The Lead

From the Church of Nigeria:

A statement from Archbishop Peter J. Akinola

I have received news of the proposed consecration of Canon Bill Atwood as Suffragan Bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese, Nairobi, in the Anglican Church of Kenya, to serve Kenyan related congregations in North America. Canon Atwood has worked tirelessly throughout the Communion for the sake of the Gospel and is well known to many of us in the Church of Nigeria.
...
We look forward to working with Archbishop Nzimbi, Bishop-elect Atwood and this new pastoral initiative from the Anglican Church of Kenya. We pledge our ongoing prayers and enthusiastic support and cooperation through CANA – a missionary initiative of the Church of Nigeria already established in North America.

Is this a case of "if you've got lemons, then make lemonade"?

Read it all here.

From the Church of Uganda (source):

Statement from the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi,
Archbishop of the Church of Uganda

The Church of Uganda welcomes the announcement of the consecration of The Revd Canon Dr. Bill Atwood as Suffragan Bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese in the Anglican Church of Kenya. Canon Atwood is a long time friend and partner of the Church of Uganda. In these difficult days in the Communion, we recognize that measures must be taken to provide for the care of those orthodox Anglicans in America who remain faithful to the Bible.

Comments (3)

Clearly these primates, and perhaps more to the point their north American allies, understand the importance of making this seem a move against the Episcopal Church, rather than a squabble amongst one another. But however one casts it, this new group brings little to the table in terms of numbers in the US, and is unlikely to persuade any previously unpersuaded primates to authorize a parallel province. From the beginning the right has relied on creating new organizations and announcing new alliances to create the impression that they were coining money, when all they were really doing was moving their change from one pocket to the other. That trick has gotten old.

I still don't think there is much new here. But it will be intersting to see whether Minns and Atwood can get some of the African Primates to put aside their egos long enough to work together.

Posted by Jim Naughton | June 13, 2007 12:24 PM

I'd agree, Jim. This seems to be a sign that ++Akinola will cooperate with the new body to the same degree that he currently cooperates with AMiA...

Posted by Derek Olsen | June 13, 2007 2:53 PM

If there have been previous consultations among "6 or more" of the Primates, wouldn't it be expected that such press releases as these would have been previously prepared, and all gone out simultaneously as a sign of support?

It appears that we have 3 Primates involved in this, and, as has been mentioned, it is questionable how deep their support really goes.

Terry Martin

Posted by Jake | June 14, 2007 12:09 PM

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