More Bishops For The Shadow Church

Today Archbishop Nzimbi of Kenya consecrated the Rev. William Murdoch and the Rev. Bill Atwood, both formerly of the Episcopal Church, bishops in the Church of Kenya. You can read joyful coverage of the celebration on any number of the usual conservative blogs, including TitusOneNine, Stand Firm, and BabyBlueOnline. On Sunday Archbishop Orombi of Uganda will consecrate the Rev. John Guernsey as a bishop in the Church of Uganda. I am sure we will see similar coverage of that consecration by the usual suspects on both sides of the aisle.

In June the Rt. Rev. Andrew Fairfield, retired Bishop of South Dakota, was received into the Church of Uganda. He joins the Rt. Rev. David Bena, retired Suffragan of Albany and now of CANA, in leaving the Episcopal Church for the Shadow Church.

The hope is that these bishops, along with others consecrated by other provinces, will be in place to step in when the Episcopal Church is replaced in the Anglican Communion by a conservative entity. Mind you, these are the same folks who keep beating the Windsor drum and insisting that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada comply with the Windsor Report. The Episcopal Church is not yet "Windsor Compliant" in their eyes, yet neither are the provinces which continue to participate in consecrating bishops and cross provincial boundaries. If they feel that the Windsor Report is authoritative as a set of guidelines, then they should be following those guidelines. They cannot say, "The Episcopal Church is not being complying with the Windsor Report, and until it is, we are justified in continued border crossings." If they want to enforce it upon the Episcopal Church, they must also enforce it upon themselves. There is no "yes, but."

The Shadow Church waits anxiously for the TEC Bishops' meeting scheduled for the end of next month. They see it as the "do or die" moment for the Episcopal Church. In the meantime, they make more bishops for their hoped for conservative province in the United States.

Peace,
Jeffri