The VIII Bishop of New Hampshire, the Rt. Rev. Douglas Theuner, has died.

‘The news of the devastating storm in the Philippines is tragic, and my heart goes out to the people there. We are all deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the loss of thousands of lives and of the suffering of millions as a result of Typhoon Haiyan.

‘Our prayers are with all who have lost loved ones and all those who are traumatised by the disaster and in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical attention. We pray for those who are most vulnerable in this crisis: children separated from their parents, the sick and injured, the disabled and the elderly.

‘As a Church, we will stand beside the people of the Philippines at this devastating time, offering all we can in practical and spiritual support as the scale of the disaster unfolds.

‘I note that the relief work has already commenced and my prayer is that governments, agencies, churches and individuals will respond generously to help the people of the Philippines to recover and rebuild their shattered lives.

‘May the victims of this terrible storm know God’s comfort and derive strength from their faith.’

The Archbishop of Canterbury has today paid a poignant visit to the Ministry of Defence and the Cenotaph, coinciding with the 95th anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War.

Episcopal Relief & Development has reached out to its partners in the Philippines, as Super Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the central part of the country on the morning of November 8.

According to reports, Haiyan is the strongest typhoon this year and may be one of the strongest in history, with winds that peaked at 195 miles per hour.  The impact of the storm caused flash flooding, mudslides and 30-foot storm surges, and knocked out power and communications networks in several provinces.

At this early point in the storm, three deaths have been confirmed and seven injuries reported.  As many as one million people fled to safer areas, with some 125,000 taking refuge in evacuation centers.  Authorities had warned earlier that approximately 12 million people were at risk due to the storm.

Among those most at risk were the estimated 270,000 people who had been residing in tents and other makeshift shelters following the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the central Philippines on October 15, killing 222 people.

“Our partner, the Episcopal Church in the Philippines, has done excellent work in the area of disaster risk reduction over the past few years, but when events come one on top of the other like this, challenges are compounded,” said Abagail Nelson, Episcopal Relief & Development’s Senior Vice President for Programs.  “We are standing ready to offer assistance as the local Church assesses needs and identifies areas where it can best help vulnerable people in this difficult time.”

Please pray for the Church in the Philippines and for all those affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Your donation to the Disaster Response Fund will enable Episcopal Relief & Development to offer immediate assistance where most needed in times of disaster.

In one of their first decisions as the Central Committee for the World Council of Churches, the newly installed 150-member committee made history Friday by electing Dr Agnes Abuom of Nairobi, from the Anglican Church of Kenya, as the moderator of the highest WCC governing body.

Abuom, who was elected unanimously to the position, is the first woman and the first African in the position in the 65-year history of the WCC.

Two vice-moderators were elected, United Methodist Church Bishop Mary Ann Swenson from the USA and Prof. Dr Gennadios of Sassima of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

“My open prayer is that we shall move forward together, in the next years, despite our diversities that have the potential to divide us,” Abuom said shortly after her election, “…and that the WCC will continue to remain an instrument for providing a safe space for all who can come and share their hopes, aspirations and visions, and prophetic voice.”

Aboum said the prophetic voice is vital for “ecumenism in the 21st century and the church in our world today.”

As the first woman moderator of the worldwide body, Aboum says the model of consensus discernment “resonates very well with femine decision-making processes,” consultative and careful listening and seeking to understand the other person’s perspective.

Abuom has served on the WCC Executive Committee, representing the Anglican Church of Kenya. She is also a development consultant serving both Kenyan and international organizations coordinating social action programmes for religious and civil society across Africa.

Abuom was the Africa president for the WCC from 1999 to 2006. She has been associated with the All Africa Conference of Churches and WCC member churches in Africa. She is a co-president of the Religions for Peace and the National Council of Churches of Kenya.

Abuom’s areas of work include economic justice, peace and reconciliation.

Gennadios, who will serve his second term as the WCC Central Committee vice-moderator, is a professor of theology. He served as vice-moderator of the WCC’s Faith and Order Commission from 1998 to 2006. He was a staff member of the WCC’s Faith and Order secretariat in Geneva from 1983 to 1993. He is involved in a number of bilateral dialogues involving the Orthodox, the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches among others.

In addition to being vice-moderator of the WCC Central Committee, Gennadios has served as a member of the presidium and of the governing board of the Conference of European Churches.

Swenson, who will also serve as the WCC Central Committee vice moderator, was ordained to the ministry by the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) in 1973. Swenson also served as senior pastor of First United Methodist Church, Wenatchee, Washington from 1989 to 1992. While a pastor in Wenatchee, she also served as president of both the Board of Directors of the Rape Crisis and Domestic Violence Center, and on the Board of Directors of the North Central Washington AIDS Coalition from 1989 to 1992.

Swenson was elected to the episcopacy of the United Methodist Church by the 1992 Western Jurisdictional Conference. She now serves as president of the church’s General Commission on Christian Unity and Inter-religious Concerns (GCCUIC).

Another lie in the press release (emphasis added): “Among the assets are the properties of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Macomb, Grace Episcopal Church in Galesburg, Trinity Episcopal Church in Rock Island andChrist Episcopal Church in Moline.” That last church, however, is not mentioned in the complaint; nor is its its rector (whom, again, they sued in the suit they lost, but in his capacity as a trustee and member of the Standing Committee).

Hope for “reconciliation and mutual respect in Christ”

CHICAGO, November 6, 2013—The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and The Episcopal Church today filed suit in a circuit court in Peoria asking that clergy and lay members of a faction that broke away from the church in 2008 be ordered to relinquish control of buildings and other assets that belong to the diocese and the church.

Among the assets are the properties of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Macomb, Grace Episcopal Church in Galesburg, Trinity Episcopal Church in Rock Island and Christ Episcopal Church in Moline. The congregations in Rock Island and Moline have formed All Saints Episcopal Church in Moline.

“In our society, we invest a great deal of energy in an impartial legal system designed to help parties settle matters about which they cannot agree,” said the Rt. Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. “Although we are prepared to litigate this matter, ultimately we still hope that God will use even these legal proceedings to bring us to a place of reconciliation and mutual respect in Christ.”

A majority of the clergy and members of the former Episcopal Diocese of Quincy voted to leave the Episcopal Church in November 2008 over issues including the church’s decision to include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members more fully in its life and ministry. The remaining members of the continuing Episcopal Diocese of Quincy reunited with the Diocese of Chicago in September 2013.

“We have kept our congregations alive for five years despite the loss of our buildings and other assets because our commitment to the faithful people of west central Illinois is strong and deep,” said Tobyn Leigh, a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Galesburg who was a member of the standing committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy from 2009 until it reunified with the Diocese of Chicago. “But our witness to the Gospel—worship, education, service and outreach to the community—is challenged in temporary, borrowed and sometimes inadequate spaces that are not our own. We pray that the court will return to us what we believe is ours so that we can continue our service to the church and the world.”

In addition to a permanent injunction compelling the leaders of the breakaway movement to relinquish church property, the suit also asks the court to clarify the legal status of the parishes and missions whose leaders left the Episcopal Church in 2008.

The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago includes more than 36,000 Episcopalians in congregations and chaplaincies across northern and west central Illinois. The Episcopal Bishop of Chicago is the Rt. Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee. To learn more, visit www.episcopalchicago.org.

The Archbishop of Perth Roger Herft has withheld his consent from a bill “recognizing” gay marriage adopted by the diocesan synod.

Tutu pushes for Western intervention in Syria