Please pray for the following candidates:

A list of Ordinations by Bishops of The Society can be found here.

Bishop Glyn joined his brother Catholic Bishops in issuing this Pastoral Letter.  He asks that it be made available, in all our churches on Sunday 20 July 2014.

The approval of the Women Bishops legislation brings to an end a decade of debate about what provision should be made for those who are unable, for theological reasons, to receive the ministry of women as priests and bishops.

In the earlier stages of that debate we offered the Church of England a vision of how provision could be made with full ecclesiological integrity not just for us but also for the Church of England as a whole. It is now clear that the reality will be shaped differently, and will fall short of our ideal.

None the less, we believe that we can have confidence in our future as catholics who are called to live out our Christian vocation in the Church of England, maintaining a distinctive witness to the quest for the unity of the Church. The House of Bishops’ Declaration embodies a commitment to enabling us to flourish within the Church of England’s life and structures. It does so because our theological convictions about ministry and ordination remain within the spectrum of Anglican teaching and tradition. As Resolution III.2 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference stated, ‘those who dissent from, as well as those who assent to, the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate are both loyal Anglicans’.

The Declaration assures us that bishops will continue to be consecrated within the Church of England who can provide episcopal ministry that accords with our theological convictions. It makes provision for parishes to gain access to that episcopal ministry by passing a new resolution, supported by a Resolution of Disputes Procedure established by regulations made under Canon, with an Independent Reviewer. We will be offering advice and resources to parishes to assist with this.

We note that bishops’ authority to exercise episcopal functions comes from their ordination as bishops, and that that authority is distinct from the legal authority that they receive by delegation from the diocesan bishop. The debate over the nature of provision for our future life as catholics within the Church of England has helped us to focus on this important point with greater clarity.

The Society will have a crucial role to play in providing a continuing sacramental life in which parishes, clergy and people are in full and uninterrupted communion with the bishop who ministers to them, and with each other. We will ensure that parishes receive support in articulating the theological convictions that the Society exists to embody and, where necessary, in participating in the Resolution of Disputes Procedure.

As your bishops, we want to thank you for your faithfulness during this long period of uncertainty. Now that the debate about provision is over and the House of Bishops’ Declaration is in place, we can look forward to a time of greater stability in which, by the grace of almighty God, we can all focus, with renewed energy, on proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord, and on witnessing to him as we serve our local communities and our nation.

On behalf of the Council of Bishops                         

+ TONY PONTEFRACT                                         

The Rt Revd Tony Robinson                                      The Commemoration of John Keble

Bishop of Pontefract                                                   Monday 14 July 2014

Chairman

Heavenly Father,

Bless the bishops, clergy and people of The Society.

Bind us together in love and faith.

Renew us in service and witness.

And by your Holy Spirit

Guide our future and make plain your purposes.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Saint Wilfrid, pray for us.

Saint Hilda, pray for us.

Pastoral Letter (PDF) – for printing or linking to

Bishop Glyn shares his immediate reflections on the vote at General Synod this afternoon:  "Whilst today's vote in General Synod didn't come as any great surprise it doesn't necessarily mean that we're not shocked at the outcome.  However, the tone of the debate was positive, gracious and even generous from all quarters.  The fact that this was so, gives me hope for the future and for our honoured place as Catholics in the Church of England.  Even more importantly I continue to trust in Christ's Lordship over His Church. 

I hope this is enough for the moment to accompany this statement, because what I believe we need now, is a time of reflection, to take stock and pray before saying too much about how I see the future.  However if anyone reading this is anxious or worried please don't hesitate to get in touch with me."

Statement from the Council of Bishops

Many in the Church of England are celebrating today, following final approval of the legislation to permit women to be ordained as bishops.

While recognizing this, we deeply regret the further obstacle that this decision places in the path to the full, visible unity of the whole Church.

We do, however, welcome the provision that has been made in the House of Bishops’ Declaration. It recognizes that our theological convictions about ministry and ordination remain within the spectrum of Anglican teaching and tradition. It assures us that bishops will continue to be consecrated within the Church of England who can provide episcopal ministry that accords with those theological convictions. It makes provision for parishes to gain access to that episcopal ministry by passing resolutions.

This gives us confidence in our future as catholics who are called to live out our Christian vocation in the Church of England. For this we give thanks to God.

On behalf of the Council of Bishops                         

+ TONY PONTEFRACT                                         

Rt Revd Tony Robinson                                            

Bishop of Pontefract

Chairman

Bishop Glyn will be hosting a series of meetings for his clergy throughout this week - detail here.

Bishop Glyn was asked to write a reflection for the Diocese of York Newsletter. This is what he wrote...

They say a week is a long time in politics. The week following Jesus’ resurrection had to feel even longer for the disciples in the Gospel according to John (20.19-29).  On that first day of the week, the disciples met together in a house.  They were afraid, so they locked the doors. Now, Thomas wasn’t with them for some reason. But, despite the locked doors, the risen Jesus came and stood among the ten disciples who were there and said ’Peace be with you’, and they were glad when they saw the Lord.  At some point later, Thomas came to the house, and the ten disciples said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord’. But he would not believe them. He said: ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’  And that is why he is often referred to as Doubting Thomas, the apostle whose feast we celebrate on the 3rd of July. But I don’t think that’s terribly fair to Thomas. What’s most important about Thomas in this passage is not his doubting, but rather his dissenting. Dissenting Thomas I might call him instead, because, in his conscience, he could not believe what he had been told.  And I think that is important, and I think that Jesus thinks it is important, too. More on that in a moment.

Now, what is important for us present-day disciples of Jesus, as General Synod votes on giving final approval to the possibility of ordaining women to the episcopate, is what John the Evangelist says next, namely, ‘A week later Jesus’ disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.’ That week had to have been a long week. The ten disciples who had seen Jesus were convinced of his resurrection.  Thomas was not. They could not disagree more about something more fundamental. Yet they stayed together. The ten didn’t excommunicate Thomas, and Thomas didn’t leave.

Their love for one another, their bonds of affection, had to have been more important to them than their disagreement. And in that sense, they were all truly Jesus’ disciples, for, as Jesus had said after he had washed the disciples feet, ‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’. (John 13.34-5)  I think that this might point to the reason Jesus appeared to some but not all of his disciples on that first day of the week, and then gave them all a week to live in difference together, to see what they would do.

Would the ten say to Thomas, ‘Because you do not believe, you have no part with us?’ Or would Thomas say to the ten: ‘Because I do not believe, I have no part with you?’ No.  No-one said anything of the sort.  They stayed together. After that week, Jesus then appeared to all of them, including Thomas, and Thomas, the supposedly Doubting Thomas, (and this is why that name makes no sense) then made the greatest Christological confession recorded in the Scriptures saying, ‘My Lord and my God!’, something it took the rest of the Church until the mid-Fifth Century to realise for themselves. 

We, in the Church of England, are at a point in our discipleship not too dissimilar from that of the eleven after Jesus’ resurrection. We disagree about something important. Some of us favour the possibility of ordaining women to the episcopate. Some of us do not. Will those who favour this possibility make room for those who do not, as the ten did for Thomas?  Will those who do not favour this possibility stay in the Church, as Thomas did in that house? I hope and pray that we all will, make room for one another and stay together.  Just as Thomas was as much a true disciple of Jesus as the ten were - he was the one who had said previously, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him’ (John 11.16) - so are Anglicans who disagree with the ordination of women to the episcopate as much loyal Anglicans as those who agree with the ordination of women to the episcopate.

Love is indeed stronger than death, as Jesus’ resurrection proves. It is also stronger than difference, as the disciples staying together proves. May everyone know us all, despite our disagreement, as the disciples of Jesus by our love for one another.

The Rt Revd Glyn Webster,

Bishop of Beverley

See: http://dioceseofyork.org.uk/uploads/attachment/1821/july-2014-newsletter-read-online.pdf

Bishop Glyn continues to remain somewhat immobile and still in severe pain.  He is taking a hefty cocktail of painkillers (occasionally washed down with Gin) which are only having a moderate impact on easing the pain.  He feels he's been confined to the house for long enough now!  Bishop Glyn is desperate to be out and about, therefore he is doing his best to do what he can manage.  At the moment the root problem is still undiagnosed and he is awaiting the results of a recent MRI scan.  However the symptoms do seem to point towards a neurological problem.  He has been grateful for your prayers thus far and would be grateful for your continued prayerful support.