Archbishop Orombi's Excellent Letter to the ABC
Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda has written an excellent letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury. In this letter ++Orombi recounts the many ways that TEC has thwarted the will of the primates of the world's Anglican provinces over the last seven years, primarily by means of manipulating the processes by which the Anglican Communion makes decisions--especially by having everything of importance funnelled through the Joint Standing Committee, where TEC itself holds a dominant position. One cannot expect the fox to guard the henhouse effectively, nor can one put a body dominated by TEC in the position of policing TEC and its left-wing allies when they stray from traditional Anglican teaching.
The letter reads, in part:
Your Grace, I have urged you in the past, and I will urge you again. There is an urgent need for a meeting of the Primates to continue sorting out the crisis that is before us, especially given the upcoming consecration of a Lesbian as Bishop in America. The Primates Meeting is the only Instrument that has been given authority to act, and it can act if you will call us together.
The agenda for that meeting should be set by the Primates themselves at the meeting, and not by any other staff in advance of the meeting. I reiterate this point because you will recall our cordial December 2008 meeting with you, Chris Smith, and the other GAFCON Primates in Canterbury where we discussed the agenda for the Primates meeting to take place in Alexandria the following month. None of our submissions were included in the agenda. Likewise, at the beginning of the January 2009 Primates meeting I was asked to present a position paper on the effect of the crisis in the Communion from our perspective, but I was not informed in advance, so I did not come prepared. Yet, other presenters, including TEC and Canada, were given prior information and came very prepared. I have never received a formal written apology about that incident, and it has caused me to wonder if there are two standards at work in how a Primate is treated.
Finally, the meeting should not include the Primates of TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada who are proceeding with unbiblical practices that contradict the faith of Anglicanism. We cannot carry on with business as usual until order is brought out of this chaos.
The entire letter may be read at Stand Firm.
The letter reads, in part:
Your Grace, I have urged you in the past, and I will urge you again. There is an urgent need for a meeting of the Primates to continue sorting out the crisis that is before us, especially given the upcoming consecration of a Lesbian as Bishop in America. The Primates Meeting is the only Instrument that has been given authority to act, and it can act if you will call us together.
The agenda for that meeting should be set by the Primates themselves at the meeting, and not by any other staff in advance of the meeting. I reiterate this point because you will recall our cordial December 2008 meeting with you, Chris Smith, and the other GAFCON Primates in Canterbury where we discussed the agenda for the Primates meeting to take place in Alexandria the following month. None of our submissions were included in the agenda. Likewise, at the beginning of the January 2009 Primates meeting I was asked to present a position paper on the effect of the crisis in the Communion from our perspective, but I was not informed in advance, so I did not come prepared. Yet, other presenters, including TEC and Canada, were given prior information and came very prepared. I have never received a formal written apology about that incident, and it has caused me to wonder if there are two standards at work in how a Primate is treated.
Finally, the meeting should not include the Primates of TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada who are proceeding with unbiblical practices that contradict the faith of Anglicanism. We cannot carry on with business as usual until order is brought out of this chaos.
The entire letter may be read at Stand Firm.
posted by Texanglican (R.W. Foster+) | 6:37 AM
3 Comments:
Randall,
It's a great letter. However, Archbishop Orombi incorrectly assumes that all Primates are metropolitan bishops since the Africa Primates generally are metropolitans of their provinces. However, in a number of Anglican provinces the Primate is not a metropolitan bishop or, if he is a metropolitan, it is not of the entire province but of an ecclesiastical or internal province of the particular province. For example, TEC Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori is the Primate of TEC but the TEC constitution and canons do not give her metropolitical jurisdiction throughout TEC. See the ACI's Statement on South Carolina: http://www.anglicancommunioninstitute.com/2010/04/statement-on-south-carolina/. Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, is the Archbishop of Brisbane and the metropolitan of ecclesiastical or internal province of the Anglican Church of Australia of which the diocese of Brisbane is a part but he is not metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Australia. Presidng Bishop Gregory Venables is Presiding Bishop of Southern Cone and Bishop of Argentina. He is not the metropolitan of the Anglican Church of the Province of Southern Cone of America. In that province the Provincial Executive Council has metropolitan responsibility. Presiding Bishop Venable is the president of that Council.
The five Primates on the Joint Standing Committee are Anis, Orombi, Aspinall, Morgan, Schori. The last three Primates are liberals.
Randall, did you get my email about Saturday? I need to reschedule for the 17th or 29th
Let me know, OK?
Katherine
Right-O, Katherine. Next week is good.
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