Church Times report by Francis Martin: Next Bishop of Wolverhampton regrets part in non-canonical ordination
THE next Bishop of Wolverhampton, Dr Tim Wambunya, has apologised for the part he played in a non-canonical ordination of a bishop in Germany, saying that he merely wished to support a former student.
The service, which took place in Berlin in April, was billed as the ordination, as Bishop, of the Revd Wamare Juma, who founded and leads the Revealed Evangelical Mission. The organisation’s website describes it as a “non-denominational para-church”, and it has branches in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania as well as Germany…
…At the service in April, Dr Wambunya laid hands on Bishop Wamare Juma, led him through the declarations and ordination prayer from the Common Worship rite of ordination and consecration of a bishop, and presented him with a “certificate of ordination” which identified Dr Wambunya as the “ordaining bishop”.
On Tuesday, Dr Wambunya said that he took part in a personal capacity. “I did not for a moment imagine I was representing the Church of England, or even any other Anglican province, and I was not there in any official capacity,” he said…
Do read the full report, which includes comments from the Bishops of Oxford and Lichfield.
Also, you can watch the entire event here:
Video: ORDINATION OF BISHOP WAMARE JUMA
G-d, how they lie.
So they were just playing at dressing up and making bishops were they- what fun!
Remind me why this bloke is becoming a suffragan bishop?
Extraordinary. How can you ordain someone a bishop in a ‘personal capacity’?
Ordination is a power (in the scholastic sense of imposing a form onto something) that a bishop has, in the same way as a priest can confect a sacrament. As such, it is possible for a bishop with appropriate form, matter, and intent to ordain someone, regardless of what their church body or communion says (this is how we’ve ended up with so many Old Catholic groups; it only takes one bishop breaking off to spin up a whole new bunch of bishops).
At least he’s apologised. Anyone can accidently travel to Berlin, inadvertently dress as a Church of England bishop, and allow one’s hands to fall on a man’s head to make him a bishop. This could happen to anyone.
Don’t forget accidentally using the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England!
Well- he has learned the Church of England apology very quickly, and so well he has extended its scope beyond safeguarding.
He should stand down as probably should his diocesan- to-be for saying that his action has to be seen in the context of the African church….
But I’m not holding my breath, only my wallet
Wishing to support a former student is an admirable thing. One might do so by attending, sitting in the congregation and supporting that person with one’s prayers. To actually ordain someone in an irregular way is quite another matter. It ought to prevent him taking up the post of Bishop of Wolverhampton, but I don’t suppose it will – after all, if there are consequences for this, someone might have to do something about the quasi-ordinations at Bishopgate.
If anyone was in any doubt (following the Langham Place and Bishopsgate services) that catholic order has collapsed in the Church of England, doubt no longer. 21 years ago, Jeffrey John was forced by conservative outcry to resign merely for being in a celibate relationship, despite never having broken any rules. Today, there are so many unpunished conservative breaches of church order that the bishops’ authority means nothing. There is clearly no one who both has the power and is willing to use it to end the existential threat posed by the Alliance.
Wow. What an extraordinary event. From his bio, Bishop Wambunya sounds experienced and well-qualified to serve as a bishop in the UK, but this is such a clear breach of canon law and failure to understand Anglican ecclesiology, that (quite aside from the issue of disciplinary proceedings), I would have thought the honourable thing for him to do would be to withdraw his acceptance from the Wolverhampton appointment, keep his head down, and perhaps hope (after a suitable period of reflection) to be appointed elsewhere in the future. As a serving vicar, I am genuinely shocked. Does the Church of… Read more »
This action cannot be acceptable. Nor can it be acceptable that the Bishop of Oxford sit on his hands at such a breach of Canon Law and Church practice. Steven Croft’s failure to take action raises many questions – In a similar way will no action be taken against those who commission missioners for parish without episcopal authority? When is it acceptable, Bishop, to ignore canon law, and when is it not? Is it not a schismatic act for a bishop to ordain outside his jurisdiction, and indeed outside his Communion? If it is not a schismatic act what is… Read more »