Martyn Minns, bishop at war with The Episcopal Church, in the US against the wishes of The Episcopal Church, the Anglican ecclesial body of jurisdiction in the United States, heads up CANA - the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. CANA is a subsidiary of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). Minns claims to be part of the Anglican Communion by the following link:
Minns = CANA = Church of Nigeria = Anglican Communion. It was not a sufficient claim to get invited to Lambeth in 2008.
On the basis of that linkage, the CANA website has the following image on its front page: The caption reads: Connecting Chaplains to the Anglican Communion. It would seem that Minns claims that CANA is a way of directly linking "Anglican Chaplains" to the Anglican Communion.That is a bit of Minns madness. These Chaplains are perhaps in some generic sense connected by CANA to Anglicanism, but they are not connected by CANA to the Anglican Communion.
The statement, "Connecting Chaplains to the Anglican Communion" is misleading at best.
Like Fox News, they believe that telling a lie long enough will convince many to believe it. The sad part is that many will.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
ReplyDeleteI thought "Mad Priest" was already a claimed identity in the Anglican Communion.
Sigh.
And this surprises us how? I continue to be thankful that my diocese saw fit NOT to elect him our bishop!
ReplyDeletePlease do correct me where I am wrong, but when a province in the Anglican Communion consecrates bishops and sends them under their own authority into another province and ++Rowan doesn't invite them to Lambeth because they are border crossing, that witholding of that invitation does not then make them not Anglican. (By that measure you would also be asserting that +Robinson is not Anglican.) I believe ++Rowan has said over and over he does not decide who is and who is not Anglican. Rather he is disciplining (and rather weakly I might add) those border crossing Anglican church of Nigerian bishops for their disruptive behavior. Or is there some canon that actually delineates this?
ReplyDeleteAnd by that matter, why does it matter so much to you that CANA or anyone in the ACNA is Anglican or not? I really would like to know.
rob... you are right... CANA bishops (along with AMiA bishops) were not invited because of border crossings. Robinson was not invited because he was ordained contrary to Windsor moratoria requests. Neither was rejected because not an Anglican. Minns is a bishop made for the wrong reasons, and (I suppose the ABC believes) Robinson is a bishop made from the wrong material. Frankly I think if anyone was to be disciplined by being disinvited it should have included the Nigerians who ordained Minns and the Americans who ordained Robinson. Now that would have made strange comrades in rejection indeed.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was clear in my post that the question here is not if CANA priests are Anglican, it is if CANA is "connecting Chaplains to the Anglican Communion.
Mark's follow up post is better than I could have hoped to have written.
ReplyDeleteI would also add that isn't CANA not officially recognized by the ABC?
I will also add that the notion of being Anglican apparently is very important these days as many people are fighting over it and many people have been fighting to have TEC thrown out. So yeah, it is an important distinction. And if you throw up an office in Nairobi or wherever, that is not going to make you Anglican.
I would think to most logical minds, being Anglican means being in communion with the See of Canterbury. That is, actually being in touch with the Church of England and not just setting up shop somewhere else and thinking you can call it Anglican.
Anglican is a specific term.
Bishop Minns is not alone in his false/misleading advertisement. We have the following from the Anglican District of Virgina website:"The Anglican District of Virginia is an association of Anglican congregations in Virginia. Its members are in full communion with constituent members of the Anglican Communion through its affiliation with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), and the Anglican Church in North America. ADV members are a part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, a community of 77 million people. ADV is dedicated to fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission to make disciples while actively serving in three main capacities: International Ministries, Evangelism, and Strengthening Families and Community. ADV is currently comprised of 32 member congregations and nine mission fellowships." It is a message repeated in the tray on multiple pages. I am wondering about if, and how, the communion argument plays in the current litigation on remand from the Va Supreme Court and if the arguments made in the Va cases played a part at all in the set up, timing? of the Gafcon office in London. Please recall that bishop candidate Julian Dobbs noted that the communion concern was important for the litigation. Julian Dobbs and John Guernsey are candidates for the election scheduled after the convention May 20-21. EmilyH
ReplyDeleteThe following is from an interview with candidate ADV bishop candidate Dobbs posted by David Virtue: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=14076
ReplyDelete"VOL: Why is connection to the Anglican Communion so important?
DOBBS: It is important for spiritual, evangelistic and legal reasons. The Convocation of Anglicans in North America is irrevocably committed to a cross-cultural vision of ministry. Our 'Nigerian passport' dynamically underscores our vital engagement with global Christianity and specifically, global Anglicanism. With Courts examining the nuances of 'who was invited to the last Lambeth Conference and who was not' when ruling on parish property rights, it is not prudent for those congregations engaged in litigation to cut the ties that grant our parishes 'clear credentials' within the Communion. At best, it is premature at this point in our continued growth through this contentious process; at worst, it seems irresponsible to voluntarily surrender internationally recognized, relevant credentials in the midst of legal appeals. There is also the question about our history. We are Anglican Christians and as such, we cherish and value our unbroken connection with 77 million Anglicans around the world through our relationship in the Anglican Communion which is the third largest Christian communion in the world." EmilyH
Dobbs also answered Virtue's question: "VOL: You have been elected as a Suffragan Bishop in the Church of Nigeria and selected as a candidate to be the first bishop of the Anglican District of Virginia in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA); how does that work?"
ReplyDeleteAnswer: "DOBBS: The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) continues to endow the Convocation of Anglicans in North America with a great gift - direct and unimpeachable membership in the Anglican Communion. As, the Communion does not yet recognize a 39th Province in North America and the other constituent jurisdictions of the ACNA are not members, only the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) through CANA offers an authentic, orthodox connection to the Anglican Communion. We hold two passports; remain effectively 'dual citizens,' of both the ACNA and the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). If by the grace of God I am elected as the Diocesan Bishop in May, I will serve as the ACNA Diocesan Bishop while maintaining Standing Orders in the House of Bishops in Nigeria [Anglican Communion]. A number of ACNA bishops serve under the authority of Archbishop Duncan with identical connections to the Communion: Bishop Bill Attwood is the ACNA Bishop of the International Diocese and a member of the House of Bishops of Kenya and Bishop Roger Ames is the ACNA Bishop of the Great Lakes Diocese and a member of the House of Bishops of Nigeria." EmilyH
Gene Robinson wasn't invited to Lambeth either - are we saying he's not in the Anglican Communion as well?
ReplyDelete-Mary
P.S. Bishop Minns was also welcomed to the Compass Rose Society at their last meeting. There had been an attempt to disinvite him, but due to the intervention of a significant official, was indeed welcomed to participate in that Anglican Communion gathering with the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace.
ReplyDelete-Mary
So if we were to take Baby Blue's view seriously, Minns is an Anglican because he was invited to attend a gathering at Lambeth Palace in which the ABC was present.
ReplyDeleteThe Pope had better watch out....the next time he meets with the ABC people might start claiming he's an Anglican.
"Its members are in full communion with constituent members of the Anglican Communion" -- This is actually where CANA gets it right. They are in full communion with certain members of the Communion (such as Nigeria), but not actually members. Despite this, Minns and Dobbs continue to delude themselves (and their gullible flock)
ReplyDeleteCANA may be Anglican, but it is not part of the Anglican Communion. The difference with New Hampshire is that, while Rowan may have some problems with Gene, Lambeth doesn't deny that NH is part of TEC and thus part of the Communion.
"Its members are in full communion with constituent members of the Anglican Communion"
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit like saying, "I danced with the Prince of Wales because I once danced with a girl who once danced with the Prince of Wales."
BTW, this is not original to me, but memory fails where I read it and exactly how it goes.
David:
ReplyDeleteIt's a song from the 1930's. It was used in the late 1970s in a miniseries about Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson.
For folks who purportedly have few members and no prospects, you remain obsessed with everything they say and do.
ReplyDeleteDan
Well, Dan, perhaps that's because they are obsessed with us.
ReplyDeleteKurt Hill
Brooklyn, NY