Will Akinola's Next Invasion be England?

From Religious Intelligence:

Nigeria is on the verge of appointing its own ‘flying bishop’ in England to represent disillusioned Anglicans, The Church of England Newspaper has learnt.

A new bishop to be appointed by Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola could be consecrated before next year’s Lambeth Conference if plans succeed. A source describing himself as a ‘worker in the Nigerian diocese’ said he was aware of such plans and that such a person would be employed as a ‘mission co-ordinator’.

Rumours regarding the possibility of such a role have been circulating over the last few months but this is the first time it has been confirmed by a clergy member from Nigeria.

Speaking to the CEN he said: “It is possible that Archbishop Peter Akinola will have somebody appointed by the next Lambeth Conference in July 2008.” To read the whole of this story see this week’s Church of England Newspaper or go to www.churchnewspaper.com.

Inclusive Church offers some speculation regarding who this new bishop might be:

The usual justification for creating parallel jurisdictions in the US is that ECUSA has deviated from "authentic" Anglicanism, and the poor downtrodden faithful must be protected by authentic bishops from authentic provinces in the Communion.

In that context, I heard an interesting rumor recently. According to my source, one of the so-called Global South primates is about to set up shop in England. Apparently, the Church of England isn't Anglican enough now -- despite having a cadre of pure, flying bishops. Moreover, the first of these new bishops, with Authentic Global South Anglican Truth (tm) is to be Chris Sugden...

Chris Sugden is the Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream, which claims to be an international coalition "committed to promote, teach and maintain the Scriptural truths on which the Anglican Church was founded." Their coalition includes the American Anglican Council, Essentials of Canada and the Anglican Communion Institute. In his spare time, Chris serves as a canon of St. Luke's Cathedral, Jos, Nigeria.

Note this, Anglican Primates. Now England is not Anglican enough for Peter Akinola. If you do not put a stop to his expansionist exploits, you may very well find yourselves to be his next target.

For the record, The Priest Who is Mad was talking about this two weeks ago, so it may be old news to some of you. I need to stop in there more often. Maddie's been on a roll of late. Here's just a few of his recent creations you simply cannot miss:

Pics from the Wilderness
The Turning of the Worm
Say Goodnight, Melanie
...and, some wonderful news about our friend Counterlight...
The Servant

J.

UPDATE: From Ekklesia:

...The Rev Richard Kirker, chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) said: “It would be perfectly consistent for Archbishop Akinola to start an English version of his Church, and while I am saddened by his divisive intentions there are some few who will find comfort under his brazenly homophobic creed.”

Kirker declared: “It has been clear for some time that under the guidance of Peter Jensen (the Archbishop of Sydney) the Nigerian Church has been distancing itself from the Church of England and particularly the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury. “

He continued: “Peter Akinola has made outspoken attacks on the Church of England’s policy towards Civil Partnership [officially recognized same-sex unions], he has removed any mention of the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury from his Church constitution and he has recently announced his bishops will not be attending the Lambeth Conference next year.”

The LGCM leader added: “While Archbishop Akinola spreads his brand of religion to England our main concern remains that the Church of England does not respond to this schism by increasing its own institutional homophobia – competing with him for the prize of who can be nastiest to gays”...

We discussed the beginning of Akinola's confrontation with the Church of England almost two years ago. You can find that discussion here.