Advanced Sunday School

Forward in Faith Chairman Bishop John Broadhurst is giving a series of three Lectures at St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, Queen Victoria Street, London EC4, as part of the parish’s on-going Advanced Sunday School. On each occasion the programme will be:

4.00 pm Tea

4.30 pm Lecture

5.30 pm Evensong (English Chamber Choir / London University Church Choir)

Bishop John will speak as follows:

9 March The Attack on Orthodoxy

23 March Present Complexities

30 March The Future for Orthodox Anglicans

Further details from the Rector of S.Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, Fr Alan Griffin, on 020 7248 7546.

Forward in Faith Registered Parishes

There were, at the end of last year, some 273 Forward in Faith Registered Parishes around the country and that number has been stable for quite some time. Imagine our surprise, and our joy, then, when the first five or so weeks of 2003 brought no less than seven new registrations! Congratulations to all seven for discerning just what a bargain registration with Forward in Faith is, at a minimum of £50 a year! Something tells us that, with the debate on women bishops intensifying, these seven are but the vanguard of many more new Forward in Faith Parishes over the coming months. Will yours be one of the next?

Meanwhile, a very special welcome to:

All Saints, South Wimbledon (Southwark)

Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea (Chichester)

St John the Evangelist, Tipton (Lichfield)

St Day, St Day (Nr. Redruth) (Truro)

St Paul, Chasewater (Nr. Redruth) (Truro)

St John the Evangelist, Balby, Doncaster (Sheffield)

All Saints, Benhilton (Southwark)

Women Bishops and a Free Province: How

. . . is the title of a Teaching Day, which Fr Geoffrey Kirk (with assistance) is prepared to come and run in your part of the country. As the time of reckoning draws ever nearer, it is essential that we communicate to all our people just what women bishops in the Church of England will mean, and why Forward in Faith is so determined to ensure that adequate provision is made for the third of our Church who will in conscience be unable to accept such a change.

Fr Kirk has set aside a number of days in his diary this year when he will be available to visit groups of Forward in Faith members and sympathisers in order to address just these issues. His programme has but few requirements: first, it needs not less than 40 and not more than 100 participants; second, it must be open to both clergy and laity; and, last, it should be planned to run for four hours, including time for group discussion, but excluding breaks for lunch etc.

And so it is over to you! Discuss the matter in your parish, your diocese and your region, so as to open the event to the sort of numbers that are needed. Choose a suitable venue, with easy access by public transport and good parking for those who travel by car. Then, contact Fr Kirk direct on 020 8318 1295 in order to arrange a date and then advertise the event as widely in your area as possible. Finally, contact the Director at Faith House with all the details, so that they can appear both on this page (see below) and on the Forward in Faith International Website at www.forwardinfaith.com

Women Bishops and a Free Province: Where

Fr Kirk’s Study Days have been arranged as follows:

Saturday, 21 June at 10.30 am – Southwark Cathedral – Details: John Gant, 020 7708 5400

Saturday, 12 July at 10.00 am – St Mary, Hunslet – Details: Fr Graham Sanders, 01274 587896

Saturday, 13 September at 10.30 am – Central Methodist Church, St Saviour Gate, York – Details: Barry Taylor, 01904 679822

Saturday, 25 October at 10.30 am – Staveley Church Community Centre, Church Street, Staveley, Chesterfield – Details: Fr William Butt, 01246 472270

www.forwardinfaith.com

The Forward in Faith Website goes from strength to strength. As this is written (just a few days before Christmas) the total number of ‘hits’ on the Website during 2002 has been something like 49,000 – an astounding total which owes much to our Webmaster, Canon Len Black, who, since he took the site over in March last year, has transformed it beyond all recognition. If you have access to the Internet, but haven’t yet visited www.forwardinfaith.com, then do so now, and be amazed!