There were no Anglican bishops at the consecration of Bishop Brunne [the first openly lesbian bishop in the world]. The Area Dean of the Nordic and Baltic States of the Diocese in Europe, the Revd Nicholas Howe, will be one of the ecumenical guests at a later reception in her honour. The 4 Anglican Churches in Britain and Ireland and 6 Lutheran Churches in the Nordic and Baltic region (Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania) are in a relationship of communion established by the Porvoo Agreement.

See our earlier coverage here.

Married priests want to remain last of the breed

The Religious News Service reports,

[The Vatican's] welcome extends to married priests — a narrow loophole in the Catholic Church's celibacy requirement — most of those who have already converted say they want to remain rare exceptions.

''We trust the church's wisdom regarding the discipline of celibacy," said the Rev. D. Paul Sullins, who left the Episcopal Church 10 years ago with his wife and recently surveyed his colleagues on this issue. "A man who is married has two somewhat conflicting sets of commitments. It's difficult to balance them, and having a family also makes it difficult to move at short notice to another assignment."
...
Sullins, a professor at Catholic University in Washington who is working on a book about the Pastoral Provision, says the majority of clergy converts do not support an influx of married priests.

Church Society pans Rome's Anglicanorum Coetibus scheme

A bit of history first:

The original forebear of the Society was the Protestant Association hence the assertion once made by The Times that we are the 'senior evangelical body in the Church of England'.

While acknowledging the correct stand taken by Anglo-Catholics against theological liberalism (the features of which do not represent true, Biblical Anglicanism), it should also be noted that the true doctrine of the Church of England does not embrace any of the teachings or practices which characterise the Church of Rome. For instance, the Church of Rome is fundamentally flawed in its claims about its own nature and authority and in its teaching about the means of salvation.

A proper rejection of theological liberalism should therefore not be accompanied by a turning to the Church of Rome and its unbiblical teachings and practices.

They are telling Anglo-Catholics that ROME’S interpretation of the faith once delivered is unbiblical and is in contrast to what Anglican formularies have always taught etc.—which is perhaps a warning that some Anglo-Catholics need to hear. One of the common misunderstandings of this whole matter (especially among evangelical and reformed Anglicans) is the assumption that Anglo-Catholic beliefs are in complete agreement with Roman Catholic beliefs at every point and that, therefore, the acceptance of Rome’s offer by Anglo-Catholics is a “slam dunk.”

Breaking: Sydney clergy indifferent to Anglican identity

Michael Jensen (son of Peter Jensen) writes:

I asked them ‘how do you understand your identity as an Anglican?’ – and was met with baffled looks and shrugs. The denomination is a ‘good boat to fish from’, mostly, but there is (it seems to me) no great passion for Anglicanism itself and no great commitment to study its formularies and its history.

Anglicanism has a great sense of what is of primary and what is of secondary importance. Other Protestant denominations have a tendency to make secondary issues – like the manner of baptism or church discipline or church government – a primary distinguishing mark. And they endlessly divide because of it.

To quote The Very Rev. Nicolas Knisely, "we need to keep pointing out what makes us something more than Junior Varsity Roman Catholics or dramatic Protestants."