The leadership of Truro Church continues to advance extremely dubious claims as it urges members of their congregation to move the parish into the Church of Nigeria.
In this article on the church’s Web site, Mary Springmann contends that the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (the name of the American wing of the Nigerian church) is “an authentic part of the Anglican Communion and acknowledged by the Primates and by Archbishop of Canterbury.”
I suppose the word “acknowledged” is open to various interpretations. But just for the record, when Archbishop Peter Akinola of the Church of Nigeria announced his plans to found CANA during a visit to Truro in October 2004, the Archbishop of Canterbury released the following statement within hours:
“The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, and Archbishop Akinola have discussed difficulties for some Nigerian congregations in the USA arising from the General Convention decision and the consecration of Gene Robinson. Whilst the issue and its presenting difficulties were discussed, and the role of the ‘network’ raised as providing a possible solution within the structures of ECUSA, the possibility of a Nigerian convocation in the United States and of the Nigerian House of Bishops commending, recommending or choosing a bishop was not raised and formed no part of these discussions.”
How you get from that statement to an “acknowledgment” is not clear to me, and I am aware of no intermediate step.
The Episcopal News Service story on Williams’ statement is here.
The second section of Following the Money, which makes clear that tomorrow’s vote at Truro has been in the works for more than two years, is here.
Mark Harris has also noted the peculiar claims being made by Truro’s leadership.