Archbishop of Uganda Henry Orombi wrote back to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who wrote to him on May 12, saying that the congregation he visited in Savannah, Georgia, on Wednesday is not part of the Episcopal Church nor the Diocese of Georgia but is a parish in the Church in Uganda.
Episcopal New Service says:
Jefferts Schori criticized Orombi’s planned May 14 visit to the historic Christ Church because he had not sought the invitation of Episcopal Bishop of Georgia Henry Louttit. These actions, she said in her letter, “violate the spirit and letter of the work of the Windsor Report, and only lead to heightened tensions.”
Orombi met May 14 with clergy and laity who voted in October 2007 to disaffiliate from the Episcopal Church. The group continues to occupy historic Christ Church, Savannah, while the continuing Episcopal congregation meets at Savannah’s Church of St. Michael and All Angels. Christ Church dates from 1733.
“I am not visiting a church in the Diocese of Georgia,” Orombi said in a May 14 letter addressed to Jefferts Schori, which her office confirmed had been received. “Were I to visit a congregation within [The Episcopal Church], I would certainly observe the courtesy of contacting the local bishop. Since, however, I am visiting a congregation that is part of the Church of Uganda, I feel very free to visit them and encourage them through the Word of God.”
Orombi’s letter is a summary of the argument justifying the Primate of one province cherry-picking parishes from another province.
He says, like others who have crossed provincial boundaries to serve separated congregations, that they are not crossing boundaries since these churches have joined their province.
Orombi claims that this crisis that causes an outside province to take over the Episcopal parish is the fault of the Episcopal Church generally and Jefferts Schori in particular.
Finally, he says that none of the above matters because, according The Windsor Report, there is no “moral equivalence” between crossing provincial boundaries and taking over another provinces churches and the ordination of a homosexual bishop.
In short, it’s not an incursion because the parish is ours not yours; but, even if it is an incursion, it doesn’t matter because it’s all your fault.
While the argument breaks no new ground, at least Orombi took the time to write back.
Read the rest here.