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 archbishop resigns in wake of child sex abuse complaints
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the resignation of the Rt Revd Keith Slater as Archbishop 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.

4 May 2013: Bishop election in New Jersey
The Times of Trenton reported the election of the Revd William Stokes as twelfth bishop in the Diocese of New Jersey. The diocesan website for the search process has the full press release and statement from the bishop-elect.

3 May 2013: Irish priest declines appointment as bishop
The Church Times (London) reports that 'The Ven Leslie Stevenson, who was to have been consecrated this week as Bishop of Meath & Kildare, in the Irish Republic, withdrew on Sunday after a press campaign against him.' There is a vast amount of blog-like commentary online on this decision, none of which we deem worthy of your attention.

3 May 2013: Chichester warned against complacency
The Church Times reports on the conclusion of the final report of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Visitation of the Diocese of Chichester (the first such event for more than a century) and notes its warning that the diocese 'despite "enormous steps forward" in safeguarding, ... must avoid the temptation to give the impression that "everything is all right".' The Diocese of Chichester was found to have had 'an appalling history' of failures in safeguarding powerless people against clergy abuse, and the report urged 'a radical change of culture'. The BBC filed this thoughtful report on the abuse and the recent visitation.

2 May 2013: RIP: The Revd Ian Weathrall
The Hindustan Times reported on the passing of Father Ian Weathrall, the last British member of the Church of North India's Delhi Brotherhood, who died this week at the age of 91.

1 May 2013: Canadian bishop sues blogger
The Spectator (Hamilton, Ontario) tells us 'The Bishop of Niagara is suing a blogger over online material he claims was fashioned to hold the spiritual leader of 25,000 Anglicans up to ridicule and contempt.'

29 April 2013: British bankers like the ABC
A blogger at The Economist (London) says that bankers in that country have expressed respect for the financial competence of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

28 April 2013: Bishop election in Botswana
The Anglican Communion News Service reports on the recent election of Fr Metlhayotlhe Rawlings Belemi, a priest working in South Africa, as the bishop-elect of the Diocese of Botswana.

26 April 2013: Christ Church, Dublin bells muffled after complaints
In 1688, the Lord Mayor of Dublin put the cathedral's officers in the stocks, after complaining that the bells did not ring cheerily enough for the birth of the Prince of Wales. In 2013, the BBC reports that when the cathedral began allowing tourists to ring the bells, to raise money, Dublin City Council received two complaints, and the ringing-master fitted mufflers to the bells. The mufflers will be removed during the weekly practice and normal bell ringing on Sundays.

24 April 2013: Retiring Anglican ambassador to the Vatican blasts 'raid'
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the remarks of Canon David Richardson, the just-retired Anglican ambassador to the Vatican. He characterized the creation of the ordinariate by the Vatican as a 'raid' that was offensive and embarrassing.

24 April 2013: Lambeth Palace book theft revealed and recovered
The BBC reported on the 'curious tale of the stolen books' from the library at Lambeth Palace. The Spectator had a story about the 'repentant book thief of Lambeth Palace' published a fortnight ago. Both are well worth the read!

23 April 2013: Bishop of Chichester admits child abuse cover-up
The BBC tells us the Bishop of Chichester has admitted that there had been cover-ups in that diocese in child sexual abuse cases. The accused priest died in 2006, but his victims are alive to receive the admission. The priest was ordained in 1966 despite having been convicted of child sex abuse.

21 April 2013: Sydney inner-city church's parish hall gutted by fire
Australia's news.com tells us that the parish hall of Holy Trinity Church Dulwich Hill, now used primarily as a community centre, was burned to the ground yesterday. The Australian, whose headline writer needs further training, says it was arson by a 'disgruntled kid'. Early reports in Sydney media had the church itself burning down, but the fire was in the hall across the street, which was used as a church in the distant past.

20 April 2013: Anglican parishes in Zimbabwe continue to heal
The Anglican Communion News Service has published a report by a parish priest in Mutare in the Diocese of Manicaland, on the rededication of the Cathedral of St John the Baptist after its rogue former bishop had been dealt with by Zimbabwe's government.

19 April 2013: All of the cardboard now installed at 'Cardboard Cathedral'
The transitional cathedral in Christchurch New Zealand continues to delight us as we follow the progress of its construction on its webcam. Construction projects being what they are, we don't think we'll buy airplane tickets to go see it until we're sure it is ready. Meanwhile the political fights about the 'real' cathedral continue; this week The Press reports a statement by the Dean that 'The new Christ Church Cathedral design is unlikely to be settled by a public referendum.' The diocesan synod has just voted on the design, and according to Anglican Taonga, the vote was an 'overwhelming endorsement to the most modern of the three concepts for a new cathedral in the Square.'

18 April 2013: Supreme Court of Virginia upholds ruling in favor of US Episcopal Church
The Diocese of Virginia (which calls itself just 'the Diocese') has announced the ruling by Virginia's highest court that supports a lower-court ruling that returns one of the oldest churches in North America to the US Episcopal Church's Diocese of Virginia. The Washington Post published this report on the ruling.

15 April 2013: Status of proposed diocesan merger in West Yorkshire
Thinking Anglicans reported on the status of the Scheme to merge the diocese of Wakefield, Bradford, and Ripon & Leeds. This complex action would affect some neighouring diocese such as Blackburn and Sheffield.

15 April 2013: New bishop elected in Toronto
The Diocese of Toronto has announced the election of the Ven Peter Fenty as suffragan bishop. He will be the first person of African descent to be a bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada.

14 April 2013: Sydney has a racetrack chaplain
Harnesslink reports that the Revd Gary Bennetts, the son of a horse trainer and pastor of St Martin's church, Georges Hall, has been appointed as Bankstown Paceway's racecourse chaplain. A spokesperson said that Bennetts, a man of the cloth and of the saddle cloth, would care for stable workers and patrons at the track.

13 April 2013: The emergence of 'Emergents'
The Winnipeg Free Press has an interesting article about Phyllis Tickle and her latest book, Emergence Christianity: What it is, Where it is Going and Why it Matters. Tickle will be in Winnipeg to share what she has found on 26-27 April.

12 April 2013: Bishop of New Westminster to retire
The Diocese of New Westminster (Canada) has posted the announcement of the Rt Revd Michael Ingham's plan to retire 31 August 2013. He is currently the longest-serving active bishop in the Canadian church.

9 April 2013: Canadian priest accused of fraud and theft
The Winnipeg Free Press explains that the priest in the Diocese of Brandon who is accused of stealing more than CDN$190,000 is the son of the diocesan bishop.

9 April 2013: English priest convicted of child sex abuse despite coverup attempts
The Mail (London) comments that 'A judge has condemned the Church of England and social services for a cover-up that allowed a vicar who sexually abused a teenage orphan to escape justice for 26 years.' The Lancashire Telegraph assures us that the guilty priest confessed to the crime and was jailed for 3 years.

8 April 2013: Email scam in Southern Africa
The Anglican Communion News Service reported some emails being sent out by person(s) unknown are impersonating Archbishop Thabo Makgoba. The emails are designed to extort money, for example through issuing invitations to speak at conferences and then seeking banking details into which to pay travel costs.