Mr. [John] Guernsey says his own church, All Saints’, voted 402-6 to align with Uganda late last year and avoided a legal battle over property by negotiating a settlement with the Virginia diocese. Late last year, Mr. Duncan, Pittsburgh’s dissident conservative bishop, wrote to Ugandan Archbishop Orombi and proposed that he promote Mr. Guernsey to bishop. Mr. Orombi, who says he has no designs on American property, embraced the idea so as to provide “Ugandan” churches in the U.S. with an American-based overseer.

A few weeks before this month’s ceremony in Mbarara, the Episcopal bishop of Virginia, Peter James Lee, booted Mr. Guernsey and 21 other dissident Virginia preachers from the Episcopal priesthood.

As he stood amid family members, supporters from Virginia and throngs of African faithful, Mr. Guernsey pledged allegiance to the Church of Uganda and vowed to “banish and drive away all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God’s word.”

A thin layer of clouds shielded the gathering from a scorching equatorial sun. This, declared Archbishop Orombi, showed the occasion was God’s work. “This weather is not normal,” he told the crowd. “God has done a good thing.”

Read it all.

Read it all.

One hundred years ago, Western missionaries were sent to Africa to convert the heathen and spread the gospel of peace. But now the tide has turned, according to conservatives, after a bumper crop of US priests were consecrated in the heart of Africa this month. Their mission? To head back to the States and minister to Anglicans disillusioned with the increasingly liberal Episcopal Church which, they claim, tore the Communion asunder with the consecration of a gay bishop in 2003.Last week the Churches of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda all consecrated their American ”˜flying bishops’ on African soil ready to send them back to troubled traditionalist congregations in the US.

The Church of England Newspaper managed to catch up with one of the newly consecrated Kenyan bishops, the Rt Rev Bill Atwood, and asked him a few questions. Bishop Atwood was consecrated alongside Bishop William Murdoch and is now back in the United States ready to commence his ministry. We asked him, in view of the ongoing ”˜process’ within the Anglican Communion, whether proceeding with appointing these new bishops was not a little hasty. “The Primates of the Anglican Communion acted unanimously to call on the Episcopal Church to conform to Anglican teaching and practice by September 30,” he answered.

“Well prior to that date the House of Bishops decided that they did not need to wait until September 30 to decline to conform to what was asked. The Executive Council refused to conform as well.” He continued: “In addition, numerous dioceses have already indicated that they intend to proceed with the same agenda that has already caused the ”˜fabric of the Communion to be torn’.” He added: “We are, essentially past September 30 already.” But, we asked, if TEC are barred from the Anglican Communion, or similar,will traditionalists not lose some of the moral high ground in the debate? “No,” Bishop Atwood affirmed, “The consecrations were the logical extension of the call in the Dar es Salaam Communiqué for care to be provided for the faithful.

“When one looks at those who were consulted and those that came to Nairobi, it is clear that a consensus among Global South leaders was reached about the consecrations.”

And what about Archbishop Rowan Williams stance in all of this, has he not sided with the traditionalists so far? “Archbishop Williams joined in with all the Primates of the Communion in affirming historic Christian belief in Dar es Salaam,” he replied. “It is interesting (though sad) that all the Primates of the Communion could unanimously agree on the content of the Communiqué in (and from) Dar es Salaam, but that agreement has not produced any amendment of life or change of agenda from the Episcopal Church. “Those in leadership in the Communion (including the Archbishop of Canterbury) have been undermined by the actions of the Episcopal Church.” But, we asked Atwood, has Dr Williams even been consulted about these recent appointments? “I know that his office was informed, but I do not know of any response,” he said. Many critics feel that consecrating these US bishops in Africa is schismatic and separatist. But what does Atwood feel about this view? His answer suggested that there is more at stake here than first meets the eye-it is not just a gay issue. “What is going on is a clash of worldviews,” he answered. “One is an historic Biblical world view and the other is a post-modern progressive worldview. “The Biblical world view begins with God and his revelation to the world in Scripture and in Jesus Christ. We are called to conform to God’s revelation.

“The post-modern progressive worldview begins with ”˜us’, and applies moral relativism with man as the judge of propriety.” And how will inter-Anglican relations look after the deadline, set in Dar es Salaam, which called for a response from TEC before September 30 promising not to appoint another gay bishop? Is this the end of the Anglican Communion? “The Communion was torn in 2003,” Bishop Atwood states. “The only way to restore it is to restore Biblical (Anglican) teaching, discipline, and practice; and move forward with those who are willing to consult and mutually submit. There was an unprecedented level of consultation, collaboration, and agreement leading up to the Nairobi and Uganda consecrations.”

He added: “Because of that, we pray that they will be fruitful.” As he returns to the US to prepare for his ministry, together with fellow Bishop Murdoch, he will have oversight of 32 US congregations. Likewise the Ugandan bishops also consecrated last week will oversee 33 US congregations. Times are strange in the Anglican Communion and many are highly critical of these latest appointments. Many Anglicans fear the power of the Global South Church, and feel that the Archbishop of Canterbury has not done enough to deal with them. The Rev Martin Reynolds, a gay priest in South Wales, told this paper that he feared at least 10 more western bishops were lined up for similar African consecrations. He says that the breakaway church has had scant regard for the directions of Canterbury. These latest appointments graphically show an increasing dichotomy between those loyal to the Windsor process and those who, like Bishop Atwood, have simply ”˜had enough.’

–This article appears in the Church of England Newspaper of september 14, 2007, on page 12

Watch and listen to it all.

“Some provinces [country branches] are saying they will not attend a meeting where decisions are agreed upon but are not implemented,” Nzimbi told Cybercast News Service in an interview. “We agreed [at the last Lambeth, in 1998] that we should delay the consecration of gay bishops but the American church went ahead and did it.”

He said the reason given by those thinking about or planning to stay away is that the homosexuality issue has splintered the unity that bound the Anglican Communion together. “Our unity is based on common faith in Jesus Christ but gay priesthood has broken that so we may have nothing in common.”

Nzimbi did not name the countries or regions that may refuse to attend.

He said the Anglican Church in Kenya would make its decision by December. He did feel, however, that participating and having dialogue would be better than declining to attend altogether.

Church leaders opposed to the ordination of homosexuals would be eager to meet with like-minded bishops at the conference and decide the way forward on the issue, he added.

“The main issue is interpretation of the Bible. The Anglican Church needs revival because of many issues [in dispute], but consecration of gay bishops was the breaking point,” Nzimbi said.

Read it all.

Bishops Bill Atwood, John Guernsey, and Bill Murdoch are personal friends of many years and we are looking forward to working with them in the coming months as part of the Common Cause Partnership. These new initiatives are a dramatic demonstration that we are not alone as we seek to bear witness to the transforming love of Jesus Christ that is rooted in the ‘faith once and for all delivered to the saints.’

These missionary and pastoral initiatives by our friends in the Global South also make clear that they will not abandon us to those who seek to silence our voices by pernicious lawsuits and canonical threats. It is my hope that one result of these creative partnerships will be a renewed emphasis on mission and reaching the unchurched with the Gospel.

Read it all.

The subject of Sunday’s sermon at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church was repentance, and the preacher found an obvious example of the sinfulness of contemporary culture within the branch of his own denomination an ocean away in the United States.

Criticizing the Episcopal Church’s embrace of gays and lesbians, the Rev. Samuel Muchiri told the 1,000 worshipers “we in Kenya feel this is not what God wants.” An usher advised a visiting reporter to “remember that Sodom and Gomorrah was demolished because there were homosexuals.” Another warned that the reporter could be assaulted if he asked worshipers about the issue, and said that America’s permissiveness toward homosexuality had led Osama bin Laden to attack.

Those sentiments have been building for years, and now a group of Anglican archbishops is attempting to plant the seeds for a new, conservative Anglicanism in North America that will either transform or replace the Episcopal Church.

“All these people brought Christianity to us, but now the church is growing here [in Africa] like wildfire, it’s spreading everywhere, while the church in England is withering, the church in the States is going completely, and there has been a cry, ‘Why don’t you come? You should have come here a long time ago to evangelize,’ ” said Archbishop Bernard A. Malango, the Anglican primate of Central Africa. “We need to send missionaries, even to Britain; we need to send missionaries to the United States, and we need to send missionaries to Canada, because those who brought the church here have lost what their intention was, and the same Bible they brought to us is being misinterpreted. We find it very odd.”

Malango was one of seven Anglican primates, as the archbishops of regional provinces of the Anglican Communion are called, who gathered in Nairobi last Thursday to consecrate as bishops of the Anglican Church of Kenya two former Episcopal priests, including William L. Murdoch of Massachusetts. Then, many of those same primates, from the developing nations of the Southern Hemisphere, went to Kampala on Sunday to consecrate a third American as a bishop of Uganda.

The significance of the consecrations is hotly debated…

Read it all.

An Anglican bishop in Zimbabwe, who asked not to be identified, said homosexuality is a “sin” and urged gay and lesbian people to “repent”. Pressed for comment, the right reverend of the Anglican Church in Lusaka, Derek Kamukwamba, said the church was engaged in “dialogue” to come up with a position on the issue.

He then described American Anglicans, who ordained Gene Robinson as the first openly gay bishop in 2003, as “stubborn and arrogant”. Kamukwamba said stubbornness was “pushing people like Nzimbi” to consecrate anti-gay bishops. “We will not receive any gay priest in Zambia,” he pointed out.

Bernard Malango, the Anglican bishop for Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Botswana, described the consecration of Robinson as bringing “darkness, disappointment, sadness and grief” to the parishioners in his province.

Trevor Mwamba, the Anglican bishop of Botswana, when asked whether more US clerics would be coming to Southern Africa to be consecrated, said, “I hope not”.

Mwamba recalled the positions reached at the Lambeth Conference of 1998, which recognised that there are people “who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation”. This conference decreed that the church commit itself to “listen to the experience of homosexual persons”.

While it rejected “homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture”, it called “on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals”.

The conference, though, could not “advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordain those involved in same-gender unions”.

Read it all.

Read it all.

On the minus side is the guidance from inside Lambeth Palace: ‘This is very similar to Cana.’ In other words, Martyn Minns isn’t coming. Therefore, neither will these two be.

But another insider tells me this: ‘The question is genuinely open.’ It would of course be an ‘easy solution’ to extent the AMiA principle to all the ‘irregular’ consecrations. But it appears this might not in fact happen. No decision has been made. I don’t want to risk my reputation on this, but there does appear to be a chance that Atwood might be invited to Lambeth.

How come? Well, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who specialises in nuanced responses, will be aware that each scheme is unique and distinctive. This therefore opens the possibility of a differentiated response. I’ve not seen the scheme for William Murdoch, but it certainly appears that, with regards to Bill Atwood, he is described in much more traditionally understandable ‘suffragan’ terms than Martyn Minns is in his scheme. What is certain is that the question of the two new bishops and Lambeth has not been considered in a deliberate way as yet. And all points of view will be taken into account when the Archbishop of Canterbury makes his decision.

Read it all.

Read it all.

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Feed my lambs …; tend my sheep …;feed my sheep …; follow me.” (John 21:15, 16, 17 and 19).

In the Gospel according to John, Jesus addressed Peter as “Simon, Son of John” on two occasions. In chapter one, Andrew, Simon’s brother, introduced Peter to Jesus. On this occasion, Jesus draws attention to Simon Peter’s natural human condition and his future role in the divine dispensation. Andrew brought Peter to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “So you are Simon, the Son of John? You shall be called Cephas (which means Peter). (John 1 :42). Simon, the son of John, is to become, by the grace of God, Peter the rock upon whom Jesus will build the church. Simon, Son of John, does not become Peter the rock by a process of natural development, not by a process of developing his natural potential but by a process of transformation by the power of God.

In a sense this process of transformation which began in chapter one is not completed until chapter twenty-one where we find the second occasion when Jesus addressed him as Simon, Son of John — Jesus said, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Among all the disciples, Peter was the one who had protested his devotion to Jesus most vehemently, promising to follow him even to death. “Peter said to him, Lord why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” (John 13:37)

All the Gospels record the terrible fact that Peter, the leaders of the Apostolic band, denied his master at the moment of crisis. The evangelist John, in line with the consistent teaching of his Gospel, is at pains to show that this did not arise from any moral weakness in Peter but was one manifestation of the necessary fact that the meaning of Jesus’ death can in no circumstances be grasped by unaided human nature (flesh and blood), but can only be grasped by the new dispensation of the spirit which is inaugurated by the passion and resurrection of Jesus.

Peter had been among the first to be called by Jesus to follow him. And he had followed faithfully in his way. Peter is ready to lay down his life for Jesus, just as Jesus had said that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. And Peter’s word was proved true when in the darkness of the Garden of Gethsemane Peter drew his sword and proposed to fight single handedly against a whole company of soldiers. But that act of the impetuous – Peter brought only a sharp rebuke from Jesus. “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11). Peter is eager to follow, but he cannot because “the way” has not yet been opened. No one can follow until Jesus has done what he alone can do. Only he can “offer for all time a single sacrifice for sin.” (Hebrews 10:12). Jesus does this as an act of loving obedience to his Father – “Not my will but your will be done.” When Jesus has accomplished his saving work, a way will be opened along which Peter can and will follow, along with all who take up the cross and follow Jesus. Now he sees through a glass darkly and has to come to the realization that his human and loyal determination to follow Jesus leads him to act in his own strength without reliance on the will and power of God.

So in chapter twenty-one, Peter, who had promised to follow even unto death comes face to face with his friend and master whom he had three times denied. On this occasion, he is addressed by his old name, the name he had before Jesus met and called him to discipleship. Once again, as on that night of his threefold apostasy, Jesus looked at him across a charcoal fire and challenged him three times with the simple yet painfully searching question, “Simon, Son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Three times Peter answers with an affirmation of his love – but an affirmation which rests its confidence not on the strength of his own love but on the sureness of Jesus’ knowledge. “Lord you know everything, you know that I love you. And three times Jesus solemnly gives to the grieved and humbled disciple the commission to be the shepherd, guiding, guarding and nourishing the flock which belongs to Jesus. “Feed my lambs;” “Tend my sheep;” “Feed my sheep” are three commands included in the overriding command of Jesus “follow me.”

In the light of the Resurrection, Peter has learned what following Jesus really means. In the past, he had tried to follow according to his own desires and in his own strength. Now he will learn that following Jesus means going the way of the cross. “When you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (John 21 :18-19). After this he said to him “follow me.”

This following along the way of the cross will glorify God, for just as Jesus manifested the glory of God in his death, so the same glory will be manifested in the disciples whom he sends out into the world. “The glory that you have given me I have given them.”

So Peter receives the good news that the threefold denial is wiped out and forgiven in the threefold commissioning. “Feed my lambs;” “Tend my sheep;” “Feed my sheep.” An important element in the good news is the fact that the flock which belongs to Jesus consists not of the righteous but of sinners called to repentance. We need to remember that the primacy which Peter holds among the apostles is the primacy of a forgiven sinner. “You are Peter” is said by Jesus to the one to whom in the next breath Jesus will say “get behind me, Satan.” (Matthew 16: 18, 23). It is to the fisherman overwhelmed by the realization of his sinfulness that Jesus says “Do not be afraid, henceforth you will be catching men.” (Luke 5:8-10). It is to the disciple who will fall away that Jesus says, “when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22:31).

Peter is to be both a fisher of men and shepherd as he answers the call of Jesus to “follow me.” Peter can only serve as fisher of men and shepherd in so far as he is first a disciple – one who is following Jesus along the way to the cross.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, as disciples of the same Christ who continues to invite persons everywhere to follow him, we have assembled to participate in the solemn liturgy for the consecration of Bishops in the Church of God. It is only fitting on this occasion, to reflect on the nature of Christian ministry with special emphasis on Episcopal ministry.

As Anglicans, we identify with the growing ecumenical consensus on the nature of ministry reflected in the document issued by the World Council of Churches entitled “Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry” (BEM). All ministries in the church, including the ordained ministry, are gifts (charisms) of the Spirit for the building up of the body of Christ. “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members of one another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:4-8) “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) “The Holy Spirit bestows on the community diverse and complementary gifts.” (BEM, Ministry, 5) This charismatic understanding of ordained ministry is reflected in BEM’s interpretation of the meaning of ordination: “Ordination denotes an action by God and the community which through long tradition takes place in the context of worship and especially of the eucharist … The act of ordination by the laying on of hands of those appointed to do so is at one and the same time invocation of the Holy Spirit (epiklesis): sacramental sigh; acknowledgement of gifts and commitment. Ordination is an invocation to God that the new minister be given the power of the Holy Spirit in the new relation which is established between this minister and the local Christian community and, by intention, the Church universal.” (BEM, Ministry, 40-42)

Ordained ministry is not only a gift of the Spirit. It is also a representative ministry. While all baptized Christians represent Christ and the church, the ordained ministry represents Christ and the church in particular ways. In his book, “A Ministry Shaped by Mission,” Paul Avis explores the concept of representation as applied to the ordained ministry. According to Avis, the ordained ministry represents Christ to the community which is already united to Christ in baptism. The ordained ministry acts as the representative and organ of the whole body in the exercise of responsibilities which belong to the body as a whole.

The understanding of ordained ministry as a gift of the Spirit and a representative ministry together with the language of “sign” and “symbol” used in ecumenical agreements in connection with the ordained ministry challenge a purely functional understanding of ordained ministry, including episcopal ministry. Because Christ’s ministry is present to us only through the Spirit, ecclesial ministry is necessarily charismatic. For the same reason, it is relational. The nexus of relationships established by the Spirit creates a new way of being, which transforms both the one ordained and those for whom he is ordained, making it futile to debate whether ordained ministry in the church is functional or ontological in nature. BEM points in this direction when it speaks of ordination as establishing a “new relation” between the ordained minister and the local and universal church. Ordained ministry is neither a status nor a set of functions, but a charism of the Spirit which is to say that it is a sacramental reality.

Already in the early paragraphs of the Ministry section of BEM, the sacramental and not merely functional aspect of ministry, and indeed of episcopal office, is implied and assumed:

“The chief responsibility of the ordained ministry is to assemble and build up the body of Christ by proclaiming and teaching the Word of God, by celebrating the sacraments, and by guiding the life of the community in its worship, its mission and its caring ministry. It is especially in the eucharistic celebration that the ordained ministry is the visible focus of the deep and all-embracing communion between Christ and the members of his body. In the celebration of the Eucharist, Christ gathers, teaches and nourishes the Church. It is Christ who invites to the meal and who presides at it. In most churches this presidency is signified and represented by an ordained minister.” (BEM, Ministry. 13-14) In the Anglican tradition it is primarily the bishop as eucharistic president who is the sign of communion.

In IASCER’s response to the Lutheran document The Episcopal Ministry within the Apostolicity of the Church particular note was taken of the patristic tradition concerning episcopal ministry:

“Historians commonly agree that there are three principal images or models of the office of a bishop in the pre-Nicene church, which are best exemplified in Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, and Cyprian. For Ignatius, the bishop is primarily the one who presides at the eucharist. This is central for Ignatius because of his understanding of the nature of the church. For Ignatius, then, the bishop is … the one who presides at … the eucharistic liturgy.

Irenaeus, on the other hand, while echoing the eucharistic teaching of Ignatius, places primary emphasis on the bishop’s role as teacher of the faith. The context here is the conflict with Gnosticism. For Irenaeus, the bishop is above all the one who preserves the continuity of the apostolic teaching in unbroken succession from the apostles. It is through the bishop’s faithful proclamation of the Gospel in each local church that the unity of the church and the continuity of the church in the apostolic tradition is preserved.

For Cyprian, the bishop serves as the bond of unity between the local church and the universal church. Here the collegial aspect of the bishop’s role comes to the fore. The Bishop is one member of a worldwide ”˜college’ of bishops who are together responsible for maintaining the unity of the churches. Cyprian’s primary emphasis, therefore, is upon the bishop as the bond of unity between the local church and the church universal.

In each of theses models, therefore, the bishop is the sign of unity between the local and the universal church, either through the maintenance of eucharistic communion, continuity in apostolic teaching, or common oversight of the churches.

My brothers, you are entering the Episcopal ministry within the Anglican Communion at a time when the Communion is being severely challenged in each of the three related areas of the patristic tradition concerning Episcopal ministry. I refer to:

* The maintenance of eucharistic communion
* Continuity and apostolic teaching.
* Oversight of the churches.

The present impaired state of the Communion is due mainly to actions taken by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America in respect of human sexuality with special reference to the consecration of a bishop living in an opened homosexual relationship. The actions of the Episcopal Church have created a situation in which some Anglicans in the United States and throughout most of the Provinces of the Communion are convinced that the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is clear in its teaching and must take precedent over culture. Holding fast to this belief, they cannot accommodate those who believe the contrary. The issue is not primarily on of sexuality but one which seeks to answer the question “which relationships correspond to God’s ordering of life, and violate it?” It is a division of opinion between those of us who firmly believe that homosexual practice violates the order of life give by God in scripture and those who seek by various mean to justify what scripture does not hounour. We, in the Global South, whole heartedly support the position outlined by Richard Hays in “The Moral Vision of the New Testament:”

“Paul singles out homosexual intercourse for special attention because he regards it as providing a particularly graphic image of the way in which human fallenness distorts God’s created order. God the Creator made man and woman for each other, to cleave together to be fruitful and multiply. When human beings ”˜exchange’ these created roles for homosexual intercourse, they embody the spiritual condition of those who have ”˜exchanged the truth about God for a lie.’”

We believe that faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ prevents us from compromising the truth so clearly revealed in holy scripture.

While the Anglican Communion struggles through the present impasse you, as bishops of the church, will be required to give sound and faithful leadership to the people of God committed to your care and charge. In faithful obedience to Christ, you must endeavour to “build up the body of Christ by proclaiming and teaching the word of God, by celebrating the sacrament, and by guiding the life of the community in its worship, mission and its caring ministry.” You cannot fulfill this ministry in your own strength. You must continue to meet the Lord in prayer as you seek to discern his will for his flock. You must love the flock of Christ as he loves us, and you must be a true shepherd “guiding, guarding and nourishing the flock which belongs to Jesus.” As you grow in apostolic ministry, always remember that you are sharing tin the ministry of Jesus the Good Shepherd and never forget that in all you say and do your aim must be to follow Jesus who is indeed “the way, the truth and the life.”

Stand Firm has posted an excellent report from Hank Steenstra, packed full of details re: yesterday’s consecrations in Nairobi. Of particular interest, the transcripts of statements by bishops Atwood and Murdoch towards the conclusion of the service. Here are a few excerpts, but you really should read the whole thing, says bossy elfgirl!

The liturgy was for the most part a very traditional Anglican service with some Kenyan touches. One was that a bishop-elect is escorted in and out of the cathedral during the service by a bishop on either side who is holding his hand. This was based on the history of martyrs and the fear that prospective bishops might be inclined to run rather than be consecrated. The service included great quantities of glorious music from traditional hymns to anthems by the great cathedral choir to praise music with African melodies and harmonies led by the Praise Band. To capture an event of worship of this length and variety required one to be present to hear, absorb and join in. The Anglican TV recording may help capture the flavor.

Among the assembled throng were nine primates of the Anglican Communion or their representatives. Those personally present included Archbishops Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya), Henry Orombi (Uganda), Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), Gregory Venables (Southern Cone), Drexel Gomez (West Indies), Bernard Malango (Central Africa), Justice Akrofi (West Africa) and Ian Ernest (Indian Ocean). Archbishop Peter Akinola (Nigeria) was represented by Archbishop Nicholas Okoh. Total support but regrets for being unable to attend came from Archbishop Donald Mtetemela (Tanzania), Archbishop Dirokpa Fidele (Congo) and Archbishop Joseph Marona (Sudan).

In addition to this assembly of the major players in the Global South, the following US bishops were present: Bishop Robert Duncan (Pittsburgh), Jack Iker (Fort Worth), Martyn Minns (CANA) and Chuck Murphy (AMiA), plus Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti (Recife) and Bishop Donald Harvey (Canada). There were about 20 Kenyan bishops also present. All of this episcopate presence contributed to a dramatic sense of great importance surrounding the otherwise ordinary church business of consecrating bishops. No one I spoke with knew of any occasion in the history of the Anglican Communion when so many primates were present to lay hands for the consecration of bishops. […]

Comments from Bishop Bill Murdoch included the following:

This is an urgent mission moment. So, who better to lead the way than the ones who still know that the Mission is urgent and the Message is the word of God and the gospel of Christ, and the Price to be paid is everything for the love of Christ and his Cross. Who better to remind us that it is not about us, it is about Jesus, the only Lord, the only name by which men can be saved. Who better than the Kenyans, the Africans, the churches of the Global South, whose blood, sweat and tears, whose smiling eyes shine with the light of souls overflowing with the glory of this great salvation. Who better to tell us? The Mission is urgent.

[…]
[And Bishop Atwood’s remarks included the following]

Second, I owe a great debt to the East African Revival. I bear its mark deep in my heart and spirit. It has provided a profound resonance with my spirit and encouragement for my soul. In it I found a people who have discovered the lengths to which God is willing to go to demonstrate unconditional love”“”“a love so rich and deep it demands response.

I also owe a great debt to many Archbishops who have been mentors and friends. Each has freely shared their redemptive gifts with the church and the world and, thankfully also with me over the years. It is my hope to apply some of what I have learned from them and eventually to become something like them.

I long to have something of the precise theological vision of Drexel Gomez,
the Spirit of Henry Orombi,
the courage of Emmanuel Kolini,
the Gospel passion of Greg Venables,
the clarity of Justice Akrofi,
the servant’s heart of Bernard Malango,
the strength of Peter Akinola (represented today by Archbishop Nicholas Okoh – a great leader in his own right),
the willingness of Bob Duncan,
the humility of Donald Harvey,
the conviction of Ian Ernest, and
the distilled simplicity of Joseph Marona,
and the joy of Fidele Dirokpa.

While these and other friends here have been spiritual fathers and inspirational examples for me, I owe a particular debt to Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi…

The full text is here. Do read it all!

I’m not convinced about either the need for more mitres, or about the timing of all these consecrations. I’m not greatly sympathetic however to the official Anglican Communion response that the consecrations create ”˜increased confusion’. The confusion came with the consecration of Gene Robinson, and the subsequent inability of the Episcopal Church’s leadership to respond adequately to the clear voice of the Anglican Communion, and also to find a way to accommodate parishes and clergy who could no longer identify with their own diocesan bishops. Some kind of alternative oversight scheme should surely have been worked out which responded to the need of those congregations. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the Episcopal Church desires nothing more than conformity to its own mores and canons at the expense of theological and ecclesiological diversity.

Equally problematic however is the expectation of West Indies Archbishop, Drexel Gomez, that these consecrations could lead “towards a creation of a viable, stable and orthodox Anglican presence in the United States.”

Read it all.

“It is a division of opinion between those of us who firmly believe that homosexual practice violates the order of life given by God, and those who seek, by various means, to justify what Scripture does not,” said Archbishop Drexel W. Gomez of the West Indies, the main preacher at yesterday’s service. In his sermon, Gomez accused the Episcopal Church of “aggressive revisionist theology” and said the idea that homosexuality is permissible for Christians is “a lie.”

“[The apostle] Paul singles out homosexuality in the Gospel for special attention, because he regards it as providing a particularly graphic image of the way in which human fallenness distorts God’s created order,” Gomez said. “We believe that faithfulness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ prevents us from compromising the truth so clearly revealed in Holy Scripture.”

Read it all.

UPDATE:
Stand Firm has identified many of the bishops in the picture below here. If you know some of those not yet identified, please leave a comment over at StandFirm. Also, someone who was present at the service in Kenya has left a comment at SF identifying the participating Primates. Here’s the link.
Thanks to USA Today, we have this nice picture of the consecration today in Nairobi of Bill Atwood and Bill Murdoch:

The story accompanying the photo is here.

UPDATE 2: Kevin Kallsen of Anglican TV has a large collection of photos online here. This one below is my favorite. NICE WORK KEVIN!

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Other pictures include these two from AFP:

BBC: Photo, Story

TurkishPress.Com — Photo, Story

As many of our readers know, Kevin Kallsen of Anglican TV is in Africa to record the consecrations of Bill Murdoch and Bill Atwood in Kenya (today) and John Guernsey in Uganda (Sunday Sept. 2).

His one-hour long broadcast (of a portion of the 4 hour service) from Nairobi today will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern. You’ll find it at Anglican TV.

If you appreciate Kevin’s service in filming these events, please consider donating to help Kevin’s internet costs.

The BBC has the story about today’s consecrations of Bill Murdoch and Bill Atwood as one of the lead stories on its world news page. Since it’s just a short story, we include it here in full.

Kenya’s Anglican Church has consecrated two US bishops in a move likely to deepen a bitter row over homosexuality.

Bill Murdoch, of Massachusetts, and Bill Atwood, of Texas, will be answerable to the Kenyan Church, although they will serve in the US.

They left the US branch of the Anglican Church – the Episcopal Church – after it consecrated an openly gay bishop.

There are growing tensions within the Anglican denomination around the world, mainly over the issue of homosexuality.

Strong opposition

The two Americans were consecrated at a service at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi by Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi. The ceremony was expected to be watched by a huge congregation of Kenyans, by archbishops and bishops from across Africa, and by the men’s friends and supporters from the US.

Archbishop Nzimbi said the consecration was not intended to widen the gulf in the church, but was a Christian response to a plea for help and pastoral care from Anglicans in the United States.

Gay people, he said, did not have a place as leaders in the Anglican communion. “We need to love them, we need to preach to them, but not to make them lay readers, pastors, bishops,” he said.

African authority

Last year two US churches, unhappy with the Episcopal Church’s stance on homosexuality, voted to place themselves under the authority of the Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria.

The Anglican Church in Africa is conservative and deeply opposed to the ordination of gay priests.

In February, Anglican bishops meeting in Tanzania issued an ultimatum to the American church, demanding an end to the appointment of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex couples. US bishops have until 30 September to respond.

Meanwhile, the Episcopal diocese of Chicago on Tuesday included a lesbian priest among five nominees for bishop.

The link is here.

“The church is now trying to bless what God always said in the Scripture he wants to redeem,” [Bill] Atwood said.

After Thursday’s ceremony, Atwood and Murdoch will return home to minister to their congregations with Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi as their spiritual adviser. Because they are no longer affiliated with the Episcopal Church, the men will have to find new church buildings and funding in the United States. Several U.S. churches whose priests have switched to a foreign diocese are embroiled in lawsuits over church property.

Nzimbi said 30 U.S. congregations have asked to become part of African dioceses in the last four years. Six other U.S. priests have been consecrated as bishops in the Rwandan church and one has also been consecrated in Nigeria. Another American priest is scheduled to be consecrated in Uganda on Sunday.

After Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola set up the Convocation of Anglicans in North America in 2005, some U.S. liberals accused African archbishops of breaching protocol by trying to create rival churches on their territory. Akinola administers his convocation from Nigeria.

The day before his consecration in Kenya, Murdoch said: “When American or British missionaries come to Africa currently it’s missionary work, but when Africans come to the United States or Great Britain, it’s boundary crossing,” he said. “We ought to be clear that this is about the mission of the gospel.”

Read it all.

Update: A (London) Times article is here which includes the following:

Today’s service will be conducted by the Archbishop of Kenya. It will be attended by ten primates ”“ or their representatives ”“ from the Global South coalition of conservative bishops.They were at pains to emphasise that the consecration of American bishops in Africa was a temporary measure.

Archbishop Greg Venables, of the Southern Cone, said: “The major struggle we are going through is how to resolve a conflict of this nature, where there is a group of people who want to go in a new direction while the rest of the Church is resisting that.”

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Another update: A Reuters article is there in which we find this:

The two clerics to be consecrated on Thursday — William Atwood and William Murdoch — are among a growing number of conservative U.S. Anglicans pledging alliance to traditional African bishops who take a tough line against homosexuality.

The U.S. Church has accused Africans of invading their territory by consecrating Americans. But conservative Africans say they only want to provide refuge for orthodox believers who are at odds with liberal views.

“This is a missionary action brought to this point by four years of frustration,” Murdoch told the news conference.

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The Anglican Church of Kenya is today expected to ordain two American bishops in a bid to counter a splinter group advocating for gay marriage.

The head of ACK, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, said the conflicts in the church had left members without pastoral direction. Nzimbi told the Press at the ACK headquarters in Nairobi that the ordination of Mr Bill Atwood and Mr William Murdoch was the church’s way of providing a temporary solution.

Read it all.

Read it all.

“We are not invading other people’s territory as such but preaching the gospel, the way it was brought to us, the way it is written,” [kenyan Archbishop Benjamin] Nzimbi said.

And he said the only way to bridge the schism was for the liberal churches to repent: “The way we can have one understanding is through repentance, that is the key word.”

The primate denied the Africans were motivated by monetary gain to consecrate American priests.

“It is not a question of finances,” Nzimbi said. “Here in Africa we are used to living under difficult situations and we are not ready to compromise because of finances. No.”

Read it all.

ACK’s decision to spread its wings to America follows months of consultations with other Anglican Church provinces around the world opposed to gay relations.

The 72-member global Anglican communion is facing a split over gay rights. This follows moves in some countries to appoint gay and female priests. African branches have vehemently opposed gay clergy. In 2003, the Episcopal Church, the Anglican body in the US named Rev Gene Robinson who confessed to be gay, bishop of New Hampshire. The action was met with angry disapproval from church followers around the world opposed to gay relationships.

The division pits wealthy provinces notably in the US and Canada in North America against another group concentrated in Africa and Asia.

Read it all.

When All Saints Church of West Newbury moves into the former Sacred Heart Church building on Friend Street next month, it will be as a member of the Anglican Church of Kenya, not as an Episcopal Church.

All Saints rector Rev. William Murdoch was elected June 29 as a Suffragen Bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya. He will be consecrated next Thursday, Aug. 30 at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi, Kenya and will be part of the team responsible for oversight of Kenyan churches in the United States.

The Kenyan church dates back to the arrival of Christian missionaries in East Africa in 1844. According to its Web site, the church’s vision is to provide “a strengthened Anglican Church built on the foundation of the apostolic faith in Jesus Christ with the ability to equip all God’s people to face the challenges of the new millennium.”

Read it all.

Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi will consecrate two American priests fleeing the liberal US church over a gay clergy crisis.

Nzimbi will consecrate Bill Atwood and Bill Murdoch on August 30, as assistant bishops in the province of Kenya.

This latest move will create more conservative African outposts amid the liberal American mainstream, which sparked off the divisions by its consecration of gay bishops.

“We are not undermining anybody’s authority. We are saving a situation of people who so much need us,” Nzimbi told Reuters in response to criticism that African bishops were violating church rules.

Ugandan Archbishop, Mr Henry Orombi, also supported the decision.

“In Uganda, we have provided a home for refugees from Congo, Rwanda and Sudan,” said Orombi, who is consecrating John Guernsey of Virginia on September 2. “Now, we are also providing a home for ecclesiastical refugees from America,” he added.

Read it all.

The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) has appointed a new secretary general.

The Rev Peter Karanja Mwangi, an Anglican priest currently serving as the provost of All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi, takes over from the Rev Mutava Musyimi, who opted for early retirement.

Karanja’s appointment comes four months after a search committee was mandated to fill the position.

On Wednesday, Musyimi said the search committee presented Karanja as the appropriate candidate.

“The executive committee has duly endorsed the recommendation of the search committee. The Rev Karanja will assume office on October 1,” Musyimi said.

Read it all.

In a dramatic illustration of the unhappiness among conservative Episcopalians in the United States, an Episcopal priest from the North Shore has decided to become a bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya.

The Rev. William L. Murdoch, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in West Newbury, will fly to Nairobi next month for his consecration as a Kenyan bishop, then return to Massachusetts to minister to other disaffected conservatives who are leaving the Episcopal Church over its 2003 decision to ordain an openly gay priest as the bishop of New Hampshire.

Murdoch’s congregation, which averages about 300 worshipers each Sunday, will have to turn over its three buildings and a $1 million endowment to the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The congregation is planning to buy a closed Catholic church in Amesbury and start over as All Saints Anglican, a local parish of the Kenyan church.

The extraordinary act is part of a new national movement, in which a handful of Episcopal parishes and priests are leaving the 2-million-member Episcopal Church USA and affiliating with the more conservative Anglican churches, called provinces, of Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda.

To the dismay of the Episcopal Church, the African provinces are now developing church organizations in the United States to reach out to those looking for an alternative.

The Episcopal Church is at odds with much of the rest of the Anglican Communion over its support of gay rights and is facing possible sanctions.

Read it all.

THE PRIMATE of Kenya, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, has urged the government to suppress the brutal criminal gangs that have seized de facto control of the shanty towns surrounding Nairobi, but cautioned that a violent government response could exacerbate the “Mungiki” menace.

“As a nation, we reaffirm the dignity and sanctity of life of even law breakers and grieve at any violent loss of life,” Archbishop Nzimbi said in an address to the Kenyan House of Bishops on June 29 at All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi.

Read it all.

There have been so many statements about the various newly-elected bishops that they all seem to merge together. For the record, here are two new AAC statements of support:

AAC Supports Kenya’s Appointment of U.S.-based Bishop
AAC Enthusiastically Supports Ugandan Appointment of U.S.-based Bishops

And please, before some wag starts in trying to compare the level of enthusiasm in those two headlines, the first line of the Kenya statement says: The American Anglican Council (AAC) fervently applauds the sound decision by Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of the Anglican Province of Kenya in appointing a suffragan bishop…
So we can assure you. The support is enthusiastic for both actions. 😉

The hot rumor before Dar Es Salaam was that North American reasserters would get a new college of bishops. We got the Pastoral Scheme instead, and a lot of us were steamed. It never seemed like something TEC would actually do. What’s Plan B, we wondered. Well, it seems that the Pastoral Scheme was Plan B. TEC having decided to follow the “you’re not the boss of me” path, those Primates involved in US oversight are reverting to Plan A.

”˜Course, this is difficult and uncertain work. Anyone who thinks that it’s just a matter of out with the old, in with the new” needs to read the chapter “Bad Bishops” in [Ephraim] Radner’s Hope among the Fragments. Dealing with corrupted parts of the Church has always been extremely difficult, and those of us who call ourselves traditionalists should be at least listening to older voices about this mess. We shouldn’t be doing whatever we want, because we want to. That’s the behavior that got us into this mess. On the other hand, I’m not sure that this situation isn’t wholly unprecedented. We’ve got an independently governed Christian unit that is fully in the hands of heretics who have rejected any outside calls to mend their ways, who are actively engaged in persecuting those who disagree with them, and who reject any interference.

So what will ++Rowan do after he writes his book on Dostoevsky? I dunno. His recent actions, or actions taken on his behalf, have fallen even deeper into a sort of chaotic inscrutability….

Read it all.