Today

Bishops elected across two continents as a US court halts a 33-church property fight

By The FaithDaily Desk

Good morning. In West Virginia, United Methodist News reports that the state Supreme Court has stopped a lawsuit brought by 33 United Methodist congregations over property. The West Virginia Conference says it remains committed to supporting those churches in the meantime.

A string of bishop elections framed the rest of the day, all carried by Anglican Ink. The House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda, meeting at Syamalede Archdeaconry headquarters in Busia District, elected the Very Rev Canon Eridad Milton Shissa as the 9th Bishop of Mbale and the Rev Canon Caleb Twinamatsiko as the 2nd Bishop of North West Ankole. In Zimbabwe, the Rev Canon Dr Albert Ncube, headmaster of St Columba's High School in Bulawayo, was elected the next Bishop of Matabeleland, filling the see left vacant when the Rt Rev Cleophas Lunga moved to a parish in south London.

Three Episcopal dioceses in the United States also confirmed choices. Anglican Ink reports that the Rev Canon Whitney Rice, of the Diocese of Missouri, was elected the 11th Bishop of Kansas on the first ballot at Grace Cathedral in Topeka. Earlier elections were published the same day: the Rev Ed Cardoza, elected on 24 October as the 11th Bishop of New Hampshire, succeeding the retiring Bishop Robert Hirschfeld; and the Rev Colin Moore Ambrose, elected on 24 October as the 12th Bishop of Tennessee at Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville, on the third ballot.

Anglican Ink also published former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby arguing against the Church of England's slavery reparations plan, saying ordinary Britons should not be made to pay for the evil of slavery.

In the United States, Charisma News reports that Scott Carlson, a former Washington state fire lieutenant, and seven others are asking an appeals court to revive their religious-discrimination claim over a former employer's COVID-19 vaccine requirement.

On governance, Anglican Ink notes the draft 2028–2030 Episcopal churchwide budget is open for input, with hearings on 18 November and 9 December, and published an early analysis of the new General Synod and a report on Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell's visit to Australia and Hong Kong. Christianity Today reflected on unrest across Europe, and The Gospel Coalition reviewed the film 'I Play Rocky'.