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Support and Recognition of the Anglican Communion Network Increase

For Immediate Release

September 27, 2004

Contact: Cynthia P. Brust 202-412-8721

The Anglican Communion Network (ACN) has gained strong support and recognition within the worldwide Anglican Communion even as the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) continues to draw fire. Two archbishops have recently declared support of the ACN.

In a September letter to ACN Moderator Bishop Robert Duncan, Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini, Primate of the Anglican Province of Rwanda, offered “personal recognition of the Anglican Communion Network of Dioceses and Parishes as representative of the faithful and orthodox remnant within the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.” The Province of Rwanda, representing over 180,000 Anglicans, severed ties with ECUSA and its leadership following the confirmation and consecration of a non-celibate homosexual.

Archbishop Henry Orombi, Primate of the Anglican Church in Uganda, issued a statement on September 23, 2004 announcing that churches in Uganda were withdrawing grant requests from the United Thank Offering (UTO) sponsored by the Episcopal Church Women. Archbishop Orombi wrote that ECUSA Executive Council member Louie Crew’s open letters accusing Uganda of hypocrisy, while “condescending and imperialistic” in tone, had been ultimately helpful in insuring that they could “walk in the light regarding our financial accountability.” “Were it not for the information revealed in these open letters, we would not have known that the UTO grants of the Episcopal Church Women were part of the official ECUSA structure,” he continued.

Uganda has also requested that Episcopal Relief and Development not send grants to “any Church of Uganda diocese or institution”.

The Ugandan statement ended with praise for the Anglican Communion Network. “We continue to rejoice in the formation and growth of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes in the United States under the leadership of Bishop Bob Duncan, and thank God that there is a faithful remnant of Anglicans in American with whom we can remain in communion. We look forward to deepening our ties and mission partnerships with those parishes and dioceses that are part of this Anglican Communion Network.”

“God has created and grown the Anglican Communion Network in ways we could not have asked or imagined,” said Bishop Duncan. “Our leadership is thankful for the momentum and strength of the Network illustrated by statistics released September 20, and we are humbly grateful for the support and recognition of the Anglican Communion and its leaders, such as Archbishops Kolini and Orombi.”

The vast majority of the Anglican Communion stands in either impaired or broken communion with the Episcopal Church. According to the Rev. Canon Gregory Cameron, Secretary to the Lambeth Commission on Communion, “the leaders of twenty-two of the thirty-eight provinces of the Anglican Communion, representing about forty-four million Anglicans, have pronounced that they reject the moves in New Hampshire and in New Westminster as incompatible with the Gospel and with the Christian fellowship of which they are part. They have said that these developments tear the fabric of the Communion at its deepest level, and a state of broken Communion now exists between ECUSA and some twelve to eighteen provinces of the Communion.”

In a statement issued February 6, 2004, less than a month after its organizing convocation, fourteen Primates of the Global South extended recognition to the Anglican Communion Network. “We offer our support and the full weight of our ministries and offices to those who are gathering in a “Network of Confessing Dioceses and Congregations” now being organized in North America. We regard this network as a hopeful sign of a faithful Anglican future in North America. We invite those who are committed to the preservation of historic Biblical faith and order, to join that work and its essential commitment to the Gospel.” Archbishop Kolini’s statement of recognition brings the total number of Primates who have announced recognition to fifteen.

The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion await the October 18, 2004 release of the Lambeth Commission Report which will offer recommendations regarding the current crisis. In a statement issued recently, Archbishop Eames said, “While the commission has not been asked to pronounce on sexuality issues, it is expected that its report will recommend radical changes in the ways Anglicanism relates to its different constituencies.”

Posted at 12:00 am 9.27.2004 | Permalink

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