Anglican leader from Nigeria installs bishop in U.S. Episcopal territory, heightening rift

Anglican leader from Nigeria installs bishop in U.S. Episcopal territory, heightening rift
3:45 p.m. May 5, 2007

WOODBRIDGE, Va. – A powerful Anglican leader from Nigeria installed a bishop Saturday to lead the conservative U.S. parish network he created, despite a last-minute plea from the head of the Anglican Communion that he cancel his visit.

Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria was already in the United States when a spokesman for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams revealed Friday that Williams had tried to intercede. The installation ceremony, held at a nondenominational chapel, went ahead as planned.

 

Bishop Martyn Minns, a former Episcopal clergyman, was given full leadership of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, which Akinola started last December as an alternative to the liberal-leaning Episcopal Church.

Episcopalians form the U.S. wing of the 77 million-member global Anglican Communion, a fellowship of churches that trace their roots to the Church of England.

The communion is on the verge of splitting up because of differences over Scripture, including whether the Bible bars gay relationships. The theological rift broke wide open in 2003 when Episcopalians consecrated their first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Days before the installation, Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori had urged the Nigerian leader not to visit the U.S. She said it would violate the Anglican tradition that national church leaders, called primates, only minister to churches within their own provinces.

Akinola responded by saying that “the usual protocol and permissions are no longer applicable” because of what he called the “unbiblical agenda” of the U.S. church.

As the communion's spiritual leader, Williams does not have the direct authority to stop Akinola or force a compromise. As part of a plan to prevent schism, Anglican primates collectively have given the U.S. denomination until Sept. 30 to step back from its support of gays or risk losing its full membership in the fellowship.