Convocation Of Anglicans In North America
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Church of Nigeria North American Mission (CONNAM) is a missionary body of the
Church of Nigeria The Church of Nigeria is the Anglicanism, Anglican Church body, church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest Province (Anglican), province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptised membership (not by attendance), after the Church of Englan ...
(CON). It has been in a ministry partnership with the
Anglican Church in North America The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba. ...
but no longer affiliated with it beyond mutual membership in
GAFCON The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (branded as GAFCON or Gafcon) is a communion of conservative Anglicanism, Anglican churches, aligned with the Confessing Movement, that formed in 2008 in response to ongoing theological disputes in th ...
. Founded in 2005 as the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, it was composed primarily of churches that have disaffiliated from the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...
(ECUSA). CANA was initially a missionary initiative of the Anglican
Church of Nigeria The Church of Nigeria is the Anglicanism, Anglican Church body, church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest Province (Anglican), province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptised membership (not by attendance), after the Church of Englan ...
for Nigerians living in the United States. It joined several other church bodies in the formation of the Anglican Church in North America in 2009. In 2019, the dual jurisdiction arrangement with the ACNA came to an end, and CANA was reformed as CONNAM, with a special focus on serving Nigerian-American Anglican churches in North America.


History


Formation and founding of ACNA

CANA was formed in reaction to the decisions of the Episcopal Church USA on several issues, particularly related to international Anglican Communion resolutions at the Lambeth Conference 1998, the Windsor Report, Dromantine (Ireland), and at Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) — including the ordination of non-celibate homosexual clergy, which it opposes as deviant and sinful. Church of Nigeria Primate
Peter Akinola Peter Jasper Akinola (born 27 January 1944, in Abeokuta) is the former Anglican Primate of the Church of Nigeria. He is also the former bishop of Abuja and Archbishop of Province III, which covered the northern and central parts of the country ...
desired "to provide a way for congregations that were alienated by the actions of the Episcopal Church to retain fellowship with the Anglican Communion." Its first bishop was
Martyn Minns Martyn Minns (born April 16, 1943) is an English-born American bishop, serving in the Anglican Church of Nigeria. He was the founding missionary bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), under the patronage of the Anglican ...
, previously the rector of Truro Church. In 2009, CANA was one of the founding jurisdictions of the Anglican Church in North America. As geographic ACNA dioceses began to form, several CANA churches, including Truro and the Falls Church Anglican, formed the Anglican District of Virginia and later joined the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic under Bishop John Guernsey. CANA—and thus the Church of Nigeria—was also the canonical residence for ACNA's chaplains, as CANA Bishop Derek Jones became the first ordinary of the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy (JAFC). The vision of CON leadership in the early 2010s was to transfer CANA parishes to ACNA jurisdiction. "We are not interested in territorial ambition; our main reason for going to America was to provide for those who were no longer finding it possible to worship in the Episcopal church," CON Primate Nicholas Okoh said in 2011. During the 2010s, other GAFCON member provinces that had provided canonical residence for North American Anglicans—including the
Southern Cone The Southern Cone (, ) is a geographical and cultural subregion composed of the southernmost areas of South America, mostly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Traditionally, it covers Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, bounded on the west by the Pac ...
and
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
—transferred parishes back to sole ACNA jurisdiction, as did the
Anglican Church of Rwanda The Anglican Church of Rwanda (; ) is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering 13 dioceses in Rwanda. The Primate (bishop), primate of the province is Laurent Mbanda, consecrated on 10 June 2018. Official names The Province of the Anglican ...
with PEARUSA in 2016. In 2012, CANA launched its first offshoot diocese in the United States, the Missionary Diocese of the Trinity, plus two formal dioceses, CANA East and CANA West and the JAFC, all of which were dual jurisdictions of the Church of Nigeria and ACNA. Minns was succeeded in 2014 as CANA missionary bishop—overseeing all three CANA dioceses—by Julian Dobbs, a CANA suffragan bishop consecrated in 2011. Dobbs also served as bishop of CANA East, while Felix Orji was named bishop of CANA West and Amos Fagbamiye became the first bishop of the Diocese of the Trinity.


Separation from and tension with ACNA

In 2019, conflict arose between the CON and ACNA leadership. In January, the CON bishops elected four suffragan bishops to serve in the Missionary Diocese of the Trinity, but this election was not submitted to the ACNA college of bishops for consent according to ACNA's canons, with the result that the four bishops, upon consecration, would not be seated in the ACNA. The election of the bishops was also not done in consultation with CANA's missionary bishop, Julian Dobbs, or the bishop of CANA West. Dobbs and Orji commented at the time: "This does not directly affect the mission and ministry of the other CANA dioceses. While we are disappointed by the way this election process has unfolded, this is not a situation that affects our local parishes and their commitment to making disciples and followers of Jesus." Amid the controversy, the dual jurisdiction came to an end. "This agreement helps us honor the desire of our Nigerian brothers and sisters in North America to remain connected with the Church of Nigeria, while providing for future ministry partnership,” ACNA Primate
Foley Beach Foley Thomas Beach (born October 31, 1958) is an American Anglican bishop. He was the second primate and archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, a church associated with the Anglican realignment movement, and is the first diocesan bi ...
said. CANA East departed CON and became solely the ACNA Diocese of the Living Word. Unlike other GAFCON provinces, CON retained a diocesan presence in North America, with the stated purpose of serving Nigerian immigrants in North America. CANA West, which was composed of a mixture of Nigerian and Anglo-American adherents, and the Missionary Diocese of the Trinity, which was primarily Nigerian immigrants, remained in the Church of Nigeria. Additional controversy arose amid the ending of dual jurisdiction. Ahead of the new bishops' scheduled consecration on 3 July 2019 in
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
, a priest in CANA East filed formal
heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...
charges against Bishop-Elect Augustine Unuigbe, charging that Unuigbe had advocated "
Word of Faith A word is a basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguists on its ...
" doctrines and the
prosperity gospel Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, seed-faith gospel, Faith movement, or Word-Faith movement) is a belief among some Charismatic Christians that financial bl ...
, both of which has been rejected by Anglican leaders at the 2018
Global Anglican Future Conference The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) is a series of conferences of conservative Anglican bishops and leaders, the first of which was held in Jerusalem from 22 to 29 June 2008 to address the growing controversy of the divisions in the Ang ...
. After an investigation called for by Okoh, Unuigbe apologized for "inadvertent error" and his consecration went ahead as scheduled. Fagbamiye also apologized and said that Unuigbe had "assured the Primate of his continuous commitment to the teachings of the Word of God in its undiluted form and that he will continue to align with the vision of the Church of Nigeria, as a 'Bible-based' Church." Additional tension between CON and ACNA arose in the winter of 2021. The ACNA college of bishops released
Sexuality and Identity: A Pastoral Statement
" in which they said "we do not believe it wise nor commendable to adopt categorically the language of ' gay Christian,' or 'same-sex attracted Christian' as the default description for those who experience same-sex attraction within the ACNA" and "commend dthe usage of 'Christians who experience same-sex attraction'" to focus on Christian identity. After several ACNA clergy signed an open letter titled "Dear Gay Anglicans" that was seen to challenge the bishops' statement, Foley Beach commented that the reaction "has already had international ramifications," including from Nigeria.
Henry Ndukuba Henry Chukwudum Ndukuba (born 18 July 1961) is the current Primate of the Church of Nigeria. Prior to his appointment, he was Archbishop of Jos and Bishop of Gombe. Biography Henry Ndukuba was born in a Christian home in Anambra State. His par ...
, who had succeeded Okoh as CON primate in 2020, said the ACNA bishops' statement was "tantamount to a subtle capitulation to recognize and promote same-sex relations among its members, exactly the same route of argument adopted by The Episcopal Church (TEC).... These actions which fueled the crisis that has broken the fabrics of the Anglican Communion should not be repeated by ACNA. Manipulating languages to cover up sin and sinners are incompatible with the example of Scripture which condemned sin." Ndukuba added that the "Dear Gay Anglicans" letter "was openly endorsed by some bishops, priests and laity in ACNA. It is a clarion call to recruit Gays into ACNA member parishes. The deadly ‘virus' of homosexuality has infiltrated ACNA."


Transition to CONNAM

In October 2020, CANA was replaced as a corporate entity by CONNAM (with the two constituent dioceses of the West and the Trinity), and Orji was designated CONNAM's coordinating bishop. In 2021, the JAFC completed the canonical process for removing its residence in the Church of Nigeria and becoming canonically resident in the ACNA. Ndukuba dedicated a new cathedral for CONNAM in Houston in 2021. In October 2022, new CONNAM bylaws were released, signaling the permanent establishment of CONNAM as an alternative Anglican jurisdiction in the United States and Canada. In response, Orji announced his departure from CONNAM. In leaving, he said "I'm no longer able to be part of a mission that violates my conscience and understanding of Godly Christian ministry and mission in North America" and added that "CoN made a promise to relinquish its mission to a new orthodox Anglican body when it emerges. ... We should not do things simply because we want to do so and because we don't want to be under 'white people' or the cheap blackmail that 'ACNA will/might bless same-sex unions in the future.' Nobody knows in the future or what we ourselves will do in the future. ... It is a horrible thing to imply of our GAFCON partner." Ndukuba suspended Orji from ministry, stating that he "deeply regrets the recent public utterances and actions of Bishop Orji against the authority of the Church of Nigeria." ACNA received Orji and Diocese of the West Suffragan Bishop Scott Seely into the college of bishops, and the Diocese of the West voted to affiliate with ACNA, although some congregations elected to remain in CONNAM. Ndukuba appointed the Diocese of the West's other suffragan, Celestine Ironna, to oversee congregations remaining with CONNAM on an interim basis.


Ecumenical relations

In October 2009, CANA's leadership reacted to the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
's proposed creation of
personal ordinariate A personal ordinariate for former Anglicans, shortened as personal ordinariate or Anglican ordinariate,"Bishop Stephen Lopes of the Anglican Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter..." is a canonical structure within the Catholic Church establis ...
s for disaffected traditionalist Anglicans by saying that this provision would probably not have a great impact on the majority of its largely
Low Church In Anglican Christianity, the term ''low church'' refers to those who give little emphasis to ritual, often having an emphasis on preaching, individual salvation, and personal conversion. The term is most often used in a liturgical sense, denot ...
laity and clergy, who are satisfied with the
Anglican realignment The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episco ...
movement.Vatican move recognizes reality of Anglican divide
/ref>


References


External links


Anglican Diocese of the Trinity website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church of Nigeria North American Mission Anglican Church in North America Church of Nigeria Anglican realignment Anglicanism in the United States Christian organizations established in 2005 Anglican organizations established in the 21st century