NEW BISHOPS FROM AFRICA AND ASIA CONSECRATED AND SENT TO THE UNITED STATES
St. Andrews Cathedral, Singapore, January 29, 2000
An international group of Anglican Archbishops and Bishops today consecrated the Rev. Charles H. Murphy III and the Very Rev. Dr. John H. Rodgers Jr., as Bishops who will be released to minister in the United States of America. "The releasing of bishops into another province is an action not without precedence in the Anglican Communion," said Bishop C. FitzSimons Allison, former bishop of South Carolina.
Murphy, the rector of one of the fastest growing Episcopal Churches in the U.S., and Rodgers, Dean Emeritus of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, have agreed to step forward at this moment of crisis, in an initiative aimed at reversing a 30-year decline of 30 percent in the membership of the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. "This crisis of decline is a crisis of the Christian Faith that has left the Episcopal Church divided," said Rodgers. "Our calling is to minister to those congregations who believe that the authority of Scripture and the historic Creeds are central to our Faith, conduct, and unity as Anglicans, " said Murphy.
The two bishops will provide pastoral support, guidance, and oversight at the request of clergy and congregations that want to continue in the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as the Anglican Church has received them. They will actively seek to plant Anglican missions in areas where there are receptive communities and little faithful witness in the Episcopal Church. "We are committed to lead the Church-not leave it," said Murphy.
The Archbishops and Bishops agree that this is a Gospel issue, not a political issue. It is an action to re-establish the unity that has been violated by the unrebuked ridicule and denial of basic Christian teaching. They are convinced it is time to give the faithful in the US a place to remain Anglican.
This bold initiative is intended to help Archbishops from around the world take seriously the need for the reform and renewal of the Episcopal Church at their meeting next month in Lisbon, Portugal.
The sending of these bishops back to the United States is offered as an interim step in an ongoing effort to lead the Episcopal Church back to its biblical foundations.
The consecrators were The Most Reverend Emmanuel Kolini, Archbishop of the Province of Rwanda; The Most Reverend Moses Tay, Archbishop of the Province of South East Asia; The Right Reverend John Ruchyahana, the Diocese of Shyira in Rwanda. They were assisted by The Right Reverend C. Fitzimmons Allison, the thirteenth Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, Episcopal Church, USA; The Right Reverend Alex D. Dickson, the first Bishop of the Diocese of West Tennessee, Episcopal Church, USA; and The Right Reverend David Pytches, the former Bishop of Chile, Bolivia and Peru.
For further information contact: The Rt. Rev. Charles Murphy, First Promise, 843-237-0318, The Rt. Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, Association of Anglican Congregations on Mission, 847-486-9711.
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