Anglican Perspectives

Update: Forgery and False Pretenses on the eve of the Anglican Consultative Council(ACC-16) meeting

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, friends of the Anglican Realignment,

 

Just when you thought Godly order couldn’t unravel any further, it appears that it has. According to an article published on Anglican Ink, a fraudulent letter was posted on the Anglican Church of Kenya’s website, with Archbishop Wabukala’s digital signature, purporting to reverse his public decision not to send a delegation from the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) to the meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council which begins today.

 

Here are the facts that we know:

 

1. Someone with access to Archbishop Wabukala’s digital signature attached it to a letter.

 

2. In that letter, Archbishop Wabukala purports to have changed his mind after “open deep reflection and consultations” and was now gladly sending his church’s delegation to the ACC-16 meeting because it was “extremely important for the Anglican Church of Kenya to be heard on the resolutions.”

 

3. On April 5 the letter was posted on the Anglican Church of Kenya’s (ACK) website.  You can read this forged letter here.

 

Within hours, this false and forged letter was discovered by the Archbishop and his staff and was immediately taken down.

 

4. On April 6 Archbishop Wabukala posted a statement on the ACK website. You can read his letter here.  In this letter he says the following:

 

“Despite my public statement and my personal direction to them, the Kenyan delegation has informed me of their intention to be present, with air tickets purchased for them and assignments already given.

 

It seems that the rejection of the moral and spiritual authority of the Primates by the ACC Chairman, without public rebuke from the Archbishop of Canterbury, has become infectious and is encouraging further breakdown of godly order in the Communion.”

 

5. According to the Anglican Ink article, the clergy and lay delegates from Kenya to ACC-16 are understood to have been informed by the Bishop delegate, Bishop Joel Waweru (Nairobi) that Archbishop Wabukala had “changed his mind,” when in fact he had not.

 

6. They agreed to go to ACC-16 in Lusaka under these pretenses.

 

7. According to the Anglican Ink article, they have been informed of the forgery.

 

8. It is not known at this time whether they will stay for the meeting after learning of the forgery.

 

These facts are troubling and invite obvious questions:  Who had access to Archbishop Wabukala’s digital signature in such a way that they could forge such a letter?  Who did so?  Did they have help from others within the Provincial Office or with whomever is responsible for the website?  What did Bishop Waweru know about this letter?  Exactly what representations did he make to the lay and clergy delegates from Kenya?  At least one blogger has noticed that the language in the forged letter is partially lifted from Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s letter imploring Churches to attend ACC-16.  If this is so, did the Anglican Communion Office have any role in this forgery?

 

There is a larger question as well:  What does this forgery, the gift of airplane tickets, assignments from ACC-16 and false pretenses under which some delegates from Kenya have come to ACC-16 say about the mind of the Anglican Consultative Council?  What does it say about their public intent to overrule and usurp the authority of the Primates in order to pursue their own agenda?  And to do so by overreaching the clear limits of their “advisory” authority as I have written below?

 

Finally, as Archbishop Wabukala notes in his April 6 letter, what does the deafening silence of the Archbishop of Canterbury – in the face of these and other facts – say about his leadership of the Anglican Communion?

 

The Apostle Paul wouldn’t hesitate a moment to give his opinion:

 

“Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:2 NIV

 

It is time for Anglicans everywhere to wake up and walk in the light (I John 1:7).

 

Yours in Christ,

 

Phil+

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