On the AMiA and the ACNA
There are rumblings that Bishop Murphy may be seeking some kind of reconciliation with the ACNA. Perhaps this is the new provincial covering to which he referred in his letter to the Primate of Rwanda? While I certainly hope the leaders of the ACNA open the doors wide for any refugee AMiA parish and/or loyal bishop, I sincerely hope they would be wise enough to kindly but firmly rebuff any attempt by Bishop Murphy to reunite his…whatever it is…to the Anglican Church in North America without repentance and reconciliation with the Province of Rwanda.
Otherwise the ACNA will visibly affirm Bishop Murphy's roguish behavior and take part in the insulting snub he and those bishops with him have given to the Anglican Province of Rwanda. How can the ACNA, a collection of clergy and congregations who've been so wonderfully protected and rescued by GAFCON primates, receive bishops who have treated a GAFCON province ungratefully and arrogantly?
One more thing...
The way Anglicans in North America respond to Bishop Murphy will say a great deal about us and our motivations. I think I speak for most Anglicans who left the Episcopal Church when I say that Good Shepherd did not leave her TEC bishop because he asked to look at our books or because he wanted to check into our accounting or attendance. We did not leave because his ecclesiology and ours were at odds or because we had personal differences with him or because we "felt led" one way or the other. We left because our former bishop is a heretic and as such, his teachings are spiritual poison.
Leaving the Episcopal Church, for the vast majority of parishes in the AMiA and ACNA, was a good and necessary thing to do.
But we're not "leavers". We're not schismatics. We've don't simply hop from jurisdiction to jurisdiction when we don't get along with this bishop here or that primate there. We value ecclesial unity and respect and obedience for those in authority. So we claim.
Bishop Murphy's actions are wholly inconsistent with that ethos. Should we affirm them or legitimize them we will call our claims and our integrity into question.
Otherwise the ACNA will visibly affirm Bishop Murphy's roguish behavior and take part in the insulting snub he and those bishops with him have given to the Anglican Province of Rwanda. How can the ACNA, a collection of clergy and congregations who've been so wonderfully protected and rescued by GAFCON primates, receive bishops who have treated a GAFCON province ungratefully and arrogantly?
One more thing...
The way Anglicans in North America respond to Bishop Murphy will say a great deal about us and our motivations. I think I speak for most Anglicans who left the Episcopal Church when I say that Good Shepherd did not leave her TEC bishop because he asked to look at our books or because he wanted to check into our accounting or attendance. We did not leave because his ecclesiology and ours were at odds or because we had personal differences with him or because we "felt led" one way or the other. We left because our former bishop is a heretic and as such, his teachings are spiritual poison.
Leaving the Episcopal Church, for the vast majority of parishes in the AMiA and ACNA, was a good and necessary thing to do.
But we're not "leavers". We're not schismatics. We've don't simply hop from jurisdiction to jurisdiction when we don't get along with this bishop here or that primate there. We value ecclesial unity and respect and obedience for those in authority. So we claim.
Bishop Murphy's actions are wholly inconsistent with that ethos. Should we affirm them or legitimize them we will call our claims and our integrity into question.
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