The Vanguard reports:
Anglican bishops reject Akinola’s voluntary retirement
Bishops of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) yesterday rejected a notice of voluntary retirement from Archbishop Peter Akinola, as Primate of the Church.
They requested him to complete his tenure, which ends in 2010.
The Dean of the Church, the Archbishop Maxwell Anikwenwa, said yesterday in Abuja that the bishops prevailed on Akinola to rescind his decision to retire by January 2009.
Anikwenwa, who spoke at a consecration service, said the bishops took the decision after they received the Primates retirement notice on Saturday.
He said the veto by the bishops was pre-empted by wide consultations with other Anglican leaders, particularly from the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON)…
Maybe I’m just too cynical, but I was waiting for a reference to the Dear Leader. I’m trying to think of this as something other than a cult of personality. Maybe it’s the wording. After all, different varieties of English put things differently, and there is an elaborate tone to the way the African Press puts things. But what does this mean: “GAFCON will be on the front burner, we have to win it.” Win what? I thought he was one of the movers and shakers in GAFCON. Is there a battle for power inside GAFCON? Or is the “it”… Read more »
See this link for more details: http://www.nannigeria.com/latestnews.asp?Numpage=1
General News – Bishops reject Akinola’s voluntary retirement.
Oh that is a shame. Anglicanism could have benefited from his early retirement.
Oh, yippee… On a related note, CANA bishop David Anderson says that the British government has no right to appoint the ABC. So GAFCON are now directly challenging the constitutional rights of a sovereign nation!: “AAC is very interested in the outcome of GAFCON. We have a deep desire to bring together all the churches that claim Anglican heritage in order to form a new province – one that would be orthodox and part of a global family of Anglicans, but not necessarily recognizing the right of the British government to appoint archbishops of Canterbury and run the Anglican Communion.”… Read more »
Anglican bishops reject Akinola’s voluntary retirement Of course it is the Bishops that will reject the voluntary retirement of Archbishop Akinola and not the ordinary Nigerian Anglicans sitting on the pews who’s primary concern is how to survive in a country that is so blessed with mineral resources and yet nothing is working well. Bearing in mind that some Nigerian bishops are phoning the organizers of the Lambeth Conference to say that Archbishop Akinola has ordered not to attend the conference are we sure this retirement news is not another avenue to hit headlines as the Lambeth conference progress? Archbishop… Read more »
I am reminded of Shakespeare, as Caesar rejects the crown three times.
This is an interesting exerpt: “… the decision in May 2003 by Standing Committee (by a vote of 32-10) to extend the retirement age of Archbishop Jensen from 65 to 70. On the one hand, the decision brought the retirement age of Sydney’s leading cleric into line with that of other diocese around the country. But it also reversed a decision taken only ten years earlier, on the eve of Harry Goodhew’s election. Jensen insisted the idea didn’t come from him but rather a committee of senior clergy ……..” The Chosen Ones: The Politics of Salvation in the Anglican Church… Read more »
Yes, this odd spectacle of nothing but acclamation for the shining and nearly imperial witness of conservative leaders like Peter Akinola rings many bells. Bells of contradiction, insofar as the English crown must not have such a say in the life and leadership of CoE, while church leaders from afar claim exceptional privileges to cross boundaries and interfere with England for its own holy good. (And loudly tell everybody including the seriously bright academy of scholars how to investigate and read, and not, the scriptures?) If we listen to this acclaim, the rest of the communion is groaning and yearning… Read more »
Martin Reynolds: “It appears that some Global South bishops and retirement have a complex relationship.”
Indeed. Southern Cone ignored their own Canons, which stipulate a bishop must retire at 68, when they claimed San Joaquin and +Schofield as theirs. +Schofield is 69.
Pat, thanks for your literary reference. My reflection was a bit more pop and contemporary. It reminded me of the late James Brown. Toward the end of a concert the star, appearing exhausted, would be wrapped in his cape and, apparently, assisted – almost carried – off stage by an attendant. And then, just before actually leaving the stage, he would be taken with a new surge of energy and inspiration, coming back to sing again.
I do think, though, that we highlight the same point: perhaps it was all just a part of the act….
Does pre-empted have a different meaning in Britain or Nigeria? Here in the US it implies prevented or made meaningless.
Columba Gilliss
I’d say pre-empted means ‘pipped at the post’, myself.