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Above photes:
Top Picture
The NTV tower. Nairobi,
Kenya
Bottom Picture
Steve at the lap top
Nairobi, Kenya
July, 2007
Top Picture
The NTV tower. Nairobi,
Kenya
Bottom Picture
Steve at the lap top
Nairobi, Kenya
July, 2007
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NEWS
Consecration in Kenya widens a religious rift
2 US priests now Anglican bishops
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | August 31, 2007
NAIROBI - Delivering a blistering rebuke to the Episcopal Church for its support of gay
and lesbian rights, spiritual leaders representing tens of millions of Anglican Christians
from around the world gathered here yesterday to consecrate two conservative American
priests as bishops despite the opposition of the US church.
As female worshipers ululated with joy, the archbishop of Kenya, Benjamin M. P. Nzimbi,
declared that the two new bishops, William L. Murdoch of Massachusetts and Will G.
Atwood III of Texas, would return to the United States to serve as missionaries to a nation
that Nzimbi said is losing the Christian faith it once exported to Africa.
The five-hour consecration service, held in a simple stone cathedral on the outskirts of
downtown Nairobi, brought an end to any remaining comity between conservatives and
liberals in the global Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the US
province.
Throughout the worship service, speakers repeatedly criticized the Episcopal Church,
which is among the most liberal of American denominations; at one point, a letter was
read suggesting the American church has been "misled by the devil." Although the critics
generally say they believe the Episcopal Church has lost its way on a variety of
theological matters, the issue they cite most often is homosexuality.
"It is a division of opinion between those of us who firmly believe that homosexual practice
violates the order of life given by God, and those who seek, by various means, to justify
what Scripture does not," said Archbishop Drexel W. Gomez of the West Indies, the main
preacher at yesterday's service. In his sermon, Gomez accused the Episcopal Church of
"aggressive revisionist theology" and said the idea that homosexuality is permissible for
Christians is "a lie."
"[The apostle] Paul singles out homosexuality in the Gospel for special attention, because
he regards it as providing a particularly graphic image of the way in which human
fallenness distorts God's created order," Gomez said. "We believe that faithfulness to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ prevents us from compromising the truth so clearly revealed in
Holy Scripture."
Although a rift in Anglicanism had been evolving for some time, it became a full-out
controversy threatening to split the denomination when the Episcopal Church decided in
2003 to approve the election of an openly gay priest, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of
New Hampshire.
Despite a call last summer by the Episcopal Church's own general convention for a
moratorium on further consecration of gay bishops, this week the Diocese of Chicago
named a lesbian priest among the five candidates for election to be its new bishop. The
Episcopal Church has also acknowledged that many of its dioceses are allowing priests to
bless same-sex relationships, and in eastern Massachusetts the bishop, M. Thomas
Shaw, has been an outspoken advocate of legalizing same-sex marriage.
In brief remarks to the congregation in Nairobi yesterday, Atwood, who heads an
international group of conservative Anglicans, alluded to the gay issue, saying, "All are
welcome at the cross, but we come not to stay as we are; we come to be changed, to
become more like Jesus. There is a competing message that seeks to replace the
Gospel, but it's a superficial one, an innovation that denies sin by attempting to redefine
it, and it robs people of the forgiveness that Jesus died to bring."
Murdoch, whose brother is a gay Episcopal priest in West Roxbury, offered a more
general expression of gratitude to the Kenyan church as a model of enthusiasm and
growth, saying, "Who could tell us better the mission is urgent?"
The service was attended by archbishops and bishops who claimed to represent a
majority of the world's Anglicans, including the primates who serve as spiritual leaders of
the Anglican provinces in Central Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, West Africa, the Indian
Ocean region, South America, and the West Indies, as well as an archbishop
representing the primate of Nigeria and bishops representing minority conservative
factions in the Anglican provinces of Canada, England and the United States. Of the 78
million adherents worldwide cited by the Anglican Communion, about two million live in the
United States; in Kenya, a nation about one-tenth the size, there are about three million
Anglicans.
Advocates for gay rights in the Anglican Communion reacted angrily to yesterday's
consecration.
"The consecrations today are one more sad indication of just how far those committed to
splitting the Episcopal Church are willing to go to achieve their goal of a church created in
their own image," said Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, an organization based
in Rochester, N.Y., that advocates for gay rights in the Episcopal Church. In an e-mail,
Russell called the new bishops "intercontinental ballistic weapons of schism."
The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has argued that Murdoch's consecration in
Kenya is not a major development because it concerns just one priest and one parish,
while most in the diocese support gay rights.
"All dioceses and provinces within the Anglican Communion are free to elect and
consecrate bishops according to their own polities," Maria Plati, a spokeswoman for the
diocese, said by e-mail. "The nearer concern of the leadership of the Diocese of
Massachusetts is for the faithful Episcopalians here who continue to live out their faith in
common prayer and service to others."
The Episcopal Church declined through its spokeswoman, Neva Rae Fox, to offer any
comment other than to say that its bishops might address the issue again this fall. In
March, the bishops decried intervention in the United States by bishops from foreign
Anglican churches, saying such actions "have violated our provincial boundaries and
caused great suffering and contributed immeasurably to our difficulties in solving our
problems."
But the African bishops compare their actions to previous moments in history when
Anglicans in the United States and the United Kingdom sent missionaries to Africa, and
said they have a duty to serve Anglicans in the United States who feel they no longer
have a church home.
The consecration was attended by about 600 people, a modest-sized crowd for Nairobi;
the worshipers included about 40 visiting Americans as well as the mayor of Nairobi. The
diocese was clearly expecting a larger crowd; it had set up a tent outside for an overflow
that did not materialize.
But it was a festive affair, with frequently exuberant singing, in English and Swahili, and
worshipers dancing in place. After the worship, the new bishops planted trees in the
cathedral's side yard and joined the worshipers for an outdoor lunch.
The bishops-designate were surrounded by photographers through much of the service,
even when they were kneeling at the altar. The photographers made it impossible for
most of the worshippers to see a dramatic moment when the new bishops were
surrounded by supportive bishops from around the world, who placed their hands on the
heads of Murdoch and Atwood.
But the ceremony was rich with symbolism. Murdoch and Atwood arrived wearing purple
cassocks, and during the service they were escorted out three times to add layers of
clothing associated with bishops: first a white full-length ruffled garment called a rochet,
then, over that, a red riding coat called a chimere and a black scarf called a tippett, and
then, once they had become bishops, a beige cape, called a cope, and a miter. And they
were given signs of the office, including a ring, a pectoral cross, a Bible, and a staff.
Murdoch and Atwood plan to return to the United States to help oversee the
approximately 30 congregations that have chosen to affiliate with the Anglican Church of
Kenya. Other congregations in the United States have affiliated with other southern
hemisphere dioceses; the exact number of breakaway congregations is in dispute,
ranging from 45 to 250. Murdoch, who had been pastor of All Saints Episcopal Church in
West Newbury, Mass., will also serve as bishop-rector of a new congregation he is
launching, All Saints Anglican, in a former Catholic parish his congregation is buying in
Amesbury.
Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.
Consecration in Kenya widens a religious rift
2 US priests now Anglican bishops
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | August 31, 2007
NAIROBI - Delivering a blistering rebuke to the Episcopal Church for its support of gay
and lesbian rights, spiritual leaders representing tens of millions of Anglican Christians
from around the world gathered here yesterday to consecrate two conservative American
priests as bishops despite the opposition of the US church.
As female worshipers ululated with joy, the archbishop of Kenya, Benjamin M. P. Nzimbi,
declared that the two new bishops, William L. Murdoch of Massachusetts and Will G.
Atwood III of Texas, would return to the United States to serve as missionaries to a nation
that Nzimbi said is losing the Christian faith it once exported to Africa.
The five-hour consecration service, held in a simple stone cathedral on the outskirts of
downtown Nairobi, brought an end to any remaining comity between conservatives and
liberals in the global Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the US
province.
Throughout the worship service, speakers repeatedly criticized the Episcopal Church,
which is among the most liberal of American denominations; at one point, a letter was
read suggesting the American church has been "misled by the devil." Although the critics
generally say they believe the Episcopal Church has lost its way on a variety of
theological matters, the issue they cite most often is homosexuality.
"It is a division of opinion between those of us who firmly believe that homosexual practice
violates the order of life given by God, and those who seek, by various means, to justify
what Scripture does not," said Archbishop Drexel W. Gomez of the West Indies, the main
preacher at yesterday's service. In his sermon, Gomez accused the Episcopal Church of
"aggressive revisionist theology" and said the idea that homosexuality is permissible for
Christians is "a lie."
"[The apostle] Paul singles out homosexuality in the Gospel for special attention, because
he regards it as providing a particularly graphic image of the way in which human
fallenness distorts God's created order," Gomez said. "We believe that faithfulness to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ prevents us from compromising the truth so clearly revealed in
Holy Scripture."
Although a rift in Anglicanism had been evolving for some time, it became a full-out
controversy threatening to split the denomination when the Episcopal Church decided in
2003 to approve the election of an openly gay priest, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of
New Hampshire.
Despite a call last summer by the Episcopal Church's own general convention for a
moratorium on further consecration of gay bishops, this week the Diocese of Chicago
named a lesbian priest among the five candidates for election to be its new bishop. The
Episcopal Church has also acknowledged that many of its dioceses are allowing priests to
bless same-sex relationships, and in eastern Massachusetts the bishop, M. Thomas
Shaw, has been an outspoken advocate of legalizing same-sex marriage.
In brief remarks to the congregation in Nairobi yesterday, Atwood, who heads an
international group of conservative Anglicans, alluded to the gay issue, saying, "All are
welcome at the cross, but we come not to stay as we are; we come to be changed, to
become more like Jesus. There is a competing message that seeks to replace the
Gospel, but it's a superficial one, an innovation that denies sin by attempting to redefine
it, and it robs people of the forgiveness that Jesus died to bring."
Murdoch, whose brother is a gay Episcopal priest in West Roxbury, offered a more
general expression of gratitude to the Kenyan church as a model of enthusiasm and
growth, saying, "Who could tell us better the mission is urgent?"
The service was attended by archbishops and bishops who claimed to represent a
majority of the world's Anglicans, including the primates who serve as spiritual leaders of
the Anglican provinces in Central Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, West Africa, the Indian
Ocean region, South America, and the West Indies, as well as an archbishop
representing the primate of Nigeria and bishops representing minority conservative
factions in the Anglican provinces of Canada, England and the United States. Of the 78
million adherents worldwide cited by the Anglican Communion, about two million live in the
United States; in Kenya, a nation about one-tenth the size, there are about three million
Anglicans.
Advocates for gay rights in the Anglican Communion reacted angrily to yesterday's
consecration.
"The consecrations today are one more sad indication of just how far those committed to
splitting the Episcopal Church are willing to go to achieve their goal of a church created in
their own image," said Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, an organization based
in Rochester, N.Y., that advocates for gay rights in the Episcopal Church. In an e-mail,
Russell called the new bishops "intercontinental ballistic weapons of schism."
The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has argued that Murdoch's consecration in
Kenya is not a major development because it concerns just one priest and one parish,
while most in the diocese support gay rights.
"All dioceses and provinces within the Anglican Communion are free to elect and
consecrate bishops according to their own polities," Maria Plati, a spokeswoman for the
diocese, said by e-mail. "The nearer concern of the leadership of the Diocese of
Massachusetts is for the faithful Episcopalians here who continue to live out their faith in
common prayer and service to others."
The Episcopal Church declined through its spokeswoman, Neva Rae Fox, to offer any
comment other than to say that its bishops might address the issue again this fall. In
March, the bishops decried intervention in the United States by bishops from foreign
Anglican churches, saying such actions "have violated our provincial boundaries and
caused great suffering and contributed immeasurably to our difficulties in solving our
problems."
But the African bishops compare their actions to previous moments in history when
Anglicans in the United States and the United Kingdom sent missionaries to Africa, and
said they have a duty to serve Anglicans in the United States who feel they no longer
have a church home.
The consecration was attended by about 600 people, a modest-sized crowd for Nairobi;
the worshipers included about 40 visiting Americans as well as the mayor of Nairobi. The
diocese was clearly expecting a larger crowd; it had set up a tent outside for an overflow
that did not materialize.
But it was a festive affair, with frequently exuberant singing, in English and Swahili, and
worshipers dancing in place. After the worship, the new bishops planted trees in the
cathedral's side yard and joined the worshipers for an outdoor lunch.
The bishops-designate were surrounded by photographers through much of the service,
even when they were kneeling at the altar. The photographers made it impossible for
most of the worshippers to see a dramatic moment when the new bishops were
surrounded by supportive bishops from around the world, who placed their hands on the
heads of Murdoch and Atwood.
But the ceremony was rich with symbolism. Murdoch and Atwood arrived wearing purple
cassocks, and during the service they were escorted out three times to add layers of
clothing associated with bishops: first a white full-length ruffled garment called a rochet,
then, over that, a red riding coat called a chimere and a black scarf called a tippett, and
then, once they had become bishops, a beige cape, called a cope, and a miter. And they
were given signs of the office, including a ring, a pectoral cross, a Bible, and a staff.
Murdoch and Atwood plan to return to the United States to help oversee the
approximately 30 congregations that have chosen to affiliate with the Anglican Church of
Kenya. Other congregations in the United States have affiliated with other southern
hemisphere dioceses; the exact number of breakaway congregations is in dispute,
ranging from 45 to 250. Murdoch, who had been pastor of All Saints Episcopal Church in
West Newbury, Mass., will also serve as bishop-rector of a new congregation he is
launching, All Saints Anglican, in a former Catholic parish his congregation is buying in
Amesbury.
Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.
Former Episcopal
priests Will G.
Atwood III (left) of
Texas and William L.
Murdoch (right) of
Massachusetts were
questioned in
Nairobi last week by
Archbishop
Benjamin Nzimbi as
they were
consecrated
bishops of the
Anglican Church of
Kenya. (Davide
Signa for the Boston
Globe)
priests Will G.
Atwood III (left) of
Texas and William L.
Murdoch (right) of
Massachusetts were
questioned in
Nairobi last week by
Archbishop
Benjamin Nzimbi as
they were
consecrated
bishops of the
Anglican Church of
Kenya. (Davide
Signa for the Boston
Globe)