Archbishop of Uganda lodges protest at ACC Meeting for refusal to seat his provincial delegate

via email.

The Archbishop of Uganda, a member of the Joint Standing Committee the Primates, issues a formal protest to the Archbishop of Canterbury over refusal to seat the provincial delegate for the Province of Uganda:

The Most Reverend Rowan Williams
Archbishop of Canterbury and
Chair of the Primates Standing Committee
Lambeth Palace
London, England

Via e-mail

Your Grace,

I have received a letter from Reverend Canon Kenneth Kearon, dated 30th April, refusing to seat the Church of Uganda’s clergy delegate to the ACC, Rev. Philip Ashey. I assume you have seen a copy of his letter, and that you may have been part of the discussion of this matter in the meetings of the Joint Standing Committee.

Canon Kearon’s letter states that the Joint Standing Committee has determined that Rev. Philip Ashey is not ‘qualified’ under Section 4(e) of the ACC’s Constitution because we received him into the Church of Uganda in 2005 as part of our pastoral care to Anglican clergy and congregations in America who were being persecuted for upholding Lambeth 1.10 in the context of a Province that willfully violated and continues to violate it.

As I wrote in my first letter to Canon Kearon, appointment of delegates to the ACC from a Province is purely an internal matter and is not subject to review by any body within the ACC, including the Joint Standing Committee. That the Joint Standing Committee would assume such authority is a gross violation of our constitutional relationships, not to mention a further tearing of our bonds of affection. Our reasons for appointing one of our American priests to represent us as our clergy delegate are our reasons, and are not for the Joint Standing Committee to question.

Church of Uganda, and to accord to him every courtesy expected of any delegate from any Province of the Anglican Communion. This is a matter of urgency, and I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest opportunity.

If the Church of Uganda’s appointment of Rev. Philip Ashey is considered by you to be unacceptable, then we will be forced to take the steps necessary to bring this unbiblical, unjust and unconstitutional precedent to the attention of the rest of the Communion.

Yours in Christ,

The Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi
ARCHBISHOP OF THE CHURCH OF UGANDA.

xc: Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General, ACC
Rev. Philip Ashey, Clergy Delegate to ACC-14
Mrs. Jolly Babirukamu, Lay Delegate to ACC-14
Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye, Provincial Secretary

From earlier correspondence:

Archbishop Orombi notifies the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Uganda's delegate to the Anglican Consultative Council:

From: Archbishop COU
Sent: 24 April 2009 13:00
To: Kenneth Kearon
Cc: Yoshimi Gregory; 'Aaron Mwesigye'
Subject: New ACC Delegate for Jamaica from Uganda
Dear Canon Kearon,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Please receive the attached letter from me informing you of a clergy delegate we have appointed to attend the ACC meeting in Jamaica.

Yours, in Christ,

The Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi
ARCHBISHOP OF CHURCH OF UGANDA
P.O. Box 14123
Kampala
UGANDA
Ph: +256 414 270 218
Fax: +256 414 251 925
abpcou@gmail.com

The Secretary to the Anglican Communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon, welcomes the Uganda delegate to the Anglican Consultative Council:

From: Kenneth Kearon
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 4:44 PM
To: Archbishop COU
Subject: RE: New ACC Delegate for Jamaica from Uganda

Dear Archbishop,

I'm grateful for the nomination of Rev. Philip Ashley as ACC delegate. I note he will make his own arrangements to get there, and I look forward to welcoming him to ACC.

In Christ,

Kenneth.

Kenneth Kearon,
Secretary General of the Anglican Communion,
St Andrew's House,
16 Tavistock Crescent,
London, W11 1AP

Tel: +44 (020) 7313 3903

Kenneth Kearon write to the Archbishop of Uganda and denies his delegate a seat:

The Most Revd Henry Orombi
Archbishop of the Church of the Province of Uganda

29th April 2009

Dear Archbishop Orombi,

I acknowledge your letter of 23 April 2009 nominating Revd Philip Ashey as a clerical representative to the ACC for the Church of the Province of Uganda, and I have referred it to the Joint Standing Committee.

That Committee has noted

(i) that Mr Ashey has already been given Press Accreditation status to the ACC on
behalf of the American Anglican Council;

(ii) he has given his address as Henderson Mill Road, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

The JS Committee is concerned that a person with Press Accreditation has been
nominated as a representative, because the press is excluded from some of the
business of the Council. It is further concerned that a person not resident in the
Province of Uganda should be asked to represent your Province.

The JSC seeks urgent clarification on these issues in order to consider the matter
further.


Yours sincerely.

Sincerely.

Kenneth Kearon
Secretary General of the Anglican Communion

This letter and the refusal to seat the delegate (which exactly does the Archbishop of Canterbury's handlers fear?) caused the Archbishop of Uganda to take the matter to the Archbishop of Canterbury himself. We now watch to see how he rules - will the delegate be seated or not?

Read more here at SF as well (they have posted the letters here).