Tuesday 16 February 2016

Ecumenical News

Exciting news as the Church of England declares itself to be in something like communion with the Church of Scotland. Which is not the same as the Church of England in Scotland, which is the Episcopal Church. Except they don't like being called the Church of England in Scotland as that's not their real name. And it's got the word "England" in it. And they aren't all that keen on the pact between the Church of England and the Church of Scotland. Or something. If you're confused, try and keep up.

After the Russian Orthodox Patriarch met the Pope at a Cuban airport, the Bishop of Bath and Wells met the Moderator of the URC in Gloucester Services. Reports that the Chief Rabbi fought for the last bag of pretzels in Harrow Tesco with a District Chair of the Methodist Church are described as "merely gossip".

In other news, GafCon has been referred to OfCon, the Office of Conference Regulation. When the Anglican Church in Aotearoa met with the Australian Catholic Church, it went to extra time. The replay will be held at a neutral venue. Probably Switzerland.

9 comments :

  1. Misread "Gloucester Services" thinking the meeting with the Moderator had been at Evensong listening to the Mag and Nunc of Herbert Howells.

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    1. I thought it was where you get a cup of tea on the M5

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    2. It looks like the home of the Teletubbies.

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  2. It's about time we brought those pesky Non-Conformists into the fold. After all, they over took the throne in 1603, only to surrender to the Germans in 1837.

    We have the upper hand now, as nobody likes Mrs Sturgeon, too 'lefty' for their taste, so making peace with the Auld enemy makes sense. Mind you, we need to be careful of their links with France, as they did some underhand stuff together with Mary Queen of Scots.

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    1. I think you'd be hard-pushed to suggest James I and his offspring were nonconformist. Indeed it were their Catholic tendencies that caused a lot of trouble.

      Charles II wisely pursued a interest in sex rather than religion, which is why he's the only Stewart to be remembered with any fondness. And the German takeover was Geo I, not Victoria.

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  3. UK Viewer (Should that be English Viewer by any chance?):
    I hate to question your knowledge of English/British history but did not the surrender to the Germans take place in 1714? And then there was the little matter of a certain Dutchman who was offered the throne by the Protestant English (Church of England?) in preference to the Stuart who was the legitimate King.
    As for the Auld Alliance, alas, the newly-ascendant Protestants ditched that in favour of closer and ever closer union with their Protestant friends in England although they began to have second thoughts when the King tried to impose Bishops and other fanciful Anglican notions on the Scottish Church. (Cf. The Covenanters.)
    As for Mrs Sturgeon, Sturgeon is her maiden name so if you want to use Sturgeon you have to say Miss Sturgeon. Or maybe Ms Sturgeon.

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  4. 18b of the Agreement states:
    We accept the Nicene and the Apostles’ Creeds and confess the trinitarian and christological dogmas to which the early Councils of the Church testify.
    I don’t know who the ‘we’ are that the Agreement refers to but my local Church of Scotland minister certainly doesn’t confess “the trinitarian and christological dogmas to which the early Councils of the Church testify.” In fact he has publicly stated that he totally rejects the doctrine of the Trinity. In fact, he has gone as far as to state: “In truth, all truth about faith is temporary.”

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    1. Not a bloke you'd trust to sign an agreement in case that signature itself indicated only temporary agreement?

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  5. Nothing neutral about Switzerland. I think Ulrich Zwingli might have a thing or two to say on that score.

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