Though Anglican leaders have urged the U.S. church to stop electing gay bishops who are in committed relationships, a lesbian priest is among five finalists for bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. Meanwhile, dissidents in the diocese will turn out Sunday in suburban Wheaton to hear Archbishop Peter Akinola, conservative leader of Nigeria’s Anglican Church and the fiercest critic of the Episcopal Church’s stance on gays.
His visit irked Bishop William Persell of Chicago, who said the event was potentially damaging to the church amid the “highly charged political rhetoric in our nation and around the world” about issues dividing the Anglicans.
“It’s unfortunate that he would come into the diocese of Chicago without so much as the courtesy of contacting me,” Persell said. “I think it’s a dangerous time for the communion.”
At their meeting in New Orleans, the U.S. bishops will discuss how to respond to a directive from Anglican leaders to stop consecrating gay bishops and to ban blessings of same-sex unions until the global church reaches a consensus. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, titular head of the communion, will be there, facing U.S. bishops for the first time since the 2003 consecration of openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
That the Wheaton event is being held at the same, critical moment is one illustration of how new alliances between American conservatives and overseas clergy have pushed the Anglican Communion to a possible breaking point.
But for many Episcopalians, the separation in the church has begun. Already, the dioceses of Quincy, Ill., Ft. Worth, San Joaquin, Calif., and Pittsburgh have begun planning to leave the Episcopal Church.
Still, Bishop Keith Ackerman of Quincy said he was holding out hope that Williams would take definitive action to preserve the communion.
“We are asking Rowan Williams to be bold and represent the worldwide Anglican Communion and not just the Episcopal Church,” he said. “The Episcopal Church has engaged in behavior that has caused a rupture in the communion, and I feel saddened by that.”
The province of Nigeria is no more in communion with the diocese of Chicago than the moonies are. Through deliberate actions of the likes of Persell, the diocese has distanced itself from Nigeria that no diplomatic protocol is needed. This is called “consequences of your actions”, and it is a wonderful teacher of my three year old. If only the puerile TEC could learn.
[blockquote]That the Wheaton event is being held at the same, critical moment is one illustration of how new alliances between American conservatives and overseas clergy have pushed the Anglican Communion to a possible breaking point.[/blockquote]
A breathtaking example of objective unbiased reporting.
This maketh the head to spin. They nominate a lesbian as bishop and then complain that Akinola is going to speak in Ill. at a critical juncture. I want to call this hypocrisy, but this isn’t the right word because hypocrisy always implies that the actor is in some sense aware of the dishonesty of his posture. This is not the case here it would seem.
There is a spiritual and moral blindness here that suggests obsession,OCB we would in another context call it, not willful wrong behavior, but this blindness continues to baffle me, for it patently self-destructive and one would think that, among so many, such an obsession would not blind all the leaders. Larry
Dear Bishop William Persell,
This event is at a AMiA parish, any Episcopalians desiring to worship Christ the living Lord as our redemptive sacrifice and creator and master of all, I’m sure are welcome. AMiA folks are not under your jurisdiction, so there was no need ask your permission. It seems to me that you are confused about who is God, I can give you a hint, it’s not you.
In Christ,
KAR
It’s not the “Diocese of Chicago” any longer. Abandon the doctrine, you abandon the throne.
Some comments write themselves:
“Rev. Liz Steadman, the Episcopal chaplain of Northwestern University, finds Akinola’s visit troubling. The chapel where Akinola will preach is named after her grandfather, a former president of Wheaton College, and she is a lesbian in a committed relationship.â€
“God has no grandchildren “ -Billy Graham
I attended a meeting in Chicago with Akinola once a few years back when I was in seminary. I was just sort of a neutral observer, although I am sympathetic with the more conservative folks in Chicago because that diocese is really wacky.
I came away sad because all the little Anglican Continuum groups (like AMIA, etc.) all were sequestering themselves at different tables and claiming to be the “real Anglicans.” It was reminiscent of that scene from the Life of Brian where all the little Jewish factions were going at it over trivial stuff. Akinola was not nearly the firebrand people make him out to be, but did become rather skeptical of the Continuum. If they could all come together and get their act together in a unified front, they could be a force. Unfortunately, once the seed of secession gets planted, the way is set for future break offs in perpetuity.
I was also at that same meeting with Akinola at Northern Seminary several years ago and perhaps you didn’t stay for the worship service that took place after the dinner and Akinola’s talk. When the eucahrist was over, members of all those little splinter groups were busy exchanging cards with one another to begin the bridge building. The REC priest ran out of cards and was scribbling his name, phone and e-mail on scraps of paper and handing them to AMiA and AAC folk. The Forward in Faith prior of an Episcopal Benedictine religious order ran out of cards as well and had a little notebook where he was jotting down names and addresses of AMiA priests. It was a remarkable moment of trans-jurisdictional Christian fellowship. Some of the relationships that began that night have taken root and are now beginning to bear fruit in the Chicago area.
The service with Akinola is a joint effort of the Chicagoland AMiA and CANA congregations working together. Some twenty other Anglican churches from around the Midwest will be participating, including those under Bolivian and Uganda oversight as well as Rwandan and Nigerian. Realignment has begun and trans-jurisdictional networks are being formed around the country, not only here in Chicagoland, but also in northern Florida, the Great Lakes, the southern Appalachians, New England, Virginia, the Midsouth.
One more thing. There were eight persons sitting at the table I was at: two AMiA, two Forward in Faith, two non-Network ECUSA and two American Anglican Council. We had a womderful time getting to know one another better and finding common connections. Hardly “little Anglican Continuum groups (like AMIA, etc.) sequestering themselves at different tables and claiming to be the ‘real Anglicans’.†We even chatted briefly with the Network ECUSA priest at the next table and had a couple of Nigerians drop by our table to say hello.
Just for the record as to “joining,” Christ the King and the ACA are now oficially a single unit. I am surprised Kendall didn’t note this somewhere. LM