CANA: Merely a Nigerian Mission

[Written and posted by Lisa Fox, a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Jefferson City, Missouri, and a member of The Episcopal Majority's Steering Committee.]

The Virginia secessionists led by Martyn Minns, consecrated by Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola as bishop of CANA (the Convocation of Anglicans in North America), continue to aver that they are in direct communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury and are positioning themselves to set up an "Anglican" structure in the U.S., parallel to and, they seem to hope, eventually supplanting the Episcopal Church. It was therefore interesting to see this statement issued from Canterbury just days after the Virginia votes.

The Anglican Communion Office issued this statement by the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, on December 15:

In response to a number of queries, and following consultation with The Archbishop of Canterbury, [emphasis added] the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion has issued the following statement:

"The Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) is, to my knowledge, a 'mission' of the Church of Nigeria. It is not a branch of the Anglican Communion as such but an organsation which relates to a single province of the Anglican Communion. CANA has not petitioned the Anglican Consultative Council for any official status within the Communion's structures, nor has the Archbishop of Canterbury indicated any support for its establishment."

With now-Bishop Martyn Minns acting as bishop of CANA, one wonders what this bodes for his dreams of a "parallel structure" in the U.S.

It has appeared that at least two of the purple-shirted ones [+Duncan and now +Minns] yearn to supplant our Presiding Bishop at the Primates' meeting and at Lambeth. So far, the Archbishop of Canterbury does not seem to be offering them much encouragement.