News for Week Ending 12/12/2011

Former Nigerian primate supports anti-gay law

Nigeria’s Guardian reported December 10, 2011, that retired Church of Nigeria (Anglican) Archbishop Peter Akinola is supportive of the anti-homosexuality bill that recently passed by the Nigerian Senate. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) Akinola urged the House of Representatives to pass the bill and urged President Goodluck Jonathan not to bow to international pressure to veto the bill.

AMiA breaks with Rwanda

The Anglican Mission in the Americas has apparently broken its ties with the Rwandan church that had provided its connection to the Anglican Communion. The church, which began with disaffected Episcopalians sponsored by the Anglican Church of Rwanda, later joined, then withdrew, from the Anglican Church in North America. It is unclear with what church the AMiA will now affiliate. Christianity Today offers a summary of the story, which is still developing.

ENS site revamped

Episcopal News Service has received a Web makeover. It is now part of the Episcopal Digital Network, “an ad-supported media network that delivers news, information, and branded entertainment to church leaders, members, and general audiences.” The Episcopal News Service home page can now be found at http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/. There does not seem to be a link to the new site from the main Episcopal Church Web site. Recent ENS stories seem to have retained their URLs (Web addresses), but the URLs of older stories have changed.

Standing Committee writes hostile letter in anticipation of meeting of bishops in S.C.

VirtueOnline reported December 12, 2011, that the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina wrote a letter to Bishop of East Carolina Clifton Daniel December 9 in anticipation of a December 14 meeting in South Carolina between Bishop of South Carolina Mark Lawrence and Province IV bishops. The bishops had requested a meeting to clarify recent actions in South Carolina, particularly Bishop Lawrence’s issuance of quitclaim deeds to diocesan parishes. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) The letter, whose purpose seems to be intimidation, can be read on the VirtueOnline site.

Georgia Takes possession of Savannah church

A December 12, 2011, press release from the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia reported that the diocese has taken possession of historic Christ Church in Savannah. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the property is properly controlled by the diocese on November 21, 2011. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) The congregation left The Episcopal Church in 2007 for the Ugandan church and attempted to maintain control of the property. According to the press release, the keys to the church were handed over December 12 by Joan Malley, a former administrator at Pittsburgh’s Church of the Ascension.

Roman Catholic Church becomes part of Fort Worth dispute

A church in the breakaway Diocese of Fort Worth (whose property is therefore the subject of litigation) had begun the process of joining the U.S. Ordinariate authorized by the Roman Catholic Church to receive disgruntled Anglicans. (Many of the parishes that broke from The Episcopal Church in Fort Worth were strongly Anglo-Catholic.) Former bishop Jack Iker first scheduled a meeting of the congregation to decide the fate of St. Timothy’s, then suspended the meeting, citing legal prohibitions. The Lead reported on the matter on December 3, 2011. Subsequently, Provisional Bishop C. Wallis Ohl indicated in a statement that the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth is flexible on the matter of how the situation of St. Timothy’s is handled. The Lead reported on his statement here.