Some excellent
questions were raised by “Wannabe Anglican” that continue to justify, confirm
and strengthen our unremitted doubts and suspicions about ACNA and AMiA Bishops
and churches. The update on this story was
AMiA Murphy’s desertion of Rwandan Anglicanism and oversight. Hunter, an AMiA Anglicostal and bishop,
now repairs to ACNA Duncan’s oversight and embrace. Here’s Wannabe’s comments.
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
There has been concern
expressed online and elsewhere about the appropriateness of Todd Hunter
speaking at the upcoming ACNA Provincial Assembly in the aftermath of AMiA’s
fall out with Rwanda. (+Hunter is (or was) an AMiA bishop.)
Well, problem solved.
Bishop Todd Hunter of
the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) has been received by the Anglican Church
in North America and will serve as an assistant bishop in the office of the
primate, the Most Rev. Robert Duncan.
And I agree with Matt
Kennedy that it is good to see him, at his initiative, reconciled with
Rwanda.
Bishop Hunter also
stated that he had asked for and had received forgiveness from the Primate of
Rwanda, Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje for “my part in actions, attitudes or
communications that were hurtful to him or to my brother bishops in Rwanda.”
So he, Bishop Duncan,
and others involved are to be commended for getting this matter resolved and
that well before the Provincial Assembly.
However (“Uh, oh,” my
readers are saying.), I think we should not let pass without comment a
significant reason Todd Hunter got into this mess in the first place. The
following gives a clue about that:
When I walked across
the dance floor and was introduced to Anglicanism three years ago I was told
repeatedly that we were all working toward one, unified, missional,
kingdom-oriented, Spirit-enabled Anglican church in North America. I took that
vision into my heart and have pondered it since,” [Bishop Hunter] said.
So he was an Anglican
for only three years before being made an Anglican bishop? Not exactly. He was
made bishop back in 2009. Look at his own statement back in 2009 between his election and
consecration as bishop in the AMiA:
It is big shocker
because in the past I would have never thought of myself as an Anglican. While
I admired and respected Robert Webber from a distance, I was not one of those
people on
the Canterbury Trail. I’ve often said over the last six months that this
has all come out of the blue for me.
It is not clear exactly
what “six months” refers to. But “three years ago” is 2009. So, by his own
admission, he was Anglican for less than a year before being elected an
Anglican bishop. (By the way, I remember overhearing talk of this at the
Bedford Provincial Assembly.) That is indeed “out of the blue.” Read more of his 2009 statement and the comments there to
get a flavor of that.
Paul commanded Timothy
to “lay hands hastily on no man.” (1Tim. 5:22) It is safe to say that making a
new Anglican an Anglican bishop is hasty.
And it put Hunter in a
difficult position. Certainly, to be a bishop of a church and tradition of
which one is just getting to know is not an easy position to be in. That goes
double for Anglicanism, in which jurisdictions can be slightly labyrinthine.
This all compounded the difficulty of dealing with the mess when Chuck Murphy
went rogue.
 |
| Bishop Todd Hunter, made a Bishop after a mere 3 years into Anglicanism and without Prayer Book pieties (or education) seen in the mature and experienced. Good stuff for Anglicostalism. |
Again, +Hunter is to be
commended for setting matters aright. And he may turn out to be an outstanding
bishop. It is clear Archbishop Duncan is among those who have high hopes for
him. God is gracious and often causes undertakings that did not start well to
become great blessings and end well. Even some of the church fathers were made
bishops very quickly. And if anyone is to be criticized, it is those who laid
hands on Todd Hunter more than Mr. Hunter himself.
But Paul did not give
the above commandment to Timothy for nothing. And the awkwardness in which
+Hunter found himself in recent months illustrates part of St. Paul’s wisdom.
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