wfn.org | ACNS3703 Some Anglican provinces declare 'impaired' or 'broken'

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3703     |     USA     |	  9 DECEMBER 2003 

Some Anglican provinces declare 'impaired' or 'broken' relationship with
ECUSA

by Jan Nunley

[ACNS source: Episcopal News Service] Since the consecration of Gene
Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire on November 2, nine of the 38
worldwide Anglican provinces have declared themselves to be in
"impaired" or "broken communion" with all or part of the Episcopal
Church in the United States.

The latest to assert its disassociation is the Province of South East
Asia, one of the Communion's most conservative churches. The province
includes Anglicans in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia,
Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Nepal.

In a statement, the province said that it did not recognise the ministry
of Gene Robinson "as a Bishop in the Anglican Church. We are no longer
in communion with the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA and all those Bishops
and Dioceses who voted for the confirmation of Dr [sic] Gene Robinson's
election and those who joined in the consecration of the same.... If
ECUSA refuses to repent, we will commit ourselves through our Primate to
work with like-minded Primates for the realignment of the Anglican
Communion."

The declaration came December 2 following a meeting of the province's
synod.

Archbishop Yong Ping Chung said, however, that the province will remain
in fellowship with those in the United States who oppose Gene Robinson's
consecration. It is not clear how those relationships will be worked out
in practical terms.

Not the first time

It is not the first time South East Asia's Anglican leadership has
declared itself to be out of communion with other Anglican provinces
that disagree with their policies towards homosexuality.

The church's Provincial Standing Committee adopted a resolution in
February 1997 stating that the province would "be in communion with that
part of the Anglican Communion which accepts and endorses" the Kuala
Lumpur statement on human sexuality "and not otherwise". That statement,
crafted at the "Second Anglican Encounter in the South" held in
Malaysia, declared that "homosexual practices between men or women" are
sinful and that "ordination of practising homosexuals and the blessing
of same-sex unions calls into question the authority of the Holy
Scriptures. This is totally unacceptable to us."

The statement was adopted by several other Anglican provinces, including
Rwanda, as well as a number of evangelical organisations and
conservative "continuing Anglican" churches. But a resolution urging
adoption of the Kuala Lumpur statement, presented to the Lambeth
Conference the next year, was not voted upon. Lambeth resolution 1.10 on
human sexuality "notes the significance" of the Kuala Lumpur statement
but did not incorporate it.

Cascade of declarations

First to declare themselves in a state of "impaired communion" with
ECUSA over Gene Robinson's consecration were a group of Anglican
primates of the Global South let by Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola,
who wrote on November 3 that "the overwhelming majority of the Primates
of the Global South cannot and will not recognise the office or ministry
of Canon Gene Robinson as a bishop.... A state of impaired communion now
exists both within a significant part of ECUSA and between ECUSA and
most of the provinces within the Communion."

But what impaired communion may entail is not made clear by the
statement. "We cannot now uniformly define the further implications of
this impairment created by ECUSA," the statement concludes. "As each
province lives into the 'emerging' character of this impairment of
communion according to the theological and legal demands of their
respective churches, we pledge support of each other in our common
response to the wilful decision of ECUSA authorities to oppose the
Communion's teaching."

The Global South statement was followed by a cascade of declarations
from individual provinces and dioceses.

On November 4, the Anglican Church of Kenya issued a statement declaring
that the province "will not recognise the ministry of this one Bishop."
While supporting "those Bishops, Clergy and laity in various dioceses in
ECUSA who continue to uphold the historic faith and order of the
Church," the Kenyan statement said that those who support Gene
Robinson's consecration "have, by their own action, impaired communion."

On November 6, the Anglican Church of Tanzania declared that it would
not recognise Gene Robinson or "any homosexual person who may be
consecrated in future" as bishops, and stated that it is "not in
communion, namely, Communion in sacris," with bishops who consecrate
homosexuals to the episcopate, ordain them to the priesthood and
diaconate, license them to minister, or permit the blessing of same sex
unions in their dioceses, as well as all homosexual priests and deacons
and clergy who bless same sex unions.

Bishops of the Anglican Church of Nigeria declared on November 15 that
they "condemn in its totality this consecration. We and our people will
not recognise Gene Robinson and his ministry as bishop" and said the
church is "breaking relationship not only with the Diocese of New
Hampshire but with all the bishops and dioceses in ECUSA that have
joined" in the consecration.

The Rt Revd Peter Adebiyi, Bishop of the Diocese of Lagos West, told the
Church of England Newspaper that Nigerians in the United States were
being instructed to leave Episcopal churches and "give us time to set up
our own" congregations.

American priests would not be allowed to work or visit the church in
Nigeria, nor would Nigerian priests be able to work in ECUSA, according
to the newspaper.

The House of Bishops and Standing Committee of the Church of the
Province of West Indies declared a state of "impaired communion" on
November 17, adding that they will "maintain a formal relationship with
the Episcopal Church (USA), as part of the Anglican Communion, while
keeping the matter under critical review. However, we cannot accept the
ministry of Canon Gene Robinson as a Bishop."

Uganda's House of Bishops resolved on November 21 to "deplore, abhor and
condemn in the strongest possible terms" Gene Robinson's consecration
and same-sex unions and that the church "cuts her relationship and
Communion" with ECUSA "and with any other Province that shall follow
suit". By December 4, the church's provincial secretary, Canon Stanley
Ntagali, had been forced to backtrack slightly, stating that the Ugandan
church "will continue to have partnership" with Americans opposed to
Gene Robinson's consecration.

'We are not one'

Although the Province of Central Africa, which includes Anglicans in
Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe, has not yet issued a statement,
Archbishop Bernard Malango published a letter written to Presiding
Bishop Frank T. Griswold on November 12 in which he chastised Bishop
Griswold for participating in Gene Robinson's consecration after having
signed a joint statement with the rest of the primates at their meeting
in October. That document said that "as a body we deeply regret the
actions of the Diocese of New Westminster and the Episcopal Church
(USA)."

"In charity and heartbreak, I call you to repent," Archbishop Malango
wrote. "Until that time, you have broken our fellowship. To sit with you
and meet with you would be a lie. We are not one. We do not share the
same faith or Gospel. You should resign and let someone else lead;
someone who shares the faith of the Communion - the faith of the church
catholic."

Bishop Griswold explained in a letter to the US House of Bishops on
November 11 that the phrase "as a body" was a compromise worked out in
the meeting, at which Archbishop Malango was present. "I have been asked
on a number of occasions how it was that I participated in the
development of the statement following the meeting of the primates last
month and then appear to have acted in contradiction to the text. As the
statement was being carefully crafted, the primates quite purposefully
included the phrase 'as a body' in acknowledging their 'deep regret'
about actions of the Episcopal Church, intending the phrase to allow for
a variety of opinions, while at the same time acknowledging the
sentiments of the group as a whole. The statement was an effort by the
primates to be descriptive of our collective concerns."

Commitment to dialogue

Somewhat less strident than most was a statement made by Bishop Mouneer
Anis of the Episcopal Church in Egypt, North Africa and the Horn of
Africa on November 11. Bishop Mouneer declared that Egyptian Anglicans
were "saddened" by Gene Robinson's consecration, even though "we accept
that there should be diversity in the church" and that "we should
welcome and include [homosexuals] in the Church and help them as well as
heterosexuals to live in holiness". Nevertheless, the statement said,
"We stand with the historical churches that uphold the apostolic
teaching. We also share the same understanding of this issue of
practicing homosexuality with our Muslim brothers and sisters with whom
we live in the Middle East."

Bishop Meschack Mabuza of the Anglican Church in Swaziland, part of the
Province of Southern Africa (CPSA), said on November 13 that in his
personal view "at present the church is divided on these issues, mainly
because of self-interest and personal gain on the part of church
leaders".

"In our own culture as Swazis, the issue of homosexuality is
unacceptable even though it does exist in our midst. Personally, I have
yet to be convinced of the theological acceptability of homosexuality,"
Bishop Mabuza said, but reasserted his commitment to join with other
South African bishops in continuing dialogue about the issue.

[Jan Nunley is deputy director of Episcopal News Service]

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