The Anglican Network in Europe which describes itself as “an authentic expression of Anglican church life and mission, authorised and supported by the Archbishops of the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon)”.
We have reported on this several times in the past:
GAFCON announces its “missionary bishop”
GAFCON consecrates a Bishop for Europe
The ANiE now has two constituent units: the Anglican Mission in England and the Anglican Convocation Europe.
More recently, it announced an intention to consecrate four additional bishops, two for AMiE (Lee Munn and Tim Davies), and two for ACE (Ian Ferguson and Stuart Bell). See GAFCON’s Europe Branch to Consecrate 4 Bishops.
Three of these men were consecrated bishops on Friday 21 October, at a service held at the Vineyard church in Hull (East Yorkshire). The chief consecrator was ACNA primate Foley Beach, the preacher was Rwanda primate Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, and Nigerian primate, Archbishop Henry Ndukuba presided at Holy Communion. (The consecration of Stuart Bell has been deferred until March next year.)
Andrew Atherstone was present, and has written a very detailed account which is well worth reading in full: New Anglican Bishops for England and Europe
There is a video recording of the service.
The official ANiE press release is here.
Interesting sentence in Andrew Atherstone’s report: ‘Whether it is possible to maintain the unity of an Anglican province where each diocese has its own set of canons, time will tell.’
He is perhaps unaware that there are other Anglican provinces in that situation. Canada, for instance, which has national, provincial, and diocesan canons.
This is an initiative external to the Church of England, carried out in English provincial areas uninvited by the actual Church of England. As I’ve written elsewhere, hey, I’m an Anglican, and enthusiastic, so 5 friends in my village have decided to make me a bishop. They have decided to enthrone me on the village green on Guy Fawkes day. At least, I think that’s what they plan. I expect Justin Welby to attend for ecumenical reasons. He has to. He wouldn’t ignore the Pope. So from now on, all of you readers, please address me respectfully as the Right… Read more »
Thank you, Most Reverend Clark. May I request a visitation from you to come to Denver CO? I’m sure +Lucas won’t mind and that she will have no problem extending to you St. John’s Cathedral for your use. I continue to find it fascinating how that half of the human race that has only one X gene (for most of them, but we mustn’t discuss human variability) and dangly parts instead of internal parts somehow makes them feel so superior. Even as we deploy more tools into space to understand and enjoy the beauty and majesty and complexity and almost… Read more »
Oh dear! These things are important! Susannah needs to become an Archbishop to be ‘Most Reverend’ and, again, in this format both ‘The’ and her Christian name must be included. I couldn’t work out the Latin for ‘nowhere’ but C of E bishops sign themselves thus: +Susannah Nowhere.
Some examples of the real thing: Londin: for the Bishop of London; Cantuar: everyone knows for Canterbury; Ebor: York; Dunelm: Durham and Winton: Winchester. In all cases they are a shortened form of the Latin name, hence the colon (e.g., Winton: is Wintoniensis abbreviated).
There are two books, “Episcopi Vagantes” and “Bishops at Large”, both published in the long ago. I have read “Bishops at Large” and it was a delightful read. When I was a Franciscan novice, some 50 years ago, we had a Franciscan bishop (an Episcopus Nullius) show up at our door with several young novices in tow. We welcomed them warmly and they had dinner and spent an evening with us. I would describe them as “sincere, but quirky.”
FYI: nowhere in Latin is “nusquam” so, +Susannah Nusquam
Rome uses Abbot Nullius for an “abbot with no diocese.”
Bless you, my child.
Peter!!! Are you at Saint John’s Cathedral, Denver? My wife and I are there. I serve as an acolyte at least twice a month at 10:30. Do say hi.
And yes, +Susannah most certainly needs to come to Denver for a visitation. We have a guest room.
Now to be be correct, you must be the Right Reverend Susannah Clark. Omitting the Christian name is a common error by some journalists and, regrettably in this day and age, the BBC.
Goodness gracious, you are on the ball, Rev. Wateridge. I appoint you Honorary Archdeacon in my diocese, with special responsibility for all legal affairs.
Anyone else want a promotion? We are a growing Anglican diocese.
To the verimost harmonious Rowland, master of minims, high custodian of crochets, director of audio-ministerial matters etc etc bar. Treble Bass, I think that the Bishop of Meath and Kildare is a Most Reverend but have no idea why. Perhaps you may know? Could Susannah be the Utterly Reverend I wonder.
I also fear that Susannah’s friends consecrating her might be invalid if they are not themselves bishops, at least according to church tradition a person consecrated as a bishop by another bishop, is I think regarded as actually a bishop.
The Bishop of Meath and Kildare is indeed a Most Reverend… “for historical reasons.”
Actually, Susannah, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I am the Primate and Metropolitan of the United Universal Apostolic Anglican Church. There are three of us, so we are clearly the purer remnant. I have established my pro-cathedral in my shed and bought myself a new biretta.
Francis Wagstaff got there ahead of us all as self appointed Archbishop of the Old Catholic Church of the East Riding. Treat yourselves to a bargain copy of his Spiritual Quest and see how the Church of England bishops get tangled up.
Funnily enough, someone has lent me a copy of that!
I’m wondering what colour your biretta is. I guess it had to be something special, but there are endless variations. Purple, possibly? Scarlet is reserved for cardinals. I have seen tall black ones with a purple or crimson pom. Oratorians stick to black only and without any pom. A high church C of E parish priest friend of mine, sadly now deceased, while in Rome decided that he needed a new biretta, and expecting to get the best went to the Papal tailors. “Do you speak English?” he enquired. “Of course” was the reply. He then said what he wanted… Read more »
I think that my licentiate degree from the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas entitles me to wear a three-horned biretta with scarlet piping and a scarlet pom pom. That and a college ring. I can’t think of any scenario that I would wear it in though, I also fear I might look a little silly.
Or a bit Anglican?
My biretta is bright pink, with a sky blue pom-pom. When I sit enthroned in my shed, err, I mean pro cathedral, denouncing all the other bits of Anglicanism that have fallen away into heresy and schism, those assembled around me will know that I speak with true authority. It’s the only way.
Apologies to those readers who think TA is purely for the vain repetition of dull opinions. We can neither confirm nor deny that gin has been taken.
Your general argument stands, but you are I think rather traducing a very beautiful holiday destination, which welcomes people of all faiths and none, without regard to sex, gender or sexuality, to a place of serenity and contemplation. If only the same could be said of GAFCON.
https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/lundyisland/discovering-lundy/
Thank you for this, IO, and reminding me that I meant to gently chide or educate Susannah about her use of Lundy. I am a North Devonian by birth and ancestry, and am very fond of Lundy. ‘Lundy Island’ is tautology as ‘Lundy’ includes island in its meaning. More interestingly perhaps, Lundy has actually travelled in the opposite direction to that portrayed in Susannah’s post. When it became part of the Landmark Trust (1970s or 80s? – I can’t remember) it came under several mainland rules and regs for the first time, and became less independent, not more, as in… Read more »
Thanks Mary. You prompted me to have a quick shifty through the Wikipedia page for Lundy, where I see that it had its own King in the 1920s and did not have to pay UK income tax. It sounds that its independent streak was still alive and kicking when you were visiting (and drinking under age).
This will certainly cause confusion among Anglican Laity in the ordinary run of the Mill of Anglican Life within the Church of England, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church in Wales, as to whether these Bishops consecrated are Anglican? Are their Episcopal orders regular or even Valid? It will raise all sorts of questions about ecclesiology, and also raise questions as to the validity of Confirmations and Diaconal and Presbyteral orders conferred by these new AMIE Bishops, and by what authority do they operate as Bishops? Or whether this is effectively a formal schism from the Anglican Communion ?… Read more »
Jonathan- you speak of ‘statements to clarify for the benefit of the Laity’. Sadly I cannot see the ‘person in the street’ having much if any concern over the ‘ecclesiastical standing’ of any bishop however schismatic. IIUC there are CofE and RC bishops of Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Shrewsbury and Southwark. If only ‘the church’ were not already rent asunder- how these Christians love one another.
I doubt if many lay people in ‘the ordinary run of the Mill of Anglican Life within the Church of England, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church in Wales’ will be aware this has happened, or give it much thought. They’re unlikely to run across these chaps so the consecration will have little to no impact on them. As Susannah says above, it’s Lundy Island compared to the UK.
But yes, it’s certainly schismatic.
Will these ANIE church plants be part of the 10,000 (or was it 20,000?) new churches that the C of E says it is aiming to establish by 2030? Or will the C of E be sending in HTB to rival them?
The plot now thickens! Fresh from his foray into Europe and his ordination of dissident bishops under the care of AMiE Bishop Andy Lines, the ACNA/GACFON Archbishop Foley Beach has just issued the equivalent of a Fatwah, in his demand for the ABC to repent for what has happened in the appointment of the new dean of Canterbury. Here is an extract from my article on – kiwianglo – “In a burst of what might only be described as ‘chutzpah’ the recent assembly of GAFCON’s dissident Anglicans and other schismatics (including their Chairman ACNA’s Archbishop Foley Beach) decided to issue… Read more »
Out of curiosity as a former Anglican I watched the Consecration of the AMIE Bishops, through the Link you provided, and it really shocked me at many levels. It seemed to lack any sense of dignity one normally associates with Anglican Worship, a Tradition from my past involvement with it that rightly prides itself on doing things decently and in order, to try and reflect scripturally something of the Order of God as a God of order. I felt it was a debasement of the Sacrament of orders as well as a debasing of the Eucharist. When it came to… Read more »
I guess you have never viewed a “meeting” at the Anglican cathedral in Sydney. The minister, in shirt and tie, spends more time at the altar giving traffic directions for coming forward to receive communion than he does on the prayer of consecration.
Yes, Richard. In that Cathedral nowadays, one’s attention is drawn more towards the pulpit than the altar (which they call the Holy Table – never an altar). In such places of the Sydney diocese, it seems that the Word of God in the Scriptures is given more respect and attention than The Word-Made-Flesh in the Eucharist. Antediluvian! This is the religion of ‘Sola Scriptura’ – along with the 39 Artifacts. However, in the heart of that diocese there are at least two citadels of authentic Anglican Catholicity: Christchurch St. Laurence, in George Street, and St. James, King Street – there… Read more »
‘…which they call the Holy Table – never an altar’
As in the 1549/52, 1559 and 1662 Books of Common Prayer, you mean? Dastardly evangelical documents that they are?
Veering away from Sydney, but the word “altar” has, notwithstanding the BCP, always continued in use. For example, the coronation service from 1603 (the first English language coronation) onwards, has for 400 years consistently referred to the “altar”, not the “table”. Even the most protestant of revisions have “altar”. The word “table” only appears in a single rubric in the communion section of the rite, taken from the BCP, but never in the coronation sections.
I”m aware of that, Simon. I simply don’t appreciate the assumption that the use of the term ‘Holy Table’ is un-Anglican.
Deliberately using it and fleeing from the word “altar” is, however, deeply un-Anglican.
OK then.
I’ve noticed that the “table” is always in place these days. When the Jensens were archbishop and dean, the table was rolled out of sight when the meeting did not include the Lord’s Supper. A Bible (in a glass case) was in its place. (I believe it was a priceless 16th century Bible, but the glass case did not give the impression that it was to be read and understanded of the people.) At CCSL and St James, the celebrant wears a cope, the chasuble being forbidden. Sydney was the only diocese in the Anglican Communion where the chasuble was… Read more »
continuing my blog on the Hull Consecration. When it came to the Administration of Holy Communion, it had a clinical edge to it that Medicine glasses on a Tray, instead of the common Chalice, and unlike Anglican Consecrations in the Church of England, when a Mandate is read, so it is clear to all by whose Authority this is being done by, there was no mandate read. To use the Bible as the only Mandate required, will not do! If we believe in the Incarnation, Divine authority as to be incarnated in some kind of human ecclesial authority, otherwise it… Read more »
Indeed. Every city is full of pop-up churches run by someone with a Bible who has decided to set himself up as a pastor. None of them last very long, but I do wonder what becomes of those who get involved with them.
Why do we give these weirdos space?
As so often, it would help to explain exactly who “we” are in this question. The underlying assumption, that there is some group of people (which apparently includes Struggling Anglican, but certainly excludes others) which allocates space to religious start-ups, seems … odd.
However, addressing the preceding points, I wonder if there’s some sort of answer in, say, Acts 4:6-8, 5:27-28, and 5:38-39.
I must be a simple soul but really don’t know what you and a few others are banging on about and as for the fine details of clerical forms of address, will the last man (or person) out switch off the lights.
Then let me explain more clearly. You wrote “Why do we give these weirdos space?” and I asked you what group of people you referred to when you wrote “we”. That is, my question is: what is this group of people, in which it seems you include yourself, who “give space” to “these weirdos”? The verses referred to in Acts describe the less-than-welcoming responses to the new Christian churches from the existing religious establishment and elite. One can certainly imagine the Sanhedrin saying to themselves “Why do we give these weirdos space?” or complaining that “Every city is full of… Read more »
There are sections of nearly every major city in the USA where a commercial building cannot remain empty for long before it is converted into someone’s church. I have seen pizzerias, laundromats, and sandwich shops become houses of worship. And that’s not to mention the scores of former movie theaters.
I am mystified by the notion that mockery adds anything to the common good.
Is that a bid for canonisation?
I have no idea what you are trying to say.
Please can you explain the connection between canonisation (of whom ?) and my comment about mocking people.
Holier than thou?
Spare me your ad hominem.
If you think mocking people is acceptable behaviour you need to engage in some self criticism.
I still have no idea what your beef is.
At this point I will leave this rather silly conversation to itself. It can agonise over titles if that is what floats its boat!
You clearly have no idea whom you are addressing and what kind of person I am. All the best and farewell
You certainly appeared to be mocking me. If that is not the case then that is my mistake.
It is your mistake. You are not being mocked.
That’s a relief. You might want to think about how you express yourself. Saying “holier than thou” to somebody is a personal insult
This is a Christian site and therefore there is a standard of behaviour expected.
Oh dear. Having been berated I am now rebuked. No more please.
There were a number of schisms from the C of E in the 19c ( ably chronicled by Dr Grayson Carter) of which I think only the Free Church of England survives (in an attenuated state). At the other end we had in a shop in Canterbury ( decked out with a big 6 and reliquaries) of the Anglican Catholic Church which apparently has seven churches in England. But unlike the US where there is greater religious fervour and you can start a church more easily (and worship this Sunday in the church of your choice as the newspapers have… Read more »
I found Andrew Atherstone’s report very interesting and thorough. Of course it would be easy to mock these ordinations / new churches and dismiss them as ‘conservative evangelicals.’ However, there are some factors I think the traditional Church of England could well at least consider: These bishops clearly run light to admin / offices and ‘diocesan staff’. This is something many in the Church of England also look for. The bishops have – at least in part – an ecumenical concern beyond England. Again something the Church of England lacks – not only beyond England, but say with its covenanted… Read more »
Excellent points, Dave. Most of them could also be made of Anglican churches beyond the shores of England. Certainly in much of Canada, they would all three be true.
There is a very Old Book called “Bishops at Large” which traces the history of schismatic churches with somewhat Irregular orders, if not invalid and it lists the Liberal Catholic Churches arising out of the Leadbetter succession and some Pseudo Orthodox churches like the British Orthodox Church (Glastonbury Rite) reguarised within Orthodoxy in 1994 and I think in the past these roving Bishops were referred to as Episcopus Vigantees, I expect these AMIE “Bishops” would come under this same heading. Jonathan
Episcopi vagantes