TV (Nigeria) reported on the remarks by the Most Rev Nicholas Okoh where he urged the federal government's committee on dialogue and amnesty for Boko Haram not to accept peace on Boko Haram's terms. Okoh demanded justice for all the Christians that have been killed in the sect's insurgency.

14 May 2013: Archbishop Sir Ellison Pogo is dead
Anglican Taonga reports that former Archbishop of Melanesia Sir Ellison Pogo, famous and beloved one-time leader of the Anglican Church in Melanesia, has died of lymphoma.

14 May 2013: GTS announces new Dean and President
The General Theological Seminary (New York) announced the Revd Kurt Dunkle has been elected as the next Dean and President. Dunkle officially starts in his new position 1 July 2013.

11 May 2013: Former Archbishop of York accused of child-abuse cover-up
The Church Times (London) reports that the current Archbishop of York announced recently that an independent inquiry is to be launched into allegations that a former Archbishop of York, David Hope, covered up child abuse by a cathedral dean. Additional coverage of this issue is in the Yorkshire Post, The Independent, and various other publications.

11 May 2013: New archbishop in New Zealand
Radio New Zealand News reports on the installation of the Most Revd Philip Richardson as one of the three archbishops jointly sharing the leadership of the Anglican church in that country. Anglican Taonga (an official news site) has a longer report with pictures, but it is less accessible to people unfamiliar with the structure of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia. Whenever we report on something happening in NZ, we like to remind you to have a look at the webcam for the Cardboard Cathedral to see how nicely it's coming along this winter.

10 May 2013: Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at now-closed Anglican school in Australia
The Australian reports that 'The little Anglican boarding school of St Barnabas, in the misty mountain town of Ravenshoe, north Queensland, was allegedly a hotbed of physical and sexual abuse in the 1960s.' The allegations of 'brutal physical punishment and sexual abuse' involve two consecutive headmasters and more than one staff member, some of whom have already been convicted. Another article in that same newspaper reports an admission by former Anglican Church officials that they were aware of the abuse and did not take action.

10 May 2013: Statistics, Part I: Church of England
The Church Times reported on the 2011 attendance figures for the Church of England. The full report is available on the C of E website. 'A "quiet confidence" underlies the latest church-attendance figures, which report growth in 20 out of the 44 dioceses'.

10 May 2013: Statistics, Part II: Diocese of Mara, Tanzania
The Church Times published an opinion piece by the Revd Stephen Spencer about the exponential increase in parishes in the Diocese of Mara under the Rt Revd Hilkiah Omindo. Bishop Omindo is very clear about the reason for this growth: people are attracted to the Anglican Church because it proclaims a holistic salvation, of the body as well as the soul.

10 May 2013: Church in Ghana goes 'wild'
The Chronicle (Accra) reported on the rebranding efforts of the Church in Ghana. The Rt Revd Dr Daniel Sylvanus Mensah Torto, Bishop of Accra, said the church was organising a three-day crusade in Accra to underpin 'our vision to build the Anglican Diocese of Accra'.

9 May 2013: First female Dean of Llandaff Cathedral quits after two months
Wales Online tells us about the resignation of Janet Henderson as Dean of Llandaff after two months on the job. The article gives us the impression that she was overwhelmed by the negativity from clergy who resented the appointment of a woman.

8 May 2013: Communiqué from ARCIC
The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission has issued a communiqué after its meeting in Rio de Janeiro. If you are fond of communiqués and have absolutely nothing better to do, you can read it here at the Anglican Communion News Service.