US priests become Kenyan bishops in gay protest
The worldwide Anglican Church took a further step towards schism over homosexuality today with the ordination of two American Bishops to pastor to conservative US Anglicans under the jurisdiction of Kenya.
The Right Rev William Murdoch and the Right Rev Bill Atwood were consecrated at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobu by Kenya’s Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi.
The ordinations are valid but are expected to be counted as “irregular” by Lambeth Palace in London, placing the two outside the officially-recognised Anglican hierarchy. Nonetheless, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will come under pressure from conservatives to invite the two new bishops to next year’s Lambeth Conference.
In a significant indication of how the divisions transcend national church disputes, one leading evangelical English bishop today recognised and welcomed the ordinations. The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, headed a list of more than 30 members of the Church of England’s General Synod who sent a message to the two new bishops backing their episcopal ministry, even though acknowledging it is “out of the ordinary”. Read more
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