News Briefs

news from around the communion and around the world

Zambian Anglican Priests Call for Women in Leadership

A senior priest at Lusaka's Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the Rev. Derrick Muwina, has,
with the support of two other Anglican clerics, challenged the Anglican church in Central Africa to start encouraging women to take up positions of leadership in the church.

Muwina, an assistant priest to Canon William Vwapu, was reported in The Weekly Angel newspaper urging the younger generation to redress gender imbalances in the church in the African nation.

"We must deliberately encourage a policy in which women are not looked down upon. The problem is that in the Anglican church, we look down on women as is the case in secular society," said Muwina. He cited places like Britain and the United States where women, he said, serve as lay leaders and in formal leadership roles including that of priest.

The Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa includes Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The province is among the 14 provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion that do not ordain women as priests.

"The time has indeed come for the Provincial Synod to change the system of gender segregation in the Anglican church," said Muwina. "We are hoping that in no distant future, we can witness women serving as priests in Zambia, Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe." Another priest, the Rev. Samuel Zulu, said it was imperative to promote gender equality to match the commitments of the Southern Africa Development Community.

Fourteen States Now Considering Funeral-Protection Legislation

At least 14 states, many of them in the central part of the country, are developing laws banning demonstrations at funerals, according to a recent Associated Press story.

The force behind this flurry of legislation is the independent Westboro Baptist church of Topeka, a small but vocal congregation, most of whom are the extended family of preacher Fred Phelps. For several years the group has picketed funerals - including those of a gay teen who committed suicide and a Jewish lawyer who had represented Planned Parenthood - with signs declaring the deaths to be retribution from an angry God. More recently Westboro Baptist has begun picketing military funerals, declaring that the dead were struck down for fighting for a country that "defends homosexuals and adulterers."

States considering legislation include Kansas, Kentucky, Iowa, Oklahoma, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, South Dakota, Vermont, Illinois, West Virginia and Virginia. The Westboro group remains defiant. "If they pass a law that gets in our way, they will be violating the Constitution," said a spokesman for the group, "and we will sue them."

Vatican Report: Limbo is Now in Limbo

Recently 30 top theologians from around the world met at the Vatican to discuss, among other matters, the problem of what happens to babies who die without baptism.

As theological advisers to Pope Benedict XVI, the 30 moved to rid the church of an idea - Limbo - that, never an official doctrine, has been around since the Middle Ages. The tradition.is already largely out of favor in a modern world that finds it unacceptable to refuse innocents entry into heaven.

"These days [Limbo] prompts more snickers that anything," noted one Vatican reporter, "but it remains an interesting concept."

Episcopal Women's Organizations Form New Council

Members from the Council of Women's Ministries concluded a planning retreat attended by leaders from eight of the founding organizations of the Council, and The Rev. Margaret Rose and Kim Robey of the Office of Women's Ministries. The retreat decided to rename the council and refocus on the original mission of the council: to provide a support network and encourage cooperation among organizations that began as ministries by women. Many of the groups have male members, but all remain under women's leadership.

Recognizing that women do ministry in many ways, the group has chosen a new name: the Council of Episcopal Women's Organizations. Members of the Council are the presidents of each group. Groups are expected to name an alternate so that there will always be a representative able to attend meetings. The purpose of the group is to provide support and to look for ways that organizations can cooperate.

The Rev. Barbara Schlacter, chair of the Committee on the Status of Women, pointed out the possibilities of cooperation between groups, naming as an example the collaborative efforts of the Committee, the Episcopal Women's Caucus, and the Episcopal Women's History Project to produce an interactive Timeline exhibit for Triennial and General Convention.

The Director of Women's Ministries, the Rev. Margaret Rose, noted: "These organizations offer important ministries...I am looking forward to working with the Council of Episcopal Women's Organizations."

Organizations represented at the retreat were Episcopal Church Women, the Committee on the Status of Women, the Episcopal Women's Caucus, the Episcopal Women's History Project, the National Altar Guild, the United Thank Offering, the Girl's Friendly Society, and Episcopal Asian Women. The Council welcomes additional organizations.