GILES FRASER RESIGNS AS CANON CHANCELLOR AT ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

From the BBC:

The canon chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral has resigned from his post.

Dr Giles Fraser has been sympathetic to the Occupy anti-capitalist protest camp outside, which has led to the cathedral's closure.

Dr Fraser said on Twitter: "It is with great regret and sadness that I have handed in my notice at St Paul's Cathedral."

The Dean of St Paul's, the Right Reverend Graeme Knowles, said he was "sorry to see him go".

St Paul's, which closed last week, could reopen to the public on Friday. A decision will be made later.

Good for Dr Fraser. It's sad that he is no longer in the inner circle of decision-making at St Paul's, but the others probably were not listening to him anyway.

Drawing of Giles Fraser by Adrian Worsfold who writes at Pluralist Speaks and says of Giles Fraser, "His view of the Church was of peace, of bias to the poor and the right to protest." Amen.

Do read Mark Harris' post on Giles Fraser titled 'Canon Giles Fraser, The best of what we can be'.

ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL TO REOPEN ON FRIDAY

From Reuters:

London's St Paul's Cathedral is expected to reopen to the public on Friday, a week after church leaders closed its doors for the first time since World War Two, blaming safety risks posed by anti-capitalism protesters camped outside.
....

The Dean of St Paul's, the Right Reverend Graeme Knowles, said he hoped the church would reopen with a service on Friday, subject to a final decision on Thursday.

However, he said he still wanted the protesters to pack up their campsite and that court action was still being considered.

H/T to Peter Carey at The Lead.

As I said at The Lead, 'There now, that wasn't so hard, was it, lads? Once again, the £££ will flow in. Oh, and worshipers can worship.'

HOW TO MAKE WOMEN EXERCISE

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

STORY OF THE DAY - PARADISE

I could never live in Paradise, she said. I
don't look that good naked.

Oh dear! I'm afraid I'm ruled out, too. :-(

From Story People.

MORE ON ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL IN LONDON

According to Ann Fontaine at The Lead, the Times in London is reporting that Canon Giles Fraser will resign if the Occupy the Stock Exchange protestors are evicted.

...Dr Giles Fraser, who is responsible for the cathedral’s relations with the financial institutions of the City of London, is understood to be prepared to quit should it take legal action against the 200 tents forming an increasingly permanent-looking settlement on its land.
....
A resignation from Dr Fraser would make him a martyr for the anti-capitalist cause and prove hugely embarrassing to the cathedral and the Church. If the cathedral does not try to oust the protesters, however, it will be forced into the humiliating position of reopening with the tents still in place, or remaining closed for months — putting events such as the Remembrance Day services at risk and losing the cathedral about £16,000 a day in tourist revenue.

Only subscribers can read the article online.

We'll wait and see how the story develops.

The Guardian editorial titled 'City and cathedral: The whited sepulchre' blasts the dean and chapter of St Paul's Cathedral for threatening an injunction to remove the protestors.

If the dean and chapter continue their steps towards evicting they will be playing the villains in a national pantomime. There will be legal battles and, eventually, physical force. At every step, the cathedral authorities will be acting in the service of absurdity and injustice. Yet this is where the logic of their position is leading them. They must see this, and stop. Jesus denounced his Pharisaic enemies as whited sepulchres, or shining tombs; and that is what the steam-cleaned marble frontage of St Paul's will become if the protesters are evicted to make room for empty pomp: a whited sepulchre, where morality and truth count for nothing against the convenience of the heritage industry.

Ouch! Read it all. I can't say I disagree with the editorial.

H/T to Simon Sarmiento at Thinking Anglicans.

UPDATE: I have to wonder why the members of the staff of the cathedral don't talk to the protestors. It's all open letters and press releases. Good heavens! Go amongst them and talk to them.

UPDATE 2: In the comments, themethatisme, who writes at Conscientisation, but not very often, provides the link to the supporters of St Paul's Cathedral. Verrry interesting. I couldn't find my name or theme's name.

ANGLICAN COVENANT - NOT A BIBLICAL IDEA

A Covenant for the Anglican Communion

Not a Biblical idea

Remind yourself of all the ways in which the word “Covenant” is used in the Bible. The dominant idea, seen from Noah and Abraham through to Jesus is of a God initiated plan to bring sinful human beings back into relationship with him. The prophets, speaking in God’s name, refer to “my covenant”.

Then think about the prophetic commentary on the content of those covenants, including the extensive legal commentaries or penal provisions, which indicates how easily human beings revert to the letter of the law, rather than honouring its spirit – and apply that law to others, rather than applying it to themselves. We say that we are saved by grace, not by law, and yet it is so easy to act as if the opposite is true. What did Jesus say about such things?

I am reminded of Tony Hancock’s reworking of the film “Twelve angry men” – “Does Magna Carta mean nothing to you? Did she die in vain?” Is this document with which we are faced worthy of being put alongside the New Covenant in Christ’s blood, of which we remind ourselves at every eucharist?

If legislation or formal documentation had been sufficient to restore relationships, our Biblical narrative would be very different, and have a different trajectory. In fact our salvation in Jesus points us in a wholly different direction, and reminds us that we cannot legislate for good relationships, only to mediate the arguments which happen in bad ones.

Because the direction of this “covenant” does not match the Biblical plan for restoring relationships, it will not work, and in fact will draw us away from the true Biblical path which we need to follow if we are to follow Jesus.

Mark Bennet
22 October 2011

Amen! Mark makes an excellent case against the covenant from an evangelical view. I have nothing to add to Mark's wise words.

Mark Bennet is a priest in the Church of England, an open evangelical, and member of Fulcrum.

ALWAYS ASK, NEVER ASSUME

His request approved, the CNN News photographer quickly used a cell phone to call the local airport to charter a flight.

He was told a twin-engine plane would be waiting for him at the airport.

Arriving at the airfield, he spotted a plane warming up outside a hanger.

He jumped in with his bag, slammed the door shut, and shouted, 'Let's go'.

The pilot taxied out, swung the plane into the wind and took off. Once in the air, the photographer instructed the pilot, 'Fly over the valley and make low passes so I can take pictures of the fires on the hillsides.'

'Why?' asked the pilot.

'Because I'm a photographer for CNN', he responded, 'and I need to getsome close up shots.'

The pilot was strangely silent for a moment, ....finally he stammered,

'So...., what you're telling me,.... is........ You're NOT my flight instructor?'

"Life is short. Drink the good wine first."

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

WHO'S THE CLEVERER?

An article in the Telegraph on the Occupy the London Stock Exchange protestors who are camped out on the grounds of the West front of St Paul's Cathedral headlines their story 'A sullied cathedral'. Now at first you may think that the cathedral is sullied by the unwelcoming stance of the staff of the cathedral and the decision to close off the church to all worshipers and visitors, except if you are at all familiar with the newspaper, you'd know better. The writer is shocked...shocked:

So far, there has been a deafening silence from the Anglican hierarchy. Isn’t it time we learnt what the Bishop of London, or even the Archbishop of Canterbury, have to say about this squalid occupation? In a free society, people have a right to demonstrate. They do not have a right to wreak havoc on one of the capital’s most sacred spaces.

Just look at the picture of the squalid rabble in their masks, and costumes, and ramshackle tents. Who would want them hanging around sullying London's most sacred space? Besides St Paul's is losing about £20,000 a day, and if the occupation continues until Christmas, the cathedral stands to lose over a million pounds.

On the other hand

Alison, a Facebook friend, says:

Am not clever enough to join in this debate. All I know is that I walked past St Paul's yesterday and wondered what the hell the Dean & Chapter are making such a ridiculous fuss about. I won't be returning to St Paul's in a hurry (if they open again, that is...). I think their decision to close is making them look more and more stupid (and suspect) by the day...

It's only my humble opinion, of course, but Alison's words seems far cleverer than the the words of the writer in the Telegraph. It's quite sad that St Paul's Cathedral is no longer 'a house of prayer', but it seems to me that the cathedral would stand to lose a lot less money if they'd reopen to worshipers and visitors once again, if not for lofty reasons, in their own self interest.

UPDATE: Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, weighs in on the protests:

A statement by the Bishop of London on the protest outside St Paul's Cathedral.

"This demonstration has undoubtedly raised a number of very important questions. The St Paul's Institute has itself focused on the issue of executive pay and I am involved in ongoing discussions with City leaders about improving shareholder influence on excessive remuneration.

"Nevertheless, the time has come for the protestors to leave, before the camp's presence threatens to eclipse entirely the issues that it was set up to address. The Dean and the Chapter, who are responsible for St Paul's, have already made it clear that the protest should come to an end and I fully support that view." (My emphasis)

Bishop Chartres has only the protestors interests at heart. It's not the money or the messy encampment that troubles him.

It strikes me that the issue of the injustice inherent in huge wage disparities is an issue worth pursuing whether the protestors are present at St Paul's or not. Will the St Paul Institute discontinue the discussion of the injustice, if the protesters don't leave? Lame, truly lame.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE RESOLUTION - 'UNABLE TO ADOPT THE COVENANT'

From Episcopal News Service:

The Episcopal Church's Executive Council will submit a resolution to General Convention next year that would have it state that the church is "unable to adopt the Anglican Covenant in its present form."

The resolution also promises that the church will "recommit itself to dialogue with the several provinces when adopting innovations which may be seen as threatening the unity of the communion" and commits to "continued participation in the wider councils of the Anglican Communion" and dialogue "with our brothers and sisters in other provinces to deepen understanding and to insure the continued integrity of the Anglican Communion."

The 77th meeting of General Convention July 5-12, 2012 will decide whether to pass, amend and pass, or reject the resolution. Convention is "the only body that can act on behalf of the whole church in this matter," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said during a post-meeting press conference.

The unanimous decision to submit the resolution to convention came Oct. 24, on the last day of council's four-day meeting here.

A covenant task force, composed of six council members, based its recommendation to council in a report that is available in English here and Spanish here.

Excellent. There's more, much more at ENS, including a link to the text of the resolution.

The task force says:

The church's unity is "best expressed in our efforts to a church that fully welcomes those who have not always been welcomed," the report said.

"This understanding of who we are as a church does not allow the Executive Council to support any covenant that might jeopardize this vocation," the task force members said in the report.

"The covenant consistently ignores the importance of the role of the laity and their full expression of ministry in all spheres of the life of the church," the report said.

Amen! A church that extends full welcome to all, and an acknowledgement that the laity are not chopped liver.

EARTHQUAKE DISASTER IN TURKEY

From the Christian Science Monitor:

More than 100 people were confirmed killed and hundreds more feared dead Sunday when a powerful earthquake hit southeast Turkey, flattening buildings and leaving survivors crying for help from under the rubble.

As a cold night fell, survivors and emergency workers battled to pull hundreds of people believed to be buried under debris in the city of Van and town of Ercis, where a student dormitory collapsed.

Residents in Van joined in a frantic search, using hands and shovels and working under floodlights and flashlights, hearing voices of people buried alive calling from under mounds of broken concrete in pitch darkness and freezing temperatures.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who traveled by helicopter to the area to see firsthand the scale of Turkey's worst earthquake in a decade, told a nationally televised news conference at least 138 people had been killed -- 93 in Van city center and 45 in Ercis. The toll was expected to rise.

The situation is dire in so many ways. Pray for the people in the area of the earthquake.