Akinola is on the way

“The Anglican archbishop of Nigeria, a fierce critic of the Episcopal Church for its acceptance of homosexuality, is arriving next week to install a bishop to lead congregations around the country that want to break from it,” says The New York Times.

“Episcopal leaders say the visit threatens to strain further the already fragile relations between their church and the rest of the worldwide Anglican Communion. But Episcopal traditionalists say there is a growing desire among them to break away.”

Read it all, and ask yourself whether this story wouldn’t have benefitted from a few numbers. How many of the Episcopal Church’s 7,600 congregations have evinced any interest in joining forces with Akinola? One precent? Less? Note too the use of the word “anger” in the headline. Do the Presiding Bishop and the Rev. Mark Harris sound angry?

UPDATE: More from the Presiding Bishop here (or click read more).


Presiding Bishop’s Statement: “I have only just become aware of the possible visit by the Primate of Nigeria. Unfortunately, my office has not been directly informed of his pending visit, but we will now pursue extending to him a personal invitation to see him while he is in the United States. I regret that he has apparently accepted an invitation to provide episcopal ministry here without any notice or prior invitation. That is not the ancient practice followed in most of the church catholic, which since the fourth century has expected that bishops minister only within their own churches, except by explicit invitation from another bishop with jurisdiction. This action would only serve to heighten current tensions, and would be regrettable if it does indeed occur.”

Past Posts
Categories