The Church of the Epiphany, near Dulles International Airport, in Washington DC is the home of the CANA offices. Some 1,000 people gathered there last Sunday for a three-hour service for the consecration of two Nigerians and two Anglo-Americans as bishops of CANA. The Convocation of Anglicans in North America has 60 congregations in 20 states in the USA, with a total average Sunday attendance of approx 8,600, larger than 70 per cent of TEC dioceses. A senior leader said CANA expected to grow to 200 congregations in the next year. All the glories of Anglican worship were there: a splendid liturgy, the great hymns of the church, enthusiastic African praise songs accompanied by drums and the celebrant on tambourine led by a dominant Nigerian soprano, and robust biblical exposition. It was impossible to tell if this was a Nigerian service in which Anglo-Americans took part, or an Anglo-American service in which Nigerians took part. CANA and other Anglican entities on North America are working hard to express true partnership across cultures. It is hard to see what else other than the crisis we are in could have brought about such a deep desire from Westerners for Global South help.
Archbishop Edmund Akanya of Kaduna insisted in his sermon that the antidote to prevailing heresy is the faithful teaching of the whole Bible. ”˜We will continue to face the growth of heresies. Teach the Word, it is your duty to protect and preserve what God has given to our hands. The divisions in the Anglican Communion are not about sexuality. It is the beginning of a new kind of religion which not only reinterprets traditional doctrines but jettisons many altogether.’ To this task the new bishops, Roger Ames, David Anderson, Amos Fagbamiye and Nathan Kanu were consecrated.
Why couldn’t TEC accept the opportunity in Dar Sar in order to prevent this more divisive reality?
[blockquote]Some 1,000 people gathered there last Sunday for a three-hour service for the consecration of two Nigerians and two Anglo-Americans as bishops of CANA. The Convocation of Anglicans in North America has 60 congregations in 20 states in the USA, with a total average Sunday attendance of approx 8,600, larger than 70 per cent of TEC dioceses. A senior leader said CANA expected to grow to 200 congregations in the next year. All the glories of Anglican worship were there: a splendid liturgy, the great hymns of the church, enthusiastic African praise songs accompanied by drums and the celebrant on tambourine led by a dominant Nigerian soprano, and robust biblical exposition. It was impossible to tell if this was a Nigerian service in which Anglo-Americans took part, or an Anglo-American service in which Nigerians took part. [/blockquote]
It sounds like it was a joyous celebration. Realignment is a fact. The train is leaving. The people are tired of controversy. It is clear that those running the TEC will continue to push the envelope, homosexuals in every echelon today, polyamory tomorrow, who knows the day after.
A modification of a wonderful posting [url=http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/article/8352/#157904 ]here[/url]. We have the commandments distilled by Jesus to two (in order): Love God. Love your neighbors. The revisionists reduce the first to a warm, fuzzy thing, not a call to pick up one’s cross and die (see [url=http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/article/8352/#157908 ]here[/url] for a great quote or see the Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer). They then move quickly to the second, i.e., social justice. But it is social justice without conversion, social justice without the crucifixion. It is a twisted rotary club.
It is water but not living water which is what the churches of CANA are offering. The word is spreading about this, and so the Word is spreading.
Last night I stopped by the columbarium in the TEC church where both my parents are interred. It is a beautiful small church, the oldest Episcopal church west of the Appalachians. I was greeted by two large posters when I entered. One was a list of the MDGs. The other, describing “Who we are as a parish,” was all about inclusively and self-fulfillment. To be fair, they did use the “God word” once. Somehow I doubt that you would find these priorities in a CANA, AMiA, or other member of the realignment.
His description of the worship service reminded me of the last verse in an old Methodist hymn I learned growing up:
In Christ now meet both East and West,
In Him meet North and South;
All Christly souls are one in Him
Throughout the whole wide earth.