Contact: Loralei Coyle 202-682-4131, 202-905-6852 cell, lcoyle@ird-renew.org; Radio Interviews: Jeff Walton, jwalton@ird-renew.org; both with the Institute on Religion and Democracy
WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 /Christian Newswire/ -- Last weekend was a significant one in the life of the Episcopal Church and the larger Anglican Communion. On December 8, delegates to the Episcopal Church's Diocese of San Joaquin overwhelmingly voted to leave the denomination. The vote carried with support from 90 percent of the lay delegates and 83 percent of the clergy delegates. The diocese has aligned itself with another province in the Anglican Communion, the Province of the Southern Cone.
On December 9, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), a missionary arm of the Church of Nigeria, consecrated four new bishops to support its growing work in North America. Roger Ames, David Anderson, Amos Fagbamiye, and Nathan Kanu have joined the Rt. Rev. David Bena as suffragen bishops under the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, who is missionary bishop of CANA.
IRD Director of Anglican Action Ralph Webb commented:
"The seismic shift in the Episcopal Church and the larger Anglican Communion continues unabated. The Diocese of San Joaquin is most likely only the first of several dioceses to leave the Episcopal Church. The denomination apparently has lost the vast majority of its parishioners and clergy in the diocese.
"The activity of CANA this last weekend also was remarkable. Many bishops from the larger Anglican Communion attended the consecrations. Orthodox Anglicans from many different groups also were present, demonstrating a solidarity that could only have been dreamed of a few years ago.
"The lives of orthodox Anglicans from the Diocese of San Joaquin and CANA may well prove difficult over the next few years. They have made costly decisions. Still, they say they are experiencing a sense of freedom in following Christ in the larger Anglican Communion outside of the Episcopal Church. Other orthodox Anglicans are making sacrificial decisions by staying within the Episcopal Church and maintaining a biblically faithful witness there.
"The Episcopal Church's domestic average Sunday attendance dropped 11 percent between 2001 and 2006, and it will undoubtedly continue to drop dramatically as long as departures continue. Meanwhile, Anglican groups that the Episcopal Church dismisses, other than to sue them over property, continue to grow. Clearly, new alliances are being forged and old ones are crumbling in today's tumultuous Anglican Communion."
