Bp. Franklin to Retire in 2019

From The Living Church (North West PA and Western NY merger?)-

The Rt. Rev. R. William Franklin writes to the Diocese of Western New York to announce his plan to retire in April 2019:

When I left on sabbatical in April, I said to you that one of the things I would be doing during that time was praying and thinking about my retirement as Bishop of Western New York.

I want to share with you that I have made the decision to retire on April 3, 2019, which is the date required by the current Canons of the Episcopal Church.

I count it as one of the greatest privileges of my life that I serve you and the Church as the 11th Bishop of Western New York. It is a joy and pleasure to walk closely with each of your congregations and to see the Gospel of Christ manifested in so many places and in so many ways in our region.

Update and correction by the Diocese of Western New York: “With the consent of both Standing Committees, Bishops Franklin and [Sean] Rowe [of Northwestern Pennsylvania] discussed with clergy a plan for the two dioceses to consider the possibility of a shared future.”

More here-

http://livingchurch.org/2017/09/18/bp-franklin-to-retire-in-2019/

What's next for Episcopalians, Catholics?

From NW PA-

Two recent events mark a significant change in the ecumenical relationship of Roman Catholics and the Episcopal Church.

First, a new translation of the Mass was introduced at the beginning of Advent. Then, on New Year's Day, the Anglican Ordinariate for the United States was officially launched. The Ordinariate will serve much like a diocese created especially for Episcopalians and others of Anglican heritage who wish to be in full communion with the Pope. Such folk would fully accept Roman Catholic teaching and authority while retaining some aspects of their former life in the Episcopal Church such as liturgical texts, married priests, and (limited) democracy in governance.

With regard to worship, the recent change is a departure from decades of working together along with other ecumenical partners to provide common worship texts in the various churches and denominations.

The new Mass translation was undertaken unilaterally by the Roman Catholic Church, apparently with no ecumenical consultation. Other Christian bodies, including Episcopalians and Lutherans, made major liturgical changes after Vatican II with ecumenical optimism and a commitment to shared translations among themselves and Roman Catholics. This hopeful project has been abandoned by Rome and we have the curious situation that the "old" Mass texts can now be found in Lutheran and Episcopal churches!

More here-

http://www.goerie.com/article/20120120/OPINION08/301209991/Downey%3A-What's-next-for-Episcopalians-Catholics%3F

Erie-based Episcopal diocese continues efforts to prevent sexual abuse

From North West PA-

The double doors at the end of the hall leading to the League Room at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul used to be solid.

Now there's a window in the door on the right that looks into the parlorlike room where two couches and a love seat have been taken away.

The addition of the window and the removal of the furniture are among efforts to protect children and adults from sexual abuse in the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania.

The Erie-based diocese recently revised its Policy for the Protection of Children and Youth from Abuse and Policies for the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation of Adults and of Sexual Harassment of Church Workers.

"They're trying to create an environment and an awareness that makes the churches as safe as we can make it for children and for anyone with regard to matters of sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, sexual harassment," said the Rev. John Downey, dean of the cathedral.

The cathedral at 134 W. Seventh St. is the mother church of the 34-parish diocese that includes about 4,700 Episcopalians in 13 counties. Its bishop, the Right Rev. Sean Rowe, said the revised policies are the latest generation in a local effort that stems back to the 1990s.

More here-

http://www.goerie.com/article/20120114/NEWS02/301149947/Erie-based-Episcopal-diocese-continues-efforts-to-prevent-sexual-abuse

Rowe: How can institutional interests be placed above children?

From Erie-

In 2010, I learned that one of my predecessors, the Rt. Rev. Donald Davis, had sexually molested young girls while he was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania. That wrenching experience, and my decision to make the news public, have been much on my mind as I follow the horrifying child-rape scandal that has convulsed Penn State University.

I can't fathom how Joe Paterno, Graham Spanier, the university's former president, and other officials apparently justified their decision to place personal and institutional self-interest above the safety of vulnerable children. But it is important to understand their thinking, because, as Pat Howard detailed in Sunday's Erie Times-News, their brand of reasoning is not confined to college football or even to the Catholic Church.

Most institutions prefer to keep their secrets, particularly the damaging ones. Leaders inclined to go public with allegations against a sexual predator, and to confess their institution's culpability in the violation of children, encounter a cadre of lawyers, insurance specialists and other advisers opposed to any more transparency than is absolutely necessary.

Opponents of public confession argue that seemingly honorable acts such as telling the truth and offering to make amends are actually exercises in self-indulgence that burnish the image of the leader at the expense of the institution.

More here-

http://goerie.com/article/20111118/OPINION08/311189995/Rowe%3A-How-can-institutional-interests-be-placed-above-children%3F

St. Mark's Episcopal Church wins Erie-based food bank's top award

From North West PA-

St. Mark's Episcopal Church won the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania's top award this afternoon at the agency's 23rd annual Bread Box Awards.

The awards recognized the numerous organizations, businesses, schools and individuals that have coordinated fundraisers and food collections to benefit Second Harvest.

First-place awards were presented in nine categories at the agency's Erie warehouse, 1507 Grimm Drive, today at 1 p.m.

The winners were Wegmans (in the large business category); Jr.'s Last Laugh Comedy Club (small business); St. Mark's Episcopal Church (church); Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (college or technical school); Chestnut Hill Elementary School (elementary school); Fairview Middle School (middle school); Youngsville High School (high school); Tom Jennings (individual); National Association of Letter Carriers (organization).

Awards were based on points earned for creativity, community awareness of hunger issues, and amount of food or funds collected.

More here-

http://www.goerie.com/article/20111026/NEWS02/310269895/St-Mark's-Episcopal-Church-wins-Erie-based-food-bank's-top-award-(UPDATE%3A-1%3A55-pm)

Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania celebrating 100 years

From NW PA-

Only a little more than 120 miles separate Erie and Pittsburgh, but Episcopalians decided a century ago that the regions were too far and too different for one bishop to cover.

So at a convention in 1910, they created the Diocese of Erie from parts of the Pittsburgh diocese.

Now members of that newer entity, which eventually came to be known as the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, will celebrate its centennial. The Erie-based diocese also will hold its annual convention here.

"We are in a really hopeful time for the diocese," administrator Vanessa Butler said.

While membership is down to about 4,700, she said, the 34 congregations in the diocese are all working toward the mission of transforming lives and attracting people to the light of Christ.

The diocese also has taken on the healing ministry of its bishop, the Right Rev. Sean Rowe.

Rowe was elected the diocese's eighth bishop in 2007 at age 32, making him the youngest such leader in the Episcopal Church.

More here-

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101030/LIFESTYLES03/310309966/-1/LIFESTYLES03