I’ve mentioned previously that the bishops of Tanzania released a letter this week saying that they would accept no more money from the unclean hands of the Episcopal Church.
The Rt. Rev. Mdimi Mhogolo, bishop of Central Tanganyika, who has a partnership with the Diocese of New York, which you can read about here, says: not so fast.
Dear friends in Christ Jesus
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus
You might have ready that the House of Bishops acting not on behalf of the whole Church but on their own have issued another statement regarding its relationship with ECUSA. Among other things, the statement shows that the communion between the Anglican Church of Tanzania and the Episcopal Church in the US is severely impaired and that no financial or human personnel support from ECUSA will be received by the Anglican Church of Tanzania. Put that way, the statement assumes that there is some communion that still exist between the two bodies of the Church of Christ.
DCT still remains in communion with ECUSA, maintaining our mutual respect for our cultural traditions and values. When one visits the other, he/she should not impose one’s cultural understanding of Christianity on the other. There are so many Christian things that we share together than the things that divide us&.Our relationship with ECUSA institutions will continue as usual; and if DCT continues to work together with secular organizations and governments such as CARE INTERNATIONAL, OXFAM, governments of UK, Germany, Australia, and Japan in trying to realize the Millennium Development Goals, how much more will we enjoy working with our brothers and sisters from the US in doing together God’s mission to the world?
We stand firm in our work for Christ with all those with good will in the Episcopal Church. No body has the right to tell us to do otherwise.
Peace and grace to you all
+Mdimi
Tobais has an eloquent entry on this issue here.
If Bishop Mdimi’s name rings a bell, it may be because he was kind enough to write an article for me back in July giving his impressions of our General Convention.