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Bishop Parsley attempts to muzzle Uganda Primate - by Mark D. Wilkerson

“It was not long enough…” A sermon preached by Archbishop Orombi

by Mark D. Wilkerson

You’ve heard the joke a million times: a boy that kills his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan. It defines “chutzpah,” the gall of seeking to benefit from circumstances that you have had a hand in creating.

I was reminded of this joke when reading Louis Crew’s article about the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi’s November 10th sermon at the Church of Ascension in Montgomery, Alabama. Crew, a founder of Integrity and a member of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, flew a thousand miles to Montgomery when he heard that Archbishop Orombi was going to speak at Ascension. In his article, Crew recounts telling Orombi after the sermon that he “agreed with everything he said”, but that his sermon “was not long enough.”

Mmmm. I wonder why Orombi’s sermon might have been cut short?

We can be sure that the Bishop’s sermon was cut short, but not at his own doing. As Crew’s hastily planned, 1,000-mile trip illustrates, word of Orombi’s visit to Montgomery frightened the Episcopal hierarchy. As leader of Uganda’s Anglicans, Orombi has been an outspoken critic of ECUSA’s descent into apostasy. Like other global south Primates, Orombi has made it clear that there can be no communion with those elements of ECUSA that have so clearly abandoned Scripture. Earlier this year, Crew, acting as a Member of ECUSA’s Executive Council, attempted to embarrass Orombi in an open letter accusing him of hypocrisy for criticizing ECUSA at the same time as one of Uganda’s Dioceses was accepting money from ECUSA’s United Church Offering.

Orombi responded by thanking Crew for pointing out the connection between the funding and ECUSA’s hierarchy, and promptly returned the money.

The location of Orombi’s sermon, the Church of Ascension, is the fourth largest Episcopal Church in Alabama and, along with two other Montgomery area parishes, is a member of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes, whose members are the only elements of the American Episcopal Church still in good standing with the majority of Anglicans in other parts of the world.

How to muzzle Orombi? Enter Alabama Bishop Henry Parsley, who travels to Montgomery, insists on speaking before Orombi, and in the guise of a “welcome,” reminds the Archbishop that he has only been invited to speak about common missionary activity (and nothing else). One can only guess at the behind the scene activities that occurred in an effort to prevent Orombi from appearing in the first place.

ECUSA’s revisionist leaders usually don’t miss a chance to claim the mantle of the civil rights movement, and Crew is no exception in his article. He states that it was “heartening…for the Archbishop to preach in a pulpit that “has rarely (if ever?) welcomed a preacher of color” in a church that “was long a bastion of segregation.” Crew’s statement was a shrewd piece of fiction, calculated to cause readers to link Ascension’s orthodox stance to a supposedly racist past. In so doing, Crew is betting that those reading his article aren’t familiar with the parish, which is far from a “bastion of segregation”.

Ascension genuinely welcomed members of all races before other churches in Montgomery and has a remarkable record of outreach to all segments of the community. Ascension has sent financial support and mission teams to Indian reservations, Central America and, most recently, Africa.

It was instrumental in creating a tutoring program for inner city children in the Montgomery area. It has welcomed Christians of all colors to its pulpit. As Orombi’s visit illustrates, Ascension is now in the midst of creating a sustaining relationship with a Ugandan Diocese. Unlike others who have arrogantly labeled Orombi and African brothers as “ignorant,” Ascension’s leaders recognize the spiritual leadership that these Christians, who have persisted for decades under great adversity, can bring to the American church.

Crew is right, Orombi’s sermon was not long enough. The Archbishop was undoubtedly sensitive to the continuing persecution of Ascension’s leadership and did not want to invite further trouble for the church by restating his well-known views regarding the Robinson consecration. However, the theme of his sermon was telling. In describing the need for missions, he touched on the importance of shining a light on the world so that men may see our good works and glorify the Father. (Matthew 5:16). By doing so, he drew our attention to another quality of light, the fact that it cannot coexist in the same space with darkness. In the words of Apostle Paul, "Do not be unevenly yoked with unbelievers. …What fellowship has light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14).

If Crew wants to hear the rest of Orombi’s sermon, he might want to sit in the audience at the Primates meeting in February. Orombi has made it clear that he will join the majority of Anglican Primates at this meeting to ensure that faithful Anglicans are not “unevenly yoked” with those that have not repented for so rejecting the Faith. Such a declaration will create a difficult, but clear, choice for orthodox Episcopalians. As this battle unfolds, we will be increasingly grateful for the bright lights shining from the African Church.

--Mr. Wilkerson is a parishioner at Church of the Ascension in Montgomery, AL

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