Nigeria Standing Committee Resolution on ACNA now posted.

The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has now posted the resolution concerning the support of the Anglican Church in North America. There is no date on this document. Here is the resolution:

"Whereas the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) meeting in Obafemi Awolowo University, lIe Ife, Osun State has welcomed the Right Reverend Robert W. Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh and Moderator of the Common Cause Partnership, and

Whereas we have heard his testimony regarding the remarkable emergence of the Anglican Church in North America bringing together eleven ecclesiastical jurisdictions consisting of seven hundred congregations representing more than one hundred thousand Anglicans in the United States and Canada who have held true to the faith once delivered to the saints, and

Whereas this newly formed Anglican Church holds to the authority and trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures, the historic creeds, the traditional formularies of Anglicanism and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as our only Lord and Saviour, and

Whereas the Constitution and Canons of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 2002 (3:1 as amended) stipulates that This Church shall be in full communion with all Anglican Churches} Dioceses and Provinces that hold and maintain the Historic Faith} Doctrine} Sacraments and Discipline of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church as the Lord has commanded in His Holy Word and as the same are received and taught in the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal of 1662 and in the thirty­ nine Articles of Religion.

In pursuance of this section of the Constitution, the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) resolves that we are in full and abiding communion with the Anglican Church in North America.

We further assure them that an open door of fellowship remains theirs in the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) while they remain faithful to the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the historic, biblical, Apostolic and Orthodox faith once delivered to the saints.

In conclusion, this Standing Committee encourages the Primate, Archbishop Peter J. Akinola to give positive consideration to the request of the Anglican Church in North America to send a delegation to the inaugural Provincial Assembly, of June 22^nd to 25^th, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, to demonstrate our enduring partnership in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

Those who would wish that the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) could be in communion with both TEC and ACNA on some scheme of the sort that exists, say, between the Church of England and the European Lutheran Churches, while at the same time the CofE is in communion with the churches of the Anglican Communion, are wishing foolishly.

The CofN has come out in support of a replacement church, one they consider faithful and Christian, and against TEC. That is, of course, their business. However, the Anglican Consultative Council might well address the question of whether or not member churches can be in communion with a church in a particular jurisdiction other than a member church of the Anglican Communion, and not with that member church. If the CofN were in communion with both TEC and the emerging ACNA that might present some problems, since ACNA believes TEC not to be Anglican in spirit or, at least in some instances, un-Christian. But for the CofN to be in communion with ACNA and not in communion with TEC presents a serious difficulty for the future of the Anglican Communion.

So, is the CofN in communion with TEC or not? This resolution suggests that they are not. This resolution suggests they have made a choice for a replacement. They have answered the question, "Which side are you on?" clearly. It is time to ask for an accounting.