MILESTONES
Sniff. They grow up so fast. Conservative Anglicanism just had its very first Critical Anglican MeetingTM in Nairobi, Kenya:
The leader of the Anglican Mission in America, Bishop Chuck Murphy, will meet with the Primate of Rwanda today to seek a resolution to the split that has seen nine AMiA bishops quit the province and the Anglican Communion.
The Archbishop of Kenya, Dr. Eliud Wabukhala will host the 4 Jan 2012 meeting between Bishop Murphy and Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje in Nairobi. Other African and North American church leaders are expected to attend the meeting as well.
Last month Bishop Murphy stated he would travel to London to meet with retired Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini, Moses Tay and Yong Ping Chung to begin the work of finding a new provincial sponsor for the AMiA.
From the sound of it, Bob Duncan essentially read Chuck Murphy the riot act. We greatly value our relationships with other Anglican provinces, Chuck. So if you ever want to hook up with ACNA, call us when you patch things up with Rwanda and not before.
While attempts to find overseas backing were explored, the AMiA leadership also sent out feelers toward the ACNA, to see how the North American Anglican province-in-formation might view the split.
At the close of a 20 December meeting in Pittsburgh between ACNA leader Archbishop Robert Duncan and two of the nine resigned bishops, Archbishop Duncan issued a pastoral letter stating that reconciliation between the breakaway bishops and Rwanda was a condition for further talks that would allow the breakaway bishops to find a new provincial home.
The “starting point” for the ACNA in the AMiA split was the “importance of our Provincial relationship” with Rwanda, its archbishop, the two AMiA bishops who had not quit the province – Terrell Glenn and Thad Barnum – and their clergy, as well as with those who had left Rwanda, the archbishop wrote.
The ACNA was “deeply connected to all three, and we can only move forward when issues and relationships have been adequately addressed and necessary transitions are in progress,” he said.
In case you missed it, this is what Archbishop Duncan originally had to say.
The resignation of nine Anglican Mission bishops, including the Bishop Chairman, from the House of Bishops of Rwanda, changed relationships with Rwanda, with fellow bishops and with the Anglican Church in North America. The resigned bishops lost their status in our College of Bishops as a result of their resignation from Rwanda. The Anglican Mission also lost its status as a Ministry Partner, since that status had been predicated on AMiA’s relationship with Rwanda. In addition, confusion and hurt has been created in Rwanda and in North America, and there is much serious work ahead of us.
Representatives of the Anglican Church in North America and of the Pawleys Island leadership met today in Pittsburgh. For the Anglican Church in North America the starting point was the importance of our Provincial relationship with the Province of Rwanda (a sister GAFCON Province) and with His Grace Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje, of our relationship with the North American Bishops Terrell Glenn and Thad Barnum and all the clergy licensed in Rwanda, and of our relationship to those represented by the Pawleys Island group with whom we were meeting. We, as the Anglican Church in North America, have been deeply connected to all three, and we can only move forward when issues and relationships have been adequately addressed and necessary transitions are in progress.
Will any of this work? Who knows? As I’ve said many times, no one is better than traditionalist Anglicans at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. But considering how all this has played out, Chuck Murphy sounds like he could use a considerable dose of humility and maybe this meeting will provide him some. We’ll see.
The leader of the Anglican Mission in America, Bishop Chuck Murphy, will meet with the Primate of Rwanda today to seek a resolution to the split that has seen nine AMiA bishops quit the province and the Anglican Communion.
The Archbishop of Kenya, Dr. Eliud Wabukhala will host the 4 Jan 2012 meeting between Bishop Murphy and Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje in Nairobi. Other African and North American church leaders are expected to attend the meeting as well.
Last month Bishop Murphy stated he would travel to London to meet with retired Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini, Moses Tay and Yong Ping Chung to begin the work of finding a new provincial sponsor for the AMiA.
From the sound of it, Bob Duncan essentially read Chuck Murphy the riot act. We greatly value our relationships with other Anglican provinces, Chuck. So if you ever want to hook up with ACNA, call us when you patch things up with Rwanda and not before.
While attempts to find overseas backing were explored, the AMiA leadership also sent out feelers toward the ACNA, to see how the North American Anglican province-in-formation might view the split.
At the close of a 20 December meeting in Pittsburgh between ACNA leader Archbishop Robert Duncan and two of the nine resigned bishops, Archbishop Duncan issued a pastoral letter stating that reconciliation between the breakaway bishops and Rwanda was a condition for further talks that would allow the breakaway bishops to find a new provincial home.
The “starting point” for the ACNA in the AMiA split was the “importance of our Provincial relationship” with Rwanda, its archbishop, the two AMiA bishops who had not quit the province – Terrell Glenn and Thad Barnum – and their clergy, as well as with those who had left Rwanda, the archbishop wrote.
The ACNA was “deeply connected to all three, and we can only move forward when issues and relationships have been adequately addressed and necessary transitions are in progress,” he said.
In case you missed it, this is what Archbishop Duncan originally had to say.
The resignation of nine Anglican Mission bishops, including the Bishop Chairman, from the House of Bishops of Rwanda, changed relationships with Rwanda, with fellow bishops and with the Anglican Church in North America. The resigned bishops lost their status in our College of Bishops as a result of their resignation from Rwanda. The Anglican Mission also lost its status as a Ministry Partner, since that status had been predicated on AMiA’s relationship with Rwanda. In addition, confusion and hurt has been created in Rwanda and in North America, and there is much serious work ahead of us.
Representatives of the Anglican Church in North America and of the Pawleys Island leadership met today in Pittsburgh. For the Anglican Church in North America the starting point was the importance of our Provincial relationship with the Province of Rwanda (a sister GAFCON Province) and with His Grace Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje, of our relationship with the North American Bishops Terrell Glenn and Thad Barnum and all the clergy licensed in Rwanda, and of our relationship to those represented by the Pawleys Island group with whom we were meeting. We, as the Anglican Church in North America, have been deeply connected to all three, and we can only move forward when issues and relationships have been adequately addressed and necessary transitions are in progress.
Will any of this work? Who knows? As I’ve said many times, no one is better than traditionalist Anglicans at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. But considering how all this has played out, Chuck Murphy sounds like he could use a considerable dose of humility and maybe this meeting will provide him some. We’ll see.
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